BOOST Your BA Status Before Membership Year Ends! (Tier Point Run Ideas)

[@ianworthington2324]

Don't forget that an overnight at lhr from a regional airport can count as one of your five required hotel nights, and might even be cheaper than a hotel at an expensive destination.

[@mygreygapyear]

I did not know that, (and I love that) thank you Ian. As I say, I'm not a guru, I'm a student sharing what I've learnt.

[@redcomusic]

I've decided to reach Sapphire this year via BA instead of RJ. RJ has been erratic with crediting my flights in a timely manner and honestly, BA and RJ are similar in rigor when it comes to reaching Sapphire; it's reaching Emerald where RJ has an advantage: 46 sectors/12mo to qualify, then 80sect/24mo to maintain! My strategy as a US flyer (via American, mostly) is to book the absolute cheapest Basic Economy tickets and then upgrade to First. The upgrade charges are surprisingly low. I plan on filming a video on why I'm switching to BA from RJ, and my strategy flying AA to reach Ruby and Sapphire. POOOKE!!!

[@mygreygapyear]

Thanks for your comment Red, I'll look forward to your videos on that, also information on upgrading AA from super cheap economy flights to First, how often you fly and how often you can upgrade and for how much (don't want much do I). Thanks, Phil

[@richardstreet7518]

Helpful vlog Phill. We have a single BA domestic flight at Gatwick- Glasgow. The flight departs GLA around 7.30 am returning from LGW around 11am. - designed for transfer passengers...operated by LHR crew and aircraft. Inverness is a lower tax option and my goto . . And a cheap but teadious way of getting to or from Dublin to anywhere in tthe uk is the rail and sail for about £55...

[@mygreygapyear]

Thanks for your comment Richard, I do like the sound of the rail and sail option, I might do that just to try it out.

[@richardstreet7518]

@mygreygapyear try not to do it overnight having missed my flight by 2 mins (Ryanair) following a rugby International...

[@mygreygapyear]

@@richardstreet7518 The overnight sailing sounds brutal

[@Locutus]

I'm doing a CE TP run in November, JER-LHR-JER as I need 70 TPs to make Gold. Cost £270 return - not cheap! It would be my first time as Gold, but I don't think 2025 I will travel that much.

[@mygreygapyear]

Thanks for your comment, and while I agree it's not a cheap run, it will give you value because you'll be Gold for a year and then you'll soft land to silver so an additional year of lounge access. Best of luck with your run, Phil

[@zeldacarr6320]

I missed Gold by 100 points this year. After I have completed all my flights by the second week of February, I will be 205 points away, so I will look at options, thanks for your recommendation. I am closest to LHR but don’t want to take lots of connections!

[@mygreygapyear]

Oh no, 100 points short, I totally messed my year up too. Connections always add complications but if you're 205 shy now then you should be able to snag those quite easily in weekend breaks? Best of luck, Phil

[@Mzd10006]

Great vid as always! @02:57 does that mean if my Tier Point collection year ends in February 2025 I have a few more additional weeks to retain status?

[@mygreygapyear]

Yes and no. On the 8th of February your membership year will end and on the 9th your points will go to zero, however any points you have earned since 1st April 2024 will be added back in to your account. These will stay on there until the 31st March. Then everyone is on the new membership year dates.

[@Mzd10006]

@@mygreygapyear thanks, clear explanation!

[@13783021]

Club Europe Flight to Tblisi, earns 160 tier points, each way. Taking advantage of the Double Tier point promotion, I've booked Club Europe return, with a 5 night stay at the Swissotel Hotel, which will earn a whopping 640 tier points for £1,221.00. A cracking deal.

[@mygreygapyear]

Thanks for your comment, those figures suggest a price of less than £2 per tier point, but I'm not sure of your maths or how many tier points Tbilisi earns from London. 140 tier points is long haul, 80 tier points is short haul plus (which I'm guessing is the Tier points each way for Tbilisi). If you could let me know I'd appreciate it, Phil

[@dlc2479]

Are you sure

[@13783021]

@@dlc2479 Tbilisi is actually 140 Tier points each way, not 160, my mistake. So 560 in total.

[@dlc2479]

@13783021 still not bad, £2 ish per TP!

[@mygreygapyear]

@@13783021 I would just double check the tier points for Tbilisi I don't know the answer but head for points is usually very reliable www.headforpoints.com/2024/09/19/british-airways-adds-flights-to-tbilisi/

[@schford]

Good video! Just signed up on Patreon.

[@mygreygapyear]

Thank you, that means a lot to me, I've just messaged you over on the other place 😊

[@eeyxeb]

I live in Northern Ireland and need 185 Tier points for Gold by 8th Dec. Just sent my wife and kid to Paris for a BA holiday to get them both into Gold states. But I can't afford to take that much time off and need a simple tier run to end on a high. Your suggestion of Dublin to Cairo sounds good, but I can't seem to get it up on the BA website. Or do I need to ring up to book it or us iberia website. If it is the later, how does one get the tier points, and also, how does one now it a code share.

[@mygreygapyear]

Dublin - Cairo is with Iberia so I would start at Google flights and follow the Iberia website booking link, you'll earn tier points with Iberia and other Oneworld partners, the only issue is that this might not be an eligible flight, as although it's marketed by Iberia it's operated by Iberia Express, but I would just call the Gold or silver line and clarify the situation. You get the tier points credited to your Executive club account by adding your account details when you're booking. I understand you can add these retrospectively but I had a huge issue with Qantas a year or so back so if you can't add them when you're booking then again I'd call. Best of luck with your run, Phil

[@shehebehsuebwisshgauwbevsjs]

Love the way you say "the spreadsheet of glory"

[@mygreygapyear]

Ah, you're too kind, thank you so much 😊

[@diamonddave2622]

Doing mine on Thursday. Short Euro weekend break to get me over the line.

[@mygreygapyear]

That's great news, best of luck with your status run and have a brilliant trip

[@jamespaul9929]

Jersey to Catania was. A sweet spot as we spent a week there with a hire car on double our tps-and it was a genuine holiday-not always cheap to get that JER to LHR though-drawbacks on living on an island!

[@mygreygapyear]

Well done getting a decent price for flights to Catania from anywhere, I haven't seen reasonable prices for a couple of years. Hope you're in one piece from the driving, and I hope you had an amazing trip, Sicily was one of my all time favourite places.

[@martinqz]

There is now a second flight to KEF at lunchtime-ish on Fridays and Sundays.

[@mygreygapyear]

Thanks for letting me know, I really appreciate it, if it comes in at the right price then that could be very helpful

[@ahmadrachid]

Great video, I need 640 tier point to hit gold and i have a business trip from London to Qatar scheduled mid November which will be my final trip of the year but just won’t be enough. any suggestions on whether it would be possible to hit the 680 points needed on that trip? Thanks

[@mygreygapyear]

Thanks for your question, if you haven't booked yet you could book regional airport to Doha with a hotel on a BA flight and earn 40 + 140 each way, so 360 flights and doubled that would get you 720 tier points, but I expect that would be £3,000 to £5,000 in business with a hotel. If you want to make some tier points each way for a bit less you could consider LHR-HEL-OSL (240TP for £609) Then OSL -DOH (280TP for £1,433 with Qatar/Finnair). I don't know how you would justify this from a business point of view and this would be short of your target. Depending on how your membership year is transitioning into the new system then you may well have the first three months of next year to get you over the line. Let me know if I can be of any further help, Phil

[@ahmadrachid]

@@mygreygapyear thanks so much Phil, really appreciate the prompt reply. I will Be booking the trip this week and my budget is £3500 for flight and hotel. I will look into the option you recommended regarding regional airport to Doha doubled with a hotel.

[@jackharwood9298]

With the Double Tier Points promotion terms and conditions including: "g) Bookings can only contain one flight departing the UK, multiple journeys from the UK within one booking will not qualify." Would this mean that routes like Newcastle -> Heathrow -> Bucharest or other similar regional airports do not earn double points on the regional flight? Or on the enite route?

[@mygreygapyear]

Thanks for your question, I did call BA and check this clause with them. The clause prevents routings that leave the UK twice, Newcastle to Heathrow doesn't leave the UK, so Newcastle -> Heathrow -> Bucharest is fine. What some people were doing was booking a routing along the lines of Manchester - Madrid - Heathrow - New York, and that's the routing the clause is trying to prevent.

[@wilfbanfield9623]

FYI (ref 7.30), I understand that the double BAH tier point offer also applies to US residents whose travel originates in the US....

[@mygreygapyear]

That's interesting, thank you for your comment, I wonder if there is a separate offer for US residents, the terms and conditions I referred to states in condition 1.b) "The booking must be made by a UK resident and must originate and end in the UK." I would say to anyone reading this to do your own research and to check with BA if you have any doubt.

[@charliebrown5]

Thank You ✈️

[@mygreygapyear]

You're very welcome, glad you enjoyed it

[@BREW966]

Say I earnt gold before march 31st, does it carry into the next year right? Also with gold status how likely are you to get free upgrades on long haul flights.

[@mygreygapyear]

Things have all got a bit messed up with the changes to the membership year end dates but the rule is when you hit a status level you have that level of status as soon as you hit it and you have it for the rest of that membership year and for the next membership year. So if you achieve Gold before March 31st (achieving 1500 points in the period from 1st April 2024 to 31st March 2025) then you will be gold until the end of April 2026 (April is the grace period). Upgrades is tricky to answer, airlines don't advertise how to get an upgrade, but status is a key factor. Remember that for you to be upgraded then the flight has to be oversold in the lower class cabins meaning that people have to be moved up. Once that happens then customers are moved, often based on their commercial value or their aspirational value. Your commercial value is a score that BA gives you, apparently based on your status level and the money you make BA. Aspirational value is best explained in this video [kzbin.info/www/bejne/jau7lpZ8fNmfbc0] by my favourite KZbinr Matt Jones from Matt's planet. In short it is apparently based on the thinking that giving a customer who regularly flies business a first class seat will encourage them to fly first class more often. As I understand it if one person in your party is being upgraded they'll want to upgrade everyone, so if you fly as a couple or a big group then you're less likely to get upgraded over a solo traveller. I've been upgraded on a long haul leg from business to first once, recently. Two passengers were moved from PE to business due to an issue with their seats from LHE to SIN. I was upgraded to First for the leg from SIN to SYD. I've been upgraded in club Europe twice out of three economy flights last year. Good luck, Phil

[@jamespm1994]

@mygreygapyear - question: do bonus tier points show in the tier point estimate in mange bookings? I booked a CW return to Malta with 5 nights but only see 160 points showing.

[@mygreygapyear]

Thanks for your question, I've just had a look at my own double tier points booking to check and the bonus points aren't showing on my booking either. When you fly you'll get the flight points and then "up to 14 days later" you'll get the bonus points.

[@jamespm1994]

@@mygreygapyear that’s good to know, I just said I’d double check with you as this is the first time I made a booking with the aim of availing of double points to maintain status - thanks for your help and great content as always :)

[@eeyxeb]

If after say 18 days your ba holiday double tier points don't show, then submit a missing tier request as I had to do this twice this year.

[@jamespm1994]

@@eeyxeb will bear that in mind, thank you!

[@awaissharif4182]

Any plans for a trip to Australia mate

[@mygreygapyear]

Hoping to make it out for Christmas next year so I can watch the Ashes.

[@cultistmeat-shield]

Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think if your return flight were to be after the 31st, but before your club year would previously have ended, they will be credited to both this club year and next.

[@mygreygapyear]

Thank you for your comment and your support, I'm going on the Head for Points site here but I believe that everyone will be on the new membership years from 1st April 2025, so any flights taken from 1st April will be part of your new "new" membership year, all transition periods will be finished. www.headforpoints.com/2024/04/02/british-airways-executive-club-membership-year-change/ However it could be that I've misunderstood your comment and what I'm doing here is agreeing with you 😊 Do let me know if this needs to be clarified as I want to present the best information possible.

[@PatriciaLane-x2p]

I’m lost so going back to business abroad etc I’m trying to save to visit my daughter in new Zealand ! I’m pensioner in council flat so any tips welcomed . She’s been home for five weeks after five years ! I miss her it’s just her and me so I want to see her again before I croak ! ♥️🇬🇧

[@mygreygapyear]

I have a daughter in Melbourne so I totally get how you feel, not seeing your daughter for five years is rough. If your budget is limited then saving hard and looking for the cheapest time of year with the cheapest routes is your best bet. If I've misunderstood and you're looking to find business flights using points or something else, let me know.

[@ScottMatthews-gk8ef]

If you can, apply for the free BA American Express & Barclaycard credit cards, shop at Sainsbury’s & anywhere that allows you to collect & convert Nectar to Avios. Pay bills where you can to earn Avios, obviously paying off your cards with real money. Economy Reward flights can be fairly reasonable but a return in Business with Qatar (link to Executive Club to transfer) can be had for 160K Avios.

[@jennifermckenzie2255]

Hi Phil at the beginning of October BA zeroed my tier points. Today they have given them all back. I’m now 15 away from silver. Im happy but confused as to why?

[@mygreygapyear]

Thanks for your question, I have to admit that I'm not an expert surmising I'm a guesser guessing here, but my guess would be that your tier point year end was October? If that's the case then they probably zeroed your tier points and then added the points you'd earned since the 1st April this year. If that isn't the case then I don't know but BA IT is notorious for failing, so it could be that. Either way, get your tier points (make sure you have the 4 eligible flights you need) and enjoy your silver benefits. Good luck and all the best, Phil

[@HannahMannah]

Realy useful TY: blond moment is the flight from Oslo to Malaga on one booking? Can't get to work through ITA Matrix without burning ££££

[@mygreygapyear]

Thanks for your comment and support, it sounds like I've made a snafu if I've said Oslo, it would be Stockholm and not Oslo. All of these should be bookable via the carrier starting with Google flights, no need for Matrix.

[@HannahMannah]

That’s my not your error! So I book through Finnair TIA

[@mygreygapyear]

@@HannahMannah lol, I often put Oslo in my bullet points by mistake so I just assumed it was me 😂😂😂. And yeah you can just book through Finnair.

[@HaiderAlDelfi]

Nothing cheers me more than you on a cold Monday evening 🤤🤤🤤

[@mygreygapyear]

Thanks mate, appreciate it

[@EnclosureBlue]

You seem clued up, you may be answer a question I have, I was a Sept year end (& for the first time, I hit BA Gold), my realigned TP have me presently at 950, onv TP cpllection now ends 31 Mar 2025 BUT my card expiry date shows as 30 April 2026 ! - Does this mean I have Gold until 30 April 2026?

[@mygreygapyear]

Thanks for your question, if your card says Gold with an expiry of April 2026 then that should mean you're Gold until then. Things have all got a bit messed up with the changes to the membership years but the rule is that you when you hit a status level you have that level of status as soon as you hit it and you have it for the rest of that membership year and for the next membership year. If you achieved Gold in your year to September 2024 then you should be Gold to September 2025 with a grace period to the end of October 2025. If you earn 1500 tier points from 1st April 2024 to 31st March 2025 then you will be Gold until the end of April 2026 (April is now the grace period). The 950 tier points that you mention will be the points you earned between the 1st April and today, but that means you don't have enough for Gold so I'm not sure how you can be Gold to April 2026, but hey, BA IT is pretty bad so if you keep your status for a bit longer then take the win 👍 All the best, Phil

[@EnclosureBlue]

@@mygreygapyear Thanks for that, I get the feeling it may be an IT error in my favour? I I'm just hoping it doesn't change !

[@mygreygapyear]

@@EnclosureBlue Fingers crossed

[@mickyk73mjk]

How do you collect tier points with iberia eg towards your BA executive account. Theres no option on the app. Also no option with my American airlines account. Its confusing. Thank you in advance.

[@mygreygapyear]

I have booked an Iberia ticket this year, I'm just wondering if I booked it through BA? I'm not sure but I definitely got the tier points. Usually there is a frequent flyer membership section where you can pick Executive Club and then put in your membership number.

[@mickyk73mjk]

@mygreygapyear Thank you Phil. Only just started flying again this year after the you know what the passed few years but IV been a BA exec member for a few years. I'm very new to tier points. I'm currently blue but have booked club return from NCL to LHR and a 5 night club world holiday to Prague. I'm hoping with the double tier points to reach silver status which should benefit flights later in the year to JFK. Thanks buddy. 🙂

[@tombyrd69]

I need 55 tier points to hit silver before 8th December. Can suggestions that won’t break the bank please? Thanks in advance

[@mygreygapyear]

I would look at UK internal flights or possibly to Dublin. I'm away at the moment, but being that close means you should increase you cost per tier point if you have the available funds

[@ScottMatthews-gk8ef]

I wish you’d uploaded the FINNAIR STOCKHOLM SHUFFLE before I’d booked my pending Tier Point saga! I’ll bear it in mind for next year though 👍🏻

[@mygreygapyear]

It's a useful run for sure, I heard about it from someone who uses it in part to renew Gold Guest List (5,000 tier points to get it, 3,500 tier points to renew) as you can get 600 tier points in a long weekend from London

[@ScottMatthews-gk8ef]

@@mygreygapyear I think I’ll worry about Guest List status another time! I could probably manage it once but retaining it even with the reduced requirements would still be a stretch & a half. The Dublin to Cairo with Iberia was another good shout despite a previous negative long haul experience with that particular carrier. If you’re travelling Long Haul BA Club anytime soon, please make a video about their reduced catering options as it sounds absolutely awful, unfortunately.

[@mygreygapyear]

@@ScottMatthews-gk8ef I've just done a long haul to Aus with BA and I don't have anything on the books at the moment, though I am tempted to book a cheeky New York redemption purely for the brunch/supper experience.

[@ScottMatthews-gk8ef]

@@mygreygapyear Please review it if you do but that’s a lot of points for a pancake! 😱 About to try American’s International Flagship First while it’s still around - I’m hoping for more than brunch or supper en route to MIA…

[@RandomLifeProductions]

It’s a right pain in the backside, I’m shown o pints until the end of March and am shown with 0 tier points despite having over 900 qualifying points for Gold…. I got this gets sorted soon

[@mygreygapyear]

I would definitely get in touch with BA, possibly on the Silver or Gold phone line, and try to get this sorted as soon as possible. If you've flown with a Oneworld airline rather than BA then they typically want a paper boarding pass.

[@RandomLifeProductions]

@@mygreygapyear thanks for that it seems after I posted this my tier points have been readjusted… so now got 660 to re qualify before March. Heathrow Dublin Heathrow Lax Heathrow Dublin Lhr you know the drill a flight to Newcastle and one to Edinburgh plus a couple of economy ones. Like a full time job this

[@mygreygapyear]

@@RandomLifeProductions Good to hear you're tier point issue is sorted, best of luck with your runs

[@Locutus]

You only have 6 months to claim missing Avios and TPs. You might be able to claim them after 6 months under special circumstances. Last year, I was missing loads of TPs. I requested them to be credited within the 6 months via the Website, then I did call about a day or two before the 6 months to chase up. Didn't hear anything back after a month, so I called them again. They said what was the reason why I hadn't contacted them previously? I said I did. I phoned and used the Website. They said that they don’t usually do credits after 6 months, but as I had contacted them previously, they will put it on the claim's notes. Within 2-3 weeks, my account was credited with my Avios and TPs, and was Silver. I am not sure if it was correct they credited me, but since my membership year was coming to an end, I didn't have time to do a TP run to get Gold. I knew I would have been very close to Gold.

[@DameTremonti]

Just spent £1500 with BA to Abuja, haven't signed up to the points scheme, can i back date it and is it worth it?

[@mygreygapyear]

If you haven't flown yet then you can sign up to the executive club and then add the flight to your account, you may need to make a call to BA, I'm not sure. You can only assign your flight to your executive club number, if you're flying with a partner they will also need to sign up to get the Avios and tier points. I do think it's worth it, it's something for nothing with nothing to lose 😊

[@DameTremonti]

@@mygreygapyear thanks for the advice. I'll contact BA. Cheers

[@ambalina]

I am not really sure what is the benefit in getting BA gold, silver is more than good enough and T5 first class lounge is not that great.

[@mygreygapyear]

Thanks for your comment, it's a very fair point, I imagine I'll sit happily with Silver status in a year or so and not worry about the additional cost for going gold. I discussed the differences and posited this very question in a video a little while ago, kzbin.info/www/bejne/i5Kbe6pom7KEhNU Drop me a comment on that video to let me know your thoughts. Thanks Phil

[@chrisgreenwood9835]

FWP!

[@mygreygapyear]

First World Problems? Oh, for sure.

[@rogerwild1966]

All these are vialble now that srilankan has trebled the auh to cgk price

[@mygreygapyear]

Thanks for your comment Roger, the news of the fare change on Abu Dhabi to Jakarta with Sri Lankan is trickling down, it is bad news indeed for tier point runners, but Matt over at Matt's planet found a run from Taipei to Bangkok with Malaysia Airlines that offered good value, if you can get there...

[@mikeslattery2769]

Can you do all these flight bookings on line or do you have ring the airlines

[@mygreygapyear]

@@mikeslattery2769 Thanks for your question, I'm confident that you could book all of those online, which is my preference.

[@rogerwild1966]

@@mygreygapyear That's one I'll have to look at for next year now. Thanks