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British Airways Executive Club has announced an elite status extension that affects some of their membership. BA operates a unique system for elite status qualification – each member has an individual Tier Point collection year that starts on the 9th of a specific month (and cannot be changed). This extension, therefore, only applies to members whose Tier Point collection year ends in January, February or March, 2022. These members will see their elite status extended for another year.

Here is the communication from British Airways Executive Club…

British Airways is further protecting the Tier status of Executive Club Members. From today, any tiered Executive Club Members with a Tier Point collection end date between January – March 2022 will receive another year of their current status.

It means that no British Airways Executive Club Member renewing over this period, including Bronze, Silver and Gold card holders will lose their Tier status, regardless of how many Tier Points they have earned. This benefit comes in addition to a 25% threshold reduction in Tier Status which applies until June 2022.

Added Perks for a Limited Time… Perhaps

In order to attract those Silver and Gold members who are returning to transatlantic travel, pre-flight dining in the lounge is now available (regardless of the cabin of travel). These perks apply at British Airways lounges that provide pre-flight dining facilities, such as: New York JFK, Boston, Washington DC and Chicago. Even though the main focus of pre-flight dining is to allow members to maximize their sleep onboard, elite members travelling in Premium Economy or Economy will also appreciate a much nicer dinner than the one they would receive onboard…

British Airways also offers a higher level of elite status called Gold Guest List. GGL members can now access the Concorde Room – BA’s proper First Class lounges in London (Heathrow Terminal 5) and New York JFK.

Many “GGL” members have typically been able to earn a Concorde Room card due to their high volumes of travel. (especially in the first year of GGL membership, where the Tier Point criteria are identical) But due to extensions, etc. this hasn’t been happening, so British Airways is letting them into the Concorde Room regardless, although who knows for how long…

The Bottom Line

British Airways obviously wants to protect its revenue by keeping some of its elite members anxious to travel. But drip-feeding these extensions – dressed up as “protection” – only serves to annoy those members who aren’t benefitting from the extensions. There should be no shortage of airlines willing to pounce on disgruntled BA elites with a status match…