With the acquisition of bmi by British Airways, bmi Diamond Club members can now apply for an elite status match with British Airways Executive Club. The offer is available until further notice. When you request the Executive Club tier match, the new tier will be valid for 12 months.

If you tier match to Gold but then do not earn enough tier points (1,500) to retain your Gold Executive Club membership, you will be downgraded to Silver after 12 months, a “soft landing”. Silver members will be downgraded to Bronze if they do not earn enough tier points (600) to retain that tier. Tier points are earned on almost all flights with British Airways and other partner airlines, depending on your route, class of travel and fare type. To learn more, visit http://insideflyerus.wpengine.com/link/?6481

Bottom line: Many members report that they are delaying asking for a tier match because the match lasts for 12 months from the time that it is granted. For full details about when is best to do the match, visit www.insideflyer.com/link/?6526. If you are already a British Airways Executive Club member, note that when the status match is processed, your membership year resets and your current elite status credits reset to zero. A definite plus to Executive Club Gold status is American Airlines lounge access domestically.