Having been through T5 First Wing leading into First Lounge (a misnomer) with a Gold friend, I can honestly say the marginal experience gain beyond Silver (any CE/CW traveller) is negligible IMHO. First Wing had two security scanners for about 15 desks when I went through, and only one scanner was operational. I found the First lounge to be stuffy, crammed and dirty, with much the same food as Galleries. One potential benefit of Gold may be escaping (and reversing) any downgrades or overbooking… but these are compensated with more Avios when they occur. My friend, who has been Gold for a decade +, has never received an upgrade to First. Your videos and spreadsheets are very helpful; long may that grey gap continue!
Thanks for your comment and support, it's appreciated. Glad the spreadsheets are helpful, I agree, BA's own lounges in Heathrow are poor, especially compared to the other Oneworld lounge experiences I've had.
I’d definitely consider silver a bit of a sweet spot in terms of the benefits gained vs the effort required, especially given how easy it can be with BA hols. That said, I am doing a couple of tier point runs this year to get to gold just because I was already getting close from my normal travel. Definitely appreciating all the Newcastle mentions in this one as someone who is based there and starts all of my tier point runs from there!
Thanks for your comment, I'm going to put you down as "one for silver" in the viewer poll (I could probably put an actual poll on here somewhere?). I was left red faced when I realised I'd mentioned every airport but Newcastle and I wanted to put the record right today😊
On the theoretical seating thing, it does the same thing for Silvers. The seat next to silvers is blocked the same as for gold. But as the plane fills up, the seats blocked next to silvers get released first, and then the ones next to golds. So it’s rare that as a silver that empty seat is still empty by departure.
That's really interesting, I didn't know that! When I travel SH, about half the plane are usually silver so by definition it's pretty hard to keep the middle seat empty! I have spent most of the last ten years or so as silver and am now gold since I took a new job which required LH travel, and I definitely notice the difference in terms of middle seat. But I can't ever see me paying anything much to get get gold over silver if it was my own money.
@@mygreygapyear Yeah, but as mentioned it's barely a benefit for silvers, since it's very unlikely that enough seats will be empty for it to matter (unless there are no golds on board)
@@domszanto Thanks for your comment, I'll add you as a vote to silver. On long haul (9 hours or longer) travel I really notice the difference when I need to sleep and the middle seat if free, it feels like a mini upgrade (especially as I don't need the legroom).
Will be going Silver on our next trip and I’m happy to stay there if I can. We very much plan where we want to go in a year and work out how to get the points we need by flying Club or using BA Holidays generous double tier points at present but not via Inverness or Newcastle! We have travelled in row 1 three times as Blue and also had a lovely upgrade from JFK to London on a Companion voucher as Blue, which was a nice surprise. I’ll just keep plodding on until I hit 35k Tier points for Gold! Great video as always. Happy flying ✈️
Thank you for your comment, congratulations on hitting silver and big congrats on that cheeky upgrade on a transatlantic flight. Superb! I'm putting you down as a vote for silver, Viewer vote: Silver 12 : 8 Gold
I’ve been a gold for 12 straight years, but dropped to silver this year. I wasn’t counting, but I still often find a seat next to me unoccupied… maybe it’s BA’s soft reminder what I might be missing. I’m not a huge fan of the First Lounge, it’s been too crowded ever since the pandemic… but I do like and miss the check-in wing. One other perk I miss is an ability to pick the first row of seats in CE… it looks like it is blocked for golds.
Thanks for your comment, and I'm going to count it was one for Gold! I believe that the first row, or at least 1A and 1K are reserved for Gold status holders. Viewer vote: Silver 7 : 4 Gold
Thanks for the shoutout! Personally I've just earned gold and so far it's been exactly the same as silver on the three short haul flights I've taken so far. The First Wing was closed for renovation (reopened since), the First Lounge at T5 is only marginally better and there were no empty seats next to me on any of the flights. But looking to get a T3 leaving flight soon and also doing some long haul - probably on Qatar - using a mass of Avios I have..
Thanks for your comment, I'm going to take the additional "thumbs up" on your comment as additional votes, so I'm going to start thinking about scheduling it in. Thanks Phil
Thanks for another good video. I firmly believe that silver status is the best place to be. I travel alot for work (currently gold), but this year its alot of travel into europe with only a few long hauls, so I likely won't get to gold by April next year, and will probably soft land to silver. This doesn't bother me too much because I earn my status as I travel so I don't do tier point runs. Silver still offers great benefits, so I won't be upset if thats where I land by my renewal next year.
Thank you so much, I was very embarrassed that I'd missed out Newcastle and I was determined to make amends. I think there's about 5 people saying yes to a live stream so that will get booked in. Thanks Phil
Hi Phil, Very helpful video thanks. One thing I missed going from gold to silver is falling from group 1 to group 2 on boarding causing slightly more stress finding that cabin baggage space in the overhead lockers in economy. Thanks for the channel - using your advice to close in on lifetime gold - only 400 TP to go…..
Thanks for your kind comment, glad you're finding the videos helpful. Good luck on getting those extra 400TP, lifetime Gold is a fantastic achievement. EDIT: I'm going to count this as a vote for Gold, since you're about to go lifetime Gold, and it will keep things interesting. Viewer vote: Silver 7 : 3 Gold
Silver gives me the perks I need - lounge access, especially access to some excellent OneWorld lounges across the world, free seat selection at the time of time of booking, including on most OneWorld carriers, priority boarding and extra baggage allowance.
Thanks for your comment, I'm silver right now and I miss the First Wing but that is probably about it. Having said that I am making my last flights in January to requalify as gold.
Shout out to Belfast Regional Airport! I'm a new subscriber and loving your videos. Been through the First Wing once or twice with a Gold Member and honestly was so surprised at how little the Gold Lounge differed from Business Lounge. You get an ala carte choice of a few meals, but that seemed to be the only real difference. The overcrowding in T5 lounges is getting worse...but I find if I have about 3+ hours layover, I take myself off to B Gates Lounge which always seems to be quieter.
Thank you for your kind comments, I really do appreciate them. Unfortunately the option to order from a menu in the First Lounge, or the Emerald/BA Gold Lounge has now ended. Only the Concorde room has a genuine a la carte menu. I tried the B gates lounge in the last few days, but it was at the end of the day. Although it was quieter you had to find your little corner for peace. Thanks Phil
We’ve just gained Gold and excited to use the extra benefits until Sept 25 it’s been a marathon for us but it was a challenge to get there and we did it Now and been suckered into to going the Gold Upgrade voucher at 2500 points as managed to qualify for the 200 extra tier points with the BA Amex and wasn’t too far off First trip tomo and from LHR T3 !
Thanks for your comment, much appreciated. I'm not sure if you're voting for Gold but Gold is way behind so I'm counting it 😀. Viewer vote: Silver 7 : 2 Gold Congrats on achieving Gold and getting the 2500 tier point bonus, hope you're having an amazing flight and trip, Phil
Things used to be if you qualified for gold you knew with a soft landing to silver you were guaranteed at least two years lounge access until BA changed the goal posts!
Thanks for your comment and support, I feel you're pain. I'm just leaning into the new years and looking to requalify between now and the 31st March 2025.
Great to subscribe after watching this channel on my o/half's UA-cam. We have found gold status to be far more beneficial than we imagined the uplift from silver would be. Having choice of emergency exit seats from the time of booking on longer short haul flights, front row seats if in club on long european sectors + the theoretical empty seat has worked for us also. Secondly the gold line has been invaluable when disruption strikes, getting pretty much straight through to an agent and asking politely and calmly gets you a long long way. Travelling as we often do through jfk and lax means that you get preferential check in, and again when disruption happens there are no long queues and you have a dedicated staff member to deal with the issue. Also having a 'bouncer' escort you through security at lax is a great perk that gets heads turning! 😂 We have also found that opening up reward flights is also very beneficial (on a full positioning sector from bud_lhr after a tier point run that went well and truly wrong by 2 days) and all for no more avios than we originally paid. I doubt we would get this level of service at silver level. Keep up the great work Phil
Thanks for that detailed comment, and thanks for the sub, your support means a lot to me. An escort through security in LAX, very interesting. And I agree, the Gold phone line is very well staffed and is a valuable perk when things go wrong. Definitely putting you down as a vote for Gold, Viewer vote: Silver 7 : 5 Gold (Gold is starting to catch up 😀)
I think this is a good point. If someone can get to Gold early in their membership year, they can go G-G-S for three years...then repeat. Maintaining getting silver early would be S-S for two years then repeat. Going from lowly Bronze to Silver shouldn't take long.
Phil. I enjoyed this video as I Usually just shoot for Silver. Personally I don't think Gold is worth those few extra benefits and it fits my budget for the time being. As you stated about lounge access you get more or less the same access dependent upon which terminal you fly from. My tier point run this year (Booked before the change) was an over nighter from LHR-OTP stoping in the Hilton around the corner (literally) in January, and then a trip from MAN-LHR LHR-SOF with a 5 night stay at the Novotel. Novotel is 10 mins from the airport but an hours walk each day in to Sofia centre. If you don't like walking don't stay here. Luckily I do. One benefit of this hotel if you like shopping it is next door to a rather large shopping centre. In another video I mentioned the K+K Hotel in Bucharest as an option. it is only a 9 min walk from the Hilton garden Inn and the Old Town. Cheers ears. Steve. C.
I've been Silver for a year or so and have really enjoyed the perks (OneWorld lounges, free seat selction, avoiding long check in queues and priority boarding) but this membership year I'm going for Gold and should achieve it in a couple of weeks time. I will be interested myself to see if it's worth it - I definitely would like to try some the OneWorld First class lounges and being able to book Row 1 on short haul plus routes will be nice...but that's sort of where the benefits that interest me, end. So I'll see...might decide Silver is good enough and as you say it's not difficult to achieve (especially through double TP holidays). The only other benefit of Gold is getting 9 Avios instead of 8 for Silver per eligible £ spent...but this is not terribly exciting!
Ah yes, additional Avios, I missed that, although not much in it since the changes, as you say. Good luck with getting Gold, let me know how it goes and if you feel it's worth it. Thanks for the comment and support, Phil
The other benefit I forgot to mention that I am looking forward to is potentially getting free upgrades. Thanks for your channel for great ideas on how to get to Gold without breaking the bank!
Surprisingly I was able to make use of a gold priority award recently as cash prices on that route were very high, over 2x so I got just over 1p/avios but generally it is very poor value as they wrecked the benefit in most cases
I guess in situations where the cash fare is huge and there's no regular availability it could be worth it, perhaps a last minute Heathrow to New York? Thanks for the comment and your support, Phil
@@mygreygapyear No it was just to Munich during Oktoberfest, and I wanted to go at specific day/times which made it a good use even in comparison to the cheapest fare on Lufty
I'm torn but Phil and Matt's videos have been invaluable. My aim is to make business travel in premium economy easier. A tactical ba holiday to Madeira in business from man will get me to silver in one go in combination with my last work trip to India in feb. I'll be silver ready for my next trip to India in may. Conceivably i could get to gold if my business travel continues the same pattern, but i would still need to top up some how. I'll review later in the year (as a new exec club member my status will last until end of April 2026). Thanks for the invaluable information in the videos. 🙂👍
I don’t mind having sliver status, I’ve been silver for years, so don’t mind. I’ll get gold pretty soon, but to be honest business lounges is good. I’ve been upgraded twice on silver
The old classic on Sri Lankan from AUH to CGK in BC is hovering around £850....and 560 TP.....Add BA from LHR to AUH in coach and you have the points for Silver, just need two more qualifying flights extra and you are there.
That's an excellent way to put that run, and it would be about £1,300 in flight costs. Good one to keep in the bank if the double tier points offer ends.
I've booked it on black Friday direct with SriLankan for £740! 560 T points. Had a lovely 2 weeks in Indonesia on Java and Suntmatra. Just come back , on the way out 2 changes, first leg flown by another airline, and then 2nd leg cancelled so rerouted via KL to CGK with MH , but all sorted out in a few text messages. Way back all smooth ! I'll fly 4 sectors with BA by June, 1 in Business to get the remaining 40T, and I'll be Silver !
If you have BA gold the One World emerald status gains you access to the Flagship lounge with American Airlines which is pretty nice especially when the regular Admirals Club is packed out.
You may have noticed that many crew have Silver status due to the 50 flight trigger. 50 flights on BA will give you Silver, even though that only generates 250 Tier Points down the back. I was very kindly gifted Silver for a year by a GGL holder, which encouraged me to get Silver of my own accord. The first time through the 50 trip rule, but this year I decided to go the Tier point route - either buying 'cheap' full fare CE, or occasionally going for the upgrade (less often now that it's increased to £75 - it used to be £50). I've been so successful in the Tier point route that I'm now heading towards Gold. I don't expect it to be worthwhile in terms of any perks for me - but on average I fly from Newcastle to LHR 36 times a year (72 flights in total) - so getting Gold 'organically'! Silver is definitely the sweet spot - though I do sometimes find the lounges very crowded. For me, it makes the commute bearable, and access to the showers is a huge boon after getting off yet another LH flight.
Thank for your comments and sharing your story, much appreciated. I imagine that the 72 flights between Newcastle and London are significantly better with lounge access, especially during delays. I agree, I think Silver will be my sweet spot in the future...
I think that is a perk that gets missed all the time when I list them, and it is a great perk that you wouldn't miss unless you'd had it, Thanks for your comment, Phil
@@mygreygapyearyou certainly did that 😂😂 back on subject. Being gold has two major points for me, front row seat booking and the gravitas it seems to give when complaining. I do though think Silver may be a sweet spot, seat booking and lounge access. Anyway good video, keep up the good work!
Get gold early in the year. Ie April. It effectively gives you 2 years then for the third year you soft land to silver.........that "eases" the cost of achieving status! Plus gold sounds better!
Proper Planning and Preparation is key for making the most out of your status, and the extra year with lounge access is very nice. And Gold does sound better, I 100% agree 😀 Another vote for Gold. Viewer vote: Silver 9 : 7 Gold
I've only ever had 2 upgrades in 10 years of status, and one of those was while I was at Silver! Another possible benefit of Gold over Silver, is that you get free exit row/extra legroom seats selection for long haul flights. That's not free with Silver. Also, seat blocking is more frequent for Golds. Had that several times. The food in BAs Gold Lounge is now identical to the Biz lounges. Only get slightly better booze now. And no idea how long that will last. Why are their own lounges at outstations like Boston much better than their home airport where it should be their flagship?!?
Thanks for your comment, I didn't know that you can book extra legroom on long haul for free with Gold, although I don't need the legroom being able to get in and out of the row without bothering my seat mates is appealing. I'd possibly use my bag as a foot rest too (I think BA don't allow the inflatable ones). I agree that it's odd that BA's outstation lounges are better than the ones in London. I really think they should do a better job with the Emerald lounge in London.
Probably a silly question....but were those prices you showed for a 5 night holiday in Bucharest real prices in economy or business and were they flight, hotel etc?? Many thanks for any feedback or advice.
@simonnlaroche5438 The examples shown included business/Club Europe flights plus the 5 night hotel stay (it did confirm this in the screenshots, but you'd need to pause the video to spot it). Also note that the BA Holiday deal is for flights plus a 5 night hotel stay OR car hire for 5 days. I'm doing the flight/car hire combination to Malta in a few weeks. Car hire is cheap there and I can sort out my own accommodation. It comes out at less than £2 per TP.
@simonnlaroche5438 My prices on the first holidays spreadsheet are all for business flights with 5 nights hotel accommodation. @peterhastings703 is correct, you would also get the offer if you booked 5 nights car hire instead (or as well). And that's an excellent tip to find places where car hire is cheap, one of the reasons that Bucharest offers such good value is that the hotels there cost less. Thanks Both, Phil
Another excellent point, thank you. If it's a choice between Silver on two airlines or Gold on one, then you'd go for silver on two. I'm going to put you down as another vote for silver then 😀 Viewer vote: Silver 4 : 1 Gold
Im GGL & have been for two years. I will prob keep the status until the end of April 26. GGL status bring some fab perks however I have had to chase TP’s to get it. I also got it first during the reduced 3750 TP requirement in the pandemic. I’d never normally get the required 5k tp. So Im a bit reluctant to loose it. Gold however is relatively easier to achieve. Silver even easier. Both especially with the 2 x hol TP. Having held all 3 I think silver is the sweet spot. If you have Gold & drop. You still have silver for a year. If you really miss Gold it’s not impossible to earn 1500tp again. So I don’t think it’s a big deal to drop to Silver In April 2026 I will most likely drop to Gold or Silver from GGL. It will be nigh on impossible for me to get GGL again
Thanks for your support and vote. Current Viewer Vote Tally: Silver 7 : 1 Gold, not many saying that they can't live without Gold. Nice job on getting Gold Guest List, I'm not expecting to get anywhere near that, but I would also be reluctant to let it go if I got there. Thanks, Phil
Due to my location, and my two nearest oneworld hubs are Chicago and Dallas, I'd be perfectly happy with Silver/Sapphire. Can't justify the 2x or 3x effort and cost to get Gold/Emerald when I'm not a frequent user of Heathrow or Doha, or even JFK. Pooooke!!!
Thanks for your vote Red, Viewer vote: Silver 8 : 5 Gold. That is something I often overlook, as I'm in the UK I don't always have other geographic locations in mind.
Thank you for your comment and support, I haven't tried the emerald lounge at Gatwick, I must make sure I do while I'm still Gold. Another vote for Silver, Viewer vote: Silver 11 : 8 Gold
Ah, thanks for pointing that out, the wording is different on the BA website but it looked to me to mean the same thing. I take advantage of extra baggage allowance when I'm taking snack to family in Australia. Thanks Phil
The gold additional guaranteed perks above Silver are only of interest if Heathrow is your home airport. Anyone else outside south east there’s no demonstrable benefit.
Thanks for your comment, I'm in the midlands and Manchester is usually easier for me, so I feel your pain. I'm going to count that as a vote for silver, Viewer vote: Silver 9 : 6 Gold
Yeah, you do get access to the arrivals lounge if (I think) you're gold, arrived in long haul (any class) and it was on either BA or American. I do pop into the arrivals lounge sometimes to grab a coffee to go.
@@mygreygapyear Agreed but I think you get entry anyway if you arrive in CW or F by virtue of being in those cabins but Gold gets you in if you arrive in either of the economy cabins.
It's a fair point, one I explore from a silver point of view and I have explored it from a Gold point of view in other videos and comments (I think the Q & A video might cover it: ua-cam.com/video/LL2L4AxBm9I/v-deo.html) But, to answer your question, there is an element of fun and challenge to it (why would anyone climb a mountain or do anything really) and there is a feeling of "beating the system" with taking flights that are just into one points bracket or a flight that costs very little but gets me lots of points. And to give you a thought on the "don't fly enough then what's the benefit?" point (again a fair and relevant point), I could take 100 economy flights in a year and not get status, but if I did take a few flights in business then I would be silver or gold and those flights in economy would be significantly more comfortable and enjoyable. I love food (you my have noticed) and I flew economy from Melbourne to London as a gold, I had a fine dining meal in Melbourne in the Qantas Lounge, fine dining in Kuala Lumpur (I wasn't flying with BA) in the Malaysian Lounge, I had the seat next to me empty on the long leg of the trip and I skipped the 40 minute check in queue. On the way to Australia I also took two suitcases with me, one for me, one full of stuff for my daughter. No additional cost. So for me, the benefits are two fold. I get some nice trips that are fun and exciting and I would be going on holidays anyway. But then I usually fly in the back of the plane in economy and those extra trips give me lots of benefits and make economy flying more bearable. Thanks for your question, if you'd like to know some more about the benefits then I talk about them in this video: ua-cam.com/video/j-828PrFd7g/v-deo.html All the best, Phil
Well that's very bad luck, I was "lucky" to be on three very busy flights (one of which was completely sold out) and that's where my upgrades came from. Better luck in the future, thank you for your comment, Phil
It would be good to look at cost effectiveness to aim for gold and not renew the next period and have a soft landing to silver. If you can get silver for £1.5k but spend double for gold, you effectively have up to 2 years of benefit before needing to renew and also 1 year of gold benefit (excluding year of earning gold status) rather than 2 years of silver benefits.
On cost effectiveness, it depends on how you calculate it, but in essence you're essentially getting one additional year of silver and it's going to cost you about £1,500 (Gold @£3k - Silver @£1.5k). So it does depend on how much you value the previous time as a Gold. Thanks for your comment, Phul
Thanks for your comment Lorraine, I'd prefer to help via these comments if you have a general question but you can email me for personal advice, it's phil @ mygreygapyear .com (just remove the spaces, added so I don't suddenly get a huge amount of spam) Thanks Phil
Gold eveytime but PLEASE stop telling people about NCL: it's hard enough for us locals to do good TP runs without everyone jumping in! Key for me is always better lounges and a lounge run in T3 is always well worth it and great fun: another galss of champagne anyone? You also get a better multiplier for your Avios earned
A late vote for Gold from Hannah 😀, I had to make amends and mention Newcastle, I'll keep it as our secret from now on. Better lounges and champagne and bonus Avios are always nice. Thank you as always for your comments and support, Phil
Thanks for your comment, the Gold phone line is an excellent perk. I wonder what the silver line is like? Viewer Poll: Opening score to Gold! Thanks, Phil
Well... (enticing hook alert) you might find some of the content towards the end of the video quite surprising, so make sure you watch the whole video... all the way to the end 😂 If you haven't watched the video (and I hope you do) then you may not realise but I've asked viewers to cast their vote and (maybe) without realising it you just voted for gold! Viewer vote: Silver 9 : 8 Gold Thanks, Phil
Having been through T5 First Wing leading into First Lounge (a misnomer) with a Gold friend, I can honestly say the marginal experience gain beyond Silver (any CE/CW traveller) is negligible IMHO. First Wing had two security scanners for about 15 desks when I went through, and only one scanner was operational. I found the First lounge to be stuffy, crammed and dirty, with much the same food as Galleries. One potential benefit of Gold may be escaping (and reversing) any downgrades or overbooking… but these are compensated with more Avios when they occur. My friend, who has been Gold for a decade +, has never received an upgrade to First.
Your videos and spreadsheets are very helpful; long may that grey gap continue!
Thanks for your comment and support, it's appreciated. Glad the spreadsheets are helpful, I agree, BA's own lounges in Heathrow are poor, especially compared to the other Oneworld lounge experiences I've had.
I’d definitely consider silver a bit of a sweet spot in terms of the benefits gained vs the effort required, especially given how easy it can be with BA hols. That said, I am doing a couple of tier point runs this year to get to gold just because I was already getting close from my normal travel. Definitely appreciating all the Newcastle mentions in this one as someone who is based there and starts all of my tier point runs from there!
Thanks for your comment, I'm going to put you down as "one for silver" in the viewer poll (I could probably put an actual poll on here somewhere?).
I was left red faced when I realised I'd mentioned every airport but Newcastle and I wanted to put the record right today😊
On the theoretical seating thing, it does the same thing for Silvers. The seat next to silvers is blocked the same as for gold. But as the plane fills up, the seats blocked next to silvers get released first, and then the ones next to golds. So it’s rare that as a silver that empty seat is still empty by departure.
That's really interesting, I didn't know that! When I travel SH, about half the plane are usually silver so by definition it's pretty hard to keep the middle seat empty! I have spent most of the last ten years or so as silver and am now gold since I took a new job which required LH travel, and I definitely notice the difference in terms of middle seat. But I can't ever see me paying anything much to get get gold over silver if it was my own money.
Thanks, I didn't know it was a silver thing too, great news.
@@mygreygapyear Yeah, but as mentioned it's barely a benefit for silvers, since it's very unlikely that enough seats will be empty for it to matter (unless there are no golds on board)
@@zaphod4245 Still good to know though, thanks for your comment.
@@domszanto Thanks for your comment, I'll add you as a vote to silver.
On long haul (9 hours or longer) travel I really notice the difference when I need to sleep and the middle seat if free, it feels like a mini upgrade (especially as I don't need the legroom).
Excellent video as always
Thank you, much appreciated.
Will be going Silver on our next trip and I’m happy to stay there if I can. We very much plan where we want to go in a year and work out how to get the points we need by flying Club or using BA Holidays generous double tier points at present but not via Inverness or Newcastle! We have travelled in row 1 three times as Blue and also had a lovely upgrade from JFK to London on a Companion voucher as Blue, which was a nice surprise. I’ll just keep plodding on until I hit 35k Tier points for Gold! Great video as always. Happy flying ✈️
Thank you for your comment, congratulations on hitting silver and big congrats on that cheeky upgrade on a transatlantic flight. Superb!
I'm putting you down as a vote for silver, Viewer vote: Silver 12 : 8 Gold
I’ve been a gold for 12 straight years, but dropped to silver this year. I wasn’t counting, but I still often find a seat next to me unoccupied… maybe it’s BA’s soft reminder what I might be missing. I’m not a huge fan of the First Lounge, it’s been too crowded ever since the pandemic… but I do like and miss the check-in wing. One other perk I miss is an ability to pick the first row of seats in CE… it looks like it is blocked for golds.
Thanks for your comment, and I'm going to count it was one for Gold! I believe that the first row, or at least 1A and 1K are reserved for Gold status holders.
Viewer vote: Silver 7 : 4 Gold
Another great video phil 👍👍
Thanks for your support and kind comment, much appreciated.
Thanks for the shoutout! Personally I've just earned gold and so far it's been exactly the same as silver on the three short haul flights I've taken so far. The First Wing was closed for renovation (reopened since), the First Lounge at T5 is only marginally better and there were no empty seats next to me on any of the flights. But looking to get a T3 leaving flight soon and also doing some long haul - probably on Qatar - using a mass of Avios I have..
Thanks for your comment Tim, you're welcome on the shout out, appreciate the tip 😀. Hope you have some great trips burning through the Avios.
Thanks for the info + video!
You're very welcome 😀
Live stream sounds like fun Phil.
Thanks for your comment, I'm going to take the additional "thumbs up" on your comment as additional votes, so I'm going to start thinking about scheduling it in.
Thanks
Phil
Thanks for another good video.
I firmly believe that silver status is the best place to be. I travel alot for work (currently gold), but this year its alot of travel into europe with only a few long hauls, so I likely won't get to gold by April next year, and will probably soft land to silver.
This doesn't bother me too much because I earn my status as I travel so I don't do tier point runs. Silver still offers great benefits, so I won't be upset if thats where I land by my renewal next year.
Thanks for your comment, first vote for a little while (unless I've missed some)
Viewer vote: Silver 6 : 1 Gold
Safe travels,
Phil
Another excellent video. Thanks.
Much appreciated, glad you liked it.
6:17 yupp watching it 6 months from its release
I had to re-watch that bit to know what you meant, 😂😂😂
Brilliant video, and you even managed to get Newcastle in 😂😂 love it 🎉
Love the spreadsheet it’s extremely helpful and a live stream would be amazing!
Thank you so much, I was very embarrassed that I'd missed out Newcastle and I was determined to make amends. I think there's about 5 people saying yes to a live stream so that will get booked in.
Thanks
Phil
Another great video!
Thanks mate, much appreciate it.
Hi Phil, Very helpful video thanks. One thing I missed going from gold to silver is falling from group 1 to group 2 on boarding causing slightly more stress finding that cabin baggage space in the overhead lockers in economy. Thanks for the channel - using your advice to close in on lifetime gold - only 400 TP to go…..
Thanks for your kind comment, glad you're finding the videos helpful. Good luck on getting those extra 400TP, lifetime Gold is a fantastic achievement.
EDIT: I'm going to count this as a vote for Gold, since you're about to go lifetime Gold, and it will keep things interesting.
Viewer vote: Silver 7 : 3 Gold
Silver gives me the perks I need - lounge access, especially access to some excellent OneWorld lounges across the world, free seat selection at the time of time of booking, including on most OneWorld carriers, priority boarding and extra baggage allowance.
Thanks for your comment, I'm silver right now and I miss the First Wing but that is probably about it. Having said that I am making my last flights in January to requalify as gold.
Shout out to Belfast Regional Airport! I'm a new subscriber and loving your videos. Been through the First Wing once or twice with a Gold Member and honestly was so surprised at how little the Gold Lounge differed from Business Lounge. You get an ala carte choice of a few meals, but that seemed to be the only real difference. The overcrowding in T5 lounges is getting worse...but I find if I have about 3+ hours layover, I take myself off to B Gates Lounge which always seems to be quieter.
Thank you for your kind comments, I really do appreciate them. Unfortunately the option to order from a menu in the First Lounge, or the Emerald/BA Gold Lounge has now ended. Only the Concorde room has a genuine a la carte menu. I tried the B gates lounge in the last few days, but it was at the end of the day. Although it was quieter you had to find your little corner for peace.
Thanks
Phil
We’ve just gained Gold and excited to use the extra benefits until Sept 25
it’s been a marathon for us but it was a challenge to get there and we did it
Now and been suckered into to going the Gold Upgrade voucher at 2500 points as managed to qualify for the 200 extra tier points with the BA Amex and wasn’t too far off
First trip tomo and from LHR T3 !
Thanks for your comment, much appreciated. I'm not sure if you're voting for Gold but Gold is way behind so I'm counting it 😀. Viewer vote: Silver 7 : 2 Gold
Congrats on achieving Gold and getting the 2500 tier point bonus, hope you're having an amazing flight and trip,
Phil
Things used to be if you qualified for gold you knew with a soft landing to silver you were guaranteed at least two years lounge access until BA changed the goal posts!
Thanks for your comment and support, I feel you're pain. I'm just leaning into the new years and looking to requalify between now and the 31st March 2025.
Great to subscribe after watching this channel on my o/half's UA-cam. We have found gold status to be far more beneficial than we imagined the uplift from silver would be. Having choice of emergency exit seats from the time of booking on longer short haul flights, front row seats if in club on long european sectors + the theoretical empty seat has worked for us also.
Secondly the gold line has been invaluable when disruption strikes, getting pretty much straight through to an agent and asking politely and calmly gets you a long long way. Travelling as we often do through jfk and lax means that you get preferential check in, and again when disruption happens there are no long queues and you have a dedicated staff member to deal with the issue. Also having a 'bouncer' escort you through security at lax is a great perk that gets heads turning! 😂
We have also found that opening up reward flights is also very beneficial (on a full positioning sector from bud_lhr after a tier point run that went well and truly wrong by 2 days) and all for no more avios than we originally paid.
I doubt we would get this level of service at silver level.
Keep up the great work Phil
Thanks for that detailed comment, and thanks for the sub, your support means a lot to me. An escort through security in LAX, very interesting. And I agree, the Gold phone line is very well staffed and is a valuable perk when things go wrong.
Definitely putting you down as a vote for Gold, Viewer vote: Silver 7 : 5 Gold (Gold is starting to catch up 😀)
Although not a perk, dropping from silver to bronze is a steep one. Having gold then dropping to silver feels much less painful.
Thanks for your comment, I completely agree, bronze bronze doesn't have many benefits that get me that excited.
I think this is a good point. If someone can get to Gold early in their membership year, they can go G-G-S for three years...then repeat. Maintaining getting silver early would be S-S for two years then repeat. Going from lowly Bronze to Silver shouldn't take long.
Phil. I enjoyed this video as I Usually just shoot for Silver. Personally I don't think Gold is worth those few extra benefits and it fits my budget for the time being. As you stated about lounge access you get more or less the same access dependent upon which terminal you fly from. My tier point run this year (Booked before the change) was an over nighter from LHR-OTP stoping in the Hilton around the corner (literally) in January, and then a trip from MAN-LHR LHR-SOF with a 5 night stay at the Novotel. Novotel is 10 mins from the airport but an hours walk each day in to Sofia centre. If you don't like walking don't stay here. Luckily I do. One benefit of this hotel if you like shopping it is next door to a rather large shopping centre. In another video I mentioned the K+K Hotel in Bucharest as an option. it is only a 9 min walk from the Hilton garden Inn and the Old Town.
Cheers ears.
Steve. C.
Thanks for your comment and support Steve, your tips are much appreciated. I'll put you down as a vote for Silver,
Viewer vote: Silver 10 : 8 Gold
I like your presentation, great work, thank you !
Thanks for your comment, much appreciated.
I've been Silver for a year or so and have really enjoyed the perks (OneWorld lounges, free seat selction, avoiding long check in queues and priority boarding) but this membership year I'm going for Gold and should achieve it in a couple of weeks time. I will be interested myself to see if it's worth it - I definitely would like to try some the OneWorld First class lounges and being able to book Row 1 on short haul plus routes will be nice...but that's sort of where the benefits that interest me, end. So I'll see...might decide Silver is good enough and as you say it's not difficult to achieve (especially through double TP holidays). The only other benefit of Gold is getting 9 Avios instead of 8 for Silver per eligible £ spent...but this is not terribly exciting!
Ah yes, additional Avios, I missed that, although not much in it since the changes, as you say. Good luck with getting Gold, let me know how it goes and if you feel it's worth it.
Thanks for the comment and support,
Phil
The other benefit I forgot to mention that I am looking forward to is potentially getting free upgrades. Thanks for your channel for great ideas on how to get to Gold without breaking the bank!
Surprisingly I was able to make use of a gold priority award recently as cash prices on that route were very high, over 2x so I got just over 1p/avios but generally it is very poor value as they wrecked the benefit in most cases
I guess in situations where the cash fare is huge and there's no regular availability it could be worth it, perhaps a last minute Heathrow to New York?
Thanks for the comment and your support,
Phil
@@mygreygapyear No it was just to Munich during Oktoberfest, and I wanted to go at specific day/times which made it a good use even in comparison to the cheapest fare on Lufty
I'm torn but Phil and Matt's videos have been invaluable. My aim is to make business travel in premium economy easier.
A tactical ba holiday to Madeira in business from man will get me to silver in one go in combination with my last work trip to India in feb. I'll be silver ready for my next trip to India in may.
Conceivably i could get to gold if my business travel continues the same pattern, but i would still need to top up some how. I'll review later in the year (as a new exec club member my status will last until end of April 2026).
Thanks for the invaluable information in the videos. 🙂👍
What a dream team Phil and Matt on a points run video
@davidcook8681 Thank you for your kind comment and support, you're very welcome, good luck with hitting silver,
All the best
Phil
@markbuhler5721 I love Matt's videos, not sure my knowledge on tier point runs would stand up to Matt's.
I don’t mind having sliver status, I’ve been silver for years, so don’t mind. I’ll get gold pretty soon, but to be honest business lounges is good. I’ve been upgraded twice on silver
Thanks for your comment, viewer vote now: Silver 5 : 1 Gold.
The old classic on Sri Lankan from AUH to CGK in BC is hovering around £850....and 560 TP.....Add BA from LHR to AUH in coach and you have the points for Silver, just need two more qualifying flights extra and you are there.
That's an excellent way to put that run, and it would be about £1,300 in flight costs. Good one to keep in the bank if the double tier points offer ends.
I've booked it on black Friday direct with SriLankan for £740!
560 T points.
Had a lovely 2 weeks in Indonesia on Java and Suntmatra.
Just come back , on the way out 2 changes, first leg flown by another airline, and then 2nd leg cancelled so rerouted via KL to CGK with MH , but all sorted out in a few text messages.
Way back all smooth !
I'll fly 4 sectors with BA by June, 1 in Business to get the remaining 40T, and I'll be Silver !
@@hendrikdevries9725 That is a great find, well done and congrats on hitting silver.
If you have BA gold the One World emerald status gains you access to the Flagship lounge with American Airlines which is pretty nice especially when the regular Admirals Club is packed out.
Excellent tip, thank you.
You may have noticed that many crew have Silver status due to the 50 flight trigger. 50 flights on BA will give you Silver, even though that only generates 250 Tier Points down the back.
I was very kindly gifted Silver for a year by a GGL holder, which encouraged me to get Silver of my own accord. The first time through the 50 trip rule, but this year I decided to go the Tier point route - either buying 'cheap' full fare CE, or occasionally going for the upgrade (less often now that it's increased to £75 - it used to be £50).
I've been so successful in the Tier point route that I'm now heading towards Gold. I don't expect it to be worthwhile in terms of any perks for me - but on average I fly from Newcastle to LHR 36 times a year (72 flights in total) - so getting Gold 'organically'!
Silver is definitely the sweet spot - though I do sometimes find the lounges very crowded. For me, it makes the commute bearable, and access to the showers is a huge boon after getting off yet another LH flight.
Thank for your comments and sharing your story, much appreciated. I imagine that the 72 flights between Newcastle and London are significantly better with lounge access, especially during delays.
I agree, I think Silver will be my sweet spot in the future...
For me, and just my opinion, the best Gold perk is getting the front row seats on short haul, with, not one, but two windows. #Mr1A.
I think that is a perk that gets missed all the time when I list them, and it is a great perk that you wouldn't miss unless you'd had it,
Thanks for your comment,
Phil
Hey!!! Newcastle got a mention ❤
I was red faced when I mentioned every regional airport except Newcastle, so I wanted to balance the books a little in this video 😊
@@mygreygapyearyou certainly did that 😂😂 back on subject. Being gold has two major points for me, front row seat booking and the gravitas it seems to give when complaining. I do though think Silver may be a sweet spot, seat booking and lounge access.
Anyway good video, keep up the good work!
Get gold early in the year. Ie April. It effectively gives you 2 years then for the third year you soft land to silver.........that "eases" the cost of achieving status! Plus gold sounds better!
Proper Planning and Preparation is key for making the most out of your status, and the extra year with lounge access is very nice. And Gold does sound better, I 100% agree 😀
Another vote for Gold. Viewer vote: Silver 9 : 7 Gold
I did 4 x LHR-SOF returns (nested) in CE for less than £900 for Silver.
Very nice, £900 is certainly an excellent price. Congrats on hitting silver.
I've only ever had 2 upgrades in 10 years of status, and one of those was while I was at Silver!
Another possible benefit of Gold over Silver, is that you get free exit row/extra legroom seats selection for long haul flights. That's not free with Silver.
Also, seat blocking is more frequent for Golds. Had that several times.
The food in BAs Gold Lounge is now identical to the Biz lounges. Only get slightly better booze now. And no idea how long that will last.
Why are their own lounges at outstations like Boston much better than their home airport where it should be their flagship?!?
Thanks for your comment, I didn't know that you can book extra legroom on long haul for free with Gold, although I don't need the legroom being able to get in and out of the row without bothering my seat mates is appealing. I'd possibly use my bag as a foot rest too (I think BA don't allow the inflatable ones).
I agree that it's odd that BA's outstation lounges are better than the ones in London. I really think they should do a better job with the Emerald lounge in London.
Probably a silly question....but were those prices you showed for a 5 night holiday in Bucharest real prices in economy or business and were they flight, hotel etc?? Many thanks for any feedback or advice.
@simonnlaroche5438 The examples shown included business/Club Europe flights plus the 5 night hotel stay (it did confirm this in the screenshots, but you'd need to pause the video to spot it). Also note that the BA Holiday deal is for flights plus a 5 night hotel stay OR car hire for 5 days. I'm doing the flight/car hire combination to Malta in a few weeks. Car hire is cheap there and I can sort out my own accommodation. It comes out at less than £2 per TP.
@simonnlaroche5438 My prices on the first holidays spreadsheet are all for business flights with 5 nights hotel accommodation. @peterhastings703
is correct, you would also get the offer if you booked 5 nights car hire instead (or as well). And that's an excellent tip to find places where car hire is cheap, one of the reasons that Bucharest offers such good value is that the hotels there cost less.
Thanks Both,
Phil
Silver was easy to get too, gold not sure but is possible, anyway would love to see a live vlog
Thanks for your comment and support, first upvote for a tier point flights live stream. If no one else wants one we'll set up a zoom meeting 😀
I would rather have BA silver or the equivalent on more than one airline grouping...
Another excellent point, thank you. If it's a choice between Silver on two airlines or Gold on one, then you'd go for silver on two. I'm going to put you down as another vote for silver then 😀
Viewer vote: Silver 4 : 1 Gold
Spot on
Thank you, much appreciated
Thank you, much appreciated.
Im GGL & have been for two years. I will prob keep the status until the end of April 26. GGL status bring some fab perks however I have had to chase TP’s to get it. I also got it first during the reduced 3750 TP requirement in the pandemic. I’d never normally get the required 5k tp. So Im a bit reluctant to loose it.
Gold however is relatively easier to achieve.
Silver even easier.
Both especially with the 2 x hol TP.
Having held all 3 I think silver is the sweet spot.
If you have Gold & drop. You still have silver for a year.
If you really miss Gold it’s not impossible to earn 1500tp again.
So I don’t think it’s a big deal to drop to Silver
In April 2026 I will most likely drop to Gold or Silver from GGL. It will be nigh on impossible for me to get GGL again
Thanks for your support and vote. Current Viewer Vote Tally: Silver 7 : 1 Gold, not many saying that they can't live without Gold.
Nice job on getting Gold Guest List, I'm not expecting to get anywhere near that, but I would also be reluctant to let it go if I got there.
Thanks, Phil
Due to my location, and my two nearest oneworld hubs are Chicago and Dallas, I'd be perfectly happy with Silver/Sapphire. Can't justify the 2x or 3x effort and cost to get Gold/Emerald when I'm not a frequent user of Heathrow or Doha, or even JFK. Pooooke!!!
Thanks for your vote Red, Viewer vote: Silver 8 : 5 Gold. That is something I often overlook, as I'm in the UK I don't always have other geographic locations in mind.
unless you fly a lot out of LHR T5 or T3, then Silver is sufficient, especially LGW
Thank you for your comment and support, I haven't tried the emerald lounge at Gatwick, I must make sure I do while I'm still Gold.
Another vote for Silver, Viewer vote: Silver 11 : 8 Gold
Big benefit of Gold is three 32kg bags on long haul flights compared to 2 bags for silver.
Ah, thanks for pointing that out, the wording is different on the BA website but it looked to me to mean the same thing. I take advantage of extra baggage allowance when I'm taking snack to family in Australia.
Thanks
Phil
crikey! 2 out of 3 upgrades from economy to club. thats a good hit rate !
Thanks for your comment, I was definitely fortunate 😀
The gold additional guaranteed perks above Silver are only of interest if Heathrow is your home airport. Anyone else outside south east there’s no demonstrable benefit.
Thanks for your comment, I'm in the midlands and Manchester is usually easier for me, so I feel your pain. I'm going to count that as a vote for silver,
Viewer vote: Silver 9 : 6 Gold
Aye aye captain 🥰
Good to see you again, 😊
Don't you also get access to the LHR BA Arrival Lounge with Gold if arriving on a long haul flight in either the WT or WTP cabins?
Yeah, you do get access to the arrivals lounge if (I think) you're gold, arrived in long haul (any class) and it was on either BA or American. I do pop into the arrivals lounge sometimes to grab a coffee to go.
@@mygreygapyear Agreed but I think you get entry anyway if you arrive in CW or F by virtue of being in those cabins but Gold gets you in if you arrive in either of the economy cabins.
Istanbul next week for 480 tier points (regional departure) London last week for 160. Gold ? I’m not so sure I want or need it tbh
Thanks for your comment and vote, I make that Silver 2 : 1 Gold. Have a great time in Istanbul.
It's so difficult to get to Gold though. Even with the double tier points offer
Three holidays from regional airports almost gets you to Gold, but silver is a lovely sweet spot for a lot of people.
What do you need gold or silver status for if you have deliberately have to chase it ?
It's a fair point, one I explore from a silver point of view and I have explored it from a Gold point of view in other videos and comments (I think the Q & A video might cover it: ua-cam.com/video/LL2L4AxBm9I/v-deo.html)
But, to answer your question, there is an element of fun and challenge to it (why would anyone climb a mountain or do anything really) and there is a feeling of "beating the system" with taking flights that are just into one points bracket or a flight that costs very little but gets me lots of points.
And to give you a thought on the "don't fly enough then what's the benefit?" point (again a fair and relevant point), I could take 100 economy flights in a year and not get status, but if I did take a few flights in business then I would be silver or gold and those flights in economy would be significantly more comfortable and enjoyable.
I love food (you my have noticed) and I flew economy from Melbourne to London as a gold, I had a fine dining meal in Melbourne in the Qantas Lounge, fine dining in Kuala Lumpur (I wasn't flying with BA) in the Malaysian Lounge, I had the seat next to me empty on the long leg of the trip and I skipped the 40 minute check in queue.
On the way to Australia I also took two suitcases with me, one for me, one full of stuff for my daughter. No additional cost.
So for me, the benefits are two fold. I get some nice trips that are fun and exciting and I would be going on holidays anyway. But then I usually fly in the back of the plane in economy and those extra trips give me lots of benefits and make economy flying more bearable.
Thanks for your question, if you'd like to know some more about the benefits then I talk about them in this video: ua-cam.com/video/j-828PrFd7g/v-deo.html
All the best,
Phil
Don't recall I ever got upgraded as gold.
Well that's very bad luck, I was "lucky" to be on three very busy flights (one of which was completely sold out) and that's where my upgrades came from.
Better luck in the future, thank you for your comment,
Phil
It would be good to look at cost effectiveness to aim for gold and not renew the next period and have a soft landing to silver.
If you can get silver for £1.5k but spend double for gold, you effectively have up to 2 years of benefit before needing to renew and also 1 year of gold benefit (excluding year of earning gold status) rather than 2 years of silver benefits.
On cost effectiveness, it depends on how you calculate it, but in essence you're essentially getting one additional year of silver and it's going to cost you about £1,500 (Gold @£3k - Silver @£1.5k). So it does depend on how much you value the previous time as a Gold.
Thanks for your comment,
Phul
Do you help people plan their holidays?
Thanks for your comment Lorraine, I'd prefer to help via these comments if you have a general question but you can email me for personal advice, it's phil @ mygreygapyear .com (just remove the spaces, added so I don't suddenly get a huge amount of spam)
Thanks
Phil
8:29 Stockholm sounds nice, but you'd need a Schengen visa if you're staying for 187 days ;)
Well spotted, thank you.
Gold eveytime but PLEASE stop telling people about NCL: it's hard enough for us locals to do good TP runs without everyone jumping in! Key for me is always better lounges and a lounge run in T3 is always well worth it and great fun: another galss of champagne anyone? You also get a better multiplier for your Avios earned
A late vote for Gold from Hannah 😀, I had to make amends and mention Newcastle, I'll keep it as our secret from now on. Better lounges and champagne and bonus Avios are always nice.
Thank you as always for your comments and support,
Phil
Gold let’s me book 1a at time of booking as it’s blocked for Gold
Better lounge at Heathrow
And dedicated gold line for issues.. priceless
Thanks for your comment, the Gold phone line is an excellent perk. I wonder what the silver line is like?
Viewer Poll: Opening score to Gold!
Thanks,
Phil
no point in even watching is there? because the answer is no.
Well... (enticing hook alert) you might find some of the content towards the end of the video quite surprising, so make sure you watch the whole video... all the way to the end 😂
If you haven't watched the video (and I hope you do) then you may not realise but I've asked viewers to cast their vote and (maybe) without realising it you just voted for gold!
Viewer vote: Silver 9 : 8 Gold
Thanks,
Phil
Gold gets you amazing F loungers in HKG and SIN
I'm going to put you down as a vote for Gold then, thank you for your comment,
Viewer vote: Silver 8 : 6 Gold