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Earning British Airways elite status won't get any easier anytime soon. The airline announced it will increase the tier points required to earn elite status and slash tier point earnings on select fares. Luckily, this double whammy won't take effect until April 1, 2027, so you have time to adjust.
Let's go over the details.
British Airways Makes It Harder To Earn Status
Higher tier points requirements
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| Status Level | Current Requirement | New Requirement Starting April 2027 |
|---|---|---|
| Bronze | 3,500 | 3,500 |
| Silver | 7,500 | 8,000 |
| Gold | 20,000 | 21,000 |
Bronze remains unchanged at 3,500 tier points. However, Silver increases from 7,500 tier points to 8,000, while Gold increases from 20,000 to 21,000. This applies to next year's qualification period; it doesn't affect this year's requirements. These are relatively minor changes, but still worth knowing.
Luckily, segment-based qualification remains unchanged: take 25 flights with a British Airways code to become Bronze and 50 to become Silver.
Related: British Airways Avios Guide: How To Earn and Redeem Avios
Lower tier points earnings
On top of rising qualification requirements, British Airways is slashing tier point bonuses on select fares, including premium Club World and First fares. Pair lower earnings with increased qualification requirements, and it's getting much harder to reach status. These earning changes take effect for flights booked on or after November 25, 2026, for travel from April 1, 2027.
Travelers typically earn 1 tier point per eligible pound spent, plus a fixed number of bonus tier points depending on the fare and route.
Per the airline's website, passengers will earn the following tier point bonuses on long-haul flights:
World Traveller Plus (premium economy):
- Standard: 175 tier points (down from 275)
- Semi-Flex: 375 tier points
- Flex: 475 tier points
- Fully-Flex: 575 tier points
Club World (business):
- Business: 200 tier points (down from 500)
- Semi-Flex: 400 tier points (down from 700)
- Flex: 600 tier points (down from 900)
- Fully-Flex: 800 tier points (down from 1,100)
First:
- First: 300 tier points (down from 650)
- Semi-Flex: 500 tier points (down from 850)
- Flex: 700 tier points (down from 1,050)
- Fully-Flex: 900 tier points (down from 1,250)
- Premium Economy (long haul): 175 tier points (down from 275)
- Business (long haul): 200 tier points (down from 500)
- First (long haul): 300 tier points (down from 650)
As shown above, nearly all changes affect Club World and First fares on long-haul routes. The only World Traveller Plus fare to see a decrease in bonus tier points is the Standard fare.
Notably, the number of extra tier points for World Traveler (Economy) on long-haul routes and all intra-European flights remains unchanged. This can make for an interesting twist where Club Europe fares can earn a similar amount of bonus tier points as Club World fares. For example, an intra-European business fare can earn 175 bonus tier points, while a long-haul business fare might earn just 200 bonus tier points.
Assuming you spent £1,000 on a business class ticket (a conservative estimate), you used to earn 1,500 tier points: 1 tier point per £1 plus a 500-point bonus. If you need 20,000 tier points for Gold, you'd need to take 14 long-haul business class flights to earn top-tier status.
Now, you'd earn only 1,200 tier points on the same ticket, and since you need 21,000 tier points for Gold, you'd need to take 18 long-haul business-class flights to reach status. That's almost 30% more flights.
Bottom Line
British Airways is increasing requirements to reach Silver and Gold status while also lowering the tier points bonuses you'll earn in premium cabins on long-haul flights. This is frustrating, but not entirely surprising. Almost every airline has made it harder to earn elite status, so these updates are mild by comparison. However, if you want to earn British Airways elite status next year, keep these changes in mind.
