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Fly This Summer for Less Using Chase Ultimate Rewards 30% Transfer Bonus to British Airways
Jennifer is a contributing writer to The Points Guy where she focuses on family travel. She is also the founder of Deals We Like where she helps her readers travel on a deal.
May 1, 2019 • 13 min read
The cards we feature here are from partners who compensate us when you are approved through our site, and this may impact how or where these products appear. We don't cover all available credit cards, but our analysis, reviews, and opinions are entirely from our editorial team. Terms apply to the offers listed on this page. Please view our advertising policy and product review methodology for more information.Editorial disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airline or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.
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Quick summary
A major transferable-points program launched its first-ever transfer bonus to a major airline loyalty program, offering a 30% bonus when moving points to that airline's currency.
This promotion enables travelers to book award flights for fewer points, especially valuable ahead of a scheduled partner award chart devaluation on May 30.
Transferred points can also be moved between three related loyalty programs, expanding redemption options for flights on multiple airlines, including Oneworld partners.
Highlighted routes include Caribbean island-hopping, transatlantic flights to Madrid, U.S. domestic trips and flights to Hawaii, with specific examples showing significant value using the bonus.
What to consider
To transfer points between the three related loyalty programs, accounts must be open for at least 90 days and have prior point-earning activity.
Award chart changes for partner bookings take effect May 30, so booking before this date secures current lower rates.
Some offers mentioned in the article are no longer available.
What you'll miss from the article
Detailed examples of high-value award bookings and step-by-step guidance for maximizing the transfer bonus across multiple airline loyalty programs.
Generated by AI with support from our editorial team.
Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.
The points world moves fast, and you have to move quickly along with it to get the most for your miles. Just last week, Chase Ultimate Rewards launched its first ever transfer bonus promotion, which allows you to transfer your Chase Ultimate Rewards points from cards such as the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card and Chase Sapphire Reserve to British Airways and receive a 30% bonus. That means, with this promo, for every 1,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points transferred, you'll end up with 1,300 British Airways Avios points. For those looking to book family vacations for this summer, this is a great opportunity to use fewer points and potentially save some for another trip in the future.
It's worth noting that British Airways uses the same currency, called Avios, as two other loyalty programs: Aer Lingus and Iberia. Once you transfer your points from Chase to your British Airways Avios account, you could then transfer them to these other two loyalty programs at a 1:1 ratio (provided that you have opened an Aer Lingus and/or Iberia account well ahead of time). This means you are getting the same 30% transfer bonus indirectly to the other partner programs, making the promotion even more valuable. Here's the only hitch: To transfer British Airways Avios to either Aer Lingus or Iberia, your accounts must have been opened for at least 90 days and you must have had some point-earning activity.
Both British Airways and Iberia are part of the Oneworld alliance, which means you can use your points with them to book partner flights on airlines such as American, Japan Airlines, Cathay Pacific and Qatar. Aer Lingus does not belong to this alliance. Ultimately, all three programs have different pros and cons with some routes being more favorable in one program versus another.
Here are some opportunities for your family to embark on an awesome family vacation and take advantage of this transfer bonus (Note that transfers from Chase Ultimate Rewards to British Airways Avios must be made in 1,000 point increments.):
1. Caribbean Island-Hopping: Bahamas to Grand Cayman
If you already have plans to head to the Bahamas or Grand Cayman this summer, you can extend your vacation with some island-hopping. British Airways flies a number of fifth-freedom flights within the Caribbean that typically cost just 4,000 Avios (off-peak dates) or 4,500 Avios (peak dates) -- and the Bahamas to Grand Cayman route is one of them. Most of June is off-peak while July and August are primarily peak dates. These are some incredibly family-friendly islands that have a ton to do and many points-friendly hotels (may I suggest the Grand Hyatt Baha Mar and Westin Grand Cayman).
Once you take into account the 30% bonus, you only need 3,077 (off-peak) or 3,463 (peak) Chase Ultimate Rewards points to fly this expensive cash route. If you'd like to fly in comfort, for just 9,000 Avios you can book a business class ticket (with a lie-flat seat) using just 6,924 Chase Ultimate Rewards points.
Other fifth-freedom routes in the Caribbean that cost the same number of Avios points include:
Antigua – Saint Kitts
Antigua – Tobago
Saint Lucia – Grenada
Saint Lucia – Port of Spain (Trinidad)
Enjoying the beautiful water in Grand Cayman (Summer Hull / The Points Guy)
2. Boston, New York or Chicago to Madrid
Madrid is a wonderful city and can easily be coupled with a longer trip throughout Spain, including to Barcelona and Seville. If you live near Boston, New York or Chicago, then getting to Madrid on Iberia Airlines is quite easy. Since you can indirectly transfer your Chase Ultimate Rewards points to Iberia, this is the perfect opportunity to take the family to Madrid. Plus one of the benefits of Iberia over British Airways is that the fuel charges are significantly lower.
Iberia-Operated Transatlantic Flights To/From Madrid
Destination
Blue Class/ Economy Off-Peak
Blue Class/ Economy Peak
Premium Economy Off-Peak
Premium Economy Peak
Business Off-Peak
Business Peak
New York
17/22
20/28
25
35
34
50
Chicago
17/22
20/28
25
35
34
50
Boston
17/22
20/28
25
35
34
50
Miami
21.25/27.75
25/35
31.75
43.75
42
62.5
Los Angeles
21.25/27.76
25/35
31.75
43.75
42
62.5
San Francisco
21.25/27.77
25/35
31.75
43.75
42
62.5
*All distances one-way, in thousands of Avios
With Iberia's distance-based award chart, flights from Boston, New York and Chicago all fall into their Band 5 category. You can fly nonstop from one of these three cities to Madrid for as low as 17,000 miles one-way (for their Blue Class off-peak service). If you prefer business class, you are looking at just 34,000 to 50,000 miles one-way. Taking the 30% transfer bonus into consideration, this means you are looking at just 13,077 Chase Ultimate Rewards points for economy (Blue Class off-peak awards) or 26,154 for business class (off-peak). That's a fantastic price to cross the ocean in a lie-flat seat.
Iberia A330 Business Class. (Photo by Benji Stawski / The Points Guy)
3. Miami to Costa Rica
American Airlines operates a daily route from Miami (MIA) to both major airports in Costa Rica — Liberia (LIR) and San Jose (SJO). To take advantage of the promotion, transfer your Chase Ultimate Rewards points to British Airways and then book on partner American Airlines. This route costs just 7,500 British Airways Avios in economy class and 15,000 British Airways Avios in business class. For a relatively expensive route, this is a great redemption that is sweetened when you take into consideration the 30% bonus — requiring just 5,770 Chase Ultimate Rewards points for economy class or 11,539 points for business class. Best of all, availability is pretty good for the summer as of right now.
Rafting on Costa Rica's Rio Pacuare. (Photo by Elen Turner)
It is part of a longer route between New York (JFK) and Hong Kong (HKG), which means you are flying on one of the airlines' luxurious four-class 777-300ER aircrafts. Since Cathay Pacific is a British Airways partner, you can use your British Airways Avios points to fly in comfort in one of Cathay's first class seats, business class seats or economy.
Vancouver with False Creek in foreground and Grouse Mountain and the North Shore Mountains in background.
This route is typically the least expensive when using Cathay Pacific Asia Miles, but with the 30% bonus transfer taken into consideration, using British Airways Avios points accrued from Chase Ultimate Rewards actually can be the best option for economy class seats. Using British Airways points, you'll be looking at spending 12,500 points for economy, 37,500 points for business and 50,000 points for first class. In terms of the number of Chase Ultimate Rewards points you need to transfer to book a one-way flight, you are looking at just 9,616 points for economy, 28,847 points for business and 38,462 points for first.
Cathay Pacific from New York to Vancouver (Photo by JT Genter / The Points Guy)
5. Los Angeles to Hawaii
One of the better ways to fly to Hawaii is by using your British Airways Avios points. Due to its distance-based award chart, you'll spend just 12,500 points for a one-way award redemption from West Coast cities, such as Los Angeles, to many of the Hawaiian Islands, including Kauai (LIH), Honolulu (HNL), Maui (OGG) and The Big Island (KOA). Although we've seen some extremely low cost fares recently on these routes, especially with the introduction of flights to Hawaii by Southwest, summertime will bring some peak fare prices. Award availability is still very favorable on American Airlines in economy. With the current transfer bonus, you are looking at spending fewer than 10k Chase Ultimate Rewards points (or 9,616 points to be exact) on an award ticket to paradise, which is pretty awesome.
If you are looking to fly to Hawaii from another part of the country (east of Phoenix), you could be looking at redeeming additional Avios, depending on the distance and number of layovers. In this scenario, you might want to look into all of your Chase Ultimate Rewards transfer partner options to see if another program might require fewer points.
6. Dallas to Orlando
If seeing Mickey Mouse is on your family's agenda this summer, American has a large presence in Orlando, which means booking an award flight from most airports around the country is quite feasible. When using British Airways Avios points for American Airlines flights, each segment is priced based on these award pricing tiers:
1 to 1,151 miles = 7,500 British Airways Avios
1,152 to 2,000 miles = 10,000 British Airways Avios
2,001 to 3,000 miles = 12,500 British Airways Avios
For a short-haul flight, for example, from Dallas to Orlando, you are looking at 7,500 Avios one-way, or just 5,770 Chase Ultimate Rewards points. To figure out the distance between two cities, you can use gcmap.com. If your flight requires a layover, British Airways will add up the cost of each individual segment, which might not make it the best redemption option, but it is worth looking into -- especially taking into consideration the transfer bonus promotion.
(Photo by Ryan Wendler / Walt Disney World)
7. Washington to Charleston
If you are looking at a short flight of less than 500 flown miles, such as a flight between Washington, DC (DCA) and Charleston, SC (CHS), using Iberia Avios points to book an American Airlines flight could be the perfect opportunity. With the Iberia award chart, this type of round-trip award will cost you just 12,000 Iberia Avios points (when the round-trip itinerary is less than 1k flown miles) — or just 9,231 Chase Ultimate Rewards points when transferred first to British Airways and then to Iberia (remembering the rules of who can make that transfer).
If you were to redeem your points directly with British Airways Avios, you'd be looking at spending 7,500 Avios per one-way flight or 15,000 points round-trip — an extra 3,000 points over using Iberia's award chart. The one disadvantage you have when using Iberia Avios points on American Airlines flights is that you must redeem for a round-trip flight — one-way redemptions are not an option. When using Iberia's website to search for availability, you must search for a round-trip flight as well. Your other option is to search for award availability through American Airlines and then book through Iberia.
Charleston, South Carolina, USA skyline over the Ashley River. (Photo by SeanPavonePhoto / Getty Images)
Bottom Line
Since this transfer bonus promotion doesn't end until June 17, 2019, there is still time to accrue more Chase Ultimate Reward points through welcome offers with the Chase Sapphire Reserve or Chase Sapphire Preferred Card,regular credit card spending and shopping portal bonuses. However, just remember that the British Airways' partner award chart changes May 30, so don't wait to book.
Everything you need to know about Chase Ultimate Reward points and redeeming British Airways miles:
Jennifer Yellin covers family travel deals for TPG and blogs at Deals We Like. Follow her family’s adventures on Twitter and Instagram.
Comments
By commenting, you agree to our Community Guidelines to help create a positive space for conversation. The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser, our partners, or The Points Guy (“TPG”). They have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any of these parties. All responses are submitted by individual contributors, and neither the bank advertiser, our partners, nor TPG are responsible for ensuring that all posts and/or questions are answered.
