Apply: British Airways Visa – up to 100,000 Avios
British Airways has quietly brought back its 100,000 points offer for the British Airways Signature Visa Card (see link on our Best Travel Credit Cards tab), but this offer keeps getting worse. Here's the current offer:
- 50,000 Avios after $1000 spend
- 25,000 additional Avios after $10,000 spend within the first year of account opening (75,000 total Avios)
- 25,000 additional Avios after another $10,000 spend within the first year of account opening (100,000 total Avios)
- Travel Together Companion Ticket after you spend $30,000 total within a calendar year. Note that you do need to pay taxes and fuel surcharges on both tickets
- Apply by February 27, 2013 for this offer
My husband and I originally both got the British Airways Visa in 2011, when we received 50,000 British Airways miles after first purchase, and the other 50,000 British Airways miles after spending $2500 in 90 days.
Earlier this year, the deal was 50,000 Avios after first purchase, then 25,000 additional Avios after $10,000 spend within the first year, and another 25,000 Avios after a further $10,000 in spend within the first year. So as you can see, the spend requirements have increased significantly to receive the full 100,000 Avios bonus.
So is it worth it to get it, if you haven't gotten this card before? It depends. As we wrote in British Airways Visa 100,000 Bonus Avios Points-Worth It?, the initial 50,000 Avios are almost certainly worth it for most travelers, and even with this year's requirement of $1000 spend to receive it, it's still a no-brainer to give you extra points to use for short haul nonstop flights, whether in the U.S., Europe, South America, Asia or Australia.
The other 50,000 points that you get only after spending $20,000 within a year of account opening are really only worth it, in my view, if you value the Companion Ticket and will be spending the $30,000 in a calendar year to receive it. This means that if you're going for the Companion Ticket and the full 100,000 points you should not apply for the BA Visa now, and instead wait until January 2013 to give you the full year to make that spend. Which is fine, since this offer is good until February 27, 2013.
The other aspect to keep in mind is how you view your opportunity cost for that spend. This could be considerable for credit card bonuses, if you have limited spend. For example, in lieu of that $20,000 spend on the British Airways Visa, you could get:
|
Credit Card |
Min. Spend |
Points from Spend |
Signup Bonus |
Total |
|
|
$5000 |
5000-25,000 points |
50,000 UR points |
55,000-75,000 pts |
|
|
$5000 |
5000-25,000 points |
50,000 UR points |
55,000-75,000 pts |
|
|
$3000 |
3000-6000 points |
40,000 UR points |
43,000-46,000 pts |
|
$1000 |
1000-3000 points |
2 nights at top Park Hyatt ($1000-2000) |
2 free nights + 1000-3000 pts |
|
|
Citi AAdvantage Business Card |
$3000 |
3000-6000 miles |
50,000 AA miles |
53,000-56,000 miles |
|
Citi AAdvantage AMEX |
$1000 |
1000-2000 miles |
40,000 AA miles |
41,000-42,000 AA miles |
|
Citi Platinum Select World MC |
$1000 |
1000-2000 miles |
40,000 AA miles |
41,000-42,000 AA miles |
|
Mercedes-Benz Platinum AMEX |
$1000 |
1000 points |
50,000 MR points |
51,000 MR points |
|
TOTAL |
$20,000 |
|
|
340,000-390,000 miles/points + 2 free Park Hyatt nights |
As you can see, even on the low end, if you don't already have the above cards, you'd be giving up at least 340,000 in miles and points, so for anyone who has very limited spend, there's no question that it's not worth putting $20,000 on the British Airways Visa to get the other 50,000 points, due to the high opportunity cost.
On the other end of the spectrum, if you have very high spend so that you can easily spend $20,000 AND meet the minimum spend for all of the above cards, then you're just looking at the opportunity cost of spending $20,000. Even in that scenario, you could be getting anywhere from 20,000 to 100,000 (5X) or even more points, depending on how much you leverage category bonuses (5X on office supply spend for the Ink Bold and Ink Plus, 5X up to $1500 per quarter on Chase Freedom bonus categories) for your $20,000 spend.
If you're regularly getting 5X for most of your spend thanks to the Ink Bold, Ink Plus and gift cards, the British Airways Visa bonus is less likely to be worth it to you even as a high spender, although I'd still say you want to have some BA Avios for diversification purposes, since you never know when they may come in handy.
Related Posts
British Airways Visa 100,000 Bonus Avios Points-Worth It?
AMEX Transfer Bonus to British Airways – Best Deals
How to Maximize the British Airways Companion Certificate on Award Tickets
British Airways Avios: Goodbye First Class on Cathay, Hello Coach on American
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