Chase British Airways Credit Card Review
Chase has issued the British Airways credit card for many years now. It is one of their lessor known cards to the general population because it is a co-branded card for a foreign carrier. British Airways has a few sweet spots that are worth pursuing and this card can pad your accounts to take advantage of them.
Current Sign Up Bonus Vs The Historical High
The current sign up bonus is as follows:
- 50,000 British Airways Avios after completing $3,000 in spend within the first 3 months
- 25,000 Avios after completing an additional $7,000 in spend ($10,000 in total) within the first 12 months
- The $95 annual fee is NOT waived
The British Airways credit card has had offers for 100,000 Avios in the past but it came with a large, $20,000 minimum spend requirement.
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Bonus Restrictions
The Chase British Airways card does NOT fall under the dreaded Chase 5/24 rule. That means you are able to get approved for this card even if you have received over 5 new credit accounts during the past 24 months.
Even though this card does not fall under the 5/24 rule Chase has been using recent applications to review people’s accounts. New card applications have led to some total account shutdowns if the person has had a lot of recent applications. This is something to be aware of before applying for this card.
Chase also has a 24 month rule for every credit card:
This product is not available to either current cardmembers of this credit card, or previous cardmembers of this credit card who received a new cardmember bonus for this credit card within the last 24 months.
Earning Structure
The Chase British Airways credit card comes with the following earning structure:
- 3 Avios per $1 on eligible British Airways, Iberia and Open Skies purchases.
- 1 Avios per $1 on all other eligible purchases
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Cardmember Perks
The British Airways credit card comes with the following perks:
- Earn a travel together ticket after spending $30,000 within a calendar year
- No foreign transaction fees
- Baggage delay insurance
- Reimburses you for essential purchases for baggage delays over 6 hours by passenger carrier. It covers up to $100 a day for 3 days.
- Purchase protection
- Covers your new purchases for 120 days against damage or theft up to $500 per claim and $50,000 per account
- Lost luggage reimbursement
- Covers you or your immediate family members’ checked or carry-on bags are damaged or lost by the carrier, you’re covered up to $3,000 per passenger
- Extended warranty protection
- Extends the time period of the U.S. manufacturer’s warranty by an additional year, on eligible warranties of three years or less
Fees
The Chase British Airways credit card comes with an $95 annual fee which is NOT waived.
Sign Up Bonus Value – $625/$937.50 ($530/$842.50 Net)
British Airways Avios are valued at around 1.25 cents a piece. That puts the 50,000 Avios sign up bonus at a value of $625 or $937.50 if you go for the $10,000 bonus.
The annual fee is not waived so you need to subtract that from these numbers to get the net value. After subtracting the annual fee cost out you are left with a net value of $530 for the $3,000 sign up bonus and $842.50 for the $10,000 sign up bonus.
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Summary
The British Airways credit card has a solid welcome bonus. The earning structure isn’t the best, especially since British Airways is a transfer partner with every major transferable currency.
Avios do offer a few sweet spots, domestic travel on American Airlines and travel on Aer Lingus to name a few. These sweet spots mean that Avios are always in demand and something educated travelers desire.
Having said that this card probably isn’t the best way to accrue them. It is an easy way to add to your Avios stash in a hurry.
The British Airways credit card does offer a few decent perks for a sub $100 annual fee. The perk most people are interested in is the travel together ticket. This must be used on British Airways metal and it only takes care of the award mileage cost for the second passenger. You still need to pay the taxes and fees for both tickets, which are steep on British Airways award flights.
The companion certificate essentially is like buying a discounted first class cash ticket that pairs with an award redemption. It is useful for some but the $30,000 spend threshold makes it a difficult target for most.
Long Term Keep or Cancel?
The only reason to keep this card long term would be the travel together ticket. If you value that perk more than $95, and are able to complete the spend easily, then the card is a keeper. It is a large amount of spend but it may be worth it for some.
As for earning British Airways points you are better off using an American Express, Chase, or Citi card that earns transferable currencies. Many of these cards, like the American Express Platinum card, earn a better rate on British Airways flights than it’s own co-branded card does.
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Conclusion
The British Airways credit card from Chase has a compelling welcome bonus offer, especially if you hit the large spend bonus. It’s earning structure and card perks are a little lacking though.
British Airways has an interesting program in the sense that it’s miles (Avios) are best used on partner airlines. As long as you are able to take advantage of the sweet spots, Avios can be very valuable. By getting this card you can save your transferable currencies for other programs or use them to top off your British Airways account for your next trip.
The card is a long term keeper if you are able to use the companion ticket each year. That won’t be the case for most but there are people out there who value the perk at several hundred dollars.
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My wife and I both did the $20K spend for the 100K. This now a pretty good deal. I have used the Avios mainly for AA shorter flights in the US. Only problem for me is that I live in a smaller city and the direct flights from here are getting harder and harder to find a super saver rate.
I do have a companion pass sitting out there, but the high fuel charges just don’t warrant using it for me.
My annual fee is due now. I plan to drop it and get Iberia card.
Good plan all around! Yeah the companion cert is tough to use unless you usually shell out money for first class flights to Europe.