British Airways Club: how to get and keep Silver or Gold before the April 2027 changes

Rules checked November 11, 2026

A British Airways Airbus A320 at a gate at London Heathrow Terminal 5, with ground crew beside the nose — A British Airways A320 at Heathrow Terminal 5. Photo by Mertbiol on Wikimedia Commons, released into the public domain (CC0).

From April 1, 2027, British Airways Silver needs 8,000 tier points instead of 7,500, Gold 21,000 instead of 20,000, and a Club World business flight earns 300 fewer extra tier points. But if you book before November 25, 2026, you keep today's rates, whenever you fly. That deadline is two weeks away. Here is what is changing, how to get and keep Silver or Gold from the UK, and how to decide between earning tier points and just taking 50 flights.

What changes on April 1, 2027

Tier points needed to reach each tier in a collection year (April 1 to March 31):

Tier	Until March 31, 2027tier points	From April 1, 2027tier points
Bronze	3,500	3,500
Silver	7,500	8,000 (+500)
Gold	20,000	21,000 (+1,000)

Extra tier points on long-haul flights, which you earn on top of 1 tier point for every £1 of fare, are also cut for premium cabins. Short-haul flights and long-haul economy (World Traveller) are unchanged.

Cabin	Fare type	Beforeper flight	Afterper flight	Changeper flight	Changeper return
World Traveller Plus	Premium Economy	275	175	−100	−200
	Semi-Flex	375	375	no change	no change
	Flex	475	475	no change	no change
	Fully-Flex	575	575	no change	no change
Club World	Business	500	200	−300	−600
	Semi-Flex	700	400	−300	−600
	Flex	900	600	−300	−600
	Fully-Flex	1,100	800	−300	−600
First	First	650	300	−350	−700
	Semi-Flex	850	500	−350	−700
	Flex	1,050	700	−350	−700
	Fully-Flex	1,250	900	−350	−700

A World Traveller Plus fare loses points only on the cheapest Premium Economy fare. Every Club World fare loses 300 a flight, and every First fare loses 350. The same applies to American Airlines and Iberia flights: premium economy drops from 275 to 175, business from 500 to 200, and first from 650 to 300.

The booking date rule

British Airways says you keep the previous extra tier points in two cases:

Your flight departs between April 1, 2026 and March 31, 2027, whenever you booked it.
You booked it before November 25, 2026, whenever you travel.

The new, lower rates only apply to flights from April 1, 2027 that were booked on or after November 25, 2026. So if you plan long-haul premium trips for next year, booking them before the deadline is worth 300 to 350 extra tier points each way. The higher thresholds apply from April 1, 2027 to everyone.

How tier points are earned

£1 of eligible spend is 1 tier point. Eligible spend is your fare plus any carrier-imposed charges, and excludes airport charges and government taxes.
Extra tier points come per flight. They depend on the haul, cabin and fare type, from 75 to 375 on short haul.
Add-ons count double. You earn 2 tier points for every £1 on bags, seats and Sustainable Aviation Fuel contributions, with the fuel contributions capped at 2,000 tier points a membership year.
Reward flights earn none. Flights with oneworld partners can earn tier points too, by each partner's own rules, but only flights with a British Airways code count toward the 25 and 50 flight routes.

The flights route: 25 or 50 flights

You can also reach Bronze by taking 25 flights with a British Airways code in a collection year, and Silver by taking 50. There's no flights route to Gold.

Divide the tier points by the flights to find your break-even. Silver at 7,500 points is 150 points a flight, and 8,000 from April 2027 is 160. Bronze is 140. If your average flight earns fewer tier points than that, the flights route gets you there sooner.

A typical flight	Tier points	Better route to Silver
Euro Traveller, basic fare £80	80	50 flights
Club Europe, semi-flex fare £300£300 plus 275 extra	575	Tier points: 14 flights

The second line is simple arithmetic: 8,000 divided by 575 is 14 flights. The flights route is built for frequent short-haul flyers who buy cheap fares.

Keeping your status

You keep it by earning the points again. British Airways resets your tier points to zero on March 31, and you earn them again in the next collection year.
Status lasts longer than a year. A tier lasts for the rest of your current membership year, which ends on April 30, plus the whole of the next membership year. If you reach Silver, your points reset on March 31 but you stay Silver for another 13 months.
Other routes help. British Airways Holidays count tier points on the whole holiday price, and the British Airways American Express Premium Plus card earns tier points if you enrol.

What to do before November 25

List the long-haul trips you want to fly in 2027. Only premium economy, business and first are affected.
Book them before November 25, 2026 if you can. Then they earn at today's rates even if you fly after April 1.
Compare the flights route. If most of your flying is cheap short-haul, 50 flights may be easier than the extra points.

How we worked it out

Every threshold, rate and rule comes from British Airways' own pages, read on November 11, 2026, and linked below. The per-return changes double the per-flight change, and the break-even divides the tier points by the flights. Our status calculator uses the rates that apply until March 31, 2027, and doesn't ask when you booked, so it overstates premium long-haul earning for flights booked on or after November 25, 2026 and flown from April 2027.

Check a flight

Enter your fare to see how many tier points a British Airways flight earns today.

Open the calculator for British Airways

Sources: British Airways, About tier points, Earning tier points on flights and Tiers and benefits.