Should You Get the Chase British Airways Card, Even If You Don’t Want the Full Sign-Up Bonus?

October 11, 2015 By Million Mile Secrets

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Update: One or more card offers in this post are no longer available. Check our Hot Deals for the latest offers. Update: Beginning February 2, 2016, British Airways will no longer offer 1-way, short-haul (under 650 miles) coach award tickets on partner airlines in North America for 4,500 British Airways Avios points. Instead these flights will cost 7,500 British Airways Avios points.

Million Mile Secrets reader, Jeff Hwang, tweeted:

Do you think it’s still worth getting the Chase British Airways card if I only complete $10,000 in spending on purchases within the 1st year to earn 75,000 British Airways Avios points?

Jeff is referring to the tiered sign-up bonus on the Chase British Airways Visa Signature Card where you can earn a total of 100,000 British Airways Avios points.

75,000 British Airways Avios points is still a lot of points, so yes, I think it’s worth it! But I’ll show you other options that might be easier.

I’ll go over the details of the sign-up bonus. And help you decide if it’s a good idea for you!

About the Chase British Airways Card

Link: Chase British Airways

It’s possible to earn a total of 100,000 British Airways Avios points with the Chase British Airways card.

To get the full bonus, you’ll have to spend:

$3,000 on purchases in the 1st 3 months of opening your account (earn 50,000 British Airways Avios points)
$10,000 (total) on purchases in the 1st 12 months of opening your account (earn an additional 25,000 British Airways Avios points)
$20,000 (total) on purchases in the 1st 12 months of opening your account (earn another 25,000 British Airways Avios points)
$95 annual fee

So you’ll have to make $20,000 in purchases during the 1st year to earn all 100,000 British Airways Avios points.

Even if you signed-up for the card to earn 75,000 British Airways Avios points, that’s still enough for:

16 one-way coach award flights under 650 miles (or 8 round-trip flights)
10 one-way coach award flights over 650 miles, but under 1,150 miles (or 5 round-trip flights)

If each short-haul 1-way flight under 650 miles costs $200 out-of-pocket, that’s over $3,000 you’ll save by redeeming British Airways Avios points instead. And of course, you can earn a total of 100,000 British Airways Avios points and save even more!

Read my review of the card and some ideas about how to meet minimum spending requirements.

Meet in the Middle

Jeff wants to spend $10,000 on the Chase British Airways card, which is enough to unlock the 2nd tier of the sign-up bonus. He’ll earn 75,000 British Airways Avios points, which he can use for travel on partner airlines like American Airlines, Air Berlin, and Qantas for big travel here in the US, in Europe, or Australia.

While it’s certainly much more than spending $3,000 to earn 50,000 British Airways Avios points, it’s also much less than $20,000 to earn a total of 100,000 British Airways Avios points.

One of the reasons I love miles and points is because each person can pursue the kind of travel that’s right for them.

Perhaps Jeff has a goal in mind and wants to spend $10,000 on the card to get 75,000 British Airways Avios points for Big Travel. And then put his other spending toward the sign-up bonus on another card!

Or maybe the idea of spending $20,000 is a little too much. But keep in mind there are lots of ways to spend $20,000 over the course of an entire year!

As always, do what’s best for you!

75,000 British Airways Avios Points Is Worth It

Link: Wandering Aramean’s Avios Calculator

You can use Wandering Aramean’s Avios Calculator to figure out how much flights cost with British Airways Avios points.

Enter your starting airport, and you’ll see a color-coded map of all your options.

It costs 4,500 British Airways Avios points for a 1-way coach award flight under 650 miles. And 7,500 British Airways Avios points for a 1-way coach award flight over 650 miles, but under 1,150 miles.

Depending on where you are, you can visit lots of places for fewer points than with other airline programs. And save a lot of money doing it!

For example, folks in Florida can visit lots of dozens of nearby destinations for 4,500 or 7,500 British Airways Avios points, like:

Aruba
Bermuda
Grand Cayman
The Bahamas
Dominican Republic
Dallas
Memphis
New Orleans
Most of Central America, including Costa Rica and Nicaragua
And many more!

And folks on the West Coast can use British Airways Avios points to get to Hawaii in coach on partners Alaska Airlines or American Airlines for 12,500 British Airways Avios points each way!

You can use British Airways Avios points to fly on Alaska Airlines to Hawaii from:

Anchorage
Los Angeles
Oakland
Phoenix
Portland
San Diego
San Jose
Seattle

So with 75,000 British Airways Avios points, 3 people can enjoy a trip to Hawaii together!

When you fly to Europe, you can use British Airways Avios points to visit more countries. When you start from Berlin, you can fly to over a dozen European cities for 4,500 British Airways Avios points 1-way in coach, including:

Budapest
Copenhagen
Milan
Paris
Prague
Vienna

Lots of Short Flights Can Add Up Fast!

The biggest reason British Airways Avios points are so valuable is because short flights can be more expensive than longer ones!

To return to an example above, short flights from Miami to the Caribbean can cost a lot! Round-trip flights from Miami to Grand Cayman are ~$531 in January.

But you can book the same flights with 9,000 British Airways Avios points. That’s a terrific deal!

Remember, 75,000 British Airways Avios points is enough for 8 of these award tickets! Assuming each trip retails for over $500, like this 1, you’d save over $4,000!

And remember, there are lots of ways to earn British Airways Avios points!

Here’s my full series about how to earn & use British Airways Avios points for Big Travel with Small Money!

Other Ways to Get Big Travel With Less Spending

With the current British Airways card offer, you can spend $10,000 to earn 75,000 British Airways Avios points.

But there are ways to get just as many British Airways Avios points by spending less money.

Depending on your credit situation, you may consider opening a 2nd card to earn more points with less spending. The downside to this is that you’ll incur 2 credit pulls instead of one. But for folks who have excellent credit but would find it difficult to spend $10,000 in a year, this might be a good option.

1. Chase British Airways Card + AMEX Starwood Card

Link: Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express

With the AMEX Starwood card, you’ll earn 25,000 Starwood points after spending $3,000 within the 1st 3 months of opening your account.

This can become 30,000 British Airways Avios points. That’s because you’ll earn 5,000 bonus points for every 20,000 Starwood points you transfer to partner airlines.

So you’ll earn a total of 80,000 British Airways Avios points for $5,000 in spending ($2,000 on the British Airways card and $3,000 on the Starwood card) instead of $10,000!

Plus, the $95 annual fee is waived for the 1st year.

Keep in mind you can only earn the bonus once per lifetime on AMEX personal cards. So be sure you want to transfer these Starwood points to British Airways instead of using them other ways!

2. Chase British Airways Card + Chase Sapphire Preferred

Link: Chase Sapphire Preferred

You’ll earn 40,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points after spending $4,000 on purchases within the 1st 3 months of opening your account.

Chase Ultimate Rewards transfer instantly to British Airways Avios points at a 1:1 ratio.

So, you can earn 90,000 British Airways Avios points for $6,000 in spending ($2,000 on the British Airways card + $4,000 on the Chase Sapphire Preferred). The $95 annual fee is waived the 1st year.

And, if you have the Chase Ink Plus or Chase Freedom, you can combine all of your points into 1 account!

Keep in mind that Chase has made it harder for certain folks to open new cards that earn Chase Ultimate Rewards points. They don’t like to see a history of using Chase cards for the bonus then not using the card much after that.

3. Chase British Airways Card + AMEX EveryDay Card

Link: AMEX EveryDay® Credit Card from American Express

The AMEX EveryDay card earns 10,000 American Express Membership Rewards points after spending $1,000 on purchases with your new card within the 1st 3 months. That’s not a huge number of points, but it’s 1 to consider because you only have to spend $1,000 to earn the bonus and there’s NO annual fee.

Plus, you’ll get access to money-saving AMEX Offers.

The 10,000 AMEX Membership Rewards point bonus converts to 8,000 British Airways Avios points.

In total, you’ll earn 58,000 British Airways Avios points for $3,000 in spending ($2,000 on the British Airways card $1,00 on the AMEX EveryDay card).

Or you can substitute any card that earn American Express Membership Rewards points.

You have lots of options, so always do what’s best for you!

Bottom Line

I think it’s worth it for reader Jeff to spend $10,000 on the Chase British Airways card to earn 75,000 British Airways Avios points. Or, he can open 2 cards and get even more points with less spending, if it’s a concern.

75,000 British Airways Avios points is enough for 16 one-way coach award flights under 650 miles, and enough for 10 one-way coach award flights over 650 miles, but under 1,150 miles. It’s also enough for 3 people on the West Coast to fly round-trip to any island in Hawaii!

You can use British Airways Avios points on partners like American Airlines, Air Berlin, and Qantas, to see more of the US, Europe, and Australia – and save a lot of money!

Jeff, I hope this helps you decide. Have a wonderful trip wherever you decide to go!