Who are the winners and losers of the BA Club changes? It’s a question that naturally followed our previous article, Is BA loyalty worth it?, where we explored how recent British Airways Club Tier Point changes have reshaped the way frequent flyers think about loyalty.
Based on a poll of more than 550 BA Gold and Gold Guest List members, the headline finding was clear: many travellers are now flying more non oneworld airlines and questioning whether BA loyalty still makes sense. What followed was just as interesting as the poll itself.
The comments that followed were just as revealing. Some travellers are reaching status faster than ever and feel the changes finally reward their spend. Others, particularly leisure flyers and long-time BA loyalists, are stepping away quietly, while a few are making sure absolutely everyone hears about it 😅. Loyalty hasn’t disappeared, but it has become conditional, pragmatic and, for many, entirely optional.
By reviewing the themes emerging from all the comments, we look at who is actually winning and losing under the new BA Club Tier points structure, and what that tells us about the future of airline loyalty.
The winners
High-spend corporate travellers
If you fly frequently on short notice, often on flexible tickets (paid for by yourself or work), the new system rewards you properly. Several commenters noted that they previously paid eye-watering fares Monday to Thursday and still struggled to clear Silver. Under the new spend-led model, they are hitting Gold quickly. From BA’s perspective, this is logical. High revenue, predictable travel patterns, low servicing costs.
Business flyers who don’t chase the perks
Another quietly favoured group are travellers who fly a lot but don’t engage deeply with the programme. They may skip lounges, rarely check bags and sometimes go straight to the gate. From BA’s point of view, they generate revenue without consuming much of the benefits budget. Gold or even GGL becomes a by-product, not a goal.
Travellers who can consolidate spend
Those who control their own bookings and combine flights with hotel spend are also doing well. Several comments mentioned reaching Gold in record time by stacking eligible spend across trips. For this group, BA Club feels more efficient than before.
Pragmatists, not romantics
Some flyers have always viewed loyalty as maths, not emotion. They stay while it makes sense and continue until their status drops to reconsider. With the changes, they feel no attachment either way. This group has adapted quickly and without much noise. They are not angry. They are simply optimising.
The losers
Leisure travellers chasing Gold on personal spend
This is where the biggest shift has occurred. For those who previously reached Gold through a handful of long-haul Business class trips, upgrades and careful Tier Point planning, a 20,000 Tier Point target changes everything. Gold hasn’t become impossible, but it has become far harder to justify.
Tier Point optimisers
Mileage runs, creative routings and clever segment strategies no longer deliver the same returns. The programme now rewards expensive flying, not smart flying. For many long-time BA loyalists, that represents a fundamental change in philosophy.
Premium leisure flyers
There’s a particularly uncomfortable middle ground occupied by travellers who pay real money for premium cabins once or twice a year. They contribute meaningful revenue but no longer feel close to meaningful recognition. Several comments reflected this quiet frustration.
Emotional loyalists
Perhaps the most significant loss is among those who stuck with BA even when it wasn’t the best option, because loyalty felt mutual. For these travellers, the emotional contract has been broken. Loyalty now feels transactional, and once that happens, convenience and value inevitably take over.
People stuck between Gold and Gold Guest List
Multiple comments highlighted the widening gap between Gold and Gold Guest List. For some, the extra spend required to bridge that gap no longer feels proportionate to the benefits received. Instead of spending more, they are spending differently.
The bigger picture
The new BA Club clearly rewards high spend, predictability and corporate travel. It is less accommodating of leisure flyers, optimisers and those who previously built loyalty through careful planning rather than raw spend. That may be a rational commercial decision. But it does come with consequences.
Importantly, when status costs more and delivers less, people change how they fly. And once loyalty becomes conditional, airlines have to compete again, not just on thresholds, but on product, reliability and how valued frequent flyers actually feel.
People will inevitably become more demanding. When the price of entry climbs into five figures, patience wears thin. Spending upwards of £20,000 to reach Gold status brings an expectation of something meaningfully better than the everyday experience. And that expectation is now being tested.
So, who do you think are the winners and losers of the BA Club changes?
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