Protocol7

Congrats, exactly same scenario for me, confirmed gold right before lockdown

golfmad

Furthermore, there is precedent here. This isn't the first time extensions have been granted but points always reset at the anniversary date.

Otherwise there would no doubt be a lot of extra people obtaining GUFs and GGL/CCR status and we don't want that do we!

Raffles

OK. I now have an official answer from BA for the 8th May / 8th June people. To quote from HFP:

"If you have an expiry date of 8th May or 8th June, your status has not yet changed.There is a reason for this. If you had an 8th May or 8th June expiry date, your membership card is still valid, until 30th June or 31st July respectively.

If BA had extended your card year this week, it would have meant extending people who were otherwise due to be downgraded on 30th June or 31st July at the higher tier.

This is what is happening, as BA told it to me:

If your tier point year ends on 8th May or 8th June AND you have retained your status or upgraded your status in your previous membership year, your card expiry date will be extended on Monday 29th.

If your tier point year ends on 8th May or 8th June AND you did not retain your status and are due to be downgraded, your card expiry date will be extended as soon as your downgrade is processed on 30th June or 31st July.

This makes sense. Imagine that you had a year end of 8th May, were Gold but only earned 200 tier points last year. At present, your card shows 'Gold member, card expiry 30th June 2020'. On 1st July you were due to drop to Silver.

If your card had been extended this week, along with all the rest, you would have had your Gold status extended. Instead, BA intends to wait until 1st July when you drop to Silver and then give you a free one-year extension. Such a person would therefore, on 1st July, see that their Silver status runs until 30th June 2022."

My full article is here: https://www.headforpoints.com/2020/0...-tier-upgrade/

T8191

CLARITY!

As an 8 May renewal (already re-qualified as Gold before year end) I admit to having found innumerable helpful inputs somewhat confusing! 30 June now logged in my Dairy!

OverTheHorizon

I appreciate this is a minority interest, but I wonder if there will be any extension to CCR cards?

Neither of us are particularly enthusiastic at the about moment doing any hardship flying (no FW, mandatory masks, bread and water on board, quarantine...) so a bit academic, but would be interested in others' views.

I retained GGL last collection year and qualified for CCR before year end.

I know CCR is not strictly a tier but it could be considered a status level... no?

alex67500

The consensus is that CCR card were renewed with the same rules as other statuses.

kyushuman

I am very glad that BA have clarified about 08MAY and 08JUN collection year accounts-- while their email stated "Everyone will get an additional year", that's exactly how I read it. But in the first week, and in the Wiki, I was told very clearly that 08JUN people just didn't luck out, and some were winners, some were losers... etc. I'm sure happy how this seems to be turning out!
Thanks for everyone for continuing to clarify.
FWIW, there is a good chance I'll try for Gold at the reduced level, but since I live in a country with a pathetic cheese puff leader, we might not be allowed to travel abroad for a while, so I really appreciate BA's offer of status extention.

dolfinco

This goes against what Golfmad and Karfa say above though.

If your TP was due to end in Feb 21 and you got to gold before lockdown then according to them you will have your gold status guaranteed to Feb 21 plus 12 months to Feb 22 but you are then requalifying in Feb 21 to Feb 22 for your next year....so surely if you have no more flights, from now to Feb 22 you would drop to silver in feb 22.

This is mental gymnastics here...

ttama

I'm sorry, I'm really confused by everything I've read so far. I blame lockdown brain. Could anyone help me with my specific situation?

My membership year end is April 8th. Until May 31st this year I had Silver status. I had intended to do a tier point run between April 8th and May 31st to make best use of my Silver benefits and retain Silver for almost two years (that's how it's worked for me in the past anyway).

I couldn't do the tier point run so I softlanded to Bronze on May 31st this year. On the BA website I see that my Bronze card expires on May 31st 2022, so the 12 month extension has been applied.

I never intended to be Bronze. I'd like to do a tier point run to get back to Silver, but I don't understand how long my new status would last and if I benefit in any way from the extension.

I have three scenarios:

1) I do the tier point run this membership year (ie before April 8th 2021). Do I keep Silver status until May 2022, or do I benefit from an extension to May 2023? Does it matter when I do it during the year?
2) I postpone it to the following membership year (April 9th 2021-April 8th 2022). I assume I keep Silver status until May 2023?
3) I postpone it until after April 9th 2022. Do I keep Silver status until May 2024?

From BA's email, it says "it will be even easier to retain your Bronze status next time you’re up for renewal, as we’ve decreased the amount of Tier Points needed by 25%. This is the same for upgrade thresholds too, making that next Tier more achievable." What do they mean by "up for renewal"? Does the reduction apply to my membership year that ends April 8th 2021, or to the year after, or to both or either?

I appreciate this is all a bit hypothetical given that we don't know what travel will be like over the next year or two, but I'd like to understand the status issue as I will shortly have three Amex companion vouchers to use (in addition to any my other half earns). My status at the time of those trips is important to me.

Thanks

FlightDetective

The Executive Club still works as per normal. Therefore -

1) Do the TP run before 8 April 2021 and you will go up to Silver with the end date being 31 May 2022 (you already have had your extension, it doesn't extend again).
2) You do the TP run the following year so that you go Silver before 8 April 2022 and you will have the end date as 31 May 2023.
3) You do the TP run after 8 April 2022, the end date will be 31 May 2024.

Hope that helps. It's no change to how things always work.

ttama

Thanks. So there's no benefit to me from the 12 month extension, other than staying Bronze (a status I hadn't intended to have and don't want) for an extra year.

I appreciate I can still benefit from the tier point reduction, to attain Silver. However I still don't understand what "renewal" means in my case. I'm guessing I can only get a 25% reduction in this current membership year, ie the one that ends on April 8th, 2021? Not at any time after that?

So it's not really worth it for me. It's not actually a benefit, as far as I can work out. By the time I feel that it's safe to fly (assuming there are flights) , I won't have much time left until the end of my current year. I may get a few months of Silver this membership year, plus the following twelve months, but I won't get the almost two years of Silver that I would have had if I'd done my tier point run this April/May as originally planned.

So yes, there's a 25% reduction in tier points in order to reach Silver, but I'll have a much shorter period in which to enjoy the benefits. Seems like you lose some, you lose some.

Or am I missing something? Is there any way I can benefit from the 12 month extension or the reduction in tier points, other than being a softlanded Bronze for 12 months longer? I'm just not seeing the "Something to make you smile" in this generous offer from BA.

ScienceTeacher

Further data point:

Silver with year end in November, on 1.475 Tier Points. Upgraded to Gold today (at 02:00!) :-)

They're clearly working through their script slowly but surely!

If anyone is interested: Card end is still 2021 (previously December 2020).

charlesrhona

Thanks for the explanation Raffles as I had an 8th June expiry date. Both I and my wife are delighted with what happened this year although BA have not been entirely consistent in the way they have dealt with this subject. Both my wife and I were on 560 tier points when shutdown occurred. Unfortunately my wife had an 8th March expiry date which ended upn with me being upgraded to silver and my wife remaining bronze. Being retired and only travelling together on 2 long haul holidays per year - 1 always with an Amex 2-4-1 - we woud both normally have retained bronze albeit that did not bother us as we always booked CW. I wrote BA thanking them and explained these circumstances suggesting that they may wish to consider upgrading my wife, not expecting that they would. Within days my wife had been immediately upgraded to silver with an expiry date on her account of 30th April 2023! At present I am showing an expiry date of 30th June 2021 but as I have an e-mail confirming this will be extended by 12 months on expiry I now expect to see this happen at the end of this month. It still, however, gives my wife the advantage of 10 months longer as silver than I will have. But no complaints as we are both delighted as it is unlikely we would have bothered to earn the additional 40 tier points to attain silver had this been a normal year.

Our next trip is to LA on 7th September this year. Too early to speculate what will happen albeit it is with Avios and a 2-4-1 which, thankfully, is cancellable up to 24 hours before departure.

pringlis

While not wanting to take the shine away from anyone who's getting expiry into 2022/2023 I am feeling a little bit hard done by as a July year end. I'd already re-qualified for silver this year so the 12 month extension that has been applied takes me to 31 August 2021 which is when it would have been anyway! It does seem odd that a 1 month difference in year end between June and July results in an 11 month difference in extension. With the US still looking bad for covid, especially Texas which is my most common destination, I doubt I'll be doing much travel until later in the year which means missing the first few months of my collection year. I had been expecting renewal until 31 August 2022 and am hoping that when I hit my actual year end on the 8th of July the system kicks in and adds that year.

massivekettle

Those who have re-qualified for their current status do not get any extension benefit. I called BAEC customer service yesterday who confirmed as much. The extension on the BA app/website is basically the one you have already earned through TPs accrual. Basically, you were better off flying less pre-COVID, and only qualifying under the new reduced TP thresholds which means you are now given an extra year's worth of benefits for free.

Besides, I, along with others in the same situation, didn't get an extra year for free. It's a tad ridiculous (and has been more eloquently stated by other posters before me) when there is such a wide disparity of outcomes, when you have some members who managed to keep their status free of charge through 2023(!) in some cases - great for them.

This is not what BAEC CS told me yesterday (see above).