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Breaking Deal Alert: 100,000 Miles for British Airways Visa

by on April 6, 2011 · 139 comments

in British Airways, Credit Cards

Update: The current sign-up bonus offer for the British Airways Visa is 50,000 Avios. 25,000 upon first use, and another 25,000 when you spend $2,500 within 90 days.

*EXPIRED* 

Buuuut, if you happened to be fortunate enough to take advantage of the BA Visa 100,000 miles mega-deal here are the links to my ten post series on maximizing British Airways miles: General tips, Post 1 – Booking BA Awards, Post 2 – Booking Partner Awards, Post 3 – Oneworld Alliance, Post 4 – Taxes and Fees, Post 5 – Household Accounts, Post 6 – Companion Ticket, Post 7 – Using ExpertFlyer for Partner Award Availability, Post 8 – The Art of the Stopover, Post 9 – Leveraging Miles and Cash Redemptions, and Post 10 - Using Qantas.com to Find Oneworld Award Availability. Also, be sure to check out my post on the credit card deal itself and the lengthy Q&A in the comments section.

Chase is now offering the  British Airways Visa with a 100,000 mile sign-up bonus, which is double the already generous  50,000 bonus they’ve been offering for the past couple months. Details:
- 50,000 miles after first purchase
- an additional 50,000 miles after $2,500 spend in 90 days
- 1.25 miles for every dollar spent on the card (25% more than most cards)
- 2.5 miles per dollar spent on British Airways travel
- No foreign transaction fees
- Companion certificate after $30,000 in spend. This companion ticket allows a second miles redemption for free. So if you use 100,000 miles for a Los Angeles to London business class ticket, the second business class ticket costs 0 miles (you only pay taxes). A huge value if used properly.
- $95 annual fee

The T&C of the offer state that this is for first time British Airways Visa holders, so if you already have one, don’t be surprised if you aren’t eligible for this offer. Also, if you’ve applied for a Chase card recently, theres a chance you might get declined- even if you have good credit. However, you can call Chase and ask them to shift some of your existing credit line to a new British Airways card. People have had success doing this in the past, however I’ve never done it so I can’t personally vouch. My opinion is that this promotion is fantastic, so it may be worth the time working with Chase to make sure you are approved.

In fact, even after the sign-up bonus, I think this is a good every day card since its a Visa (accepted lots of places globally), doesn’t have foreign transaction fees, gives 1.25 miles per dollar spent and has the powerful companion certificate if you can spend $30k in a year. I think the $95 fee is more than reasonable considering all of these benefits.

This is a great deal if you fly British Airways, but it’s an even better deal if you don’t because BA charges less taxes and fees when you redeem for Oneworld partners. I know that doesn’t make much sense, but it’s true (just look at the screen shots of British Airways vs. Oneworld awards below).

British Airways is in the Oneworld alliance, so that means you can use these miles for travel on American Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Qantas, LAN Chile/Peru/ Argentina, Japan Airlines, Iberia, Finn Air, Royal Jordanian, Malev, Mexicana and S7 (Russian) airlines.

If you want to learn more about British Airways miles, check out my post on tips for using British Airways miles, but key things to note:

1) BA allows one-way awards, even on Oneworld partners
2) BA.com has a pretty decent online award search engine once you get used to using it
3) Fees are high on British Airways flights, but not so bad on most Oneworld partners
4) BA is very flexible with stopovers. You can use this to extract huge value from your miles once you know how the system works.
5) No penalty for using your miles for last minute travel and only $50 to cancel a trip on ba.com and redeposit miles.
6) Understand that there are four different award charts and creating itineraries with multiple carriers can get very expensive. Its best when you fly only one Oneworld carrier. Award chart links: BA Only. BA + 1 Partner. Single Oneworld Partner. Multiple Oneworld Partners.
7) Miles only expire if you leave your account inactive for 3 years. There are lots of cheap ways to keep the account active, like spending $1 on the credit card or making a miles purchase.

For the record, I do get a commission when you sign up for the card through my application link, but that’s not the reason why I’m pushing this card- I honestly feel like it’s unbelievable deal, especially when you know all the tricks to redeem for maximum value. So if you support my detailed blog posts, please consider applying through  me  since its the same exact deal, except I get a cut instead of the bank.

Plus, I have a special love of this deal, because last year when I took advantage of their 100k offer, I used the miles for a BA First Class flight to London and got to fly with Madonna (though to be honest I was more jazzed on my return flight getting to experience the New First Class product)!

For an example of the types of awards you can get with BA miles (and the taxes/fees) check out some sample ones I priced out today on Britishairways.com:

JFK-LAX in American Business Class for 50,000 Miles and $5 in fees

Miami to Easter Island for 40,000 miles and $75 in coach

Toronto to Hong Kong in Cathay Business Class for 100,000 miles and $294 in taxes

Chicago to London in British Airways First Class for 150,000 Miles and $734

Los Angeles to Auckland One Way Qantas Business Class for 80,000 Miles and $213

Miami to Sao Paulo in American First Class for 120,000 miles and $56

One Way New York to London to Buenos Aires (how about that for routing!) for 25,000 miles and $533

JFK to Lima in Lan Business Class for 80,000 Miles and $65

 

Disclaimer: This content is not provided or commissioned by the credit card issuer. Opinions expressed here are author.s alone, not those of the credit card issuer, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the credit card issuer. This site may be compensated through the credit card issuer Affiliate Program.

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  • Adam

    Do you know what credit bureau this card pulls from? I want to jump on this but I recently applied for 2 Citi AA cards and the Platinum Amex. No Chase pulls in that time though. This is a great offer!

  • Steve G

    Applied for this via your blog!

  • EC

    When I click on the banner that says “Hello 100,000 Bonus BA miles” on the BA.com website, there is a link for Pricing and Terms. Under this link, the annual membership is $75.00. However, under your link, it says that annual membership is $95. Which one is correct?

  • The Points Guy

    @EC- the BA site has the wrong annual fee- when you click the official pricing and terms on the application it states $95 (and thats what official reps told me). https://www.firstusa.com/cgi-bin/webcgi/webserve.cgi?page_type=appterms&card=DC4M

  • abcx

    Aha! So this time the annual fee is not waived it seems?

  • Angel

    How did you get the option for miles+cash on the JFK-LHR-EZE trip? I can’t find it on BA.com …
    Thanks in advance!

  • PR

    That is awesome. Thanks for putting together those charts. Really helpful.

  • Chad

    Grrrrrrrrrrr. I applied for a card a couple weeks ago and just got my card in the mail Monday so I just missed this deal. Hmmmm, I may call to beg and plead to let them slide me in on this offer. Oh well, even if it doesn’t work, the 25k/25k deal I got ain’t half bad!

  • pixel girl

    Hey PG,
    Any idea what multiple new cards do to the credit score — particularly in regards to buying a car? I have 3 personal and 1 business new cards within the past 6 months, and don’t want to screw up my credit too much.
    I’m in the high 700s, so no huge worries, but I’ve heard that car financing is especially wary of folks with tons of new credit. Thanks for any insight!

  • The Points Guy

    @Adam- it varies by state, but check out this site- it may help you figure out which bureau will be pulled for your state http://creditboards.com/forums/index.php?app=creditpulls

  • The Points Guy

    @Pixel girl- I can’t give advice on that (because I honestly don’t know) but if you want to understand the basics of credit card applications effect on your credit, check out this post by the Frugal Travel Guy http://frugaltravelguy.blogspot.com/2009/12/new-world-of-credit-card-sign-up.html

  • The Points Guy

    @abcx- not waived and it actually increased $20. The deal is still well worth it in my opinion!

  • A. S.

    Hey, PG,

    I had trouble accessing your blog earlier today — it seems that it was down. When Hilton’s site went down they offered us 2,500 points. So… ;)

    – A. S.

  • The Points Guy

    @AS That actually made me laugh out loud.. I love what point mongers we all are- well done! I’m afraid if I tried to run a points promotion with my readers it would get out of control quickly, a la Hampton Inn text debacle of 2011!

  • Glenn

    Wow. This is a pretty outstanding deal. Unfortunately I just got the CO 50K bonus miles card earlier this month. But I guess there’s really not much to lose giving it a try and if I get rejected to try to get them to move some of my UA or CO card credit line around.

  • Linda

    My husband got this deal last time. I just applied via your link. Thanks!

  • Eric

    Hey PG, Wanna play lets make a deal? My wife and I will both use your site to apply but you gotta help a brother out with your tricks to making this deal really worth it. I have heard about the stop overs being a huge bonus on a BA award redemption but I have no idea how to do it.

  • The Points Guy

    @Glenn- you never know. I read that when Chase is declining people due to too many Chase accounts, it doesn’t hit your credit report because they crossrefernece internally first before putting out the inquiry. Its worth a shot since the payday is so big

    @Linda- Thank you! Safe (and hopefully comfortable) travels !

    @Eric- I’ll definitely help- just shoot me an email. I can’t say no to a good deal :-)

  • Jez San

    my dad tried to sign up (using your link that i sent him)… and he got really panicked when it asked him for his Chase user id and password to fill out the form. This is despite Chase’s security and fraud policy saying that they will NEVER ask you for your id and password.

    Anyone know if this is for real? Does chase’s credit card application really ask you for your user id and password, or is this a phishing scam or a major idiotic move on chase’s part to conflict with their own security policy.

    – Jez

  • The Points Guy

    @Jez- Chase allows you to log-in so that your information is pre-populated and you can complete the application quicker. I wouldn’t be worried, though I agree it is smart to question it.

  • http://www.homefree.com Austin

    Just applied using your referral link! Trying to buy a ticket from LA to Sweden for the beginning of June. Tickets are upwards of $1200, I’m hoping this will assist with that cost! Thank you!

  • http://eversoe.blogspot.com Erica

    I definitely recommend this card. I applied for it the last time they had the 100,000 miles deal and was able to book business class flights last May/June from PHX-LHR-AMS and OSL-LHR-PHX for 110,000 and roughly $500. My travel ended up coinciding with the BA strike last year, but the airline was very helpful in rebooking me and working with my schedule needs. With the newly added perk of no foreign transaction fees, I definitely recommend it to anyone who travels internationally on a regular basis.

  • Eli

    I assume if I applied for a Chase card recently, I should lay off this amazing deal? :(

  • The Points Guy

    @Austin- thanks for using my link! Enjoy Sweden- I’m off to Stockholm myself this weekend.

    @Erica- glad you agree- its pretty solid without the signon bonus and considering the 100k points, its a no brainer in my opinion

    @Eli- many people have gotten multiple Chase cards in short periods of time- they seem to have relaxed the restrictions a bit. This is such a huge bonus, I personally would try to get it- a rejection isn’t the end of the world

  • Shai

    I’m about to sign up through your referral link.
    Any tips for setting up a referral code myself? I think I have friends who’d be interested.

  • The Points Guy

    @Shai- thanks! Unfortunately you need to be an authorized publisher to get access to links since Chase doesn’t want their ads in places they don’t approve.

  • Jack

    Hey PG – This sounds like a great deal… do the 100k mile have an expiration date?

  • The Points Guy

    A great deal indeed. Points only expire if you leave the account untouched for 3 years. It’s very easy to keep the account active so I don’t suspect anyone getting in on this deal or reading this blog will have any issues with expiration.

  • Alex

    Hey Points Guy.

    Thanks for the Blog. I will definitely use your link. My question is, does your BA points expire if I cancel the card to not get hit with the annual fee? THanks!

  • Sheng

    Hey PG,

    I am from Canada and I want to get in on this deal, any suggestions? Thanks!

  • Mike

    Anyone else having problems with the link? The page just constantly refreshses itself…

    Might be the work computer, I’ll try again when I get home

  • The Points Guy

    @Alex- You will get hit with the fee before the 100k- no way around that. But once you earn the points they go into your personal BA account so cancelling the card should not have any effect on them.

    @Sheng- This card is US targeted but you may be able to apply if you have a US SSN and address you can use

    @Mike-just checked the link and its working fine. Probably is your corporate firewall or something.

  • Chris

    I recently received the Chase Continental card in February and I have another Chase card. Given the recent Chase acquisition coupled with the fact I already have two Chase CC accounts is it assumed I would be denied for this card as well? Any advice is appreciated, Thanks!

  • The Points Guy

    @Chris- I say you apply and if you are declined, call Chase and see if they’ll switch your Continental credit line to BA. People have had success doing this. though I personally have not had to do it.

  • The Points Guy

    This Flyertalk post may help some people who have applied for several Chase cards recently http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/16175872-post181.html

  • Mike

    Ahh… Yep it was the firewall…
    Just applied =D

  • Ra Kon

    Does this makes sense for travel to India from US east coast? I understand travel to Europe is not a good deal of the points. Thanks in advance for your reply!

  • The Points Guy

    @Ra Kon- flying to India on BA will cost you 90,000 for coach, 180k for business and 270k for first. Fees will be $600+, so take that into consideration. If you fly AA from ORD-DEL fees are more like $200 each way.

  • Omar

    Possible to apply simultaneously for a personal and business card? Or are there no business cards on this offer?

  • The Points Guy

    Omar- no business card available, unfortunately.

  • L Munson

    This is tempting….are BA points transferrable to Continental OnePass at a 1:1 ratio, and is there a fee?

  • HoKo

    @L Munson

    Transferrable to OnePass?? Why in the world would these transfer to OnePass LoL

    I don’t want to be mean but doing some basic homework before jumping into the FF miles game would serve you well going forward. Anyways to answer your question:

    1. You can’t transfer miles from one airline to another (except UA to CO and vice versa)
    2. Even if you could do that BA and CO are not partners nor are they in the same alliance

  • Brandon

    TPG,

    Any discount on your services if we apply through your link? Do you have any way of verfying who actually uses your link or not?

  • The Points Guy

    @Brandon- I have no way to verify who applies (there is a strict firewall of information, which is good because you wouldn’t want your private information with Chase being shared with me). I will however be sharing a lot of tips on using BA miles, so if you could support the blog by applying through it, I would greatly appreciate it.

  • Brandon

    I figured as much. I will be applying through your link, but it probably won’t be until near the end of the promotion. I want to finish up my spend on my AA cards before I apply for another card with a minimum spend.

    Thanks in advance for the help!

  • Liz

    Thanks for the tips and screenshot. Approved through your link!

  • HoKo

    @TPG

    So I use BA site for checking OW inventory but never had BA miles before so I’ve never actually booked a ticket on the site before. Am I correct in thinking that the miles + prices cost that you have listed in this blog post (and that I see when I do a dummy booking on BA.com) represent an all-in cost. There are no additional YQ, taxes, or fees that get sneakily tacked on at the end?

  • The Points Guy

    @Brandon- no problem- thanks for supporting the site!

    @Liz- YOU ROCK! :-)

    @HoKo – all-in prices, my friend

  • Eli

    Is it really possible to get my Continental CL transferred to this card?

  • The Points Guy

    @Eli- Chase is very flexible with credit lines. Sometimes they want people to stay under a certain exposure, so instead of declining you, you can switch around the limits on your different cards to accomodate a new one.

  • Eli

    Should I apply first, and if denied call them to ask for a switch around? Or is there a number I should call before applying? Also, do you know if this offer has an expiration date?

  • Eli

    Do you know what the expiration date of this offer is?

  • The Points Guy

    Eli- I’d apply- it may be a nonissue

    The offer is suppposed to be valid until May 6, but it can be pulled at any time if Chase so chooses

  • Eli

    Thanks! Sorry about the double post!

  • Pingback: Deal Alert: Sign Up for British Airways Visa and Get 100,000 Bonus Miles « eagerfortravel

  • Steve A.

    Is the $30K spending threshold for the companion offer applicable to the calender year(2011) or 1 year after your enrollment date?

    Thanks

  • The Points Guy

    Calendar year, which sucks since its already April, but theres no way around it. I’m going to do a post next week specifically on the companion pass and ways to maximize it.

  • Eli

    I’ve been trying to do some dummy bookings, but no matter what I do I get zero availability on very popular routes (JFK-LHR). Do I need miles in my account to start the booking process?

  • The Points Guy

    Eli- you don’t need miles in your account (to my knowledge).Try doing Executive Club -> Spending BA Miles ->Check reward flight availability. That will give you a calendar/month long search which should pull up results for BA flights

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  • ADavy

    Similarly to Eli, I have tried a bunch of different routes and a bunch of different time frames (going out quite far into the future) for dummy bookings and have found pretty much zero availability for any of them. Seems like a waste of a CC app if there is only one flight you can take to only one place, at a very specific time. Their website is archaic, it needs to be more open and searchable. They should facilitate this by allowing users to search all flights that have reward spaces open on them rather than having you specify date and time and destination. This way you don’t have to enter fifty million iterations of your travel plans, you just search what is available and see if it will work for you; this feature needs to be introduced for both BA flights and all alliance partners.

  • The Points Guy

    ADavy- where are you trying to go? There are other ways to search Oneworld award availability, like AA.com for AA awards (anything at the MilesAAver level will be bookable with BA miles) or Qantas.com through their search.

    I agree there should be one robust tool that does the thinking for you, but no airline has such capacity to this day. The closest would be ANA, but their tool only does day by day searches and it won’t think of smart routing opportunities like other engines. I’m going to do some more posts on tips how to use BA miles so stay tuned and DON’T GIVE UP!

  • Alx

    Points Guy – recently found your blog and have become a huge fan, I now check it everyday. Including when I was in Spain last last week, unfortunately I waited to sign up for the cap one 100k card for when I got back which was the April 8th!

    I have several people that I want to send your link in regards to the BA 100k bonus card, what is the easiest link for me to provide them where you still get your bounty if they sign up for the card.

    Thanks for all your hard work and truly helpful info.

  • luvflying11

    Hi Points Guy,

    Do you know what are the options to using the BA Companion Certificate w/o going through London and avoid the large fees for the award? For example, can we go from North America (LA) to Australia/Asia on BA metal? Or some weird routing connections?
    Thanks

  • The Points Guy

    @Alx http://www.thepointsguy.com/go/BA100K Thank you SO MUCH! Let them know they can come here or email me if they have any questions. I’ll be posting more about ways to maximize BA miles, so tell them to sign up for my daily emails (top right corner). Really appreciate it.

    @luvflying11- Companion ticket is only for BA flights and unfortunately all roads lead through London. Its still a great value though!

  • ADavy

    Trying to look for flights out of DFW to anywhere in S. America, Southeast Asia, and Australia/New Zealand as well as for just domestic flights (when I didn’t find any I used other departure airports with similar results). I don’t currently have the points I wanted to dummy book some flights to see if this card was worth opening. Since I wasn’t a BAEC member I had to sign up for an account to do this. I am guessing to check the AA, LAN, Qantas or Cathay websites for rewards redemptions I will have to open an account with each of them as well. Do BA points convert 1=1 for each of these airlines? Also, are the miles charges similar to those posted on the BA website for the Single Oneworld Partner Chart (linked in your article above; ex. NA to SA round trip is just 40k points)? Thanks.

  • The Points Guy

    @ADavy- No- britishairways.com will pull in AA, Lan, Qantas and Cathay availability. If you follow my instructions there will be a prompt to “Include partner airlines” when the system realizes British Airways does not fly the route. If theres no availability on the dates you want, it will let you search in 7 day blocks for the next available award seat. If you are running into trouble, let me know what routes and dates you are searching and I can do a check to make sure the results you are pulling up are accurate.

    No need to create AA, LAN, Qantas etc accounts- it all pulls in at ba.com (though it takes a while to understand how the BA.com engine works- I recommend reading through all of my tips).

    Miles needed will be exactly what the one oneworld partner states as long as you only fly on one carrier. If you combine more than 1, it goes to the distance mileage, in which case gcmap.com can help you understand how many miles your proposed itinerary is.

  • Peter

    I just got this card about 10 days ago and the bonus was only 50,000 points. Any idea if there’s a way to get them to give me the new offer??

  • Pingback: How to Use British Airways Miles: Post 1 |

  • The Points Guy

    Peter- I’ve heard that if you got the card within 60 days they’ll give you the 100k bonus- send them a secure message or call

  • Eli

    Perhaps I’m getting no availability because I’m trying to depart from Minneapolis? That isn’t a city on the reward availability list :( Plenty of availability on AA.com though :/

  • SimonC

    hi points guy,

    when you apply for this card, should I leave the spot blank where it asks for BA club number? I never registered for one or do you recommend me signing up for a BA club first and then inputting that number in the application? thanks so much!

  • MounaS

    Trying to figure out if it’s even worth applying for this card… I’ve been using the BA web site to check OW availability (other than AA) for years, but recently it seems to be working poorly, e.g., no CX availability shown if there is a BA flight available on the same route, even if that adds a connection.

    Last night, just for kicks, I tried looking for travel availability between HNL and a number of domestic airport (incl. LAX, DFW, ORD, SFO) all with connecting or direct AA flights. Well, wouldn’t you know?, according to BA, they and their partners don’t fly through those airports… not one of them. What?! I also heard, but I’m not sure if it’s a rumor, that once you are forced to use the call center (because the BA booking engine is broken), fuel fines are added to you award tix regardless of airline, and that includes AA and LA. Is that correct? Do you have any recent experience? Thanks.

  • Rik

    TPG – I signed up for this offer the first time it was offered. At that time I signed up my wife as a secondary card holder. Do you think if my wife applies as the primary card/account holder this time around she’d qualify for the miles? Or can she be denied the miles as she already has the card?

    Thanks.

  • Shai

    The “apply now” link on your referral page appears to be dead. Has the deal expired?

  • karan

    What link should we give to family members so that you get credit for the referral?

  • The Points Guy

    @Shai I just tried the link and it works fine. Are you behind a firewall or applying from outside the US?

    @Karan- http://www.thepointsguy.com/go/ba100k will take you straight to the Chase application page- thanks in advance!

  • The Points Guy

    @Eli- if its available as a SAAver award with AA, you can book it with BA miles

    @Simon- they will create a new Executive Club account for you if you don’t have one already

    @Mouna- the fuel fees are not added to Lan or Qantas flights when you call- at least not in my experience.

    @Rik- your wife should be fine since she has never had this card- she was just an add-on to your account. Thats my understanding at least

  • shai

    Thanks for the response. I’m in the US, and no firewall, but getting a redirect loop – tried clearing my cookies and different browsers. Frustrating!

    “Too many redirects occurred trying to open “https://applynowdc2.chase.com/FlexAppWeb/renderApp.do?AFFID=PPkX79_c.b0-I.73XtPweMz9CuUCk3E4dw&CELL=6H8X&PROMO=DF01&pvid=163350FOF494654659&SPID=DC4P”. This might occur if you open a page that is redirected to open another page which then is redirected to open the original page.”

  • Amy

    I am not a fan of paying annual fees for credit cards. I also don’t travel outside of the USA regularly. I am thinking about enrolling in the program (it is great!) however, since I don’t have any international trips planned, I was wondering if I kept the card a year and wanted to cancel it – will I lose the 100k miles? OR are they kept on the BA miles/club card?

    Thanks!

  • The Points Guy

    Amy- once earned the miles go into your personal British Airways account so if you cancel the card, you still keep the miles. :-)

  • desi

    Hi,
    Do you have any data points or information on the taxes/fuel surcharges for a RT flight from SFO/LAX to India (BOM/DEL or AMD)? I really want to apply for this card and get the 100K and use it for India trip but don’t want to end up paying too much in taxes

  • Iris

    Thanks for the info. Used your link to apply and was approved instantly.

  • Andreas

    Hi,
    I had this offer in 2009, can I still apply again this time and get the 100k award?

  • Pingback: How to Use British Airways Miles: Post 4, Spotlight on Taxes and Fees |

  • EC

    Hi,

    Is there an easier way to look at only Cathay Pacific flights using BA points? I would like to go during Christmas time, but there is no availability and was also wondering if there would be tickets released as we get closer. Thanks!

  • Carolina

    Hello,

    I applied for this card a few days ago, but I haven’t received a response yet. I have several other cards with Chase and I’m not sure if this could be an issue. Do you happen to know how long it usually takes for Chase to respond with a definite answer? Many thanks.

  • EC

    Carolina,
    I also was not immediately approved, however I have a Chase bank account and 3 other Chase credit cards with decent credit lines. However, when I logged in online, the BA credit card showed up on my homepage within 5 days. I didn’t even know what my credit limit was until I saw it on Chase’s website. I’m not sure why some people are getting approved immediately and then people like me get a message that they will review my account. I have not received my card yet, but I expect to have it by next week.

  • sam

    Hi, Brian… Trying to figure out if I should jump in with my wife for two ccs. Problem is I have a family of 4 and anywhere I go, all of us would need to go… So, I need 4 tickets, which means Im usually only able to get coach. Heres the thing, live in LAX, and want our next trip to be to CDG or FCO. If thats the case:

    1) is AA my best bet?
    2) when I am looking at fees that Ill be charged if I use american airlines to book this award, are the fees shown on aa.com right? Or should I look at BA for those fees? AA’s fees are about $100/coach ticket, while BA’s are much more of course.

    Thanks so much for your help!

  • SC

    Great website!
    I also signed up for this card January 2010 and cancelled it December 2011 after going to Europe and Hawaii for free.

    I’d love to sign up again. Do you know of a lot of people who managed to get in on both deals? Did you? When would I find out if I got the bonus miles – after I already got the card and paid the annual fee?

    Thanks!

  • Brian

    Do we know if people approved for the Platinum version of the card (as opposed to the Signature) will get the same 100k promo?

  • TPGirlFriday

    Just wanted to let everyone know that I applied for the Chase BA Visa on April 6th and received that beautiful piece of plastic in the mail TODAY – Can’t wait to get my first spend on!

  • Joy

    Would like to apply.
    My question: best way to use BA miles to India from SFO: CX, AA? I don’t want to go thro’ London b’cos of the fees. what are the fees with these airlines to BOM?
    Or any other airlines? What do u recommend?

    Also thro’ quantas, how much is the fee between SFO and Sydney?

  • Ernie Perez

    Found the virtual egg

  • The Points Guy

    Ernie- someone already found it ! once you find it, you have to post in the comments section of this post http://thepointsguy.com/2011/04/sunday-round-up-and-virtual-easter-egg-hunt/

    There are still two more left- and I even gave a hint for one of them..

  • Michael

    May be a dumb question, but, can you apply by mail or by phone? Signing up Grannie and she doesn’t want to put her info “on the internet” ! LOL

  • Kent

    I live in Portland and if I wanted to go to Bali, could I stop in Sydney via QF? I’m wondering about that because Indonesia counts as part of the Asia bucket which would only be 100k in business class.

  • The Points Guy

    @Michael- I’m sure you can call Chase and ask for this offer.

    @Kent- if you stopped in Australia, you’d be charged for an Australia award. Otherwise, I don’t think North America-Sydney-Bali is valid routing, but it can’t hurt to ask! Let us know what they say

  • http://fruitmonster.com FruitMonster

    pointsguy, I’m moving to Australia to research Solar Energy and get my Ph.D. I needed a no foreign transaction fee card as well as some serious airline-miles-making action. Thanks big time for the info, I used your referral link.

    FM

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  • CaySquared

    I think they’re sending me the “Visa Platinum British Airways” instead of the Visa Signature. I wonder if this makes a difference in terms of getting the promotion. I hope I still am eligible to earn the 100k bonus.

    I don’t think the Visa Platinum BA Card alternative has been talked about much.

  • The Points Guy

    @fruitmonster- thank you! Good luck down under

    @cay- my understanding is that the bonus is the same for both cards

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  • kf

    I was approved for the Visa Platinum instead of the Signature and upon calling Chase today was assured that both cards have the same 100k bonus.

  • Rl

    I applied through your link and got approved instantly…now to read all your post on BA…thank you for all the great information!!

  • Julie

    Wow, just found this deal and this site. Lots of info to wade through…like learning calculus or something.

    Anyway, wondering about how it works when buying buying award tickets with miles from different award programs. We currently have enough miles (we fly Nashville to Brisbane, Australia almost every year) with AA through our AAdvantage Citibank card and was thinking of getting another to get their 30k mile offer. But, if we got this offer, could get the 100k and have enough miles for another ticket. We usually fly American and Qantas as Qantas is so great with kids flying. We would need four tickets…..so how would I book four tickets (one award ticket through AA, one award ticket through BA and two no award tickets)?

    And do you think the Citibank AAdvantage card is the best bet for us with our main travel being to Australia?

    Thanks in advance…I’m bookmarking this site so I can attempt to learn more.

  • Jim

    If I already had the 100K mile bonus on a Chase card that I cancelled almost a year ago, what do you think my chances are of getting the bonus again?

  • The Points Guy

    @Jim – slim to none.. even if you get approved, Chase has been sending “sorry, you can’t get the 100k again” letter to people. I’d save your inquiry for another card, like the Chase 50k or Hyatt Card

  • soren

    Great blog PG….
    Can you force the award on a partner even when BA flies the route?
    Look forward to seeing you at ORD with Ingy.. killer combo
    S

  • The Points Guy

    @Soren- yes, you just have to call to book it if BA.com doesn’t show it. You should ask them to waive the phone booking fee as well since the award can’t be booked online.

    Looking forward to Chicago as well!

  • Chuck

    Very informative post. Thanks!

    Just one question though, are there blackout dates (such as holidays) in redeeming the miles?

  • The Points Guy

    @Chuck, there are no “blackout” dates but availability can be scarce around certain holidays/ peak travel periods. If you are flexible at all and can plan in advance or last minute, you will have no issue whatsoever using these miles.

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  • chris

    has anyone had trouble verifying this promotion?
    So I called visa after I used the card a few times and they said I am not even enrolled in this promotion deal even though I applied through the link.

  • Brandon

    Why would you call Visa? Chase is giving you the bonus. Visa has nothing to do with it.

  • chris

    sorry…i meant to say Chase.

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  • mike

    Hi, do you know how long it takes for the miles to post? I applied and was approved on May 5; a BA account was created for me (I didn’t have one), but now it’s a month later and still no miles.

    Is there something else you have to do to get the miles?

    Thanks!

  • The Points Guy

    @Mike- the first 50,000 will post a couple days after your first statement has closed when you used the card. The second 50k post after the statement closes when you hit the $2,500 spend requirement

  • Ben

    Hi PointsGuy,

    Just wanted to say I LOVE the blog. Extremely insightful. My mom is from China and has been in the US for 30 years and has never gone back. I am thinking I will use the 100k miles from the Chase promotion for a trip back. Any tips on how I can get the most bang for my buck? Keep in mind we are flexible on when we can travel and routes (the more places we can stop, the better!), but want to limit our out of pocket cost.

    Thanks in advance.

  • Kris10m

    Hello! My husband & I are planning a trip to Europe with our children next summer (2 teens). If he and I BOTH got this card – would we BOTH get the bonuses? It seems we could get 4 tickets for just the fees then, right? We don’t ever carry a balance on our cards, but could easily rack up $3000 in 3 months each.

  • Anonymous

    Unfortunately this bonus is over. However, you could both get the Sapphire Preferred card http://www.thepointsguy.com/go/sapphirepref and each get 50k miles and transfer them to British Airways and you’d have enough for 2 roundtrip tickets.
    Or you could get the British Airways card with 50,000 point bonus and spend $30,000 on the card and get a companion ticket.

  • Kris10m

    Sorry, I didn’t see that it expired. The Sapphire Preferred looks like a good option – is transferring miles easy & would it work w/ partner airlines such as AA?. I’m sure these kind of offers cycle – we aren’t planning to travel until next summer – would you advise waiting a bit to see what comes up that might be even better?

  • Anonymous

    Sapphire points transfer to British Airways and Continental (not AA). If you want an AA card, theres a way to get 150,000 miles http://thepointsguy.com/top-deals/ deal #3.

    100k offers are rare, so 50,000 is pretty good.

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