Flexibility in Tier Point years
Apr 17, 2018, 5:07 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2015
Programs: CAMRA GGL (Gold Card Holder/Lifetime membership)
Posts: 727
Flexibility in Tier Point years
Hi Everyone
My girlfriend is Bronze and she is so close to being Silver, probably as close as she will ever be (doesn't make much money or travel that frequently).
She has 550 Tier Points, and her collection year ends 8th June.
We are flying out to ALC on the 17th and return on 27th June. That will earn 80 TPs. Do you think there is any chance at all that BA would take pity, and extend her TP collection date by a few weeks? I have heard that they sometimes consider this but I realise its quite an extension we would be asking for.
She would be over the moon to get Silver.
My girlfriend is Bronze and she is so close to being Silver, probably as close as she will ever be (doesn't make much money or travel that frequently).
She has 550 Tier Points, and her collection year ends 8th June.
We are flying out to ALC on the 17th and return on 27th June. That will earn 80 TPs. Do you think there is any chance at all that BA would take pity, and extend her TP collection date by a few weeks? I have heard that they sometimes consider this but I realise its quite an extension we would be asking for.
She would be over the moon to get Silver.
Apr 17, 2018, 5:15 am
#2
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: London, ARN, HEL, ..... or MAN
Programs: BA GGL / GFL, Mucci Diamond!, HH Diamond, Radisson Premium, IHG Gold, Hertz Gold
Posts: 5,893
Hi,
I haven't heard of a successful extension beyond 2 weeks - you'd obviously need both legs to post in that time which won't happen.. and in fact I think the extensions are generally for retaining rather than reaching status?? Happy to be corrected on this but I think it's very unlikely your requeust would be granted. For the sake of 50 TPs, isn't it worth doing a quick hop to MAN in CE and ET to guarantee Silver? You would then get the bonus Avios for your ALC trip as well.
I haven't heard of a successful extension beyond 2 weeks - you'd obviously need both legs to post in that time which won't happen.. and in fact I think the extensions are generally for retaining rather than reaching status?? Happy to be corrected on this but I think it's very unlikely your requeust would be granted. For the sake of 50 TPs, isn't it worth doing a quick hop to MAN in CE and ET to guarantee Silver? You would then get the bonus Avios for your ALC trip as well.
Apr 17, 2018, 5:35 am
#3
FlyerTalk Evangelist, Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Jun 2008
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It is strictly two weeks. They won’t add a day or ten beyond that. Which means that in the current context, should your girlfriend request the extension she’ll only be even more annoyingly close to the threshold at 590.
Apr 17, 2018, 5:44 am
#4
Join Date: May 2016
Programs: EK Gold, TK Elite, Marriott Rewards, Global Entry, MileagePlus
Posts: 264
How about a full reset? I created my account a long time ago when I first flew BA but ended up crediting to QR. I'm flying BA again and will for the first time credit to them. Can I request my year to be reset just before my first flight? Or is it possible to sign up with a fresh account?
Apr 17, 2018, 6:00 am
#5
FlyerTalk Evangelist, Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Somewhere between 0 and 13,000 metres high
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Posts: 30,514
How about a full reset? I created my account a long time ago when I first flew BA but ended up crediting to QR. I'm flying BA again and will for the first time credit to them. Can I request my year to be reset just before my first flight? Or is it possible to sign up with a fresh account?
Apr 17, 2018, 6:01 am
#6
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: London, ARN, HEL, ..... or MAN
Programs: BA GGL / GFL, Mucci Diamond!, HH Diamond, Radisson Premium, IHG Gold, Hertz Gold
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You can't reset your year it seems. If you were to close your account and open a new one you would forfeit any Avios and lifetime Tier Points in the original account, but yes you can do it.
As you probably know, you can't have more than one account at once.
As you probably know, you can't have more than one account at once.
Apr 17, 2018, 7:15 am
#7
Join Date: May 2016
Programs: EK Gold, TK Elite, Marriott Rewards, Global Entry, MileagePlus
Posts: 264
You can't reset your year it seems. If you were to close your account and open a new one you would forfeit any Avios and lifetime Tier Points in the original account, but yes you can do it.
As you probably know, you can't have more than one account at once.
As you probably know, you can't have more than one account at once.
Apr 17, 2018, 9:36 am
#8
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: MSN
Programs: AA, BAEC Gold
Posts: 3,926
You might want to ask if you have a TP year yet. In most cases the date doesn't seem to be set until after the first credit to the account. It is then set for the 8/9 of the next month with the first year starting with the credited flight.
Apr 17, 2018, 9:58 am
#10
Join Date: Dec 2016
Programs: BAEC GGL/CR; Hilton Diamond; Mucci des Puccis
Posts: 5,602
If she isn't a frequent flier, silver status isn't all that much use except as a symbolic thing. Bronze is pretty good in terms of being able to use priority check in and boarding, so the only real benefit is lounge access. If you're flying once or twice a year you can look at groupon deals for pay lounges, or just hit a restaurant or bar.
Apr 17, 2018, 4:33 pm
#11
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: London
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 847
Look for the BA day trip fares. Domestic routss and some others like BCN, AMS and FRA can be done for £70-£80 usually on a Saturday from what I've seen. It'll provide the necessary 10TPs and should be worth it, in my view, if that cost enables the OP's girlfriend and also the OP (assuming they travel together) lounge access for a year - even if it's only used a couple of times.
Apr 18, 2018, 1:51 am
#13
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: NW London and NW Sydney
Programs: BA Diamond, Hilton Bronze, A3 Diamond, IHG *G
Posts: 6,344
I closed my account and opened a new one in 2014, and I thought I needed to take one flight in order to set the year end date that I wanted, but it turned out to be unnecessary, though I'd already booked it so just flew it anyway...
Apr 18, 2018, 1:57 am
#14
Ambassador, British Airways; FlyerTalk Posting Legend
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This stopped being the case when rolling years were abolished in favour of fixed years (2011?)
I closed my account and opened a new one in 2014, and I thought I needed to take one flight in order to set the year end date that I wanted, but it turned out to be unnecessary, though I'd already booked it so just flew it anyway...
I closed my account and opened a new one in 2014, and I thought I needed to take one flight in order to set the year end date that I wanted, but it turned out to be unnecessary, though I'd already booked it so just flew it anyway...
Apr 18, 2018, 3:29 am
#15
Moderator, Iberia Airlines, Airport Lounges, and Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Feb 2010
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BAEC agents do now apparently have slightly more flexibility than just the 2 weeks - mood music is currently in favour of this, it could be reversed at any time. This was in respect of Silver and Gold so I'm not sure Bronze is in the ambit for this. For the OP, you can take a fairly good view on whether it is worth doing a mini TP run, by computing up future seating and lounge options (and potentially not travelling Club plus to get them). In which case a LGW-EDI/GLA hop may well be the cheapest way around this. It can be done in an evening back to back.