Closario

Hi all

I understand this is a very talked about topic but I can't seem to be able to make a decision.

Currently have the Bronze membership. Collection tier point ends on 8th June 2024.

I am 15 TP away from Silver.

I am going to Paris (from London) at the end of May and haven't booked my ticket yet for that reason. If it was just me, I would take the Eurostar because it is cheaper and easier when arriving in Paris but that would be the only occasion to get my TP before the collection end date.
- Eurostar: £109 (standard ticket)
- BA flight Club Europe: £260 (the only way to get enough TP - 40 of them).

I know most of you will say the Silver benefits are so worth it. However, please look at my situation:
- we (my husband and I) have PP due to our AMEX so have access to lounge already.
- we fly business sometimes (for long haul, never for short haul) - so we have priority boarding, etc, when going on those flights.
- we are having a baby in October 2024. We know we are already flying Club World to my husband's family in Shanghai early January 2025 and back.
- the only attractive thing is to be able to book your seats from the time of booking. But when flying Club World/with a baby, not really seeing the point + would technically want to choose the bassinet seats so the BA customer service team would do that for me.

Part of me think we don't really need it and can requalify next year as we will fly a few times Club World and could get it easily.
Part of me think this is too good to pass given I am only 15 TP away.

Thanks for your inputs!

M

Swanhunter

PP isn't a slam dunk for lounge access, often capacity controls in peak season and some of the lounges are pretty dire. While the T5 Galleries lounges are very average the Qantas and Cathay lounges in T3 make it worthwhile.

IIRC there is some form of status protection for those having a child. Or is that only Gold?

Closario

I agree PP is a bit crap depending in lounges and at times. We leave from T5 most of the time though.

yes - you can get your membership frozen during your maternity leave but I don't think it would work for me as I haven't got Silver status yet anyway!

Cheers!

TabTraveller

Or put more succinctly: is BA silver worth £150?

I think for most people the answer is yes but obviously if you aren’t going to be flying at all for the next year then no. You would save that on long haul seat fees for two pax in J.

c1223

Booking your BA flight as economy plus and upgrading one way may be cheaper. You should get a POUG offer or if not you can upgrade at the airport.

You mention "we fly business sometimes (for long haul, never for short haul)". What are your flying patterns outside of that? Silver adds a lot of worthwhile benefits when travelling in Y on short haul (2x 32kg bags for you and everyone on the booking, free seat selection from time of booking, lounge access...)

SonicStar817

For 15 tier points I would go for it, but it's your choice at the end of the day.

It's for every one Bronze and above.

Yetak

Wouldn’t a flexible economy ticket earn 20TP’s LHR-CDG ?


If you are not flying next earning year there is no point , but many if not most would take that opportunity to get to silver. Lounge/ Priority Check in& boarding /free seats etc.

corporate-wage-slave

It's not the only way to get 15 TPs. There are relatively inexpensive buckets at 10 TPs per sector - so if you are on a return ticket you may want to pay a bit more than the advertised ET fare to get 10 TPs each way. There are also some, admittedly expensive ET tickets at 20 TPs per sector, if this is a one way trip. Or you can go ET one way at 5 TPs and 10 TPs on the return.

DYKWIA

Couldn't you get 20 points in ET by booking a different fare code (may be cheaper than CE)?

The free seat selection benefit would be worth it IMO.

Closario

A flexible economy ticket is more expensive than the Business class one. £472 compared to £260!

We are flying next year.Not all through BA (short haul within Asia). Hence my hesitation

Thanks for your input.

TTmex

You don't need economy flex. Just one leg in the low (not lowest) buckets. May take a phone call, but looking at perhaps anywhere from 10 to 70 quid difference to have one leg in that set of buckets

Some excellent OW lounges in Asia. JAL, Qantas, and CX have a good selection and MH in Malaysia, too. Free seat selection on those bookings will be very valuable too.

PAL62V

On one hand, being THAT close to silver, it seems a no-brainer not to go for it. However given your planned travel over the next twelve months, I tend to agree that it may be nice to have but you will gain little extra.

Closario

The low (not lowest) is not much cheaper £343. Business class is the cheapest!
Pardon my ignorance as I am not used to it but do you think it is worth calling to see whether they have better deals on the phone (is that a thing)? Just FYI but the lowest economy Basic is £128 and £147 with the checkin luggage. Not enough TP though and I can only do one way.

etiene

15 TP ought to be relatively cheap if Paris is a return flight, but if one-way then CE may well be cheaper than YBH buckets. OP doesn't seem to have clarified if that's a return? Maybe thinking to do one direction on the train...?

bisonrav

Personally if your amex is a plat I'd cancel that, take out a Lloyds Elite Mastercard for £15 a month for PP and some fast track, with free partner card, and with the £350 a year savings on the annual fee buy a CE to Paris plus inexpensive travel insurance. I know that personally I'd do that because I just did it, with the exception of the trip to Paris bit (but I could be persuaded about that).

Otherwise, I honestly don't think I'd bother with the 15TPs. Reasoning is that you'll have 280TPs after Shanghai (I think it's a 140 tp destination rather than 160), you're therefore quite close to the half way point for silver if you want to go for it next year - you might also look at a double TP holiday with a hire car you don't use for 5 days and you'd be at 560. The reasoning about the bassinet is very sound, though parents aren't guaranteed a seat together (that can be a benefit, you have a refuge seat you can shuttle between). You will probably find your travel patterns shift a little when the baby arrives anyway so the benefit of silver in Y is moot.