Chase Launches First-Ever Transfer Bonus: 30% Extra British Airways Avios

April 22, 2019

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3 min read

Chase Launches First-Ever Transfer Bonus: 30% Extra British Airways Avios

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Well, cue the celebration. Chase Ultimate Rewards has launched its first-ever(!) transfer bonus. Through June 16 at 11:59pm ET, transfers from Chase Ultimate Rewards to the British Airways Executive Club are processed with a 30% bonus.

The bonus, however, is not hard-coded into the transfer ratio displayed on Chase's Ultimate Rewards portal. British Airways is processing the bonus on its end, so you'll only see the bonus Avios when you log in to your BA account.

Fortunately, Chase Ultimate Rewards points typically transfer instantly to British Airways. And luckily, this isn't a one-time bonus; you can make as many transfers as you wish before June 17.

The last bonus we saw to BA was from American Express Membership Rewards, which offered a 40% bonus on transfers this past fall.

Since BA uses a distance-based award chart, Avios can be incredibly useful for short flights that would otherwise cost lots of cash. Some of the best uses of British Airways Avios are for short-haul domestic awards in both economy and business class on American Airlines, as well as flights within Europe. British Airways Avios can also be transferred to Iberia Avios accounts (assuming both accounts have been open and active for more than three months), which can help you save on award taxes and fees.

If you're short on Chase Ultimate Rewards points and want to maximize the transfer bonus, it may be time to pick up another Chase card or two. Some of our top recommendations are the Chase Sapphire Reserve, the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card and the Chase Freedom Unlimited (the latter needs to be paired with another card to earn full transferable UR points).

So, start planning those Avios awards now. You have about 2 months to enjoy the bonus. And let's hope that this is the first Chase transfer bonus of many.

Thanks to TPG reader Shawn for bringing this to our attention.

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.