BA Membership Year Changes Explained.... Plus 6 Consequences of the Changes

Рет қаралды 10,915

Күн бұрын

On Monday February 5th BA announced a seismic restructuring of how membership years work in their Executive Club loyalty programme. From March 2025, every member's year will be aligned with every other member's. This will be great for some, terrible for some and many won't really care....
In this video I'll explain what the changes are, and how they effect you. Or at least I'll try to.... Plus I'll talk about the 6 major consequences I foresee which arise from these changes...
I don't usually like making rapid reaction videos like this, as it is quite possible that I've made an error in my haste to get this video out there - I'll pin a comment in which I'll track any errors I've made...
Head for Points Article Referenced: www.headforpoints.com/2024/02...
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⏰ Timestamps:
0:00 - Intro
1:15 - What Happened?
4:23 - Implications part 1
8:48 - Implications part 2
13:05 - Implications part 3
DISCLAIMER: Links included in this description might be affiliate links. If you purchase a product or service with the links that I provide I may receive a small commission. There is no additional charge to you. This video may not be copied or reproduced without written permission.

Пікірлер: 260

@liammaher3021 5 ай бұрын

Hair & Makeup had little time to prepare for this emergency video, but they rose to the challenge!

@MattsPlanet 5 ай бұрын

Thanks! You should see me without make-up!

@peterbrown6224 5 ай бұрын

Thanks, Matt, for this grim analysis. A point that I *hadn't* realised until you mentioned it, is that the BA TP-heavy flights will be fought over like dogs with a bone. I've had enough of the world's favourite airline (November renewal), and I feel sorry for the many people, like Shane, who will be affected more than I will be. In a way, it's liberating - no more of this "bugger, they're not OW" when I see a bargain.

@MattsPlanet 5 ай бұрын

Cheers Peter and thanks for watching anyway! April is going to be bonkers, certainly in 2026....

@lamontcranston4436 5 ай бұрын

I think I speak for a lot of people when I say we were waiting for this one with baited breadth - thank you so much! Doesn't seem too bad at the moment but if this is the thin end of the wedge and a move toward revenue based tier status then that's pretty catastrophic for a miser like me! Thank you again

@MattsPlanet 5 ай бұрын

Thanks mate. This is manageable for many of us even if it does take a bit of working out!

@doddysteeth3022 5 ай бұрын

Precise and detailed. You must sleep well after working that out. My head hurts. Well, it is Friday😃

@MattsPlanet 5 ай бұрын

Thanks Doddy - as I said, I don't much enjoy making these as accuracy is job one, but I do sleep quite well once they're released!

@TheStormChasingVeterinaryNurse 5 ай бұрын

Thank you for clarifying. Thankfully, my year renews on 8th April anyway, so I don't think it will change things too much.

@MattsPlanet 5 ай бұрын

As close to no impact as anyone will experience!

@user-oh7jk4by8n 5 ай бұрын

Thanks Matt for another excellent video! I will be going through it several times to catch all the nuances. You make a great point that it's the company's club not 'mine' or 'ours'. Their call to act corporately. Ours to decide how we make it work for us going forward and your insights will help massively with those decisions.

@MattsPlanet 4 ай бұрын

Thanks for the kind words... Make the best of what we can!

@Allan-Lauder 5 ай бұрын

Thanks Matt, I recently discovered your channel, must have watched 20+ vids lately, your ITA matrix video was excellent and I share your pain with multi city ! For me it’s a matter of time before BA move to revenue tiering, I can see from an IT perspective why concentrated year ends make sense, allows room for other changes to be made during the year. Travelling March/April/May from 2026 will be expensive, May have to sacrifice a few months Status when planning tier runs.

@MattsPlanet 5 ай бұрын

Thanks Allan and thanks for watching! Matrix is a gem, isn't it??? I agree with everything you say, I just hope it takes them decades to get there!

@robp4682 5 ай бұрын

Thank you for the update and explanation

@MattsPlanet 5 ай бұрын

Thanks for watching!

@madds6678 5 ай бұрын

Thanks Matt, I’ve been anxiously waiting for this as soon as I saw that email in my inbox I was filled with dread thankfully I know a man who can break it down & explain the changes into layman’s terms. I’m hoping my November end date will offer me a slightly longer period to retain gold for 2025, will watch the video a few more times for it to hopefully sink in, Thanks Madds.

@MattsPlanet 5 ай бұрын

Thanks for the view(s)!! November loses a chunk of soft landing time but you have a longer time to prepare for it!

@joshuaumney7176 5 ай бұрын

I’ve been waiting all week for this video, thanks Matt

@MattsPlanet 5 ай бұрын

I hope it delivered!

@eddieffblog2006 5 ай бұрын

Cheers Matt. Most useful as I’m Apr but other half is a different month. Like your Point #5 re effective grace period. Love your XLSX illustration. Fellow XLSX Geek. Way better explanation you’ve done than I could understand at HfP.

@MattsPlanet 5 ай бұрын

Thanks for the kind words.... Excel for the win.... About 10 years back I was really bored so wrote an excel macro that solves sudokus - not by forcing them either, but by finding the solutions logically... It really is amazing what Excel can do! But I digress.....

@tomorrowsdigital8982 5 ай бұрын

Thanks for a great and clear analysis as always Matt. As someone who will be 'affected' negatively what irks is the retrospective nature for my circumstances, however, great to see some very interesting and cheeky status match+ offers from other airlines. Perhaps an own goal by BA.

@MattsPlanet 5 ай бұрын

Thanks. It is hilarious that Virgin has come out with such an attractive offer, indeed suite of offers as there's bonus points available for the booking you need to make to match across.... Don't know if you remember the early 90's and the whole "dirty tricks" kerfuffle but I'm having flashbacks!

@MattNav 5 ай бұрын

Cheers Matt for such a great comprehensive explainer (watched the whole thing from end to end 😅). As someone who gave up on the elite status hamster wheel with a Tier Point year end in September I was certainly curious about these changes but I still think I was right to walk away from chasing status with BA. I still have status with ITA Airways as they yet again extended my SkyTeam status for another year 🤣 but the only "status" I have renewed is my easyJet Plus membership as that has been very helpful for me and my travels

@MattsPlanet 5 ай бұрын

Cheers Matt... I noticed another ITA extension for myself too - odd and its got the whiff of error or oversight but I'll take it as long as they give it!

@ozbolli 3 ай бұрын

I'm glad people like you exist. I tend to look at the finer details in life. Especially when companies change their contracts you have with them and you're just expected to conform. I wonder if their servers will deal with such a significant shift!

@MattsPlanet 3 ай бұрын

Thanks - I'm glad I exist too!!! I'm in a debate elsewhere about whether the executive club is actually a contractual relationship or is just something governed by terms and conditions. BA can easily change the rules if the relationship is the latter but is in trouble if its the former.... I'm not a lawyer though so someone else will need to decide!

@wessexTim 5 ай бұрын

Thanks Matt you certainly made it more clear......Just happy that renewing our Silver status will be easier now with the dates being the same......

@MattsPlanet 5 ай бұрын

Everyone's reaction is "No!!!!" but when you work it through, the impact to many will be net neutral to positive

@timtony7153 5 ай бұрын

Hi Matt, Great video as per your usual very high standards. You manage to explain something tricky in such a way even I understand! I take away that BA does what it always does, that is to take their clientèle on a journey they do not want to be on! Hope you are kerping well, Regards Thomas

@MattsPlanet 5 ай бұрын

Thanks Thomas. Doing well here - videos like this take my mind off other things very effectively!!!

@markshinn 5 ай бұрын

Been waiting for this video all week, thanks Matt! I imagine I'm one of the few people actually really pleased by this, because I just booked my biggest ever tier point haul in April and then found it'll essentially be at the start of both mine and my wife's status year. What a bonus for us! Can understand plenty of frustration out there though. Thanks for all the great content BTW. Your Matrix ITA and tier point run videos helped me find some cracking tickets going ex-EU in premium cabins for little more than the cost of economy, plus two bonus city breaks! Makes us happy travellers 👌

@MattsPlanet 5 ай бұрын

Thanks Mark - excellent news. Its easy to react negatively to any change, but when you analyse it there are some clear winners! You were lucky to have picked April rather than late March but smile and enjoy the trip!

@markshinn 5 ай бұрын

@@MattsPlanet Our April date was picked by the solar eclipse, so I guess you could say the stars really are aligning for us on this trip! (Boom boom!)

@juakkers1 5 ай бұрын

Thanks Matt! I found that the excel charts really helped me to visualise the impact of the overlap period better that just a written explanation. But maybe thats because I'm a fellow accountant 🤓

@MattsPlanet 5 ай бұрын

There's always time for a chart.... I'll come up with a way of getting a waterfall chart in a video one day...

@Glawnerd664 5 ай бұрын

Fantastic help, thanks Matt!

@MattsPlanet 5 ай бұрын

Thanks for watching

@charlesontravels 5 ай бұрын

Great video Matt! Explains the wider impacts of the changes really clearly.

@MattsPlanet 5 ай бұрын

Thanks for taking the time to comment - you're never sure you've explained things right when you're making these - I've watched it perhaps 8 times now and have completely lost any connection with reality doing so!!!

@MattsPlanet 5 ай бұрын

Thanks for taking the time to comment... I can never be sure I've explained things clearly when I'm making them!!!

@kevinmc407 5 ай бұрын

Thanks Matt, I knew I'd understand your analysis more easily

@MattsPlanet 5 ай бұрын

Thanks - that means a lot!

@da480 5 ай бұрын

I will re-qualify by June, will keep until March-26 while keeping an eye on further changes mentioned in point #6. If I see predicted negative developments, I will get a status match with Sky or SA and will move my business there. Simple.

@MattsPlanet 5 ай бұрын

Thanks - knowledge is power!

@gordonyuen6302 3 ай бұрын

excellent video! thank you for explaining in such simple terms

@MattsPlanet 3 ай бұрын

Thanks - I hope it helped. Not the most fun video I've ever filmed!!!

@dospalmascb 5 ай бұрын

Many Thanks for another insightful and informative video. I've had enough of BA at the moment, they sent me an email with a change of seat for a trip in september, looked at my booking and it showed a slightly different flight time but wouldn't let me see the seat until i accepted the change. And that's when i spotted the change in Aircraft and seat type, downgraded from a club world seat on a 777 to a club europe blocked middle seat on an a321 neo. Not best pleased as the price has remained the same. Only booked with BA on this route because of the club world seats and not fussed about old style or not as it was still a lie flat seat on a 5.5 hour flight. we shall see what transpires when I eventually get to speak to someone. Thank goodness Ive only paid a deposit and not the whole whack.

@MattsPlanet 5 ай бұрын

BA seems to have decided to give that route to ElAl and Virgin by downgrading it to an A320... With a stop in Cyprus...

@stevecraven3502 5 ай бұрын

Matt. very well put across. I'm glad my status changes at the same time as yours, Made things so much easier to follow. I only usually go for Silver status and my trip to SAID Sofia in March will keep me there for now. I will wait and look into what I want to do for the following year. I can just see March and April now at airports. Tier Point runners, Bloggers/Vloggers every where with cameras out and commentary going. 😆 Steve. C. YNWA

@MattsPlanet 4 ай бұрын

Cheers Steve - I think we can swerve the April chaos in 2025 but there might not be much choice in 2026....

@richardstreet7518 5 ай бұрын

Very helpful thanks Matt. AS someone with a November year end ggggrrrrrrr....Perhaps BA have identified that the end of February and March are traditionally quiet so they may welcome an increase in tier point runs during that time...

@MattsPlanet 5 ай бұрын

If you're right, BA may not realise what they've unleashed into March and April!

@harrysaviation9709 5 ай бұрын

Thanks for the explanation!

@MattsPlanet 5 ай бұрын

Hope it helped

@Julian-ck6lf 5 ай бұрын

Another great and informative video Matt.

@MattsPlanet 5 ай бұрын

Thanks - was nervous about this one as I don't like making these things quickly!

@mars2100 5 ай бұрын

As always, very informative

@MattsPlanet 5 ай бұрын

Thanks. Hope it helped!

@andrewmoorhouse920 5 ай бұрын

Excellent, thank you

@MattsPlanet 5 ай бұрын

Thanks

@andrewbell52 5 ай бұрын

Hi Matt, Great job on the hair 👍and love the new intro 👏 . BA status increasingly irrelevant . The recent RJ status match to my Emirates Gold account is much easier to achieve

@MattsPlanet 5 ай бұрын

Thanks and thanks. This is testing everyone's loyalty to BA! Good to know there are options, but BA has tied so many people in with the lifetime tier points concept it may be difficult for many!

@californiaswed 4 ай бұрын

Thank goodness for your charts!!! lol Another helpful great video. And as you said, I can't fault them for changing things because others have abused the loopholes. Don't think I will be very affected with this though as I have end of year in may. I already have my gold TP for next calendar year and started booking for retaining it in 2026. But have noticed the price increase in the off-peak months when I usually fly, and booked for this april. So hoping that will change for the fall bookings i want to make.

@MattsPlanet 4 ай бұрын

Thanks! A few people have reported fares being high, although whether supply and demand have had the time to react to this is my question.... It may just be that airlines are more optimistic overall of demand behind higher next year

@californiaswed 4 ай бұрын

@@MattsPlanet I also noticed and thought it strange that the "lowest fares" (even regular prices) on the routes I searched for stayed the same from now and 11 months forward. I had never seen that before. It usually fluxuates between peak/off peak and current/advanced purchase.

@thefox17906 5 ай бұрын

Thanks as always Matt ✨

@MattsPlanet 5 ай бұрын

Thanks for watching!

@RichardJHJ 5 ай бұрын

Another great update!

@MattsPlanet 5 ай бұрын

Thanks!

@ss-xy2im 5 ай бұрын

Well explained, thanks.

@MattsPlanet 5 ай бұрын

Thanks for watching!

@gazzis 5 ай бұрын

Thanks for this Matt. I also earn Gold soon and faced with a Sep year end look like I’ll get a truncated soft landing period. I’ll have to take that up with BA at some point. The Jakarta run could become very popular indeed!

@MattsPlanet 5 ай бұрын

Sri Lankan won't know what's hit them come April!!! If BA yields on extending that soft landing in the third year, let me know!

@lynnpugsley7109 2 ай бұрын

Awesome content as usual

@MattsPlanet 2 ай бұрын

Thanks!

@GG-hi5if 5 ай бұрын

I am MY ending 8 July 2024. I would requalify regardless through until end of August 31 2025 (old terms). I may book extra travel in May/June this year which would now count because of the adjustment period) and secure Silver until 31 March 2026. By then, we should see where the spend tier point spend per £ comes. Looking at Aegean now…

@MattsPlanet 5 ай бұрын

I suspect we're not at the end of the changes yet so a "wait and see" approach is very wise...

@GG-hi5if 5 ай бұрын

Well yes, I may just stand still and see what happens. Thankfully, my employer pays on average 30-50% of my tier points a year. 210/450 I currently have are from my employer. the remainer were earned in economy or premium economy; so silver does have benefits for me. The Avios to £ change was a bit of a pain; espeiclaly as it was quickly epxanded out to iberia and american; but tier points per £ would be crippling and definitetly force me out of the scheme - as intended. @@MattsPlanet

@danmushm4843 5 ай бұрын

Soft landing changes not confirmed I think. Elders on flyertalk seem to think that BA will honour the current soft landings. (Different to what HFP seem to be leaning to)

@MattsPlanet 5 ай бұрын

Thanks - as I say in the video the implication is that the soft landing will be abbreviated but a wall of complaint will hopefully change BA's minds! I tend to err towards the HfP team versus the flyertalk elders too!

@JTsJourneys 5 ай бұрын

thanks Matt, perfect video as usual. I still can't believe the comms team at BA thought the initial announcement was good enough to communicate the changes. It took the hfp guys questioning them to actually get the answers to the questions people had. Madness. I'm watching this space for £ based status...

@MattsPlanet 5 ай бұрын

Indeed - I meant to email Rob to see if BA had briefed him on this before it was announced, but I suspect they didn't given he had to question it after the announcement.... They often do brief things like this out (not to me though!!!) so if they didn't this time, they must have been concerned about it....

@ukdavepianoman 4 ай бұрын

I've been getting quite enthusiastic about the BA Exec scheme and OneWorld - but now some of that enthusiasm is starting to wane. My membership year ends Oct 8th and I'm working to achieve Gold Status by around May. So looks like I will still have gold status until Oct 2025, but my soft landing duration will be curtailed to 6 months or so. A bit annoying but I guess I can live with it. I'm more concerned about price based status as I rather like these double TP vacations and will be most upset if they disappear. Excellent video as always and I do welcome an Excel spreadsheet.

@MattsPlanet 4 ай бұрын

Indeed - I think the pluses still greatly outweigh the negatives but the direction things are moving in may not be perfect for us - more reason to take advantage now while you can!

@user-mirastas 5 ай бұрын

Hi Matt, thanks for the video. Well well well. My QY ended 7.2.so I am off to Australia and Bali via Abú Dhabi with Sri Lanka Airways and British airways from Prague... So, I would get 4 flights with BA and Tiers with them and Srí Lanka Airways to Jakarta. This change makes me anxious. On the top off everything, Srí Lanka Airways cancelled 2 flights from my schedule and selected different days! So for everyone stay flexible and let a lot of time - days to connect with Sri Lanka airways flights!!! My flights are connected days apart with BA and Qantas so so far I managed to accommodate these changes. But it meant to get an extra visa for Sri Lanka for a day. Therefore any news like this from BA it makes me nervous as I linked a their point run with further travel and spend extra money and did not take the most obvious route.... Business class Avion ticket with Qatar airways straight to Melbourne.... From Vienna 😊 as originally planned with A350.....Safe travels to all of you. MIRA from Prague.

@MattsPlanet 5 ай бұрын

Thanks. Sri Lankan have some serious maintenance issues so are cancelling a lot of flights right now.... They've also leased in some aircraft to maintain services.... I was lucky that all 4 of my flights went as scheduled but its getting tougher to do that trip without a lot of time padding to accommodate Sri Lanka's hiccups

@Joe-lb8qn 5 ай бұрын

Funny I saw an email from BA that said year end or something and deleted it without reading. So this is what that was about. Thanks.

@MattsPlanet 5 ай бұрын

Ha ha! That may not have been the best one to delete.... But their 300 words turned into a 17 minute video!

@Joe-lb8qn 5 ай бұрын

@@MattsPlanet yeh I collect Avios not TPs (don't fly BA enough*) so I've no idea why I'm watching this at all 😂 * I have a BA flight in April for probably first time in 5+ years.

@tonyracks2956 5 ай бұрын

thanks for the breakdown ... as i was bambolzzed by it all

@MattsPlanet 5 ай бұрын

Hopefully you're less bamboozled having watched the video!

@tonyracks2956 5 ай бұрын

i,am now thanks how are you i hope you are well@@MattsPlanet

@Greenfield-11 5 ай бұрын

Thanks, Matt! I'm a feb end date so i think I have untill 31/03/25 to collect 600 points to retain silver

@MattsPlanet 5 ай бұрын

From 1 April to 31/3/25 would be the new new year

@jordyboy01 5 ай бұрын

Good explainer Matt. For something that should be simple its got many in a state of head and chin scratching. Its a change that has come at a terrible time for me. I'm a summer member year similar to yourself, and I'd worked on a 3 year cycle like you brought up so this member year I made use of lots of redemption as I was happy to soft land. Some of these redemptions are in this transitional double counting period. There is no way I would have made them as a redemption if I knew these changes before hand as I could have easily qualified back to gold in March 2025 if they were cash fares ontop of my other spending in what is going to be my "new" year.

@MattsPlanet 5 ай бұрын

Thanks. I know a number of people are appealing the abbreviation of the soft landing and I'd love to think BA will be sympathetic as it is a big deal for a lot of people.... Fingers crossed!

@peetbothma1500 5 ай бұрын

Interesting as always Matt👍 For purely comparative purposes, SAA Voyager program worked on this basis since inception. Everybody's year end date for Status is 31 December every year. No grace period. They have also gone the route of actial cash spend to calculate miles earned rather than actual miles flown about 5 years ago. In the end all corporates will do what is best for them and their shareholders😂🇿🇦

@MattsPlanet 5 ай бұрын

Must have been really tough to maintain status when SAA wasn't actually flying anywhere!

@peetbothma1500 5 ай бұрын

@@MattsPlanet They were actually very generous and extended Status through the "You know what" as well as their challenges. More than fair👌🇿🇦

@Admirable_Director93 5 ай бұрын

Hi Matt, Leaving a comment to help promote the video. Legally, I suspect they have something along the line of "we reserve the right to change the terms of this promotion at any time" to coveI r themselves. As an aside. I've worked in tech implementing these kind of changes. It's often when forced to code these systems that tech people understand the full implications and edge cases rather than the product people who design the programes. I think your understanding of how eveyrone could possibliy be effects and ability to explain it would make you an excellent product owner if you chose to pursue that career.

@MattsPlanet 5 ай бұрын

Thanks for that! In a past life I did a few large ERP system implementations, including an abysmal experience with SAP that still makes me twitch 20 years later... So that sort of thing is behind me rather than ahead of me, and probably explains why I have some empathy with the end user in these situations!

@Admirable_Director93 4 ай бұрын

@@MattsPlanet that makes a lot sense

@moobaz8675 5 ай бұрын

I've become disillusioned by BA for a while. I stopped flying with them in April 2023 following shocking service and feeling that my Gold status really counted for very little. I now just book flights with the airline that fits my schedule best. I still get access to the lounge on biz class flights and also with my Amex card. To be honest, I can't wait to stop flying.

@MattsPlanet 5 ай бұрын

Quite a few people share this view and if you can routinely travel in business then status becomes far less important...

@CallumT5 5 ай бұрын

Great explainer video Matt! Love a good Excel chart

@MattsPlanet 5 ай бұрын

Excel for the win!

@nezbrun872 3 ай бұрын

This change has already altered my behaviour. I am BA Gold but I don't have any TPs for my current TP year, ending in September. Instead of booking trips this year in February or March, I delayed travel until April, earning 1550 TPs within a week thanks to BA Holidays' double tier points offer. (Thankfully I didn't end up booking any cash trips over last Christmas and New Year, I used Avios instead.) o LHR-DOH-BKK-DOH-LHR on BA-marketed Qatar in J with five nights' hotel (1120TP) and inside that: o Day trip BKK-HKG-BKK on Cathay (80TP) o Evening in Tokyo BKK-HND-BKK on JAL in J/F (350TP). Total 1550TP in six days.

@MattsPlanet 3 ай бұрын

Smart with a side of luck! That probably comes with a decent price tag, but if you value your time highly that may not be a problem. Fun too....

@JB_Stitch 5 ай бұрын

Great explainer!

@MattsPlanet 5 ай бұрын

Thanks!

@ML66B 5 ай бұрын

Thanks Matt!

@MattsPlanet 5 ай бұрын

You're welcome!

@Mph_cars 4 ай бұрын

Great video 👍

@MattsPlanet 4 ай бұрын

Thanks - hope it helped!

@kingpooke 5 ай бұрын

Another good video explaining, but I'm still confused how much it'll affect me with a January date and the when I take my flights. I just usually aim for Silver, so I don't think (hope) it'll be too much downside. I will understand it one day

@MattsPlanet 5 ай бұрын

If your travel is reasonably consistent through the year and you don't just scrape into silver, a January year end probably won't make much difference.... Worth working it through though one day when your mind is fresh!

@firefighterexperienc 4 ай бұрын

Thanks Matt... I'm still a little confused however I'm sure it will sink in eventually..

@MattsPlanet 4 ай бұрын

My advice would be to find a quiet 20 minutes and just work it through - the Head for Points article is really helpful as it shows a step by step for each year end. Overlay booked and planned travel and see what the consequences will be for you personally.

@VisualApproach 5 ай бұрын

Having been a gold card holder for almost 10 years and trying to make head and tails of this change, I sort of think, " i dont really care anymore." These days I'd rather earn status organically through trips I'd do anyway and choose the most convenient / best value flight (be it OneWorld or not). Ive already qualified for what is/was the 23/24 year and what will be will be after that.

@MattsPlanet 5 ай бұрын

Thanks - quite a few comments along these lines... And with priority passes you can very easily equalise out the lounge advantages of having status....

@red.guevarra 5 ай бұрын

Here in the US, we're used to our tracking year being the predictable 01Jan-31Dec at most of the schemes, which makes tier point running toward status at our airlines here a madhouse as there are obviously 2 major travel holidays in November and December. Luckily for me at least, my Royal Jordanian is still on a "set your own year" basis, as is Air Europa (my SkyTeam scheme). - Red

@MattsPlanet 5 ай бұрын

Just booked a reward flight on Royal Jordanian actually! Sticking with BA despite all this for a little while yet I think.....

@gtofficialuk 5 ай бұрын

Matt you’re doing god’s work - thanks for the video - hope you’re doing good :)

@MattsPlanet 5 ай бұрын

Thanks - I'm not sure its quite that good but I'll take the praise!!!

@ryanbraithwaite3559 5 ай бұрын

Thank you Matt

@MattsPlanet 5 ай бұрын

Thanks for watching!

@ryanbraithwaite3559 4 ай бұрын

I’m hoping you could help me get my head around a calculation please, Matt: I’m currently in my ‘All of Next Year’ - my year end is 08 Sep, so on 08 Sep 2023 my TPs went to 0, but I’m keeping Silver until 31 Oct 2024, another 7 months or so. If I leverage the double TP offer and renew my Silver between Oct-Dec this year, how long will I keep Silver for? Or is it worth not having status between Oct 2024-Apr 2025 (that’s when it’ll reset for me, right?) Sorry to be a pain, owe you a pint if you could lend a hand. Thank you.

@jamespaul4421 5 ай бұрын

Just spoke to a poor girl at BAEC and she was struggling too! Even BA are using the head for points website!

@MattsPlanet 5 ай бұрын

Hopefully they'll use my video too!!!! Its tough for us to understand our own single year end puzzle, so it must be impossible for them to understand all 12!

@realman6ft6 Ай бұрын

Ba’s terms and conditions state they can change rules at anytime without notice so no comeback.

@MattsPlanet Ай бұрын

Indeed. Just a wave of negative sentiment from their loyalist of customers, which seems a strange choice for them to have made....

@RandomLifeProductions 5 ай бұрын

This is a right pain in the neck had all my travel planned to achieve Gold in October so no losing six months of gold status, I think i may do a status match to Virgin.

@MattsPlanet 5 ай бұрын

Virgin sounds like they'd welcome you with open arms!!!!

@user-og3pb3kr2h 5 ай бұрын

So I need to trigger my Amex tier point bonus after 1/4/24 but before the scheme end date of 21/5/24 so that they will count once in my current year (ends 8/12/24) and again in the transitional period adjustment period of 1/4/24 to 8/12/24. Nice explanation btw.

@MattsPlanet 5 ай бұрын

Indeed - timing those points smartly could make all the difference

@steve-marsh 5 ай бұрын

I'm spending my Saturday night watching spreadsheets

@MattsPlanet 5 ай бұрын

You know it makes sense!!!!

@sergeyontheroad 5 ай бұрын

Thank you Matt! Another wonderful video! And top marks for use of Excel. Did you use any formulas? 😂

@MattsPlanet 5 ай бұрын

Cheers Sergey. Completely formula free this time - just adult colouring in really!!! Although a formula might have saved me some time.... Next time!

@nickm9618 4 ай бұрын

Excellent video as always Matt! We were looking at business flights and using BA hol double tier point offer. The only thing we're not 100% on - the flight out is on 26th March 24, and back for the start of April. Would this mean that the outbound flight TP would be rewarded and accounted for March, and not in April? Therefore missing the new tier point adjustment period? I presume that the double points bonus will come in April, as will the TP from the April return flight, but the outbound in March will be left in March?

@MattsPlanet 4 ай бұрын

Both outbound and return flights should count into your current year, as should the bonus tier points. Anything happening after April 1 will also count into the next year which will overlap with your ongoing year - the degree of overlap depending on when your current year ends...

@-yoyo 5 ай бұрын

The change is to align with Ibera, the plan is to have one single IAG loyalty program

@MattsPlanet 5 ай бұрын

That seems to be a goal - whether its one scheme or two very, very similar schemes is a question... BA competes with Virgin so may need to reflect some features arising from that that Iberia doesn't...

@-yoyo 5 ай бұрын

@@MattsPlanet I hope it’s one very better scheme - although IAG loves to fleece its loyal customers as a reward for loyalty

@BrutalTurtle 5 ай бұрын

Cheers Matt

@MattsPlanet 5 ай бұрын

Thanks for watching!

@AndyMacinnes1 5 ай бұрын

I have to say, your hair looks immaculate ! Well done!

@MattsPlanet 5 ай бұрын

It took me hours! Thanks

@WestMidsTraveller 5 ай бұрын

Great video Matt! We are in the similar position to Shane. Our year ends 8 October. We have RTW tickets (starting 10 October and last leg ending before the end of November 2024) booked completely in our grace period and were smugly planning to renew Gold for a 2 year period, but now that status will end in April 2026. Listening to your advice, do you think we should complain now or after we have completed the travel in November?

@MattsPlanet 5 ай бұрын

My mate Shane has formally written to them about this and I'm sure he'll update as he gets a response.... I'd certainly raise it now, probably in writing as its not an urgent issue.... I suspect that people pre-booking travel that far ahead with status in mind may not have been front of mind when they planned this, so raising awareness of the issue now would be helpful

@okeesmokee6658 5 ай бұрын

Delta is playing games here in the US. Huge push back, so Delta modified it slightly. However, we used to "collect" Million Qualifying Miles (MQMs) and those are no longer part of the scheme - Delta keeps telling us that we will be able to roll those into ongoing status, but the date keeps getting pushed out. Very frustrating as I may or may not be able to keep my current status for 4 more years - depending on if Delta keeps its word, which I no longer have faith in. This was good - sounds like your transition is just as painful.

@MattsPlanet 5 ай бұрын

Thanks.... Sadly airlines like Delta seem to be setting the trend... At least if they make the mistakes, then as and when BA catches up they'll avoid the same mistakes...

@vincevinnyp9224 5 ай бұрын

I feel very lucky I just made Gold for life so this will affect me less, which is lucky with my November renewal. But due to a bit of a heavy planned year I will probably make GGL this period, and with a lot of the travel after May I hope the double counted tier points will mean I won't only have it until March 2025 or I would be miffed.

@MattsPlanet 5 ай бұрын

If its achieved in the current open membership period you should be ok....

@davidbalcon8726 5 ай бұрын

My question has been around the requirement to fly 2 (Silver) or 4 (Gold) BA/IB segments in addition to Tier Points. Will the BA flights I take between April and my member year month (June) also credit to earnings for 25/26 status year? I know the Tier Points will but will credit earned from BA flights also be applied in the same way to that requirement? I have read nothing that deals with this aspect. Thanks for walking us through this rather arcane process, something a few of us back here have been grappling with between consulting various blogs and FlyerTalk.

@MattsPlanet 5 ай бұрын

Thanks David. I would assume that the flight qualification requirement will flow alongside the tier points, as they accrue concurrently with the earning of the tier points.... Which may produce some winners and losers....

@paulmk5841 5 ай бұрын

Very good video Matt. Thank you. Looks like I'm buggered with a tier point renewal in Nov. I am wondering if the extended grace period will be an offset (of sorts) for the status lost period. It's a pity the soft landing goes from gold to silver... It would be nice if us who are GGL had a soft landing to gold, especially as we have contributed highly to reach that status. Thanks again.

@MattsPlanet 5 ай бұрын

Thanks - As I say in the video I'm trying hard to convince myself that the extended grace period balances the shortened status period.... I really hope BA has its tolerant hat on as there'll be lots and lots of weird scenarios where people will be disadvantaged by this, including perhaps yourself

@SpiderMacKenzie 5 ай бұрын

Hi Paul, I'm nor sure Matt has this one right. The GGL team told me on the phone yesterday that if reached my 3K tp by 8th Dec 24. I would maintain my GGL until 30th April 26. They said no one would be worse off. This in line with BA"s text . "Any Tier status you receive during the transition period will expire on 30 April 2026" Also HFP wrote - "Jane Doe has a collection year ending 8th Dec 2024. Jane crosses the 1,500-tier point threshold and qualifies for Gold in late November. Any status earned during the transition period will remain valid until 30th April 2026, regardless of Jane’s collection year." I have just emailed the GGL team to double check

@paulmk5841 5 ай бұрын

@@SpiderMacKenzie Hi buddy. Many thanks for the heads up. If what you say is correct, that would work fine for me, as I will hit my 3k TP's by May or June. With a current TP year end date of Nov 8th. My only worry is, the thought that BA may at some point will change the goalposts. It would be great if you leave a reply here as & when you hear back from the GGL team. Many thanks.

@SpiderMacKenzie 5 ай бұрын

Hi Paul. Here;'s the reply I received "Regarding the new Tier point collection period. As long as you earn Gold Guest List renewal by the 8th December 2024 so 3000 Tier points and 4 eligible flights you will then be Gold Guest List until the 30th April 2026 (card validity date)" Paul so this is good news however this has raised another head scratcher. Note she wrote "card validity period". My concern is if if I dont earn any TP between my short collection year 9th November 24 to 31st March 25. Then could I be deemed to have fallen short (500tp ish) of the 3K tier points to maintain GGL. In my case I might make 2.5k tp between 1st April 24 to 8th Dec 24. So even though I have GGL "card validity" until 30th April 2026 this is in effect an extended grace period and I'd need to earn 5K TP between 1st April 25 to 31st March 26 to keep GGL come the start of collection period 1st April 26 I have fired off another email @@paulmk5841

@paulmk5841 5 ай бұрын

"Card validity period". Sounds like typical corporate speak. This is where it will get tricky for GGL members. An exception should be put in place for those members who have flown considerably for the past few yrs. All they appear to be doing, is front loading our memberships until 04/26 (which is all good & well) until people realise that a yr at 3k has been wiped off. hence having to start from scratch at 5k again. I wonder if this would apply to all GGL members or wether some folk get a better deal due to thier current year end date.@@SpiderMacKenzie

@kiranraichura8665 5 ай бұрын

I'd never heard of a grace period! It sounds like if you dint accumulate the points required in a year, at present you also get an extra 50ish days? I dont really get why that even exists so why dont they just bin it entirely?

@MattsPlanet 5 ай бұрын

Its a concessionary period after the end of your year, when your old benefits prevail (so you can travel with good or great lounges, extra baggage, seat selection, bonus avios etc) yet tier points earned fall into the new year. Has always been the sweet spot for a renewal

@andrewsharkey5761 Ай бұрын

Hi Matt, hope you’re well sir. Random question if that’s ok? With the changes coming around getting tiers points, when you get points twice does that include the BA holidays double up of tier points? For example, I just returned from a BA holiday and was given 360 points for the flight then 360 again because of the holiday offer. So will I get 360 or the same as I just got ( 720). Hope that makes sense

@MattsPlanet Ай бұрын

I think they should count twice. BA is terrible at getting the bonus points into the same period as the original flight, but they should all count twice

@andrewsharkey5761 Ай бұрын

@@MattsPlanet lovely, cheers Matt

@immikhanUK 5 ай бұрын

Thanks Matt - super helpful. I'm a 08-July Y/End, so I suppose I earn tier points from 1-April, counting towards 2025 membership year. My main big flight is once a year, maybe twice, if I use Barclays on top of AmEx, both giving lounge access. Realistically, I might only two or three max additional trips to Europe at the moment + 1 Economy to Pakistan. So although, I spend much time planning status(!) I may not actually need it! Or, do I?! I suspect I do want Silver at some point just to have it! To be part of the upper echelons of society! *Joking/not joking.

@MattsPlanet 5 ай бұрын

Cheers - silver does make things nicer!

@scubasplash69 5 ай бұрын

Hi Matt, great explanation of the changes. A while ago you did a great couple of videos on Star Alliance memberships and the reasons why you went with who you did. Any plans on doing the same sort of thing for Sky Team?

@MattsPlanet 5 ай бұрын

Hi there. I actually started gathering the data to create a similar SkyTeam video.... Probably shouldn't have started alphabetically as the first two were Aerolineas Argentinas and Aeromexico and their schemes were both a bit weird and not a lot of it was in English.... So I came to the conclusion that an exact duplicate of the StarAlliance video would be a) very time consuming to make and b) of little value!!! So I have retreated to reconsider how to do it... But I think there is a demand for something like that so I will keep it on the radar

@scubasplash69 5 ай бұрын

@@MattsPlanet thanks for the reply Matt. I'm gold with Flying Blue through KLM/Air France. Just wondering if there was a better scheme with Sky Team but I'll stick with Flying Blue for now. Stephen

@Samgreen20 4 ай бұрын

Hi Matt, I'm struggling to find an answer online and wondering if you know. If I book a custom flight+hotel, flights are 16 days apart and booking a hotel for just 5 days inside there, is this eligable for double tps?

@MattsPlanet 4 ай бұрын

It would be. A minimum of 5 within the broader dates

@rchrystalable 5 ай бұрын

Great video

@MattsPlanet 5 ай бұрын

Thanks

@grahamfaultless8571 4 ай бұрын

Thanks Matt. Unless I missed it, is there any effect on the Companion Voucher with these changes and the period(s) in which the £10k spend is assessed? My current year end is 8th October and I have the voucher for this year (I got the purple unicorn route to Sydney!!!) and wondering how I should target my spending for next year. Many thanks

@MattsPlanet 4 ай бұрын

The Amex programme is unchanged so the voucher will drop into your account as normal. And as using it will produce non-TP earning flights, it's pretty irrelevant to the se membership year changes too

@grahamfaultless8571 4 ай бұрын

Thanks Matt

@ianworthington2324 5 ай бұрын

I'm a February guy, and, afaics, I'm not overwhelmingly impacted by this change. What concerns me more is that I'm on a 7 year plan to achieve GfL and messing with status acquisition is most likely to scupper that after a substantial investment.

@MattsPlanet 5 ай бұрын

Thanks Ian. I'd hope that this doesn't impact your GfL ambitions too much - the basis on which tier points are earned hasn't changed and the threshold for GfL hasn't changed?

@ianworthington2324 5 ай бұрын

@@MattsPlanet No, they haven't /for the moment/. But if the intention is to head towards spend-based status that could easily happen before I get GfL. And who knows what will happen to my accumulated TPs, or possibility to complete acquisition!

@dag4390 5 ай бұрын

Thanks again, Matt. Excellent explanations as always. I am currently a Qatar Privilege Club Gold member and was thinking of concentrating more on gaining status with BAEC. These changes have put the kibosh on that. QRPC provides many good benefits as I travel mostly with Qatar Airways but the Platinum level (BAEC GOLD level) is stupidly difficult to achieve except for frequent business travelers ( and I mean very frequent). Cheers

@MattsPlanet 5 ай бұрын

The difficulty of getting status with BA hasn't changed, but when you might choose to go for it has!!! Heard a few good reports about Qatar's scheme but they all say that the higher levels of status are painfully hard to reach

@tomaseriksson7240 5 ай бұрын

Matt, one aspect you didn't mention is that this change will align BAEC's membership year with that already used by Iberia Plus. Perhaps this is a step on the road to IAG combining all their loyalty programmes into one, rather than just using the same "currency" across them?

@MattsPlanet 5 ай бұрын

Thanks - funnily enough I had something like that in the first draft - a segment about how IAG's accountants will love this as 31 March happens to be their year end.... But I thought it was a bit boring, even for me!

@lifelessordinaryxyz 5 ай бұрын

My thoughts exactly. Especially the legal bit. The whole couples and families thing could have been done on a case by case basis but BA could not be bothered. Compensating with Avios for lost moths of status is the only sensible solution. eg 1 month of gold = 20k silver =10k bronze 5k. simple.

@lifelessordinaryxyz 5 ай бұрын

I will be losing 5 months of silver. BA person I spoke to today hinted at a change of heart nearer the time but it took a while to get a straight answer so you will be not surprised to hear that even BAEC CSAs are confused by it.

@MattsPlanet 5 ай бұрын

Thanks and thanks for "taking one for the team" and calling them!!! With Virgin leaping in with an almost comic matching offer may well spur BA to react. And I'm not at all surprised that even the agents don't understand it. Perhaps they all should watch my video!

@lifelessordinaryxyz 4 ай бұрын

I am also suspicious of what else they are missing out of the amendment period. If flights count for TPs from April 1st to Collection year end do 4x BA/IB qualifying flights also get carried over?@@MattsPlanet

@TheNutcracker19 5 ай бұрын

For someone who doesn’t already have status, is the optimal time to earn status now April 2024 onwards? (Current year end is 08 Dec)

@MattsPlanet 5 ай бұрын

I'd certainly look to start accumulating from April 1 if you're in control of it. Your year is set by when you take your first flight so if that's not before March 31st it won't really matter anyway!

@simonh5015 5 ай бұрын

Its already expensive if you have BA Ex Status but live in Sydney.... last year it cost me in excess of $18,000 AUD to make gold although I might be able to get that down to $15,000 AUD this year with a few tricks I learnt from Matt on positioning ;)

@MattsPlanet 5 ай бұрын

Australia is still trapped in a pricing pit... If the government stopped spoon feeding Qantas and gave Qatar the slots it deserves, perhaps it will get better

@adamingleton8529 4 ай бұрын

Hypothetically if you had an AL spend of £50k or so Can you hold all the different amex, Barclays and virgin cards ? Resulting into lots of vouchers

@MattsPlanet 4 ай бұрын

You certainly can - the card issuers don't know what else you have! And if you can get £50k a year through get the 3 yourself and get an Amex and a Barclaycard for the other half too to get 5 vouchers a year!

@user-fr2el5mt3x 4 ай бұрын

Like you friend, Shane, I have planned my flights this year (2024) into my year end grace period (9 Oct - 30 Nov) to gain 1500 TPs. If I'm right in my understanding I will retain gold status for the remainder of 2025 and then until 31 March 2026. In effect, I will lose 6-7 months of status from what the existing scheme offers?

@MattsPlanet 4 ай бұрын

That's my understanding.... Those points will now go towards a year ending 31 March 2025 (rather than October) and the status will flow through from that. So as the grace period is now shorter, the status earned from the flights you've booked will run to 30 April 26 instead of the 31 November 2026 you expected. Which I would complain about, loudly and longly.... Shane has written to BA and received a "we're looking into it" response. They actually called him to confirm receipt of his letter, which was unusual... But the more voices complaining, the more significance they should put on resolving it

@morgy1916 4 ай бұрын

Hi Matt, hope you are well. Can you, or anybody tell me, am I better or worse off with my membership ending in November?

@MattsPlanet 4 ай бұрын

It all depends on your current status and whether you have anything planned... If its no and no, then this is probably will make very little difference to you and could be positive. If its yes and yes, it could be a right pain.

@deezim 4 ай бұрын

I don’t understand any of this hahahaha! I am Supposed to reset in May 8th and I’m Silver and will get my 600 TP by this time. But I have no idea what’s happening with mine

@MattsPlanet 4 ай бұрын

For years in progress, there's no change. You'll get silver until June 30 2025 as you expected. The year after that is when it gets a bit complicated as it will start on 1 April 2024 and so will overlap with your current year. Any TPs you get in that overlap period will count twice so could be valuable....

@michaelparry2262 5 ай бұрын

It seems to me that BA have been making more changes than other airlines to their membership, posing whether it’s still the better choice for One World? On another note, now that Turkish Airlines have announced flights to Australia, would Aegean still be the Star Alliance choice?

@MattsPlanet 5 ай бұрын

BA does like to tinker, that's for sure.... Doubt they've finished either.... If you regularly head to Australia then Turkish is now an option for sure... Although they already serve more countries than anyone else so were probably a good bet anyway!

@YatezyMUFC 5 ай бұрын

Great Idea for the future I think

@MattsPlanet 5 ай бұрын

Its about finding the opportunities!

@YatezyMUFC 5 ай бұрын

Yep I’m December, so a lengthy enough overlap

@nuckymcnuck 5 ай бұрын

Crave structure, accountant, deep dives, infodumping... ASD?

@MattsPlanet 5 ай бұрын

I don't think so - 25 years of making a living as an accountant! I make KZfaq videos now, don't forget!

@nuckymcnuck 5 ай бұрын

@@MattsPlanet 15 years of being in tech and made KZfaq videos also 😂

@ryanwangf 3 ай бұрын

did not think about the grace period, for me wil be 03.25 to 11.25. currently over 1500 TP now so gold to 11.25. even if I do not make 1500 between 03.24 and 03.25, I will have 7-8 months to obtain 1500 TP?

@MattsPlanet 3 ай бұрын

It is confusing.... You'll kick into the new year as of 1 April and that year will run until March 31st 2015. Tier points earned between those dates count for the new year, even if some of them overlap with the year in progress

@Mark.Claughton 5 ай бұрын

I have terminated my Amex at last. Booked my business class flights to Mexico City and ditched the card after losing my 3 businesses in the you know what. What was your cruise channel called? I shall look for savings there

@MattsPlanet 5 ай бұрын

Thanks Mark - kzfaq.info for the cruise stuff

@Mark.Claughton 5 ай бұрын

@MattsPlanet Looks like I'm already subscribed. Thinking about it, I remember watching your video on the Azura and done that cruise a few weeks ago. I hope you keep up the cruises. There are definitely lots of ads for them at the moment trying to get people back

@phil1506 5 ай бұрын

It’s almost certain in the rules ‘we may change the scheme without notice at any time ‘ bla bla

@MattsPlanet 5 ай бұрын

You are probably right, although a lawyer mate has told me that terms and conditions can be overruled by the courts if they are outrageous.... And we may be in that territory here... Or at least in range of a discussion about being in that territory!

@adamingleton8529 5 ай бұрын

I always wonder if they do a focus group of gold members who fly BA alot....

@MattsPlanet 5 ай бұрын

I've heard reports that they do poll GGL members - they spot when they're in the CCR and invite themselves in for a quick chat... Doesn't sound like they do it for Goldies....

@oliverbutterfield9844 5 ай бұрын

I’ve not looked into it too deeply yet, but one thing I didn’t spot in the HfP article was any implications for Amex twofer earning years. My year starts in Nov currently. There’s no chance of me spending enough between Nov 24 and mar 25 for me to earn a voucher, so what happens to that period’s spend? I suspect I know the answer…

@ianhares9832 5 ай бұрын

Don't think it will be affected, the Amex year isn't linked to the EC year as each started when you joined the separate scheme (my EC is June and Amex is Nov)

@oliverbutterfield9844 5 ай бұрын

@@ianhares9832 interesting, thanks. My EC account was opened as part of my Amex application, so I probably just assumed they’re more linked than they actually are. Cheers

@MattsPlanet 5 ай бұрын

@ianhares9832 beat me to it but the Amex year is completely unrelated to your BA year. The voucher pops out whenever you earn it. So this change has no impact there.

@oliverbutterfield9844 5 ай бұрын

@@MattsPlanet thanks Matt and Ian. My BAEC was opened when I applied for the Amex as I didn’t actually have an account already. I guess I thought they were a bit more linked than they actually are!