What are British Airways Tier Points?
Have you heard the term ‘Tier Points’? BA offering double tier points on holidays? What the heck are ‘tier points’, and why do they matter? Well, it’s British Airways’ way of calculating your loyalty status. British Airways offer a loyalty program that rewards you for flying with them. The more you fly, the better your perks.
The status you earn works like this: you start at Blue, moving to Bronze, followed by Silver and finally Gold status. The status is earned based on these ‘tier points’. You are only awarded tier points when you actually fly with British Airways, and as British Airways are part of the airline allegiance known as ‘OneWorld’, you also receive equivalent status with other airlines part of the allegiance. Tier points and status do expire, which means you have to keep flying to keep your perks. More on that later.
So how do they differ from Avios points? Well, Avios points are a currency used to purchase/upgrade flights, they don’t do anything for your loyalty status. We’ve done a post about Avios, which you can read here.
So what are the perks? Well, that depends on your status. We’ve detailed below what perks you can expect with British Airways, according to your status. We’ll get in to how to earn tier points, or ‘TP’, lower down in this post.
Bronze (300TP required) status gives you the following perks:
Six Avios awarded per GBP spent on flights (see our post about Avios points here)
Use of business class check in desks and priority boarding regardless of class flown
Free seat selection seven days before departure
Silver (600TP required) status gives you the following perks:
Eight Avios awarded per GBP spent on flights (see our post about Avios points here)
Use of business class check in desks and priority boarding regadless of class flown
Free seat selection at time of booking
Use of business class lounges regardless of class flown (this is a big one)
Checked baggage allowance regardless of class flown (except basic fares)
Dedicated support team
Gold (1500TP required) status gives you the following perks:
Nine Avios awarded per GBP spent on flights (see our post about Avios points here)
Use of First class check in desks and priority boarding regadless of class flown
Free seat selection at time of booking
Use of First class lounges regardless of class flown (this is a BIG one)
Checked baggage allowance regardless of class flown (except basic fares)
Dedicated support team
Additional reward seat availability
Something to note here, British Airways do offer what is called ‘Lifetime Gold’ status. The total amount of tier points you earn throughout your membership is tracked and totalled. When you reach 35,000TP (that’s a lot by the way), you achieve lifetime gold status. Lifetime gold status offers you gold (as above) for life, no more flying required to keep the status.
So, the big question, how can I earn tier points?
Well, it’s simple. You sign up to the British Airways Executive Club (free) and you fly on a British Airways flight (or codeshare, providing you have a BA flight number). You then earn tier points. How many TP’s you get all depends on the route you take. Here’s a little graph to give you an idea of how many you earn (the ‘+’ signifies business or first class).
The graph here is a good indicator but it’s not a comprehensive guide. There are little caveats here and there. To get an accurate calculation, use BA’s Flight Calculator.
So, now you know how many you can earn, and how many you need. But, when do they expire? British Airways are currently going through a transition, as they change the rules around - we’ll start as we mean to go on. We’ll detail the new rules, effective from 1st April 2025. It’s quite simple.
You need to collect enough tier points within the ‘collection year‘ to reach your desired status. The collection year runs from 1st April, to the 31st March every year. After your collection year ends, your points get reset to 0. Your earned status remains, for now. Your earned status remains until the end of the current calendar year + 1 more calendar year. Let’s give an example:
You hit 600 tier points on the 30th March 2026. Congratulations, you’ve got Silver status with BA. On the 1st April 2026 (2 days later), your points get reset to 0. Your status remains at Silver for the remainder of the current calendar year, so, 31st December 2026, plus one more calendar year, so, 31st December 2027.
Pretty neat, but what happens on the 1st January 2028, if I don’t earn enough TP’s for Silver again? Do I get reset to Blue? No. British Airways offer what is called a ‘Soft Landing’. They will reduce your status by one tier for the next calendar year. So you would be reduced to Bronze until 31st December 2028 (presuming you didn’t earn enough TP’s for Silver again since).
A quick note on OneWorld status. Your British Airways status earns equivalent status with OneWorld, giving you benefits with other airlines. A full list of OneWorld airlines can be found here.
So now you know how BA Tier Points work! Silver is undoubtably the best value, giving lounge access and it’s not too difficult to achieve. At the time of writing, BA are offering a double tier point promotion, which you can find out more about here! Go and get your status, and if you have any questions, pop it in the comments!