There is always a "Third Way", which effectively means that it is possible to qualify for status by frequency/class of travel *or* hard spend alone.

Consider Hilton's HHonors scheme.

The top tier is Diamond, which you can get by doing any one of three of the following:

Complete 30 stays (a stay can be as little as one night)

Complete 60 nights over any number of stays (two 30-day stints will do)

Reach 120,000 base points (which equals simply a spend of $12,000 with Hilton however it comes about).

The bolder option is the revenue option.

Is there scope for BA to reward those high spenders on flexible tickets in lower cabins via this method?