BA Exec Club Status – Part 5 – Earning Tier Points

by MilesFromBlighty

Tier points are the way in which BA calculates your status – the m?ore you earn the higher status you secure.

So how do you earn Tier Points?

The only way is to fly – with BA or one of the oneworld partner airlines.

Tier Point awarding airlines

You need to earn following number of points to secure status:

  • Blue – zero
  • Bronze – 300 including 2 BA flights
  • Silver – 600 including 4 BA flights
  • Gold – 1,500 including 4 BA flights

How many Tier Points do I earn?

The number you earn is dependent on class of service and distance travelled. BA publishes a helpful calculator which you can access here.

Examples include (all shown for Blue members):

SHORT EUROPEAN FLIGHT

LHR-AMS Blue

LONGER EUROPEAN FLIGHT

BA IST Blue

LONGER FLIGHTS

BA Longer flights

LONG FLIGHTS

2016-01-03_13-29-19

FLIGHTS TO AUSTRALIA

BA SYD

Some of the most useful ways to accumulate Tier Points is by using Instant Upgrade fares on American Airlines. For example, they have fares which are near full-fare coach but which secure an instant upgrade to First Class. By doing this using AA flights over 2,000 miles you score a large number of Tier Points – see below:

AA 2000 MILE flights

There are reports that these fares sometimes get rebooked in to Coach if flights are cancelled. This means that you will secure only the smaller number of Tier Points shown for Economy.

In addition, if you are not careful when booking with BA they will book AA flights as BA codeshares which book in to Business Class and not First. This reduces the number of Tier Points as shown above.

There are a few tips when looking to accumulate Tier Points:

  • Check the length of the flight. Don’t get caught with a flight under 2,000 miles – like Miami to Phoenix, when you could book a flight over 2,000 miles
  • Check for ways to maximise Tier Points – London to San Francisco in Business Class will earn 140 Tier Points. London to New York and connecting to San Francisco will double this to 280 Tier Points.
  • Flying New York to Las Vegas can be managed direct on American Airlines, earning 210 Tier Points. Flying via LAX, because American runs three class planes from JFK to LAX, nets only 140+60 = 200 Tier Points.
  • Flying to Australia in Business Class earns 240 Tier Points but booking the trip as LHR-SIN-SYD earns 300 Tier Points. You have to get off the plane in SIN anyway so why not book a connection?
  • Flights within Europe that earn 80, rather then 40, Tier Points, include Athens, Istanbul, Helsinki, – all great weekend destinations if you can get a paid upgrade offer after booking take it. You’ll earn the enhanced Tier Points.