Originally Posted by
FlyingScientist
Just to add some further data:
For the 50% earning on "Economy low", one gets:
Blue status – 250 (50% of 500)
Bronze status – 375 (50% of 500 + 25% of 500 as tier bonus)
Silver status – 500 (50% of 500 + 50% of 500 as tier bonus)
Gold status – 750 (50% of 500 + 100% of 500 as tier bonus)
I now appreciate having taken a course on quantum mathematics some time ago...
It appears that BA may be calculating tier bonuses on the full mileage, not the actual miles awarded. My recent N fare on AA (booked 18 April, but that is a different story) earned 25% of distance + 100% of distance tier bonus.
If I recall correctly, the above is similar to what most of the US airlines have historically done (i.e., calculating actual distance and tier bonus separately, not %ages of each other). In contrast, AF/KL has historically award tier bonus as a % of the actual mileage earned when less than 100%--but of course only on the actual mileage when more than 100%.