by Changes to British Airways (BA) to his loyalty program, which make it more difficult to earn coveted bronze, silver and gold status, have triggered a strong debate.
We asked frequent BA flyers – and a loyalty expert – for their views.
“I hope that the airport lounges will be less crowded”
Adam Marshall, 27, a managing director from London
“I am a BA Silver Card holder and satisfied with the general changes in the program under which I do not earn animal points for pounds that were spent with BA.
“Changes in my business that mean that I fly more from and to Asia. This means that I will earn gold status this year. My only loss is that I will not earn enough animal points under the new system to get a gold upgrade voucher.
“I regularly travel on BA for short -haul and I will continue to do so. I don’t want to use Lufthansa or Air France because I appreciate the convenience of the direct flight and do not want to join Frankfurt or Paris.
“Since fewer people enable silver or gold status according to the new rules, I am excited to see how the lounges change. I hope they will be less crowded.”
“As a leisure traveler, there is now no way for me to earn gold.”
Caroline Hill, 58, a marketing manager from London
“I have been a BA gold card holder since the past 10 years. I have earned it from a mix of self-financed travel together with the generosity of BA, who kindly extended my status due to personal problems a few times.
“I have been a BA fan for years and encouraged all my friends to fly with BA when they travel when they were satisfied with Easyjet or Ryanair. I was happy to pay more for the advantages when I remained loyal.
“After I couldn’t travel for a few years, I was concentrated on gold in 2025. By Christmas I was ready to book trips to Thailand and the USA. So I was destroyed by announcing the changes to the BA club on the ground.
“As a leisure traveler, there is no way for me to earn gold through the new sales -based system. The new goals are far beyond my budget. I will now even have difficulty making silver. So I have resigned to book my travel book based on convenience and costs.
“I still love BA and get a big excitement when I arrive in T5, so I will continue to enjoy it as long as I can. But I’m really sad that my gold status goes out. The changes have taken the wind out of my sail.”
“Travel with BA used to be a must – no longer”
Michael Crooks, 60, a translator from Oxford
“I have been a BA Silver Card holder for eight years and actively undertook unnecessary flights to get just over the number of the necessary animal points. I am part of a family of three and we mainly fly World Traveler Plus (Premium Economy) and long distances.
For us, the free seat selection became the main advantage of silver status. It can save a few hundred pounds for us as a family. There is no way to make the BA amex cash expenditure necessary now. When my silver status ends, I can occasionally immerse yourself for World Traveler Plus or Club when I travel alone, but as a family we have to accept randomly assigned seats.
“Traveling with BA used to be a” must “, but now it is now becoming an option. How many am I on Skyscanner to search in general for all airlines.”
“How many once loyal BA flyers will Emirates or Jungfrau now consider?”
Rob Burgess, editor of the Frequent-Flyer website Headforpoints.comthe 20 BA flights a year
“BA is determined to bring its program from a loyalty program for airlines to a high -suffering recognition program. This is far too blunt in an industry if a good reward scheme is based on the incremental income of all members and not just the major expenses.
“It is an even blunt instrument in aviation, in which their biggest expenditure is normally business travelers who are forced to do with them due to a company business. The ‘Swing Money’ comes from those who can choose from which carriers should fly with which carrier should fly, how small business owners and premium free time. How many of the once flying out of the west can fly with flying, Become in the West.
“Ba knows that passengers are angry. Cracks seem to grow in the new program. BA has already sweetened the introduction of the new system by offering bonus level -Points -Points -Verzen promotions. Last week it announced that many BAiMex credit card holders would give 500 level points as” Geste from Goodwill “in uncertainty and irritation.
“With Easyjet plans to start a loyalty program on a status -match offer to BA members, the need for a strong BA loyalty program is greater than ever.”
