British Airways must be one of the last major airlines to detail how it intends to look after its frequent flyers following the coronavirus crisis - but now it has finally done so.

BA’s generous status extension

In an email to customers (titled ‘Something to make you smile’), BA announced today that it is adding 12 months extra onto your Executive Club membership, meaning you’ll have more time to enjoy your perks.

Not only that, it will be even easier to retain your status next time you’re up for renewal, as the oneworld carrier is lowering the amount of tier points needed to requalify or move up the status ranks by 25 per cent. Going forwards, you’ll need 225 tier points to retain bronze, 450 for silver and 1,125 for gold.

The 12-month status extension will be applied automatically to those memberships with tier point collection years ending in the period July 2020 to June 2021 (BA says there’s no need to get in touch).

British Airways had already announced a six-month expiration extension for any current vouchers (such as Gold Upgrade Vouchers, Companion Vouchers and Travel Together Tickets) earned via a British Airways-branded credit card.

Despite the changes announced today, you will still need to take a number of BA or Iberia-operated flights in order to renew or upgrade your membership (at least two flights for bronze, or four for silver and gold).

BA’s email said:

“We all love to hear some good news every now and then. And so today, we wanted to tell you something that we hope will make you smile. As the world prepares to fly once more, we know there is still a long road ahead, and we wanted you to know that we'll be right there with you every step of the journey. To say thank you for all your loyalty and support, we’ve added 12 months extra onto your Gold Executive Club membership. So you have more time to enjoy your benefits, whenever you’re ready to return to the skies.”

You can find out more on the BA website.

Summing up

British Airways was slow off the mark to reassure its frequent flyers, but has now come up with a generous solution that should please most of its loyal customers.

My membership year ends in July and, while I have already flown enough to renew my gold membership, it’s good to see BA doing the right thing.

Are you happy with BA’s long-awaited status extension announcement?