{"id":8500,"date":"2020-10-23T21:58:30","date_gmt":"2020-10-23T20:58:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.verylvke.com\/en\/?p=8500"},"modified":"2020-10-23T21:58:32","modified_gmt":"2020-10-23T20:58:32","slug":"best-advantages-for-having-british-airways-gold","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.verylvke.com\/en\/2020\/10\/23\/best-advantages-for-having-british-airways-gold\/","title":{"rendered":"Best advantages for having British Airways Gold"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.verylvke.com\/en\/2020\/09\/27\/best-advantages-for-having-british-airways-silver\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">I&#8217;ve written about BA Silver&#8217;s benefits previously<\/a>, and today let&#8217;s have a look at Gold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.verylvke.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/06\/BA-Gold-card.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.verylvke.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/06\/BA-Gold-card.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-37\" width=\"192\" height=\"124\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.verylvke.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/06\/BA-Gold-card.jpg 384w, https:\/\/www.verylvke.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/06\/BA-Gold-card-300x194.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 192px) 100vw, 192px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.britishairways.com\/en-gb\/executive-club\/tiers-and-benefits\/gold-benefits\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">You could see the list of Gold benefits on BA\u2019s page here<\/a>. To achieve Gold, you need to meet the following two conditions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Fly four eligible segments<\/li><li>Earn 1,500 tier points<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>An&nbsp;<em>eligible segment<\/em>&nbsp;is a BA-operated&nbsp;<strong>or<\/strong>&nbsp;-coded flight, or an IB-operated&nbsp;<strong>and<\/strong>&nbsp;-coded flight. It must be on a paid ticket, i.e. award ticket doesn\u2019t count.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The following benefits are in my preference order, and all (except the reward ticket ones) apply to any Oneworld\u00a0<strong><span class=\"has-inline-color has-vivid-green-cyan-color\">Emerald <\/span><\/strong>equivalent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>[First Class Lounge Access]<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One thing that distinguishes Oneworld from the other two alliances is that many Oneworld airlines have dedicated first-class lounges and, more importantly, Emerald elites are entitled to using them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.verylvke.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/02\/lhr-t3-cathay-pacific-first-class-lounge-dining-room-1.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.verylvke.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/02\/lhr-t3-cathay-pacific-first-class-lounge-dining-room-1-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-268\" width=\"256\" height=\"192\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.verylvke.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/02\/lhr-t3-cathay-pacific-first-class-lounge-dining-room-1-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.verylvke.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/02\/lhr-t3-cathay-pacific-first-class-lounge-dining-room-1-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.verylvke.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/02\/lhr-t3-cathay-pacific-first-class-lounge-dining-room-1-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.verylvke.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/02\/lhr-t3-cathay-pacific-first-class-lounge-dining-room-1-1320x990.jpg 1320w, https:\/\/www.verylvke.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/02\/lhr-t3-cathay-pacific-first-class-lounge-dining-room-1.jpg 1382w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 256px) 100vw, 256px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Being BA Gold, you could use BA&#8217;s Galleries First lounge at LHR T5, which to be fair isn&#8217;t that special. However, Cathay Pacific has a pretty good First lounge at T3, and not to mention the flagship ones at its home base HKG.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>[Extra Award Ticket Inventory]<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Extra award ticket inventory is made available to Gold card holders. More specifically, economy class V inventory is always open for redemption for Gold elites. You&#8217;ll see a message like this when searching for Avios tickets:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.verylvke.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/10\/ba-gold-extra-award-inventory-message.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.verylvke.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/10\/ba-gold-extra-award-inventory-message.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-8851\" width=\"400\" height=\"68\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.verylvke.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/10\/ba-gold-extra-award-inventory-message.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.verylvke.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/10\/ba-gold-extra-award-inventory-message-300x51.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.verylvke.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/10\/ba-gold-extra-award-inventory-message-768x130.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>This is more useful than you think. I found it <em>much easier <\/em>to find award ticket in economy class once I turned Gold!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>[Free Seat Selection]<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Like Silver, Gold members can select seats for free at the time of booking. And this includes extra legroom seats in economy class on long-haul flights too, which is an improvement over Silver.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You could choose seat for anyone else on your booking as well. Even with separate bookings, you could call BA&#8217;s hotline to achieve this as long as your companions are travelling on the same flight and in the same cabin. This is called <em>To Complete Party<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>[Fast Track Security &amp; Immigration]<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You enjoy fast track security at Heathrow and select airports worldwide. From my personal experience it doesn&#8217;t make a huge difference though.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Fast track immigration at Heathrow is much more useful for me, as I&#8217;m a non-EU passport holder. It tends to save me, perhaps 30 minutes on average each time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>[Gold Priority Reward]<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If there&#8217;s no award ticket space at all, you can still force open redemption inventory using this privilege. The only condition is that the revenue ticket is still selling, and you must pay <strong>double <\/strong>the original Avios required.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It cannot be done online, and you must book at least 30 days in advance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I&#8217;m single so never had a chance to use this benefit! However, if you have children, therefore need more tickets and are restricted in terms of when you can travel, I do see how this privilege can be useful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>[Priority Boarding]<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As Gold you are always placed in Group 1 when boarding. It means you are guaranteed to be amongst the first ones on board!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As I said before, it&#8217;s great when you are flying economy on a busy flight, as boarding early means you needn&#8217;t worry about luggage storage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>[First Class Check-in]<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can always use the First Class check-in counters at the airport. At Heathrow, there is a dedicated check-in area &#8211; First Class Wing (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.verylvke.com\/en\/2020\/08\/09\/travelling-in-covid-times-lhr-t5-ba-first-wing-and-galleries-first-lounge\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">my review here<\/a>) available which is a special experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.verylvke.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/08\/scotland-trip-lhr-t5-first-wing-3-1.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.verylvke.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/08\/scotland-trip-lhr-t5-first-wing-3-1-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-8051\" width=\"256\" height=\"192\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.verylvke.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/08\/scotland-trip-lhr-t5-first-wing-3-1-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.verylvke.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/08\/scotland-trip-lhr-t5-first-wing-3-1-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.verylvke.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/08\/scotland-trip-lhr-t5-first-wing-3-1-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.verylvke.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/08\/scotland-trip-lhr-t5-first-wing-3-1-1320x990.jpg 1320w, https:\/\/www.verylvke.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/08\/scotland-trip-lhr-t5-first-wing-3-1.jpg 1382w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 256px) 100vw, 256px\" \/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>[Extra Baggage Allowance]<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Like Silver elites, as Gold you are entitled to an additional check-in baggage as well. However, Silver&#8217;s extra allowance doesn&#8217;t apply if the original allowance is already two bags or more, whereas there&#8217;s no such limitation for Gold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It means, flying First you could carry 4 * 32kg pieces for free!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Note that however, it&#8217;s not applicable when flying Economy Basic &#8211; you still won&#8217;t have any allowance in the case.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I&#8217;ve written about BA Silver&#8217;s benefits previously, and today let&#8217;s have a look at Gold. You could see the list of Gold benefits on BA\u2019s page&#46;&#46;&#46;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8500","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-british-airways"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.verylvke.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8500","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.verylvke.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.verylvke.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.verylvke.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.verylvke.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8500"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.verylvke.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8500\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8854,"href":"https:\/\/www.verylvke.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8500\/revisions\/8854"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.verylvke.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8500"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.verylvke.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8500"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.verylvke.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8500"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}