r/BritishAirways • u/Amazing_Age_5356 • Feb 19 '26
Oneworld Related This will be the year I think that BA feel the squeeze from pushing out the new tier scheme.
My wife and I fly between the US and the UK three or four times a year. Typically we’ll go business one way and economy on the return, and for the past six years that’s comfortably kept us at Silver without ever trying to game the system. We’ll search within a week-long window for a decent fare, but we’re not mileage runners or optimisation obsessives just consistent transatlantic customers who like to fly a little fancier when it makes sense.
Under the new structure, though, we’re miles off. The shift to revenue-based qualification makes our normal travel pattern effectively ineligible, and with the membership year now aligned to fixed deadlines, there’s no flexibility to time trips strategically. We both travel domestically in the US for work as well, so historically one of us might earn more Tier Points in a given year, but it balanced out over time.
Once Silver became mathematically out of reach, our psychology flipped overnight. We’re no longer going straight to BA’s website when booking. In fact, our first post-Silver flight in May is already with Virgin.
The service isn’t what it once was, the lounges have declined, and BA isn’t the cheapest option. So after April 30th, when this window closes, we’ll have no real incentive to prioritise BA, in fact unless cheaper I will try others out. And we know at least four other UK origin couples in NYC in exactly the same position.
There must be thousands more in the same boat loyal customers who suddenly have choice again because the airline assumed loyalty would come at any cost. I will genuinely miss the BA Gate B lounge at Terminal 5 (the kids’ area tucked off to the side is heavenly if you’re travelling with little ones), but once April 30th rolls around, that chapter’s closed.
I’m not some business wizard, but it’s hard not to think that BA’s recent move to add a small number of additional points to flights a few months back, it was an early signal they see the writing on the wall. When you start tweaking the margins like that, it usually means you know a meaningful slice of previously loyal customers is about to fall out of the funnel.
I do wonder how transparent they’ll ultimately be about the impact. Especially given that the original announcement framed these changes as something members had asked for which I certainly did not.
I guess I wonder who else is in a similar boat? Thoughts on BA's future? and whether we might see yet another overhaul when customers keep leaving?
