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British Airways overhauled its loyalty program in 2025, fundamentally changing how travelers earn status. The airline moved away from its unique distance- and fare-based system and replaced it with a model that’s largely driven by spending — similar to what we’ve seen from several U.S. carriers.
Since then, British Airways introduced new ways to earn tier points, including segment-based bonuses and expanded earning opportunities beyond just flights. These changes were designed to soften the blow of the shift to revenue-based earnings — but they’ve also made the program more complex.
So what does it actually take to earn British Airways status now?
In this guide, we’ll break down all the current ways to earn British Airways tier points — from flights and fare bonuses to credit card spending and vacation packages — and how those pieces fit together if you’re working toward status.
Ways To Earn British Airways Tier Points
Travelers now have multiple ways to earn tier points, both through flying and several other opportunities. Like most airline loyalty programs these days, spending is the driver of earning loyalty.
Before we dive in deeper, one important note is that tier points differ from Avios. Avios is the currency used to book award flights with British Airways and its partners, while tier points are earned to achieve status.
Let's look at how to earn tier points in the new program.
When flying
The formula for earning tier points when flying is pretty straightforward — every £1 (about $1.33 at the time of publishing) spent will earn 1 tier point. This applies to fares and any carrier-imposed charges added by the airline. Non-airline taxes and fees — such as airport charges and government taxes — are excluded.
For flights on Oneworld partners American Airlines and Iberia, the same tier point-earning structure will apply. However, other partners will follow a distance- and fare-class method.
Additionally, you'll earn 2 tier points for every £1 on add-ons, such as bags, seating, and “Sustainable Aviation Fuel” contributions.
Tier point bonuses
British Airways introduced tier point bonus earning in early 2025. As you can imagine, switching from a distance-based earning program to a revenue-based one irked some loyal members. It meant longer flights that happened to have lower fares would earn far fewer tier points. These segment bonuses were introduced to ease that frustration.
These bonuses were originally supposed to last through the end of 2026, but have now been made permanent.
Bonus Points are awarded based on the distance flown and the fare class booked. They are awarded separately for outbound and inbound flights, so a round-trip revenue fare would earn the bonus twice. First, let's look at short-haul British Airways flights. As you can see below, the bonuses range from 75 to 375 tier points. Note: Economy Basic fares don't earn bonus tier points.
| Fare Class | Euro Traveller (economy) | Club Europe (business) |
|---|---|---|
| Plus | 75 | 175 |
| Semi-Flex | 175 | 275 |
| Fully Flex | 275 | 375 |
On long-haul British Airways flights, tier point bonuses vary by cabin:
- World Traveller (economy)
- World Traveller Plus (premium economy)
- Club World (business)
- First
These range from 150 all the way up to 1,250 bonus tier points.
| Fare Class | World Traveller (economy) | World Traveller Plus (premium economy) | Club World (business) | First |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | 150 | 275 | 500 | 650 |
| Semi-Flex | 250 | 375 | 700 | 850 |
| Flex | 350 | 475 | 900 | 1050 |
| Fully Flex | 450 | 575 | 1100 | 1250 |
Lastly, only flights on American Airlines and Iberia will earn these bonus tier points for the moment. These bonuses are based on the cabin flown and do not include basic economy fares. U.S.-based flyers can now opt to credit their domestic American flights to British Airways Club if desired, which would earn bonus tier points toward status.
| Fare Class | Economy | Premium economy | Business | First |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Short-Haul | 75 | 175 | ||
| Long-Haul | 150 | 275 | 500 | 650 |
Other ways to earn tier points
There are a few ancillary ways to earn tier points as well, and you won't be shocked to learn they are also revenue-based.
- Booking packages through British Airways Holidays will earn tier points. This could be a “Flight + Hotel” or “Flight + Car” package. The tier points are earned at 1 point per pound of eligible spend and are divided evenly among all people on the booking. You will also earn bonus tier points on packages based on the cabins below flown.
- Euro Traveller: 75 extra tier points
- Club Europe: 175 extra tier points
- World Traveller: 150 extra tier points
- World Traveller Plus: 275 extra tier points
- Club World: 500 extra tier points
- First: 650 extra tier points
- Spending on the British Airways American Express Premium Plus Card can also earn you tier points — up to 2,500. (Note: This card is only available to U.K. residents.)
While U.S.-based travelers can earn Avios through the British Airways Visa Signature® Card, British Airways hasn't added any tier point bonuses for spending on this card.
- Earn 75,000 Avios after you spend $5,000 on purchases within the first three months of account opening.
- Earn 3 Avios per $1 spent on purchases with British Airways, Aer Lingus, Iberia, and LEVEL.
- Earn 2 Avios per $1 spent on hotel accommodations when purchased directly with the hotel.
- 10% off British Airways flights starting in the US when you book through the website provided in your welcome materials.
- Every calendar year you make $30,000 in purchases on your British Airways Visa card, you'll earn a Travel Together Ticket good for two years.
- Pay no foreign transaction fees when you travel abroad.
- Simply tap to pay with your contactless British Airways Visa Signature Card. Just look for the contactless symbol at checkout. It's fast, easy and secure!
- Member FDIC
- 3X Avios per $1 spent on purchases with British Airways, Aer Lingus, Iberia, and LEVEL
- 2X Avios per $1 spent on hotel accommodations
- 1X Avios for every $1 spent on all other purchases
Related: Best Cards for Earning Avios
Lifetime tier points
Like many loyalty programs, British Airways adds your accumulated tier points over the years to your “lifetime” balance. With the program refresh on April 1, 2025, the goalpost for lifetime status shifted. Earning lifetime Gold status moved from 35,000 tier points to 550,000. Lifetime Gold Guest List — British Airways' highest status — now requires a whopping 1,500,000 lifetime tier points.
For lifetime Gold, British Airways recalculated tier points for transitioning members based on their progress toward the previous threshold.
Nevertheless, these are some lofty numbers that can only be achieved by the highest revenue passengers over many years.
Earning British Airways Status
So, how exactly does earning all these tier points translate into British Airways status? The annual thresholds for earning status are as follows:
- Blue: 0 tier points
- Bronze: 3,500 tier points
- Silver: 7,500 tier points
- Gold: 20,000 tier points
Even the Bronze tier has tangible benefits like priority check-in and boarding, and free seat selection seven days from departure. A combination of paid flights and bonus tier points from several segments could get you to Bronze status fairly easily as a British Airways frequent flyer.
Lounge access starts at the Silver status level. You can see all the tier benefits here.
Bottom Line
British Airways loyalty program — the Club — is now largely based on a revenue-spending model to achieve status. Although that may make it more difficult, by utilizing the many ways to earn tier points, status is still within reach. The tier point bonuses for flights can be coupled with spend on airfare and the British Airways American Express Premium Plus Card to help flyers climb the status ladder.
For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: British Airways Visa Signature® Card (Rates & Fees)
