A few days ago, I promised I'd write up some details on a great limited time credit card offer that is currently out there. This offer is particularly attractive for folks that may be just starting out, especially if you are located near a large airport that is a hub for American Airlines (i.e. Charlotte, Philadelphia, New York LaGuardia, Chicago, Miami, Dallas, etc.)
Right now, Chase is offering a significantly increased sign up bonus on their British Airways credit card. It is a tiered bonus that is structured like this:
- 50,000 Avios after spending $2,000 within the first 3 months of opening the account
- 25,000 additional Avios after spending $10,000 within the first year AND
- 25,000 additional Avios after spending $20,000 within the first year
These spend levels are cumulative, meaning that once you spend a total of $10,000 you earn the 25,000 bonus Avios, and once you spend a total of $20,000 you earn the second 25,000 bonus Avios for a total of 100,000 Avios points. You also earn 1 Avios per dollar spent, so once you spend $20,000 you'll have earned a total of 120,000 Avios points.
This is an incredible deal. British Airways Avios points are
extremely valuable for travel on short distance flights on American Airlines. The reason for this is that the British Airways award chart is based solely on the distance of the flight, so all flights that are 650 miles or less in distance cost only 4,500 Avios points for an Economy ticket. If you are flying from an American Airlines hub, there are tons of places that you can go for only 4,500 Avios. That means that 120,000 Avios points could get you 22 one-way flights! Flights from 651 - 1,150 miles in distance only cost 7,500 Avios each way. This includes international flights, such as flights from New York to the Bahamas, Charlotte to many places in the Caribbean, etc.
Put in perspective, to book the same exact domestic flights using American Airlines AAdvantage Miles would cost you 12,500 miles each way, and international flights would be at least 17,500 miles each way.
In addition to short domestic hops, some other good redemption options with Avios include flights from the West Coast to Hawaii and from the East Coast to Europe. However, the short domestic trips for 4,500 are by far some of the best redemptions out there. And although I've not once set foot on a British Airways plane, I've redeemed over 150,000 Avios points on these 4,500 point short-haul trips for myself and my family. Unfortunately, it's too soon for me to apply for another one of these cards or else I'd already have filled my application out...
One other great feature I forgot to initially mention is the great cancellation policy that British Airways has with their Avios reservations. As long as you cancel at least 24 hours prior to your flight, you receive a full refund of all of your Avios, and only lose the taxes you paid on these domestic reservations (which is only $5.60 per ticket.) So my strategy is to only book one-way tickets, and then I can essentially cancel for free... which I have done many times!
