British Airways Credit Card Review
Here’s a great credit card offer that I took advantage of previously for those interested in some free travel either within the US or internationally. The British Airways Visa Signature® Card is offering up to 50,000 bonus Avios after you make $1,000 in purchases within the first 3 months of account opening.
The card does have an annual fee of $95, which is not waived the first year. The card always earns 1.25 BA Avios points per dollar spent on all purchases (double that on British Airways purchases). Another perk is no foreign transaction fees, handy when traveling and saving you up to 3% off everything compared to cards that have the fee. It also has smart chip ID technology that is sometimes required in Europe.
The Avios reward chart is now based on how far you want to travel in terms of miles. So what can you do with all those points?
Redeem awards domestically on partner American Airlines. Within the US, it’s usually easiest to find flights on partner American Airlines. For example, I can get from Los Angeles to Honolulu, Hawaii using only 25,000 Avios points roundtrip. I ran a quote in Fall and it cost $659 broken down to $621 fare and only $38 in taxes. So in this case you could save $621 in exchange for 25,000 points, which is 2.5 cents per point. Shorter-distance flights can be a good deal as well. Roundtrip from Chicago to New York City is only 15,000 Avios points + about $30 in taxes. More details below:
Finding partner awards on BA.com is better than is was in the past, so try it first. Type in your to/from cities within the US, choose to book flights with Avios points, and then click to include partners:
If you have the flexibility, you can also search for additional dates for more available seats. Here’s a trip I found for a short flight from San Francisco (SFO) to Los Angeles (LAX) for just 9,000 miles + $5. So with 50,000 bonus miles, you could take 5 of these flights and have points left over!
You may find more space going business class in the US. If you’re travelling on set dates, you may want to look for business class tickets instead. Why use 50,000 miles on some “anytime” Economy ticket when you could flight in business class comfort? Here’s a cross-country business class trip I found from San Francisco (SFO) to New York (JFK) for 50,000 miles + $5.
Use the American Airlines AA.com website and look for “MileSAAver” awards. Record the exact flight dates and numbers, and then call at British Airways at 1-800-452-1201 to book them. If you can’t find the same flight on BA.com, they should waive the phone book fee (they did for me). Don’t be discouraged if you have to use this method, especially if you aren’t flying nonstop. Also, call back and talk with a different agent if they aren’t helpful initially.
Redeem Avios points for business class to Europe. Since business class is so expensive, but the flight across the Atlantic is so long, redeeming points for business class tickets can be a good value as well. The taxes are still there, but they are a much smaller proportion and your trip will be so much more comfortable and truly an experience.
A roundtrip business class flight quote from New York City to London was $3,640, with $2,540 in fare and $1,100 in taxes. I could book the same award ticket for 80,000 Avios points plus $1,100 in taxes. Now we’re talking 3.2 cents per point.
Therefore I figured, why not use this card as an excuse to go to Europe in style, because I would never have done so otherwise. When booking my trip, I ended up calling in and getting a really nice customer service rep that used her tricks to nab me a combination of American and British Airways flights from my city to both London and Rome and back, all for under 100,000 miles. The flight was a first-time experience for me… priority check-in and boarding, first class lounges with showers and buffets, multi-course inflight meals, actually sleeping on seats that were fully flat, etc.
How not to use your miles. Don’t use Avios for a economy class transatlantic flight from USA to Europe, because you’ll still be subject to taxes and fees on award redemptions, which are often half the entire cost of the ticket. I ran a quick search for a random New York City (JFK) to London (LHR) flight that cost $1,050, the taxes and fees alone were $650. You can get the $400 “fare” for 40,000 Avios points, but that’s only 1 cent a point value.
Finally, you can also use partner airlines such as LAN Airlines or Cathay Pacific to get from the US to both Asia and South America on business class for 100,000 Avios or less.
Finally, if you can manage to spend $30,000 a year on the card, you can even earn a 2-for-1 Travel Together Ticket good for two years when you redeem for a flight on British Airways. With the Travel Together Ticket, you can bring a companion on your next reward flight without using any additional Avios points. Fees and taxes do still apply, but the voucher is valid to any destination and includes first/business class. Another family tip is that you are allowed to pool miles between multiple people in a “household account” to make redemptions easier. So you, your spouse/partner, and other relatives can share points.
(This was actually done x2 for Mrs. MMB and we traveled together. We householded accounts and that way I could redeem flights for both of us. It worked well because we could all book tickets together on the same flight all at once and only talking to one person over the phone.)
Apply for the British Airways Visa Signature® Card.
You can also apply for the Chase Sapphire Preferred card which offers 40,000 bonus points which convert to 40,000 British Airways miles. There is also the Chase Ink Bold small business card with another 50,000 points. Finally, you can do some tricks like pay your taxes with credit cards to meet the spending requirements.)
“Disclaimer: This content is not provided or commissioned by the issuer. Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of the issuer, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the issuer. This site may be compensated through the issuer’s Affiliate Program.”
By Jonathan Ping | Credit Cards, Deals & Offers | 12/3/12, 7:29pm
April 6th, 2011 at 3:30 pm
Oh man, I just applied but realized that between this and my new Chase Sapphire Preferred card, I’ll have to charge $5,500 over the next three months! Ah, well. Thanks for the link!
April 6th, 2011 at 6:18 pm
Just got back from ireland, london and paris utilizing this deal. We took business class too but we did not get the lay flat seats. The only difference vs coach was there was more room. Still not bad for $400 each round trip.
April 6th, 2011 at 7:14 pm
@Jon M – Did you get instant approval? Buy some grocery store gift cards and prepay all your utilities for the next 6 months!
@stephen – Ooh, Ireland, haven’t been there yet. Seatguru.com is a good source for looking up exactly what seat characteristics you’ll get. I’m a tall-ish guy so even a nice recliner chair is huge improvement for me. Leg room is my top priority, although I’m sure you got better meals and lounge access amongst other stuff.
I flew LAX to London Heathrow and I slept for 8 hours. Then the lounge in London had a hot shower for me with toiletries. Indian food and espresso while checking my e-mail on their computers. Okay, I’m rambling! Sadly, that’s was both the first and only time so far I’ve ever flown international business class.
April 6th, 2011 at 7:45 pm
@Stephen – did you apply for two cards to allow for the both of you to fly business class? Or was this based on one card application?
April 6th, 2011 at 8:00 pm
For booking domestic, which is AA, did you still call up BA to speak to an agent? If not, what was the protocol?
I’m interested in making the most of these miles, but with my fiancee so I’m trying to take what you’re listing and multiplying by 2.
Lower 48 to Hawaii was 35K round trip?
April 6th, 2011 at 8:18 pm
@Jonathan
Did poor Mrs. MMB get left at home for that trip?
No, didn’t get instant approval. Have to wait 10 days, same as for the Sapphire card. Grocery gift cards are a good idea!
Not to count my chickens before they hatch, but I’m looking forward to a London-Brugge-Amsterdam trip in my future!
April 6th, 2011 at 9:43 pm
No, Mrs. MMB was convinced to apply as well. We both got the same card and did the household account thing, so I could book everything on my end together. She’s willing to play along when there’s something that she likes enough and the hassle for her is minimal.
I decided to just describe it on a per-person level to avoid getting numbers confused.
April 6th, 2011 at 9:46 pm
@Mike – Yes, you call BA to book. Tell them you are booking on a single Oneworld partner airline, which is the alliance that BA and American are both part of. You can also try to book online, their functionality reportedly has improved in the past year or so.
Lower 48 (referred to as North America on the BA site) to Hawaii is 35k for economy on any single partner airline, basically American. Within 48 is 25k. Double everything if you want business class (50k for domestic).
If you are going to do it times two, try to do the household account thing so you can book both tickets all at the same time.
April 7th, 2011 at 3:51 am
Can BA miles be exchanged for gift cards? I don’t fly much and I couldn’t find on their site if you could exchange for magazines, gift cards, etc.
thanks
April 7th, 2011 at 6:04 am
oh man i love deals like this! too bad i have SO many cc’s.
April 7th, 2011 at 6:16 am
@christine – Tell me about it. I have 16 cc’s now (I blame this blog! haha)
Great deal though, very tempting!
April 7th, 2011 at 7:21 am
You can use your miles to book flights for other people, right? Or are miles for your own fares only?
April 7th, 2011 at 8:52 am
What are the approval requirements? Credit score, etc? How long are the flight vouchers good for?
April 7th, 2011 at 9:38 am
I am thinking of traveling in 2012, so do these miles expires? Also, what happens to the miles after I close the cc? Thanks.
April 7th, 2011 at 10:20 am
good for those of us who dipped into the promo last time and then closed the card…?
April 7th, 2011 at 11:01 am
Jonathon.
Thanks a million. A local casino offers me free European Cruises every year, but I never take advantage of them because the airfare is always cost prohibitive. Got my wife and I signed up, did the math and we should be able to pocket 340,625 miles with a value of $6812.50 on $32,500 worth of purchases + the $190 fee. That’s 20% back on everything. See you later blue cash Amex. BTW, we average about $3,000 per month in credit card spending (put everything on the card). We carry no debt besides the mortgage.
You just made my wife very happy.
Captain Cheapo.
April 7th, 2011 at 1:44 pm
@Mike – I did a quick look at the BA and even after logging in I didn’t see any option to redeem for gift cards. Most airlines do these days, but not sure about BA.
There are some agencies that will “buy” your miles. This is not illegal in the go-directly-to-jail-and-don’t-pass-go sense, but it is usually against the airline’s official rules and they can wipe out your account if they catch you.
@Rick – You can book your miles for whomever you wish. Just like with other major airlines.
@Molly – Usually such sign-up offers are for consumers with good to excellent credit. BA miles expire after 3 years of inactivity, but never expire if you keep some activity going.
@A – BA miles expire after 3 years of inactivity, but never expire if you keep some activity going like earning/spending just a few miles. 2012 you’ll be fine either way.
@enonymous – Officially, no, this sign-up bonus is not for previous or existing Chase British Air cardholders. Unofficially, some people have found the real policy is to allow you to re-apply for the bonus after the old card has been closed 6 or 12 months. I would personally wait at least 12 months, unless you want to take a risk.
@Captain Cheapo – Happy to hear it. I was going to say, does the casino let you buy chips with credit cards, maybe since you’re a good customer? Because that could make a lot of BA miles…
April 7th, 2011 at 2:41 pm
No casino allows you to convert credit to chips without a fee, except on some cruises, but you’ll have a hard time getting all of your money back unless you are a hell of a gambler.
April 7th, 2011 at 3:44 pm
Your blog is very good and we seem to have the same “conservative risk” mentality. Question: Due to our childrens’ school/internships/etc, we have a defined 2 week period in Aug 2012 to expose them to London/Paris. Do you know how difficult it would be to use the BA miles during a popular tourist period?
April 7th, 2011 at 7:10 pm
Do you know if the redemption of BA miles for AA miles is 1 to 1?
April 7th, 2011 at 8:07 pm
Jonathan – what is the household thing? I don’t follow.
But this is an awesome deal! TFS.
April 7th, 2011 at 9:11 pm
@Ann – If you start looking at a year out, your chances of getting something at a peak time will increase. That’s about when the airlines start releasing inventory for award seats. To get specifics, I would call BA customer service on when they release award seats.
@Liz – Well, you’re not getting AA miles directly, you are redeeming BA miles onto a partner airline (American). But the miles required are pretty much the same for domestic awards. Here’s the redemption schedule, click on North America. Domestic is 25k, and to/from Hawaii is 35k, as mentioned before.
http://www.britishairways.com/.....blic/en_us
@Anak – A household account allows one person to control all the points from multiple people. For example, Person A might have 150k, Person B might have 50k, but you want two awards that each cost 100k. If A & B agree to become one household account, A can book both 100k awards simultaneously without paying any transfer fees.
April 8th, 2011 at 6:23 am
jonathan or others. do you mean you opened an account and then the MRS opened one too? so you both get 100,000?
April 8th, 2011 at 6:45 am
Hi Jonathan,
Great to hear about this opportunity for you and your wife. I would really like to hear about the experience of flying First class. A recent lottery winner said that he would like to fly First Class for once in his life- shows how valuable this opportunity is. I personally don’t know anyone who has done it. Therefore, I hope you can write something for people who haven’t experienced it. We will definitely enjoy reading it. Great job with the blog!
SR
April 8th, 2011 at 11:46 am
Wow, great deal Jonathan, thanks!
I hate paying annual fees for credit cards. I’m also simultaneously applying for a Chase Freedom card with a $200 bonus offer I got in the mail (crossing fingers I get approved for that). I’m counting on that offer to ease my anguish over the $95 fee.
April 8th, 2011 at 3:22 pm
Jonathan, I find it hard to believe that as a frugal as you are that you and the wife will both pay the $95 fee. Seems like an outstanding deal though. I am having trouble justifying the future fees (after I get the sign on bonus) to keep the card. Do you still keep and use your card regularly?
April 8th, 2011 at 4:58 pm
$190 for $6500 worth of miles or what works out to 20% back on ALL purchases if you value miles at 2 cents per mile is the best deal I have ever witnessed from a credit card company. Quite frankly, I’m not sure how they can afford to give this much away for $2 a swipe.
April 8th, 2011 at 7:44 pm
I just signed up and was approved. I hope all works out well. Thanks for the heads up.
April 8th, 2011 at 7:50 pm
Anyone else having trouble with the sign up link? I can get to the Chase card info page but when I click apply now it just spins forever.
April 8th, 2011 at 9:13 pm
@Rick – Yes, we both got 100k miles and used them.
@SR – Read my first comment (shaded green) below the post. It was really fun, I love to travel but the actual flying is always so painful for me and my long legs and swollen knees. Being able to sleep most of any overnight flight, it felt like I went from Los Angeles to London in an hour or two.
@Jay @Ben – Well, if paying $95 means I can get at minimum $1,000 of value, then isn’t that frugal? Proper frugality should mean maximizing your return on any money spent, not just never spending any money.
I have already cancelled my card before paying the second year’s fee. We are not traveling to Europe or on British Air this year.
@someguy – I just tried and the app is loading rather slowly for me as well, but did eventually load. I would just try again later, sometimes they do maintenance in the weekend evenings.
April 9th, 2011 at 10:18 am
Jonathan, been trying for about 24 hours and still no go. If I try with Firefox it immediately says the server is redirecting in a circle and will never load. Obviously not your issue but just thought I would mention it. I was able to sign myself up but was going to do the Mrs. and the ‘rents as well but have been unable.
April 9th, 2011 at 3:30 pm
@someguy/@Jonathan on Mac OS X I’m also getting a redirect loop on Safari/Firefox/Chrome. Will try again later.
April 9th, 2011 at 4:02 pm
@someguy/@Jonathan Managed to sign up successfully using Safari. Was approved.
April 10th, 2011 at 6:47 am
Red, thanks for the tip. Last night I tried the link on my iPhone (Safari) and was able to sign my wife up. At that time, neither Firefox nor MSIE on either of our Windows machines were able to load the page. As of this morning, it still won’t load under Windows.
April 10th, 2011 at 10:36 am
@ Joshua
I applied for 2 cards, one for the wife and one for me round-trip from SEA to Heathrow.
April 10th, 2011 at 1:18 pm
Mr. MyMoneyBlog,
I’ve never taken advantage of airline mileage programs (never had enough to redeem) but have always thought they came with lots of blackout dates. How do I find out when British Airways and their partner ariline companies (most likely, I’d be using partners more than BA) would let us fly using these mileage points?
April 11th, 2011 at 5:58 am
Mileage Novice, American Airlines is the main US partner for this deal. Bottom line is there are “AAnywhere” rates for which you can book any time. There are two tiers of saver rates where you can get the same routes for around 1/2 to 2/3 of the AAnywhere rate but obviously during non-peak days and dates.
Mileage chart: http://www.aa.com/i18n/disclai.....-chart.jsp
Link to actually book: http://www.aa.com/i18n/AAdvant.....ations.jsp
April 11th, 2011 at 12:27 pm
@Mileage Novice – You can also apply for a BA frequent flier number and go on their website and search for available award travel from today. Peak travel times will have more competition for slots, but if you start looking early or really late that can help.
April 11th, 2011 at 4:42 pm
I’m still on the fence with the deal. I hate taking out another credit app just to cancel it later. But I keep coming back!! I think the best use is flying to Europe in Business class. But we are already to heading to Europe this year for vacay and probably may not be able to go next year. If you hop on this deal and get your 100k, then cancel the card, will the points remain in your BA account until they expire or are they connected to keeping the CC? Also, I realize that you may not get business class all the way, but since there are no BA US cities near me, would I still be able to use a business class ticket for the flight over the pond along with a domestic AA flight if they are booked together?
April 11th, 2011 at 5:43 pm
I’m willing to go through the trouble for several hundred dollars+ of post-tax benefit.
A temporary 5 point ding on my FICO score is an easy deal for me.
Yes, the BA miles just stay in your account, their expiration only after 3 years of inactivity. Plenty of ways to earn a few miles to reset expiration if you really need it after 3 years.
Yes, you can use BA + 1 partner airline to book. To save miles, you can also try doing business class one way (overnight) and then premium economy (more leg room) on the way back.
April 12th, 2011 at 5:05 pm
I applied for this card and was approved for credit limit of only a few grand higher than I have on my other Chase card (united) that I never use. My income is much higher than it was when I first got my united card. Can somebody explain? Is it the credit crunch? The fact that I don’t use my existing credit (I use amex instead)? Is it because Chase considers all outstanding credit limits?
Just curious.
April 15th, 2011 at 4:09 pm
So I took the plunge – finally. Now I just need to get the wifey to take the plunge also. I was approved online – it says you get the card in about two weeks – anyone have any experience getting it sooner. I have to cover our auto ins deductible next week since the wifey hit a coyote on the way work and that will be an easy $500 towards the extra 50k miles.
April 16th, 2011 at 7:07 am
Card came for me in about a week and with a $20K credit limit.
April 16th, 2011 at 3:05 pm
@Jay – Ended up signing up both my wife and myself. We received our cards yesterday. Both for $20K limits. Wife wasn’t approved immediately, but an account rep did call her to make sure she was the one that applied (actually I was the one). (: We signed up April 6th, got them yesterday, so that was less than 2 weeks.
@Jonathan – So the 100,000 business class flights to Europe… that’s one way, right? Also, when do they actually charge you the annual fee?
April 21st, 2011 at 10:03 am
Thanks Jonathan. I applied and received yesterday. Now will need to get my husband to apply too!
April 25th, 2011 at 9:31 am
Wife and I are signed up. I was initially rejected as I already have 3 Credit Cards. I asked them to split off my balance availability from my Continental One Pass card to the BA card and they accepted my offer. I can smell a European Cruise next Summer.
Stu
Thanks for the heads up Jon and the suggestion to split the balance from other posters here.
May 15th, 2011 at 9:56 am
This is a great promo thanks!
May 16th, 2011 at 6:29 pm
I belong to Marco polo club w Cathay pacific, can I use ba mileage if I sign up w the ba credit card? Thanks
June 8th, 2011 at 3:48 am
I’ve already spent 2 grand on the card why didn’t i get my 50,000 points for my first purchase yet?
Someone please respond i need it to go on my honeymoon.
June 11th, 2011 at 8:52 am
hey Franco, the first 50K get applied 6-8 weeks after your first purchase. the 2nd 50K get applied 6-8 weeks after you hit the the $2500 mark. (not $2000).
If you need these for your honeymoon, did you think of calling customer service? dude.
June 11th, 2011 at 12:23 pm
damn thats a lot of weeks, oh well maybe ill pay for honeymoon and save miles for next summer
April 12th, 2012 at 12:55 am
I just looked on BA from San Diego to Maui, as well as LAX to Maui, and it says that there are no available routes.. Am I missing something??
April 12th, 2012 at 1:04 am
Looking at partner availability on British Airways (as they don’t fly from SD to HI) is spotty online. Either call BA directly or check directly at partner airline like American and just look at their “saver” award inventory. A good CSR (call back until you get one) can put together a good route and minimize point usage.
April 12th, 2012 at 1:21 am
@ Jonathan – Ok, thanks a lot for the response and the amazing blog! I even tried searching LAX-OGG on BA.com and no luck.. I will try to contact AA directly. On AA.com the “saver” is 22.5k each way. Seems like I should be able to get it for 25k Avios miles from what I have heard.
April 12th, 2012 at 5:52 am
Can I apply for this even though I had signed up last time and had then closed the account after getting BA miles?
April 12th, 2012 at 5:53 am
Also, is there a way to get $20k spend now that mint deal is dead
April 12th, 2012 at 12:23 pm
Hey Jonathan thanks for keeping this thread alive. I applied for the card the first time around and it is awesome. I spent $52 to book my honeymoon to and from Hawaii. I am more than happy to pay the fee to keep this card (at least for a few years) to reap that amazing benefit.
Now the future wife will probably sign up for this and we’ll use it again.
Question: is there still the ability to combine avios point balances to make one person a household account holder so we can move the points to one person and make it easier to purchase flights online?
Thanks!
April 12th, 2012 at 1:16 pm
My wife and I have done the Chase Sapphire CC as well as the Chase Southwest Airlines CC. Do you think they’ll approve us for this one as well? Our credit score is excellent, but regardless, it seems like they would eventually catch on to who is only signing up for the points, then cancelling.
April 12th, 2012 at 4:44 pm
For the 100000 miles card, I wanted to apply for one. If memory served me correct, when redeeming for a flight to Europe, taxes along would cost about $800. Thus, I will wait for the moment and do some more research on the matter before applying for one.
April 13th, 2012 at 8:01 am
@ Franco: You also don’t get the pointed credited to your account until after you pay the money back.
April 14th, 2012 at 12:11 pm
JBrown- Did you apply? I too have the Chase Sapphire and Chase Southwest ccs. I applied for this cc knowing a third Chase card might not get approved due to the number of Chase ccs. I didn’t get instant approval and am awaiting the manual approval/ denial). I’ll let you know either result.
April 14th, 2012 at 3:14 pm
If you have any issues with approval, call the Chase credit reconsideration line at 1-888-245-0625. Ask them politely for the exact reason why you were denied, and offer to cancel and/or lower your existing credit lines in order to get the new card you want. Tell them if you’re okay canceling an old card since this new one has so many great perks that you can use. You should be offered some way to get approved, I have heard many success stories. They want your business.
April 14th, 2012 at 7:11 pm
@ Kelly: I have not yet applied. I’m still considering whether it’s worth spending the $20k to get the total miles. After all, there are opportunity costs to consider. I currently use the AMEX Blue Cash Preferred which gives 6% cashback at grocery stores, for instance.
April 17th, 2012 at 9:14 pm
I tried this deal last year. I had just signed up for the Marriott Rewards card, they gave me a $14.5k limit right out of the gate. Then the BA promo came up a month later so I wanted to get that too. Got a rejection letter and called the number; they said I had too many Chase CC’s. One? I tried to get them to transfer some of the CL on the MR card for the BA card, but they said it was too risky (I know, don’t even try to think logically when dealing with Chase…)
April 22nd, 2012 at 10:50 am
I currently earn BA miles with another credit card based out of the Caribbean, but it required me to change my exec club info to a Caribbean address. If I apply for this card will I have to change to the US exec club or not? Ie can I essentially earn miles with both CC’s at the same time? If not can I change to the US, earn miles for the transaction in this card and then switch back to Caribbean..?
April 25th, 2012 at 2:40 pm
Jonathan- it may be that I’m doing something wrong, but have you noticed that BA has a lot of blackout dates? I tried flying them looking at all different cities throughout the month of May and just kept getting the message that there was nothing available. Then I checked out their partner AA and found seats avail on thier award travel, but when I called BA to try and book using thier points, they told me there were no flights available for reward travel.
SO Frustrating! Just curious if this is common for them to blackout reward travel across the board like that, or if I’m not doing it right.
Thank you Thank you if you get the chance to respond!!
April 25th, 2012 at 11:20 pm
@Candace – when you looked at AA for awards seats, were they “MileSaaver” awards (12.5k miles), or “AAnytime” awards (25k miles)? My understanding is that generally on partner awards, you can only get MileSaaver awards seats.
April 28th, 2012 at 3:33 pm
@Candace – As ttfitz noted, you’ll need to locate “MileSAAver” awards which are harder to find than the unrestricted anytime awards. You may also need to look for one-stopover routing rather than direct nonstop in some cases, and be more flexible with dates (try farther out). American actually has better award availability than other domestic airlines.
April 28th, 2012 at 7:33 pm
Thank you for the responses!! I did locate MileSAAver awards, yet BA said for the outbound trip there was nothing, and for the inbound trip, it had a stopover in MIA and BA said they only had seats on the MGA-MIA but not to finish my trip back to ORD. I’m going to do more research and get it all written down and block out time to sit on the phone to hopefully get it to work. If I had known how frustrating BA was I nev would have gotten the card!!! Hopefully it’ll work out though, gracias!!
May 13th, 2012 at 5:03 pm
Are there many blackout dates for AA? And how tough is it to book last minute? Never had a credit card before- but fly all the time now. Thanks for the site!
May 19th, 2012 at 8:44 pm
I see that Citi has there thankyou card live again and offering 750 dollars for $4000 of charging over 3 months. My wife just got hers.
May 21st, 2012 at 3:18 am
Jonathan – Can you apply and get the rewards if you have already applied for a BA Chase Card Rewards two years ago and received 25K signup bonus rewards?
May 29th, 2012 at 7:25 pm
My points timeline for a reference:
I got my card on the 3rd and immediately purchased something. When I activated it I asked when I might see the points (if it would really take 6-8 weeks) and the card representative I spoke to told me that the points were transferred on the 21st (she made this sound like it was true for everyone, not just my card). By the 23rd I was able to see the points on the British Airways site, and use their online booking service to purchase tickets. Three round trip tickets from Chicago to New York cost 45,000 miles + $15 (15,000 miles and $5 per ticket). I booked about two months ahead, and there three flight options for each leg. A round trip ticket from Chi to NYC would have cost me at least $200, so this bonus saved me about $490 (600-110 for card fee and ticket tax). Thank you MMB!
June 25th, 2012 at 1:12 pm
So it’s now June 25th and it looks like the offer is still available. Any new info on how long this will last? I have the card right now, but I was thinking about getting my wife one too if the date is delayed enough. It’s a little hard for us to spend $40k in one year, but if we can stagger our years, that might be doable.
June 25th, 2012 at 2:21 pm
I answered my own question. The new rumored end date is July 18th.
July 11th, 2012 at 8:29 am
where does it say the end date of July 18th?
July 11th, 2012 at 10:40 am
I personally am to lazy to deal with all of these airline booking challenges and calling difference 800 numbers, so will be using all of my points to pay for hotel rooms, and just buy the airline tickets myself.
July 11th, 2012 at 12:01 pm
Do I need to join the frequent flyer club to see how many miles it takes to book a trip from LAX to London? In case someone is gracious enough to look for me, the flights I would like are:
10/24/12 BA0268 LAX to London
11/2/12 BA0269 London to LAX
Coach fare is $895
Thanks
July 12th, 2012 at 10:11 am
don’t forget you also get a 10% discount on all BA flights for 2012.
I just booked a ticket from sfo to bom and got 10% discount which was about $150 dollars. this is a great deal; you can’t lose.
10% off when you book through ba.com/Chase10
Promotion code: CARDOFFERU
http://thepointsguy.com/2012/0.....h-airways/
July 20th, 2012 at 9:01 pm
…”Use the American Airlines AA.com website and look for “MileSAAver” awards. Record the exact flight dates and numbers, and then call at British Airways at 1-800-452-1201 to book them. If you can’t find the same flight on BA.com, they should waive the phone book fee (they did for me). Don’t be discouraged if you have to use this method, especially if you aren’t flying nonstop. Also, call back and talk with a different agent if they aren’t helpful initially.”…
So, to book a short-distance domestic AA flight using Avios points, I have to call BA? Is there a way to do that online without any phone call?
July 20th, 2012 at 9:04 pm
I meant, I read several website sites say, it takes 4500 avios points to fly from JFK (in NYC) to Toronto. They never told me how to book such flights. You are thr first person to explain that. My question is, do I have to call BA each time I book a partner’s flight using Avios points?
July 20th, 2012 at 9:40 pm
No, as noted above that, you can always try the BA.com website first. It just doesn’t always work but I have found several short-distance awards online.
July 21st, 2012 at 7:09 pm
Jonathan,
Thank you very much! You provide feedback and advice quickly and accurately.
Andy
September 17th, 2012 at 3:01 pm
What you won’t see when you get this card is the fine print saying you are subject to fees and taxes totally as much as $650 if you going to Europe. It’s not worth it. British Airways is a scam artist.
September 17th, 2012 at 7:12 pm
@ Lucy – I remember the fees and taxes explained clear as day when I signed up for the card. However, I always read the full text of something I am signing, so maybe I am in the minority. BA is definitely not a scam artist, I used the miles I earned to fly to Hawaii and back as stated before. Now we enough miles to do a Europe trip next year. I admit I not thinking about using the miles to go from USA to UK, or anywhere in Europe, because that does seem to be too expensive. But once you are in Europe, your points go a long way. They also go a long way with partner airlines, like AA, which is what we used for Hawaii. I have to disagree with your comment, Lucy, and against my better judgement as well–I hate paying a credit card company a yearly fee but in this case it is more than worth it.
September 17th, 2012 at 7:13 pm
@ Lucy – I remember the fees and taxes explained clear as day when I signed up for the card. However, I always read the full text of something I am signing, so maybe I am in the minority. BA is definitely not a scam artist, I used the miles I earned to fly to Hawaii and back as stated before. Now we have enough miles to do a Europe trip next year. I admit I am not thinking about using the miles to go from USA to UK, or anywhere in Europe, because that does seem to be too expensive. But once you are in Europe, your points go a long way. They also go a long way with partner airlines, like AA, which is what we used for Hawaii. I have to disagree with your comment, Lucy, and against my better judgement as well–I hate paying a credit card company a yearly fee but in this case it is more than worth it.
December 4th, 2012 at 8:29 am
Jonathan, You failed to mention that, if you had this card before (and cancelled), you should NOT to get it again because you will not get the bonus.
December 4th, 2012 at 6:19 pm
Great deal! Avios bookings for AA flights are not as difficult as people say. In my experience, they are especially useful on short trips within the US.
Is this post an advertisement? Don’t you get a bonus if people sign up through your link? I don’t see a disclaimer anywhere.
December 4th, 2012 at 10:26 pm
@bluecat – Well, both the offer and post does say “new cardmembers”… but I have read reports that people have successfully “churned” this card by closing the card waiting 6-12 months, closing your Avios account later after using the points, and then signing up again with a new British Airways miles account. I have not attempted this myself.
@Mary – Thanks, I agree that with the fuel surcharges the short trips in US are a better option nowadays. As for the post, it’s the same as all the other deals I post. I find a good deal, I post it, and if there is a referral link available, I use it. I’m actually pretty sure when I first posted about this card there was no referral link available, but right now there is. There is a full disclosure at the bottom of every page. I know that you are free to use whatever link you wish, and I thank you for your support if you choose to use mine!
December 5th, 2012 at 8:16 am
If the card the closed after 1 year, what happens to the avios miles? :Can it be transferred to AA miles?
December 5th, 2012 at 11:37 am
@vijay – Avios miles are like other frequent flier miles and are deposited in your BA account, they don’t go away when you close your credit card. They do expire after 3 years of inactivity, but any earning or redemption of miles will extend the expiration date forward. I’d make one last purchase on the card before cancellation to get a full 3 years to use them up. After that, earning just 1 mile will keep them alive, you could buy a single iTunes song from their miles mall.
December 6th, 2012 at 1:57 am
I wonder if you know 2-for-1 Travel Together Ticket only can redeem for a flight on British Airways. Can I use it for its partner such as Cathay Pacific? thanks!
December 7th, 2012 at 7:16 am
The $30,000 spend to get 2-for-1 flight needs to be done in a calendar year. I am a few thousand dollars away that need to spent before Dec 31st.. any ideas? Or is there a way to extend the deadline to a 12-mth rolling period
January 2nd, 2013 at 11:54 am
How soon would the extra 25k miles awarded to account when the spending requirements are met? I have planned honeymoon coming up but don’t have 1 calendar year to wait…