Chase Has a 30% Transfer Bonus to British Airways Avios, some rare good news for Ultimate Rewards points, given the hits they've taken since Ultimate Rewards Ended Transfers to Korean Air SkyPass and more recently, United Announced it Would Remove Award Charts and Increase the MileagePlus Miles Required for Awards.
Here are the offer details:
- Deadline: offer is valid until June 16, 11:59pm ET
- Bonus Avios will appear in your British Airways Executive Club at the same time as the transferred Avios
- You must be enrolled in British Airways Executive Club to transfer points, and your membership must be in good standing
- Likewise your Ultimate Rewards credit card account must be open and not in default in order to transfer points
Fortunately, Ultimate Rewards transfers to British Airways Avios are instantaneous (log out of your Avios account and log back in, to see the transferred and bonus points). I just tested it by transferring 1000 points to Avios, and the 1300 points appeared right away.
Best Uses of British Airways Avios
British Airways Avios have undergone several devaluations, but there are still good uses of these points–although not on British Airways First Class or Business Class awards to or from London, as these incur high fuel surcharges, and ex-UK flights incur the APD (Air Passenger Duty) making premium class awards an expensive proposition. Instead, consider these uses:
- Cathay Pacific First Class Vancouver YVR to JFK for 50,000 Avios (39,000 Ultimate Rewards points with the 30% bonus) + $58 or Cathay Pacific Business Class YVR-JFK for 37,500 Avios (29,000 UR points with bonus)
- JAL First Class SFO to Tokyo for 100,000 Avios (77,000 UR points with bonus) + $118. While it's true that the award is cheaper with Alaska miles, British Airways opens its award calendar earlier and hence has much better access to JAL First Class award space, vs. Alaska Mileage Plan. It's also much easier to earn Ultimate Rewards points, with 3X-5X category bonuses, than Alaska miles, unless you happen to fly Alaska a great deal. Similar logic can apply to Cathay Pacific First Class, as it can otherwise be next to impossible to book with Alaska Mileage Plan due to only 1 award seat being available on each flight.
- Intra-Asia Business Class flights on Cathay Pacific or JAL. For example, HKG-TYO and HKG-PEK are 20,000 Avios (16,000 UR points), HKG-BKK and HKG-MNL (perfect to visit Amanpulo!) are 15,000 Avios (12,000 UR points)
- Similarly, short haul domestic or regional flights, such as flights within Japan on JAL, flights within Australia on Qantas, and flights within the U.S. or from the U.S. to the Caribbean on AA can be good deals, depending on the price of cash tickets.
Do you plan to transfer Ultimate Rewards points to British Airways Avios with a 30% bonus?
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