British Airways new Tier Points system explained

British Airways (BA) introduced changes to its loyalty programme, which allows frequent fliers to access travel perks like free seat allocation and express check-in and boarding, on 1 April 2025.

The airline first announced an overhaul of its Tier Points system in December 2024, branding it “hugely positive” for its customers booking package holidays.

BA improved the offer in February 2025, after critics warned it was less good news for some customers hoping to get benefits such as free lounge access via the rewards scheme.

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The system now also includes a refreshed “sectors travelled” element that provides a new route for customers to climb through the ranks and achieve a higher tier.

We explain how the new BA Tier Points system works, and how you can make the system work best for you.

What are BA Tier Points?

Tier Points are a type of reward scheme for BA customers that allow them to unlock rewards by flying and spending money with the airline.

Rewards can include free seat allocation, priority check in and boarding, and access to business lounges.

When you set up your account with The British Airways Club, you will start at the most basic ‘Blue’ tier. Loyal customers can climb up to the top ‘Gold’ tier. As you enter new tiers, you will be given access to more and better rewards.

Tier Points are different to BA’s Avios scheme.

BA Tier Points automatically reset to zero once a year on 30 April – which is known as the end of the membership year. If you joined a certain tier in one year, you will remain a member of that tier for the next membership year, even after your points return to zero on 30 April.

For example, if you achieved the ‘Silver’ tier in one membership year, you will be able to access the benefits of that tier for the following 12 months, regardless of the membership year ending.

How does BA’s new Tier Points system work?

If you fly with British Airways in any capacity at all, you are automatically eligible to start earning BA Tier Points – you just need to set up an account with the airline.

You can also earn Tier Points by booking BA’s package holidays. This includes their “Flight + Hotel” and “Flight + Car” bookings.

Earning BA Tier Points with flights

Using your unique account code, you can earn Tier Points based on your flight’s eligible spend – this includes the ticket price and any money you spend on seat selection, extra luggage, and seat upgrades. It does not include any taxes or non-carrier-imposed fees you may incur.

For every eligible £1 of eligible spend on your flights, you will be rewarded with one Tier Point.

Additionally, as part of a limited time offer, customers who register and book flights by the end of 2025 that depart before the end of 2026 are also given bonus Tier Points depending on the cabin class that you fly in.

For example, if you book flights with BA’s cheapest cabin class (EuroTraveller) you could get a bonus of 75 Tier Points. If you book a first class ticket with BA, you could be rewarded with a 550 bonus Tier Points.

BA provides an example of a flight from London to New York in their World Traveller Plus cabin.

A return flight costs £1,418, making the eligible spend £1,120 after taxes and other non-carrier fees are removed.

As the flight is in the World Traveller Plus cabin, you will be given an extra 550 bonus Tier Points if, like mentioned previously, you book a flight that departs before the end of 2026.

You could therefore earn 1,670 Tier Points on your purchase – made up of 1,120 from the eligible spend plus 550 bonus points.

A full list of the bonus BA Tier Points you can claim depending on your cabin class can be found below:

Earning BA Tier Points on a package holiday

Under the new system, you can now earn also Tier Points with BA’s package holidays, meaning customers can accrue more points faster as the cost of a hotel stay will be included.

You now earn one Tier Point for every £1 spent on the total price of a British Airways Holidays “Flight + Hotel” and “Flight + Car” booking, with the calculation based on the total amount paid before travel and not on any charges payable at the accommodation.

There is no minimum time requirement to earn the points, so you can get your Tier Points on a short weekend trip or a long holiday.

Tier Points are split evenly between the number of people on the booking (excluding infants under two years old). BA gives the example of a £5,448 flight + hotel package for two people. This value is divided by the two travellers so each one gets 2,724 tier points.

If you have registered for BA’s bonus offer, you will also be granted 550 bonus tier points per BA Club member, bringing the total points per person to 3,274.

What’s the difference between BA Tier Points and Avios?

Both Tier Points and Avios are rewards schemes for British Airways’ customers, with consumers able to accrue points when they travel with the airline.

However, Tier Points and Avios are two separate schemes and serve two different purposes.

Tier Points are used to unlock new benefits when you fly with BA such as free seat allocation or access to business lounges.

Avios, on the other hand, acts more like an extra currency that you earn as you fly more with BA. You can use your Avios points to deduct some money from the cost of a flight and bring your ticket price to a minimum of £1.

You can collect both Avios and BA Tier Points.

MoneyWeek explains how Avios points work in a separate guide.

What benefits do British Airways Tier Points offer?

The type of benefits available depend on the tier – the Blue Tier has the fewest perks, with higher tiers offering more.

British Airways Blue Tier

The benefits of being a Blue Tier member are:

• Collecting Avios
• Sharing Avios through a household account
• Member-only offers
• Purchasing Avios
• Gifting Avios
• Transferring Avios (free for Gold members, a fee applies for other tiers)
• Combining Avios
• Reward Flights
• Access to the Avios mobile app
• Priority waitlist
• Free Wi-Fi messaging onboard

British Airways Bronze Tier

As well as the benefits outlined in the Blue Tier level, Bronze members get:

• Free seat selection seven days before departure, except for group rate bookings and exit row seats on long-haul flights
• Priority check-in (excludes London City Airport)
• Priority boarding (excludes London City Airport)
• Status freeze for maternity / paternity / adoption
• 5% discount on almost all purchases at The Wine Flyer

British Airways Silver Tier

In addition to Bronze and Blue benefits, Silver Tier members can enjoy:

• Additional baggage allowance (baggage benefits do not apply on hand baggage only (Basic) fares)
• Lounge access when flying with British Airways and our partner airlines
• Reservation Assurance
• 10% discount on almost all purchases at The Wine Flyer

British Airways Gold Tier

As well as the other benefits in the other tiers, Gold Tier members get:

• Free seat selection at the time of booking, except for group rate bookings
• Status freeze for maternity / paternity / adoption
• Lounge access when flying with British Airways and our partner airlines
• Reservation Assurance
• 15% discount on almost all purchases at The Wine Flyer
• Use of British Airways First and other oneworld first class check-in desks
• No booking or service fees for priority reward bookings
• Gold priority reward
• Additional Reward Flight availability in economy
• Gold upgrade for two voucher (at 35,000 tier points in one year)
• Two gold upgrade for one vouchers (at 50,000 tier points in one year)
• One Gold British Airways Club partner card and two Silver member cards (at 65,000 tier points in one year and 40,000 tier points thereafter)
• Concorde Room access (at 65,000 tier points in one year and 40,000 tier points thereafter)

How can BA American Express Premium Plus Cardmembers get more Tier Points?

In December 2024, the airline said BA American Express Premium Plus Cardmembers would be able to earn up to 2,500 Tier Points by spending on their card – and said more details would be announced “closer to the launch date”.

However, at time of writing in June 2025, this particular scheme is still yet to be announced or confirmed. MoneyWeek has contacted British Airways for more information.

We explain the differences between different American Express credit cards in another guide.