British Airways (BA) changed to spend-based Tier Point earning in April 2025, but your 2026 strategy needs to account for more than the price of a ticket. Since 1 April 2026, eligible flights also earn fixed extra Tier Points based on the route, cabin and fare type. Start with the trips you actually need, then check the earning estimate for each booking before deciding whether paying more would bring a useful status benefit within reach.
Here’s how to plan your Tier Point earning in 2026: choose a realistic status target, compare the earning routes available to you and keep your Avios balance separate from your progress towards that target.
From 1 April 2025, British Airways introduced a new spend-based Tier Point earning system. On British Airways-marketed flights, you earn 1 Tier Point per £1 of eligible fare and carrier-imposed charges. From 1 April 2026, eligible flights also earn fixed extra Tier Points based on the route, cabin and fare type. Eligible paid bags and seating earn 2 Tier Points per £1. Government and airport taxes do not count towards eligible spend.
Choose your target before deciding how much extra spending, if any, is worthwhile. The Tier Point thresholds are not pound-for-pound spending requirements, and frequent eligible BA flyers also have a flight-count route to Bronze or Silver:
Bronze: 3,500 Tier Points or 25 eligible BA-coded flights
Silver: 7,500 Tier Points or 50 eligible BA-coded flights
Gold: 20,000 Tier Points
BA tier point thresholds from 1 April 2027
British Airways is raising the Silver and Gold thresholds for the collection year that starts on 1 April 2027. If you're collecting Tier Points now, the current figures still apply until 31 March 2027.
Tier
Collection year 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027
Collection year from 1 April 2027
Bronze
3,500 Tier Points or 25 eligible flights
3,500 Tier Points or 25 eligible flights (no change)
Silver
7,500 Tier Points or 50 eligible flights
8,000 Tier Points or 50 eligible flights
Gold
20,000 Tier Points
21,000 Tier Points
The Tier Point milestones that pay bonus Avios also move up from 1 April 2027, to 5,750, 12,000 and 17,000 Tier Points, and you'll earn fewer extra Tier Points on long-haul World Traveller Plus, Club World and First fares. Source: British Airways, About tier points (checked November 2026).
Eligible spend contributes to these totals, but the fixed extra awards, Holidays, add-ons, SAF and qualifying card spend mean the threshold is not simply the same number of pounds.
Eligible Sustainable Aviation Fuel contributions now earn 2 Tier Points per £1, capped at 2,000 Tier Points per collection year. The British Airways American Express Premium Plus offer is also live: Cardmembers who enrol by 25 January 2027 can earn up to 2,500 Tier Points on qualifying spend by 1 February 2027. Both offers have detailed terms, so check the live British Airways pages before relying on them.
Finally, the airline has introduced milestone bonuses. When your running total hits 5,500, 11,000, and 16,000 tier points, BA automatically drops extra Avios into your account. You can turn those bonuses straight into savings on future tickets or put them toward booking Avios reward flights.
Here’s Why the Perks Still Matter
Status is only worth chasing if you will use the benefits. Think about your usual cabin, how often you fly and what you would otherwise pay for extras. Those answers matter more than reaching a higher tier for its own sake.
Blue
At the entry‐level Blue tier, you can pool British Airways Avios with family members through a Household Account, snap up member-only promotions, and use free in-flight messaging where it’s available. Those features may sound small, yet they create a foundation: you and your family build one shared Avios pot and save money on everyday tickets.
Bronze
Move up to Bronze, and the day-of-travel experience will begin to improve. You can choose available standard seats free of charge from seven days before departure, excluding exit row seats and group rate bookings. At the airport, you step into the Business Class check-in queue and board earlier than most of the cabin. Even if you’re flying Economy, you reach your seat with less waiting and more overhead-bin space.
At the airport, you step into the Business Class check-in queue and board earlier than most of the cabin. Even if you're flying Economy, you reach your seat with less waiting and more overhead-bin space. Two airports work differently: London City gives Bronze neither priority check-in nor priority boarding, and at New York JFK you use a dedicated Bronze and oneworld Ruby check-in lane rather than the Business Class desks.
Silver
Silver status is where the programme starts to feel premium. The moment you buy a ticket, you can lock in any standard seat for free, and you’re invited to BA and oneworld lounges around the world. Fast-track security lanes shorten the shuffle to departures, and a two-bag allowance in Economy makes packing easier, except on Basic hand-baggage-only fares and group rate bookings. For many travellers, this tier is the sweet spot: lounge coffee, a quieter gate area, and a spare suitcase allowance turn a routine flight into something closer to Business Class.
Gold
Gold has the highest of these three status targets, at 20,000 Tier Points. Before spending more to reach it, check which lounge, baggage and reward-booking benefits apply to your membership and ticket. Do not assume that reaching Gold automatically includes every First Class lounge or upgrade perk.
Layer these benefits onto a smart points strategy, and your journey feels upgraded even when the boarding pass still says Economy. Early seat choice, shorter queues, lounge meals, extra bags, and the occasional cabin upgrade take much of the hassle, and some of the cost, out of flying, which means that perks remain the real payoff for tracking tier points under the new spend-based scheme.
Plan Your Tier Point Earning in 2026
RFF’s calculator can estimate the spend-based element, but it does not include every April 2026 fixed extra award or partner rule. Use British Airways’ booking flow or Manage My Booking for the estimate attached to the exact ticket.
Earn Tier Points with British Airways Holidays
Check the Tier Point estimate for your British Airways Holidays booking and how it is split between travellers before comparing it with separate flights and accommodation. If a £2,000 package awards 1,000 Tier Points to each of two travellers, each person is below a third of the 3,500 Tier Points needed for Bronze, not more than halfway there. Any Avios earned are a separate reward currency and do not count towards that status target.
Earn Tier Points with Extras
From 1 April 2026, eligible paid bags and seat selection earn 2 Tier Points per £1. Cash upgrades can follow different booking rules, so use the estimate shown by British Airways for the exact booking.
Earn Tier Points with SAF contributions
Eligible SAF contributions earn 2 Tier Points per £1 from 1 April 2026, with a cap of 2,000 Tier Points per collection year. This is not a direct sale of Tier Points: the contribution and earning rules are governed by British Airways’ SAF terms. Check the live page before using SAF to close a status gap.
Check the Current BA Amex Tier Point Offer
For the British Airways American Express Premium Plus card, check the current Tier Point offer’s eligibility, enrolment deadline and qualifying-spend milestones before relying on it. Do not treat the original 2025 launch announcement as a permanent annual earning promise. Keep any Tier Points from the offer separate from the Avios you earn towards booking Avios reward flights.
Keep the card's Avios earning separate from its Tier Point offer. On 8 September 2026, Premium Plus earns 1.5 Avios per eligible £1 on general purchases and 3 Avios per eligible £1 with British Airways or BA Holidays. From 7 October 2026, both Avios rates become 1.25 per eligible £1. That change affects the reward-flight balance you build alongside status, not the Tier Point campaign's spending milestones.
Earn Tier Points with Partner Airlines
Check the earning rules for the exact partner flight before comparing it with BA. Do not assume that a short Business Class trip on Iberia or Finnair will produce a generous Tier Point return, or that BA’s own flight rules apply unchanged. Compare the Tier Points credited to your British Airways Club account with the fare you would actually pay.
Don’t Miss Out on Milestone Bonuses
Finally, remember that milestone bonuses now add extra Avios to your account. If you’re wondering ‘how many Avios will I earn,’ you’ll receive 2,500, 4,000, or 5,000 bonus Avios once you cross the 5,500, 11,000, or 16,000 tier point lines, respectively. Redeem those miles on off-peak dates and stretch your travel budget further while continuing your march toward the next tier.
Use our British Airways Tier Points Calculator below as a starting point for the spend-based element of your next trip. It does not include every April 2026 fixed extra award or partner rule, so confirm the estimate for your exact ticket with BA before booking.
Enter your flight costs
New Revenue-Based System
This calculator does not include every fixed extra Tier Point award, partner-airline rule or British Airways Holidays allocation. Check the estimate in the British Airways booking flow or Manage My Booking before making a status-led purchase.
About the British Airways Club Tier Point system:
On British Airways-marketed flights, you earn 1 Tier Point per £1 of eligible fare and carrier-imposed charges. Government and airport taxes are excluded.
From 1 April 2026, BA-marketed flights also earn fixed extra Tier Points for each flown sector, based on the route, cabin and fare type. American Airlines- and Iberia-marketed flights receive fixed extra Tier Points based on haul and cabin.
Eligible paid bags, seating and Sustainable Aviation Fuel contributions earn 2 Tier Points per £1. SAF contributions are capped at 2,000 Tier Points per collection year.
Plenty of travellers were disappointed by BA’s shift to a spend-based model, and understandably so. Mileage runs and carefully planned routing used to give more control. However, there’s still value to be had if you approach the new system with strategy.
Think of the current Tier Point programme as a mix of eligible spend, fixed extra awards and selected non-flight earning routes. Use British Airways’ live estimate and terms before paying for a status-led trip, because fare type, add-ons, Holidays, SAF and qualifying card spend can all affect the total.
Track your Avios balance separately when planning reward flights. Reaching a status tier does not tell you how many Avios you have available, or whether they will cover your chosen trip. Check your balance and the actual reward-flight price rather than assuming a status milestone also pays for a holiday.
For 2026, start with your planned trips and compare their confirmed Tier Point earnings with your target. If you are aiming for Bronze or Silver, check the eligible flight-count route as well. Only then consider whether a package, paid extra, eligible SAF contribution or current card offer would close a useful gap. Compare the extra cost with the benefits you will actually use, and do not spend more just to make the status tracker move.
Douglas
