Apply: British Airways Visa – Up to 100,000 Avios
Today is the last day to get the British Airways Visa. Since some of you have been asking for a very clear, prioritized list of pros and cons to the card, here's our top 10 list of why to get the card, and also the key reasons why you may not want to get it.
Top 10 Reasons to Get the British Airways Visa
1. Largest Current Credit Card Bonus: up to 100,000 Avios Points
- 50,000 Avios after first purchase
- Additional 25,000 Avios (75,000 total Avios) after spending $10K on the card
- Additional 25,000 Avios (100,000 total Avios) after spending another $10K ($20K total) on the card
There's been a downward trend for credit card bonus offers, with the Sapphire Preferred bonus reduced to 40,000 from 50,000 and the Freedom reduced from 20,000 to 10,000, so this is a great opportunity to pick up at least 50,000 bonus miles, and up to 100,000 if you can spend $20,000 on it within a year.
5. Cheap Intra-Asia, Intra-Europe and Intra-Australia Short Haul Awards
Avios are not only handy for short haul flights within the U.S.: they're great for short hops among cities in Europe (British Airways, Air Berlin), intra-Asia (Cathay Pacific,
6. Companion Ticket for British Airways First Class or Business Class
If you can manage to put $30K on the card in a calendar year, you can get a free companion ticket valid with an award ticket. This is not your typical award ticket that requires you to buy an expensive full fare ticket in order to qualify for the companion ticket. Instead, you could use 120,000 Avios points of the over 130,000 points you would earn by spending $30K on the card to fly yourself and your partner or friend first class between the East Coast and Europe. Yes, there would be fuel surcharges and taxes on both tickets amounting to about $1000 per ticket, but British Airways' new First Class is quite a treat!
See How to Maximize the British Airways Companion Certificate on Award Tickets
7. NYC Michelin Dining Discounts
Who doesn't enjoy splurging occasionally on a Michelin-star restaurant? Thanks to the British Airways Visa, my husband and I have enjoyed $400 off Michelin star dining at top NYC restaurants such as Eleven Madison Park, Per Se, Sushi Azabu and Jean-Georges in the past year. British Airways has twice run dining promotions that offer $50 off twice at NYC Michelin restaurants, so by splitting the check and each using our card, that's been $100 off each time, at four different restaurants. This has more than made up for the $95 annual fee, which is not waived.
See British Airways Visa Offers $100 Off 2 NYC Michelin Restaurants–Again!
8. Chip and Signature
As we wrote in Best EMV Chip Travel Credit Cards in the U.S., the British Airways Visa is one of the few U.S. cards that offer an embedded chip, which is incredibly helpful at automated machines and in more remote areas in Europe that only accept chip cards. I encountered this several times in our trip to Mercantour National Park, France and along the toll roads along the French Riviera.
9. Diversify Your Points
Don't put all your eggs in one basket, whether in terms of financial investments or frequent flyer miles and loyalty points. Any given program can and ultimately will suffer a devaluation. And since British Airways miles already underwent a devaluation in conjunction with their change to Avios points, it's more likely that another program's miles/points will get devalued first.
10. 2.5 Avios for each $1 of British Airways Spend
While getting 2.5 Avios points for each $1 of British Airways spend is the least important reason, since most U.S. travellers don't have a ton of British Airways spend, it is more generous than the 2 miles you typically get from other airline credit cards.
3 Reasons NOT to Get the British Airways Visa
Ok, so as always, there are cons. Here are the main ones we see:
1. Not for long-haul International Awards
While we'll be flying soon first class on Cathay Pacific to Bali using pre-devaluation British Airways miles, this is now a much more expensive award. Use American AAdvantage miles for this kind of trip, not British Airways Avios
2. Not for Travel on British Airways, Unless Using a Companion Ticket
Due to high fuel surcharges and London Heathrow departure taxes, we do NOT recommend using Avios points for travel on British Airways EXCEPT for First or Business Class using the Companion Ticket
3. Not for Everyday Spend, Except When Meeting Minimum Spend for the Bonus
This is not an everyday spend kind of credit card, the way the Freedom and Sapphire Preferred are, since its only bonus category is for spend on British Airways. This can also be said, however, of virtually all other airline credit cards.
Related Posts
British Airways Visa: 100,000 Bonus Avios Points Worth It?
Maximizing British Airways Avios-Fly Aer Lingus to Europe and Avoid Fuel Surcharges
Best EMV Chip Travel Credit Cards in the U.S.
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