British Airways has become the latest household name to incur the wrath of a high-profile public backlash in the wake of its decision to significantly change its rewards scheme for loyal customers. The airline revealed earlier this week that it was changing its tiering system for rewards to be based on spend and upped how much it would cost to achieve gold status. The move has prompted a strong backlash from business customers in the last 48 hours in a reaction reminiscent to the one Jaguar endured over its rebrand at the end of 2024.
Under the new rules, it would take 3,500 points for British Airways customers to achieve bronze status, 7,500 for silver and a huge 20,000 for gold. One point is the equivalent of £1 being spent on flights only marketed by the airline itself. It only applies to the base fare while surcharges imposed by British Airways are also included in the calculation as well as seat selection and luggage fees.
However, the likes of airport charges and Air Passenger Duty are not included. In a LinkedIn post explaining the changes, Head for Points editor Rob Burgess said: “This is, clearly, a pivotal move by British Airways. “It is effectively washing its hands of the leisure market and going all-in to attract the dwindling band of full fare business travellers.
“Realistically, it will now be impossible to earn gold for small business travellers, economy travellers or self-funded leisure travellers. Even silver will be a major stretch. “British Airway.
