British Airways is set to launch major changes to its loyalty programme – and there has been a dramatic reaction.

Flyers have called it a ‘kick in the teeth’, ‘totally stupid’ and a ‘betrayal’. But one travel expert, Gilbert Ott, the Founder of godsavethepoints.com, has described the reaction of some flyers as ‘adult babies throwing toys’.

So, what’s the fuss about?

In a nutshell, BA is changing its loyalty programme to a purely revenue-based system called The British Airways Club, which will launch on April 1st and is ‘based on members’ feedback’. So, the more you spend on a flight, the more loyalty tier points you earn. The previous system – the British Airways Executive Club – rewarded travellers proportionately for distance flown and the cabin type booked.

What’s at stake? BA has three loyalty tiers – Bronze, Silver and Gold.

The benefits for Bronze include business-class check-in and priority boarding whenever you fly, free seat selection from seven days before time of departure on BA flights, priority at baggage arrival services desks, and members can save their seating and meal preferences on the BA system.

Silver members have use of over 170 lounges worldwide, business-class check-in whatever cabin they’re in, two pieces of checked baggage in economy for everyone on the booking, a weight allowance of 32kg per checked bag in any travel class, and an almost-guaranteed economy seat (even if the flight is full).

Gold members, meanwhile, have access to first-class lounges, access to arrivals lounges, and access to first-class check-in (no matter the cabin).

THE ‘BETRAYAL’

Gilbert explains that the new spend requirements per year are £3,500 for Bronze, £7,500 for Silver and £20,000 for Gold, with £1 spent earning one tier point.

Before, he reveals, flyers could ‘game the system’ by ‘adding in lots of [cheap] connections on long-haul journeys to artificially inflate points value’.

He continues: ‘For example, instead of flying Heathrow to LA, people would fly London to Madrid, Madrid to Philly, Philly to Phoenix and then Phoenix to LA, to earn more points.’

In the new system, Rob Burgess, editor of www.headforpoints.com, notes that ‘realistically, it will now be impossible to earn Gold for small business travellers, economy travellers or self-funded leisure travellers’, adding: ‘Even Silver will be a major stretch. Business travellers have their flights paid for by their employers. Many of these are tied to BA or Oneworld via a route deal. Many get huge end-of-year rebates, which means their headline spend is not what they actually pay. BA is rewarding “loyalty” from people whose loyalty is contractually enforced on them.

‘Remove status from those people who do have a choice of airline – leisure travellers, small business owners – and their reasons for flying British Airways shrink dramatically.’

He also notes that BA has capped credit card tier points at a ‘pathetic’ 2,500, asking: ‘If someone wants to put £200,000 through their BA Amex to earn Gold status, why not let them?’

Michele Robson, former air traffic controller and Founder of travel site www.turningleftforless.com, has issued even more forthright criticism of the changes.

In an open letter to BA CEO Sean Doyle, she says: ‘So why are people so angry? You may think it is because you moved to a spend-based system, but this would be completely wrong. The majority of us knew there would be a day when this would come and accepted that, but we never thought that in one swift blow, you would make the new tier levels so unachievable for most of your loyal members that it would be pointless even trying.

‘People are also extremely upset about how the change was framed. Firstly, suggesting that members had requested this, then implying it was a cause for celebration. Your members are not stupid, treating them as such is a risky move. Nobody said, “Please make the loyalty scheme completely unachievable for most of your members.” What many of us have said is that the lounges are too busy.

Lounge access is one of the perks of Silver and Gold membership. Above – the BA Galleries lounge at Heathrow Terminal 3

‘No longer will I plan my year of travel solely with BA and Oneworld to keep my status. Normally, at this time of year, I’d be looking at the sales and planning some trips. Not anymore. You have set me free to explore the world of other loyalty schemes. I have already flown many other airlines due to my job, and I’m sorry to say the vast majority have been as good as or much better than British Airways. I’d estimate my flying with BA will drop by around 80 per cent once I lose my status.’

In her post, she quotes a frequent flyer who describes the change as a ‘betrayal’, adding: ‘Others summed it up as a loss of a community, and for me personally, this is also a big part of the betrayal. More than many other airline frequent flyer programs, there was a real sense of community among BA Executive Club members.

‘There are several large Facebook groups (one with nearly 50,000 members). I also run one for Gold cardholders and above. Many of us made lifelong friends with a shared passion for travel and BA through these groups. From April 2025, those communities will be decimated.’

Frequent flyer ‘Leo’, writing on godsavethepoints.com, described the loyalty programme change as ‘totally stupid’, reasoning that ‘a frequent flyer program is for frequent flyers… they are now just selling memberships’.

Another user, Mavis, wrote: ‘I’ve been Gold for many years and managed to retain it through a mix of business but mostly leisure travel and have never done elaborate “tier point runs”, apart from maybe a quick short haul biz to get over the line if it was looking like I’d fall short a few tier points. I’ve enjoyed the perks such as priority boarding, seats, and lounge access. But under the new model, I will just not be able to retain Gold, or perhaps not even Silver. It does feel like a real kick in the teeth by BA, that all those years of loyalty mean nothing.’

‘GROWN ADULTS ACTING LIKE CHILDREN’

Gilbert Ott, by contrast, believes that the new system has ‘winners and losers’ and has declared that many BA members are overreacting.

He wrote in a counter-point piece: ‘I watched grown adults act like children after a sugar crash or babies throwing toys, all because an airline made a data-driven commercial decision to ensure that people are extracting program value in more logical proportion.

‘Many are finding out they simply aren’t as “elite” as their fantasies would like. For those who felt genuinely loyal to the airline, weren’t actively gaming the system and now feel dumped – I have empathy. For everyone else…

Gilbert Ott wrote: ‘I watched grown adults act like children after a sugar crash or babies throwing toys, all because an airline made a data-driven commercial decision to ensure that people are extracting program value in more logical proportion’

‘Many people who drank enough of their own Kool-Aide to believe they were truly VIP for life, just by engaging in shenanigans to beat a system for the lowest cost, while maximising every bit of reward at the greatest cost to the airline won’t be able to [from April].

‘Was that loyalty? Please, cry me a river. Despite this, they’re still likely very important and deserving of perks, but not quite top-tier VIP. That’s the whole point of stratification. It’s a data exercise to figure out how many people giving how much, deserve how much in return. I mean, geez, it’s not like BA would have years of historical spending and behavioural data to analyse… oh wait.

‘Taking this out of the air for a moment, imagine you’re the general manager of a restaurant.

‘How would you feel if a customer comes in, buys just a water but then demands to drink all your booze for free, running up $100’s in tabs, taking up all your tables for paying customers and then demanding to invite a friend in to do the same. All because they showed a minimum modicum of loyalty a year ago?

‘At the very least emotional level, that’s going to create tension.

‘For many, on small hobbyist forums masquerading as broad gospel – which they’re not – this game has never been about loyalty, but about rinsing a program for all that could be taken with the lowest economic input to that program.’

In an email to MailOnline Travel, Gilbert added: ‘It’s a net positive for many, but there will be winners and losers. A huge positive is that hotel spend booked through British Airways Holidays will count, not just flights, which will help people let more of their travel count towards perks.

‘And a high-spending traveller will be able to earn more perks in one flight than they may have across an entire year before, but someone flying on the cheapest economy tickets will really need to fly a lot to achieve the higher tiers in the new system.

‘For 90-plus per cent of travellers it’s a non-starter because they weren’t hitting elite status anyway. But, many who got used to the cushy lifestyle will now be stretched to still hit it, unless they show more loyalty to BA. I’d argue that’s kinda the goal of BA. But people don’t like that!’