There are four primary membership tiers in the BAEC

Blue entry level
Bronze equivalent to oneworld Ruby
Silver equivalent to oneworld Sapphire
Gold equivalent to oneworld Emerald

In addition to these, there is a upper Gold level called Gold Guest List (Gold GL or GGL) and Premier. The latter is an invitation only level. There is no official lifetime status recognition within the BAEC.


01 Moving between tiers

The promotion process is not as simple as it could be at first glance. First off, in addition to accruing the Tier Points required to qualify for promotion to the next tier or retain at the current tier, you also need to fly either two (for Bronze) or four (for Silver or Gold) qualifying flights during your membership year.


02 What is an eligible flight?

Examples of criteria used to determine eligible flights:

BA operated + BA flight prefix
BA operated + other flight prefix
Other carrier operated + BA flight prefix
BD operated + BA flight prefix
IB operated + IB flight prefix

Note, reward bookings and agency or industry discounted bookings are not eligible. BA/IB subsidiaries and franchise operated flights are included.

Your tier status will change as soon as you cross the next threshold, although there may be a few days lag for the system to reflect it. You will continue to accumulate Tier Points until your membership year end date. So for example, if your membership year ends on 8 January, a flight taken on 8 January will count towards your old year. Your Tier Point balance will be zeroed out on 9 January reflecting the beginning of a new membership year. If you fail to accrue the number of Tier Points (or meet the requisite number of eligible flights) needed to retain your current level, you will drop to the level immediately below. This is often referred to as the soft landing.

There are often questions raised in FlyerTalk as to whether BAEC will assist those who narrowly miss the tier point thresholds at the end of the membership year. There is some occasional evidence of flexibility in terms of extending the membership year by a week or two, but this cannot be relied upon.

For comparison, the promotion and retention requirements and benefits of each tier are outlined below:


03 Blue



Blue is the basic level and is what you start on, for example if you register now via ba.com. Once you accrue the required number of Tier Points, you will be promoted to Bronze.


04 Bronze



Entry and retention requirements:
 300 Tier Points plus 2 eligible flights or 25 eligible flights

Bronze members enjoy a number of benefits in addition to those experienced by Blue members.

• 25% bonus Avios on all BA, IB and AA flights.
• Allocate seats for yourself and other members in your party free of charge, up to seven days before departure (excluding exit row seats).
• You may use a Club World, Club Europe and equivalent oneworld business class check-in desks, irrespective of what class of ticket you have.

05 Silver



Entry and retention requirements: 
600 Tier Points plus 4 eligible flights or 50 eligible flights

Silver members enjoy a number of benefits in addition to those experienced by Bronze members.

• 100% bonus Avios on all BA, IB and AA flights.
• 25% bonus Avios on QF flights.
• Allocate seats for yourself and other members in your party free of charge, at the time of booking (excluding exit row seats).
• You may use a Club World, Club Europe and equivalent oneworld business class check-in desks, irrespective of what class of ticket you have.
• Check in 2 bags each weighing up to 32kg in all cabins, on all routes, unless the cabin allowance is greater. This applies to all passengers travelling on the same booking.
• You and one guest may relax in a BA Galleries Club/Terraces/Executive Club and oneworld business class departure lounge. The guest must be travelling on BA or a flight operated by and prefixed with a oneworld carrier.
• Reservation Assurance on full fare economy tickets, ensuring a seat even where the flight is full.
• Priority boarding.

06 Gold



Entry and retention requirements:
1,500 Tier Points and 4 eligible flights

Gold members enjoy a number of benefits in addition to those experienced by Silver members.

• Allocate seats for yourself and other members in your party free of charge, at the time of booking, including exit row seats
• Allocate seat for a companion travelling on your flight, on their own booking. This cannot be done online. A "To Complete Party" request must made to your BAEC service centre.
• You may use a First, Club World, Club Europe and equivalent oneworld first or business class check-in desks, irrespective of what class of ticket you have.
• You and one guest may relax in a BA Galleries First and Club/Terraces/Executive Club or oneworld first and business class departure lounge.
• You may use a BA Elemis Spa before travelling on a long haul flight, irrespective of class of travel.
• You may use a BA Arrivals lounge after travelling on a long haul flight, irrespective of class of travel.
• Reservation Assurance on full fare economy tickets, ensuring a seat even where the flight is full.
• Priority over Blue, Bronze and Silver Members on waitlists.
• Additional reward availability in economy (V class)
• Gold Priority Reward. This allows a redemption for double Avios points if revenue seats are on sale but no redemptions are otherwise available. Gold Priority Rewards can only be booked offline and 30 days notice is required.
• No booking or service fees for reward flights using Avios.
• At 2,500 Tier Points, and again at 3,500 Tier Points, you will be awarded with a voucher that you and a companion can use towards an upgrade to the next cabin on a flight of your choice, subject to availability
• At 4,500 Tier Points, you can share your membership benefits by giving someone else an Executive Club Silver Partner Card
• At 5,000 Tier Points, you will receive a Concorde Room Card and invitation to the Gold Guest List. The Concorde Room Card allows you to use the LHR and JFK Concorde Room lounges when you are not travelling First.

07 Gold GL



While strictly speaking Gold Guest List (GGL) is not a tier in its own right, it is in essence an upper subset of Gold. GGL offers the usual benefits that come with oneworld Emerald plus several exclusive, value added baubles when flying on British Airways.

Entry and retention requirements: 
After accruing 3,000 Tier Points in two consecutive membership years or 5,000 Tier Points accrued in a single membership year

To remain part of the list you need to continue to earn 3,000 Tier Points in each membership year going forward. There are several exclusive perks over and above the standard Gold membership benefits:

• A twice per membership year redemption for up to 5 people (i.e. member and up to 4 others) booked into revenue classes (A, D, T, B) rather than award classes. Such GGL redemptions are known in some quarters as Jokers. A third Joker is awarded at 6,000 Tier Points. Note this redemption award will have its own deadline for use, which may be different from your BAEC membership year.
• A dedicated priority service phone number with dedicated 24-7 support desk.
• Gold GL members may invite two guests into a BA departure lounge and may invite one guest into a BA Arrivals lounge.
• At 4,500 Tier Points, you can share your membership benefits by giving someone else an Executive Club Gold Partner Card (in lieu of a Silver Partner Card received by Gold Card holders at 4,500 Tier Points).

08 Premier



Premier is an invitation only level. You can’t get to it by just flying a lot. The card is generally given to people that BA consider as being of commercial importance, and each new Premier has to be approved by the board.


09 Continental Europe tier thresholds

On 16 November 2011, the tier thresholds for members based in Continental Europe (all European countries excluding UK and ROI) were standardised in line with the requirements outlined in this section.

However, if you are an existing Silver and Gold member based in Europe, you will have been offered an opportunity to retain whatever tier you held on 1 March 2012 and continue to retain this tier for two years at the old retention rates, 400 for Silver or 800 for Gold.


10 An illustrative example of how a member moves between tiers

The graph below provides an illustrative example of how a member may move up the elite tier ladder as his/her membership year rolls forward. It may appear scary at first glance but don't worry, the important steps are explained beneath.


Click to enlarge

• Member signs up on 12 January; the new Executive Club account is given a membership year end date (8 Feb)
• Year 1, 12 Feb: advances to Bronze following February's LAX-LHR flight (at 420 TPs)
  Bronze status will last until 31 March, following the end of membership year 2
• Year 1, June: advances to Silver triggered by June's DFW-LHR flight (at 740 TPs)
  Silver status will last until 31 March, following the end of membership year 2
• Year 1, 8 Feb: Member ends membership year 1 at 1,440 TPs; All TPs accrued over the course of Year 1 are zeroed out
  Note, Silver for Year 2 was automatically retained in June of Year 1 when the member attained this tier
• Year 2, 9 Feb: Member begins second membership year with Silver
• Year 2, 8 Feb: Member ends second membership year at 280 TPs which is insufficient to retain Silver for year 3 so takes a soft landing to Bronze; All TPs accrued over the course of Year 2 are zeroed out
• Year 3, 9 Feb: Member begins third membership year with Bronze

Introduction and overview of the Executive Club | Avios and Tier Points explained | Membership Tiers | Earning Avios on flights | Earning Avios on hotel stays | Credit card partners | Earning through everyday spending | Exchanging other points for Avios