British Airways just announced a pretty lucrative promotion: 10% off any British Airways flight when you use your Chase British Airways Visa Signature Card. The great thing about this promo is that the 10% comes off of the total ticket price, including taxes and fees (and we know how high they can be when flying in and out of London on BA!). I also like how we have from now and December 31, 2012 to make our bookings. On top of all this, you also earn an extra 3 miles per dollar spent on BA miles when you use the BA Visa card.
One of the best ways to use BA miles is to use 12,500 miles to upgrade North America to European flights. Premium Economy flights can be had for reasonable prices - especially with this discount, so this may be a good time to take advantage of that stellar redemption. I priced out a Premium Economy roundtrip from Miami to London in March for my birthday and with the 10% discount it came to $987 total roundtrip. With 25,000 BA miles, of which I have many to burn, that's a pretty good deal for business class - especially since British Airways has a really solid lie-flat business class product. To upgrade the reservation at the time of booking, it would cost me $2,500, so those 25,000 BA miles are getting me 10 cents in value per mile. If you don't have any BA miles, you can transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards points (from Sapphire Preferred and Ink Bold cards) and American Express Membership Rewards points (Platinum and Premier Rewards for example) at instant 1:1 ratios.
Update: Per this link, the eligible fare classes for upgrading tickets with BA miles are:
British Airways: J, C, D, R, I, W, E, T, Y, B, H
American Airlines and Iberia: J, C, D, Y, B
Always call to ensure upgrade availability before you purchase a ticket.
Update: This can be combined with their current big bonuses for full-fare and premium cabin flights.
Link: British Airways Upgrade chart (for US to Europe 1 you'll see 50,000. That's for Economy to Business. If you buy World Traveller Plus (Prem Econ) you multiply that amount by .5, so it's 25,000 miles roundtrip to upgrade or 12,500 miles each way).
Details:
We’re pleased to announce this new cardmember promotion. Receive a 10% discount1 on every British Airways round-trip flight booked through ba.com/Chase10 when you use your British Airways Visa® card with promotion code: CARDOFFERU. Flights must be booked and outbound travel completed from now through December 31, 2012. You always get a great deal when you book with us directly and now that deal will be even better.
10% off when you book through ba.com/Chase10:
- Discount is off the total cost of the fare (including taxes, fuel and surcharges).
- Choose from any of British Airways 300+ destinations.
- Travel in any cabin—World Traveller, World Traveller Plus, Club World or First.
- Book up to eight friends and family members travelling on the same flight.
Promotion code: CARDOFFERU
