Chase Sapphire Preferred or Chase British Airways, Which 1 Should You Pick?

September 30, 2015 By Meghan Hunter

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For a limited time, there’s an offer to earn a total of 100,000 British Airways Avios points with the Chase British Airways Visa Signature Card. But you have to spend $20,000 on the card to unlock the full sign-up bonus.

With the Chase Sapphire Preferred card, you’ll earn 50,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points after spending $4,000 on the card within the 1st 3 months of account opening, which is more manageable for most folks. And Chase Ultimate Rewards points transfer to British Airways Avios points (and other airline and hotel partners) at a 1:1 ratio.

So which 1 is a better choice?

Chase Sapphire Preferred Or Chase British Airways Which 1 Should You Pick — Torn Between the Chase Sapphire Preferred or Chase British Airways Card? I’ll Help You Decide!

Let’s take at look at both cards, and see which 1 is best for you!

About the Chase British Airways Card

Link: Chase British Airways 100,000 Point Offer

The sign-up bonus on the Chase British Airways card has increased to a total of 100,000 British Airways Avios points when you complete the minimum spending requirements.

But 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)

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

You’ll also get:

3X British Airways Avios points per $1 you spend on British Airways purchases
1X British Airways Avios point per $1 you spend on everything else
Earn a Travel Together Ticket (your companion flies with you on a British Airways award flight for just the cost of taxes and fees) when you spend $30,000 on the card in a calendar year
No foreign transaction fees

The $95 annual fee is NOT waived for the 1st year. Read my full review of the card!

Who Should Pick This Card?

I’ve written about all the ways to use British Airways Avios points.

They’re useful for short flights on airline partners all around the world, and certain international flights, like New York to Berlin on Air Berlin for 20,000 British Airways Avios points each way for a coach award ticket, or Boston to Dublin on Aer Lingus for only 12,500 British Airways Avios points 1-way in coach.

Some folks might not want to spend $20,000 on 1 credit card. That’s because they can put the spending on other credit cards to get more sign-up bonuses!

That said, you have a year to complete the spending. And you can earn a total of 100,000 British Airways Avios points with 1 credit pull. Here are 20 ideas to help you spend the full amount.

And, you don’t have to spend $20,000. You could earn half of the sign-up bonus, 50,000 British Airways Avios points, by spending only $2,000 within the 1st 3 months of account opening.

Or, you could spend $10,000 on purchases to earn 75,000 British Airways Avios points, which is enough to fly 3 people from the West Coast to Hawaii round-trip in coach on Alaska Airlines!

About the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card

Link: Chase Sapphire Preferred

With the Chase Sapphire Preferred card you’ll earn 50,000 points when you spend $4,000 on purchases within the 1st 3 months of opening your account.

You’ll also get:

2X Chase Ultimate Rewards points per $1 you spend on travel and dining
3X Chase Ultimate Rewards points per $1 you spend on dining the 1st Friday of every month until the end of 2015
Primary car rental insurance – Covers damage or theft to your rental car, when you pay for the rental with your card
Trip delay reimbursement – Get up to $500 back per ticket when your trip is delayed more than 12 hours
No foreign transaction fees

The $95 annual fee is waived the 1st year. Check out my review!

Who Should Pick This Card?

The Chase Sapphire Preferred card is 1 of the best all-around travel rewards cards. That’s because the points are flexible, and you can transfer them to lots of terrific airline and hotel partners!

Chase Ultimate Rewards points transfer at a 1:1 ratio to the following partners:

	Chase Ultimate Rewards Airline Transfer Partners
Aer Lingus	British Airways	Flying Blue (Air France/KLM)
Iberia	JetBlue	Singapore Airlines
Southwest	United Airlines	Virgin Atlantic

	Chase Ultimate Rewards Hotel Transfer Partners
Hyatt	IHG	Marriott
Ritz-Carlton

You can transfer points directly to travel partners, like British Airways, United, Hyatt, and Southwest for Big Travel!

Note that, effective December 8, 2015, you’ll no longer be able to transfer your Chase Ultimate Rewards points to Amtrak.

Many folks like to have more ways to use their points. Remember you can also use Chase Ultimate Rewards points for cash back, gift cards, or statement credits.

And if you have another Chase Ultimate Rewards card, like the Chase Ink Business Cash Credit Card or Chase Freedom, you can pool your points into 1 account, and then transfer them to travel partners. Both cards have 5X categories and no annual fees, so they’re great companions to the Chase Sapphire Preferred.

The Chase Ink Cash earns 5X Chase Ultimate Rewards points at office supply stores, and on cable, internet, and phone service.

And the Chase Freedom has quarterly categories that earn 5X Chase Ultimate Rewards points, like department stores and Amazon.com.

So there are lots of ways to earn Chase Ultimate Rewards points. You can even transfer them at a 1:1 ratio directly to British Airways!

Which 1 Should You Pick?

For most folks, I recommend the Chase Sapphire Preferred card. That’s because you’ll earn 2X Chase Ultimate Rewards points per $1 spent on travel and dining. So it’s a better card to use for ongoing spending.

Also, Chase has inserted new wording in the terms & conditions of some cards:

Chase cardmembers who currently have or have had a Chase credit card in any Rewards Program associated with this offer, may not be eligible for a second Chase credit card in the same Rewards Program.
Chase cardmembers currently receiving promotional pricing, or Chase cardmembers with a history of only using their current or prior Chase card for promotional pricing offers, are not eligible for a second Chase credit card with promotional pricing.

In short, folks who have a history of using Chase cards for only the sign-up bonus (then pretty much stop using the card) may not be approved for new Chase cards.

It’s always been a good idea to build a relationship with the bank because you’ll want more of their cards later on.

So if Chase is tightening their rules and you’re just starting out, the Chase Sapphire Preferred is an ideal card to pick up first. Because this card gives you many reasons to use it beyond the welcome bonus offer, including 2X points on travel!

Travel is broadly defined as:

Airlines, hotels, motels, timeshares, campgrounds, car rental agencies, cruise lines, travel agencies, discount travel sites, and operators of passenger trains, buses, taxis, limousines, ferries, toll bridges, and highways, and parking lots and garages.

It’s also 1 of the few cards that offers primary car rental insurance on rental cars, which protects you against damage or theft to your rental car.

The Chase British Airways card only earns 1 British Airways Avios point per $1 spent on everyday purchases, so it’s NOT the best card for ongoing spending (after you earn the sign-up bonus).

In fact, if you want to earn more British Airways Avios points, consider the AMEX Starwood card, which earns 1 British Airways Avios points per $1 spent on everyday purchases.

That said, getting 100,000 British Airways Avios points from 1 card can be a great deal, too!

It really depends on what your travel goals are, and if you’re comfortable meeting a large spending requirement.

Remember, it’s possible to get both! You could even split the difference and earn 90,000 points total with $6,000 of spending:

Earn 50,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points after spending $4,000 on the Chase Sapphire Preferred card within the 1st 3 months of account opening
Earn 50,000 British Airways Avios points after spending $3,000 on purchases in the 1st 3 months of opening the Chase British Airways card

If you want British Airways Avios points, you could transfer from your Chase Ultimate Rewards points!

If you’ve had either card in the past, Chase typically allows folks to earn the sign-up bonus again as long as it’s been at least 24 months since you last received the bonus.

Bottom Line

For most folks, the Chase Sapphire Preferred card is the better card to start with. That’s because it:

Earns 2X Chase Ultimate Rewards points on travel and dining
Has a lower minimum spending requirement of $4,000 on purchases within the 1st 3 months of opening your account
Transfers to airline and hotel partners at a 1:1 ratio, including British Airways, United, Hyatt, and Southwest

That said, this 100,000 point offer for the British Airways card doesn’t come around often. The last time was November 2013!

So if you’re comfortable making $20,000 in purchases during the 1st year to earn all 100,000 British Airways Avios points, there are lots of ways to get Big Travel on airline partners like Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Air Berlin and Aer Lingus.

Editorial Note: We're the Million Mile Secrets team. And we're proud of our content, opinions and analysis, and of our reader's comments. These haven’t been reviewed, approved or endorsed by any of the airlines, hotels, or credit card issuers which we often write about. And that’s just how we like it! :)