As an ongoing offer, all members of British Airways Executive Club will now earn Tier Points when flying on discount economy fares. Tier Points are the currency that allow members to progress to Silver and Gold elite levels. In the past, Tier Points were not earned on discounted fares. Members can now earn 100 percent of the Tier Points for economy Y fares. You still cannot earn the full 100 percent of Tier Points for some discounted fights, but rather 25 percent of the standard Tier Points. Visit http://insideflyerus.wpengine.com/link/?1793 for a full list of eligible fares. Members can also earn Tier Points for oneworld alliance member flights provided you are traveling in an eligible booking class. For example, O class on American Airlines is not an eligible fare class.

Bottom line: This is good news for those who might be traveling less because of the current economic downturn–giving them a boost toward keeping or obtaining an elite membership level. For current elite members who are afraid of the newly-minted elites that this might bring, a representative from British Airways on FlyerTalk had this to say, “With regards to concerns around increase in Silver membership affecting lounge access, we did consider the effects of this before we launched this permanently. While this will, of course, mean that more members will reach Silver, I don’t think you will need to worry about Tier Points on discount economy fares impacting numbers in the lounges.”