Chase British Airways Co-Branded Credit Card: Limited-Time 90,000-Point Welcome Bonus

The welcome bonus has been temporarily increased to 90,000 points. You need to spend $5,000 in the first three months. The offer ends on October 28.

• Application link

Chase British Airways Co-Branded Credit Card Introduction:

Highlights

• High-spend companion voucher: Spend $30,000 in a calendar year and you get an additional companion voucher, but there are a lot of restrictions: it is issued in voucher form, the first ticket must be a BA-operated flight booked with BA miles, and it must be a trip that departs from the U.S. and returns to the U.S. For details, see here.
• Up to $600 in award tax-and-fee reimbursement: To qualify, you need to book a BA transatlantic international award ticket, and the flight must depart from the U.S. The itinerary may include codeshare flights; economy class is capped at $100 per reimbursement, business and first class are capped at $200; this benefit can be used up to three times per year. This benefit still seems to have some value, especially if you plan to use miles for trips to the UK or Europe. East Coast to the UK is still a solid redemption, because BA awards usually come with very high taxes and fees. That said, BA business class requires twice as many miles as economy, and first class requires three times as many miles, so in general it is still not worth redeeming for business or first. In addition, if your redemption includes two flight segments and the taxes on each segment are relatively high, you may want to book them separately. That way, you can use the reimbursement twice on one trip. Since BA miles are calculated separately for each segment, this does not affect the number of miles required. Full terms: BA credit card tax-and-fee reimbursement benefit

Cons

• There is no priority boarding on BA flights (although OneMoreDay definitely would not fly a BA flight without an error fare), and no airport lounge passes. No free checked-bag allowance either.

Avios Miles Overview

• Point value: Each Avios is worth about 1.3 cents (points value chart)
• Redemptions: Avios are mainly priced based on flight distance, and connections are usually priced separately for each segment, so they are best for short nonstop flights. In the U.S., you can redeem them for AA and Alaska flights, and they are also a good option for regional short-haul flights such as U.S. West Coast to Hawaii, Miami to the Caribbean, and partner flights on Cathay and Japan Airlines. See: British Airways Avios guide
• Redemption advantages: Avios can be redeemed for oneworld flights on British Airways, AA, Alaska, Cathay, Japan Airlines, Qatar Airways, and more. You can also transfer Avios between programs such as British Airways, Iberia, Qatar Airways, Finnair, and Aer Lingus, so before booking you can compare the points required and taxes and fees across programs and choose the one that offers the better deal to ticket the flight. Avios transfer details

My Review

Long-term keeper? If you do not fly BA a lot every year, this is a classic one-year card. The companion voucher looks nice, but in reality it is pretty much worthless: a round-trip ticket can easily have $700-$800 in fuel surcharges, and the companion voucher does not waive those surcharges. Two tickets together would mean $1,400-$1,600 in fuel surcharges, so you would be better off just buying the tickets outright. That said, the 100,000 sign-up bonus is quite generous, so if you have some spending power, it is still worth maxing out.

【August 2019 update】This card added two new benefits: first, booking directly with the hotel can earn 2x miles. Second, it gives up to $600 per year in award-ticket tax-and-fee reimbursement. The details are as follows:

• You need to book a British Airways transatlantic international award ticket, and the flight must depart from the U.S. to qualify. The itinerary may include non-transatlantic codeshare flights
• Economy class is capped at $100 per reimbursement, and business and first class are capped at $200.
• This benefit can be used up to three times per year
• Official BA credit card tax-and-fee reimbursement terms

This benefit still seems to have some value, especially if you plan to use miles for trips to the UK or Europe. East Coast to the UK is still a solid redemption, because BA awards usually come with very high taxes and fees. That said, BA business class requires twice as many miles as economy, and first class requires three times as many miles, so in general it is still not worth redeeming for business or first. In addition, if your redemption includes two flight segments and the taxes on each segment are relatively high, you may want to book them separately. That way, you can use the reimbursement twice on one trip. Since BA miles are calculated separately for each segment, this does not affect the number of miles required. Honestly, if this benefit were changed so that taxes and fees on all BA award tickets could be reimbursed, with no three-use limit, and just a total cap of $300 or $600, that would be great!

In addition, this benefit should be stackable with the companion voucher from the spending bonus. Redeem one award ticket, use the companion voucher to cover the companion's ticket, and use the reimbursement for the taxes and fees — that would be pretty great.

How to Apply

• Application difficulty: I recommend applying after you have at least 6 months of credit history; once you are established with Chase, it is easy to get approved.
• Note 2: Since this is a co-branded credit card with British Airways, if you already have a BA frequent flyer number, you can enter it when applying; if not, one will be assigned automatically.

• Chase application status check link (login required). Or call: 888-338-2586
• The 5/24 rule: if you have opened more than 5 new cards in the past 2 years (including cards from other banks), you will not be approved for a new Chase card
• You can be approved for at most two Chase credit cards within any 30-day period
• If you have received the welcome bonus on this card within the past 24 months (48 months for the Sapphire family), your application will be automatically denied
• You can call the reconsideration line (800-453-9719) to expedite credit card approval or request another review of a denied application.
• Having a Chase Checking account can help with getting approved for a credit card
• More information on applying for Chase credit cards

Application Link

• Chase British Airways application link