Bonus has now expired and is 50,000 after $3,000 and an additional 25,000 after $10,000 in the first 12 months. Can now get a maximum of 75,000 points instead of 100,000.
Prior to mid-2016, the Chase British Airways Visa Signature card offer a signup bonus of 50,000 Avios after spending $2,000 within 3 months, an additional 25,000 Avios after spending $10,000 within 12 months, and an additional 25,000 Avios after spending $20,000 within 12 months—a grand total of 100,000 Avios after spending $20,000 within 12 months. Unfortunately, Chase then eliminated the additional 25,000 Avios tiers and upped the minimum spend to $3,000, which is the offer currently displayed on Chase’s website.
I don’t know when this reappeared, but if you go to British Airways’s website…
The Offer
Direct link to offer. (the “Apply now” button works and the application ID is different from the normal offer. I’d still take a screenshot, though!)
- $95 annual fee is not waived.
- Earn 50,000 Avios after spending $3,000 in the first 3 months of cardmembership.
- Earn an additional 25,000 Avios after spending $10,000 in the first 12 months of cardmembership.
- Earn a total of 75,000 Avios after spending $3,000 in the first 3 months of cardmembership AND a total of $10,000 in the first 12 months of cardmembership. (85,000 Avios counting the 10,000 Avios from spending.)
- Earn an additional 25,000 Avios after spending $20,000 in the first 12 months of cardmembership.
- Earn a total of 100,000 Avios after spending $3,000 in the first 3 months of cardmembership AND a total of $20,000 in the first 12 months of cardmembership. (120,000 Avios counting the 20,000 Avios from spending.)
Card Details
- Chase’s 5/24 rule does not apply to this card.
- Earns 3 Avios per $ on British Airways purchases
- Earns 1 Avios per $ on all other purchases
Matching
As a general rule, Chase does match offers. Because the 50,000 offer on Chase’s website does not waive the annual fee, you shouldn’t have any trouble if you applied within the last 90 days and request a match via secure message. In the comments of our article on the old 100,000 Avios offer, there are a few year-and-a-half old data points of people being matched from 50,000 Avios to 100,000 Avios.
Our Verdict
British Airways is a oneworld partner with a distance-based award chart, and Avios is a transfer partner of both the Ultimate Rewards program & the Membership Rewards program (as well as SPG). All good, except that British Airways is notorious for its high fuel surcharges (though there are exceptions – see this MileValue post). There’s still plenty of value to be had in Avios, though, and 6 Avios per $ is generally considered to be a very good deal (spending $20,000 yields 20,000 base Avios and 100,000 signup Avios). You’ll likely want to delve into British Airway’s award chart, partner chart, and fuel surcharges to get a better idea of whether to go for the full bonus.
You should always use this offer if you plan to apply for the British Airways card, regardless of whether you plan to spend $20,000 within the first 12 months. You still get 50,000 Avios after spending $3,000 within 3 months, but you leave open the option to accrue more. And if you plan to hit the full 100,000 bonus, you may want to consider going for the additional spending bonus of a “Travel Together” ticket, which is awarded after spending $30,000 in a calendar year. (You should read more about Travel Together tickets on British Airways’s website – they aren’t very good, but it’s only another $10,000 in spending. And you’d have about 9 months from today, April 6, to hit $30,000 in spending.)
If you’re considering applying for this card, you’ll first want to read about these things everybody should know about Chase credit cards.
Questions, comments, etc.? Drop them below.
