British Airways Visa Signature by Chase 2019
2019 British Airways Visa Signature Card
2019 British Airways Visa Signature Card Photo. Photo: British Airways/Chase
4x Avios per $1 spent on British Airways (BA) in the first year.
10% off BA flights when booked directly with BA until 4/31/2020.
Earn a Travel Together Ticket (for award redemptions only) when you spend $30,000 each year.
Ability to earn 120,000 Avios in the first year if you spend $30,000.
To the Point
At first glance the British Airways Visa Signature by Chase appears to be an appealing British Airways (BA) co-branded card made specifically for very loyal BA frequent flyers. After deep diving into the fine print and looking past the advertising, this card is certainly not for everyone but if you exclusively fly BA and want to earn Avois (BA's reward points) fast then keep reading . The marketing suggests that you can "Boost your Britishness" by earning up to 120,000 Avios your first year if you spend $30,000. Avios are BA's frequent flyer miles points and we value them to be worth $0.015 cents. BA is part of the Oneworld Alliance which provides Avois a little more award booking versatility. Unlike most travel card sign up offers, the BA card has no lump sum Avois point bonus after a minimum spend. New cardholders will need to spend quite a bit to take full advantage of the bonus. The bonus allows you to earn 4x Avios per $1 spent on the first $30,000 spend. This equates to 120,000 Avios. After spending the first $30,000 you will start to earn 3x Avios on purchases made with British Airways, Aer Lingus, Iberia and LEVEL, and 1x Avios on all other purchases. Cardholders will receive 10% off BA flights when booked until 4/31/2020. This 10% off could save hundreds or thousands of dollars if you fly BA exclusively depending on your spending. Cardholders have the ability to earn a BA companion pass, which they call a Travel Together Ticket (TTT), after spending $30,000 on your card. The TTT voucher is valid for two years and is only good for a single fare after the cardholder makes an award flight redemption by spending Avios points. I'll dig deeper into this benefit below. All of these unique benefits come with only a $95 annual fee. But is the $95 even worth this co-branded card when you have to spend $30,000 to take advantage of them?
Earning Avios
4x Avios per $1 spent on all purchases on first $30,000 within the first 12 months of opening the account. This spend equates to 120,000 Avios total earning potential and considered the "sign up bonus". This is a sign up offer for the first 12 months only!
After you reach $30,000 spend or pass the 12 month mark your BA card begins earning:
3x Avios per $1 spent on flight purchases made directly with British Airways, Aer Lingus, Iberia and LEVEL.
1x Avios per $1 spent on all other purchases.
Primary Benefits
10% off British Airways flights when booked by March 31, 2020 through the website provided in your welcome materials.
Travel Together Ticket (TTT): The British Airways Travel Together Ticket is their companion pass that can be earned every calendar year the cardholder makes $30,000 in purchases on their card. This pass is valid for two years when the cardholder redeems Avios points for a flight on British Airways. With the TTT you get a second seat for a companion on the same flight and within the same cabin specifically when you book an Avios award flight on a BA mainline flight originating in and returning to the United States. You cannot redeem a TTT when you combine cash and points for a flight. If you do not use the TTT within the two year window you lose it. You must book the award flight directly with British Airways, not through a third party or travel agent. Just to be clear this is not the typical companion pass, this is an award redemption companion pass only. You can look at this in one of two ways, this can really increase the value of an Avios because you get a two for one award flight. Conversely, it can really devalue the TTT itself if you don't have the Avios to book a flight and take advantage of the perk. After you reach your spend target ($30,000) you will receive an e-voucher within 4-6 weeks. When booking an award flight you'll have to pay taxes, fees and carrier charges for you and your companion's tickets. According to British Airways, the taxes, fees and carrier charges from Miami to Cancun are $72 per adult in economy. Taxes, fees, and carrier charges for travel to Seattle to London range from approximately $682 - $1250 per adult in economy or $1250 in business class.
No Foreign Transactions Fees. Make purchases abroad without any extra fees.
Contactless Pay. Simply tap to pay with your contactless card. Just look out for the contactless symbol at checkout to make the payment fast, simple and secure.
Points Expiration. BA advertises that their Avios points "don’t expire", but this is not true if you read the fine print. Your Avios will expire if you do not actively earn Avios in a 36 month period. Luckily, earning Avios is easy with this card. All you need to do is make even the smallest payment to earn an Avios point to remain active. It should be noted that paying the annual fee is not considered purchase activity.
Baggage Delay Insurance. Reimburses you for essential purchases like toiletries and clothing for baggage delays over 6 hours for up to $100 a day for 3 days.
Lost Luggage reimbursement. If you or your immediate family members' checked or carry-on bags are damaged or lost by the carrier, you're covered up to $3,000 per passenger.
Extended Warranty and Purchase Protection. Extends the time period of the U.S. manufacturer's warranty by an additional year, on eligible warranties of three years or less. Covers your new purchases for 120 days against damage or theft up to $500 per claim and $50,000 per account.
Value Proposition
At the Points Passport, we like to make the value proposition of the cards we review easy to understand. In order to do that, we break down the value into two parts: the initial sign up and the sustaining cost that occur every year after.
Phase 1 - The Sign up Offer and First Year Benefits
With the current sign up offer being a bit different than a typical lump sum bonus, we will base your yearly spend on this card to be $30,000 to attain the full year one reward. Based on the
Avios value of $0.015/point, the value is as follows:
$30,000 spend will earn 120,000 Avios Points x $0.015 = $1800
$5,000 spend on British Airways flights with 10% off = $500 savings
A Travel Together Ticket (TTT) will be earned after spending $30,000, and assuming the cardholder spends his 120,000 Avios on the reward flight after, the companion ticket would be valued at $1800
Sign Up Spend Bonus + Annual Benefits - Annual Fee = Net Cost
120k Avios offer: $1800 + TTT: $1800 + 10% off benefit: $500 - $95 = $4005 net value
Phase 2 - Second Year and Beyond Benefits
After the first year sign up bonus spend cap, you will begin earning 3x Avios per $1 spent with British Airways and 1x Avios per $1 spent on all other purchases. To stay consistent, and to earn the TTT again, we will maintain a $30,000 spend allocation assuming we spend $5,000 on BA again the second year.
$25,000 spend on all other purchases (1x Avios) = 25,000 Avios = $375
$5,000 spend on British Airways purchases (3x Avios) = 15,000 Avios = $250
The Travel Together Ticket (TTT) will match the award bonus you redeem and since you earned 40k Avios we will use that for the redemption value, so 40,000 Avios = $600 TTT value.
Non-British Airways Spend + British Airways Spend + Travel Together Ticket Value - Annual Fee = net value
25,000 Avios: $375 + 15,000 Avios: $250 + TTT: $600 - $95 annual fee = $1130 net value
Keep in mind if you cannot allocate $30,000 toward this card annually your value proposition will be much lower because you will not be getting the full sign up bonus year one or the Travel Together Ticket companion pass in year one or beyond. Also, don't forget to account for the taxes, fees, and carrier charges which will be charged when making an award flight including with a TTT. You can input your own spend into the equations used above to calculate your potential earnings and value. As you can see there is potential for enormous value, especially in year one. Although, this card is no doubt for the extreme BA loyalist. In all reality there are many other more versatile cards with similar and greater point earning multipliers for a broader range of travel expenses. This co branded card is definitely not for everyone.
Final Point
Overall, the Points Passport recommends this card for individuals who can allot at least $30,000 in spend the first year to earn the full 120,000 Avios sign up bonus. This co-branded airline card is simply targeted at the British Airways loyalist. Although you can use the Avios to book within the Oneworld Alliance they are still lacking in full versatility. There are not many noteworthy benefits beyond the sign up offer and the difficult to use redemption flight only Travel Together Ticket. You are essentially paying a $95 annual fee for the ability to spend $30,000 and earn the Travel Together Ticket, which you will still be paying taxes and surcharges on when redeemed for travel.
For these reasons, we suggest a more versatile travel card that earns points that can easily transfer to British Airways if you choose them as your airline. Chase Ultimate Reward points as well as American Express Membership Reward points can both transfer to British Airways as well as a multitude of other partners which opens up your travel rewards capabilities. Most of the more popular Chase and Amex cards will also be earning the same or more points per $1 on airlines and every other purchase. For example the Chase Sapphire Reserve will earn 3x Ultimate Reward Points on flights and dining, or the Amex Gold Card will earn 3x Membership Reward Points on flights and 4x on dining. These card comes with a slightly higher annual fee, but the rewards benefits and credits that also come with them outweigh the fee unlike the lack of statement credits or even fee free baggage of this British Airways card. In the end, we just want you to get the most rewards for your hard earn dollar spend, and there is much more value on spending $30,000 on other cards!
If you feel that this card is right for you after reading our deep dive, feel free to learn more and apply directly on the Chase website here: British Airways Visa Signature® Card