As one of the first steps of the integration process, British Airways is now matching British Midland members to equivalent elite tiers in the Executive Club program. Diamond Club Silver members get Executive Club Silver status, while Diamond Club Gold members get Executive Club Gold status.
To apply for a status match simply go to this page and input your Diamond Club account information.
Gary says that matched status is valid for 12 months from the time it’s requested. I’m quite excited about this, because British Airways Gold status gets you access to the OneWorld first class lounges whenever you’re flying, even domestically. That means as a BA Gold member I’d get access to American’s Flagship Lounges when flying domestically (I already get access to them when flying internationally thanks to my Executive Platinum status with American, though they don’t give you access on domestic flights).
It’s also worth noting that British Airways does soft landings, so if you don’t requalify for Gold you get Silver for the following year, and if you don’t requalify for Silver you get Bronze for the following year.
Lastly, while they’re now matching status, you can’t yet transfer miles from Diamond Club to Executive Club, or vice versa.
American Flagship Lounge LAX
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May 1st, 2012 at 3:14 pm
janyyc said,
Cool! Didn’t know about the soft landings.
May 1st, 2012 at 3:20 pm
Josh G said,
Lucky, why the pic of the AA LAX Flagship lounge? Sure its a Oneworld lounge, and BA is a Oneworld carrier but what is the connection?
May 1st, 2012 at 3:28 pm
lucky said,
@ Josh — Because for me the biggest benefit of this change is being able to use the Flagship Lounge on domestic itineraries.
May 1st, 2012 at 4:36 pm
Mike Ratin said,
To use it on domestic itinerary’s, would you have to credit the flight to British Airways or could your credit it to your AA account?
May 1st, 2012 at 4:42 pm
lucky said,
@ Mike — No need to credit to BA, you just need the card.
May 1st, 2012 at 4:53 pm
D said,
So the biggest question is: Can you still status match to bmi using another carrier and then transfer that to BA? Could be useful for some Avios redemptions/redeposits… Using AmEx MRs, of course.
May 1st, 2012 at 5:15 pm
David said,
@Josh G:
Apparently American Airlines shockingly don’t let their own status passengers use their own lounges on domestic flights.
However, it is a OneWorld alliance agreed perk (and also normal in the rest of the world), as such anyone with a qualifing frequent flyer card from another OneWorld airline can get in.
And, as BA Gold is OneWorld Emerald level, that includes access to first class lougnes as well as business class.
@D:
A number of reports online that bmi status matching has stopped.
May 1st, 2012 at 8:00 pm
Josh G said,
@ David: Thanks for the explanation. I don’t think any US carrier except DL which provides SkyClub membership for Diamond Medallions receives that benefit. I think US carriers see their lounges as a source of revenue while European and Asian carriers regard lounges as an amenity for premium passengers.
May 1st, 2012 at 8:53 pm
Dan said,
Anyone else sign up for BMI several years ago when they offered 9000 miles as a sign up bonus? I did, and now I’m looking forward to seeing those miles added to my Avios account. SWEET!
May 4th, 2012 at 7:49 am
Mark said,
Awesome! Thanks for the tip. I had BMI Silver status. Will that be bronze or silver with BA?
May 4th, 2012 at 7:50 am
Mark said,
Ha, nevermind. Clearly I didn’t read the post too well.
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