If you’ve ever flown British Airways long-haul from the U.S. to London, you’ve probably lingered when walking past those sleeper seats in the “Club World” section. They don’t just recline, they lay fully flat. You won’t run the risk of a small child kicking the back of your chair for hours before you endure the endless escalator rides at Heathrow. Thanks to this spring’s special offer from Chase’s British Airways Visa Signature Card, you can treat yourself to this luxury for about the same price as a standard coach class ticket.
Right now, Chase offers a staggered signup bonus for new British Airways Visa Signature cardholders. British Airways calls their frequent flyer miles “Avios,” and you’ll earn 50,000 of them as soon as you use your new Visa card. Make $10,000 in purchases, and BA credits your Executive Club account with 25,000 more Avios.
Land your final bonus of 25,000 more Avios once you’ve cleared $20,000 in purchases during your first year. After that, you can spend 80,000 Avios and about $1,100 in upgrade fees to book yourself that luxury flight.
Saving Avios and flying on the cheap
You don’t always have to splurge on a sleeper chair, though. Your 100,000 bonus Avios are plenty to cover the cost of two “World Traveller” round trip base fares between London and any of BA’s stateside hubs in New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, and Washington, D.C. This isn’t a discount airline you’re flying, either. British Airways’ coach seats on these flights resemble other airlines’ business classes. You get a private entertainment system, hot meals, and impeccable service from a flight crew that only gets testy if you don’t give them the chance to serve you.
The special smart chip you won’t see on other travel credit cards
Only a handful of American credit cards include the embedded smart chip that you’ll need to make routine purchases in Europe. Chase puts that “EMV chip” front and center on the British Airways Visa, and you’ll appreciate it when your travels take you off the beaten track. To combat fraud, many European merchants won’t accept American magnetic stripe credit cards outside of common tourist areas. The EMV chip saves you time and hassle, especially if you want to use any automated parking meters or vending machines during your visit.
No foreign transaction fee
Your $95 annual fee buys you another important perk that you’ll find on few travel rewards cards: no foreign transaction fee. Chase makes the process easy for frequent U.K. visitors: charge your card in pounds sterling at no extra fee, while enjoying Chase’s best currency conversion rate for the day of your purchase.
Rewards and risks of airline credit cards
Of course, British Airways is still a traditional airline, with a typical frequent flyer system. Regular BA travelers say that the 2012 Olympics and London’s business boom have made reward seats scarce, unless you plan your free trip far in advance. You’ll also have to pay redemption fees, airport service fees, and other taxes on each reward ticket.
If you value flexibility in a travel credit card, consider the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card instead. You’ll earn as much as 2 percent back on your everyday purchases, in the form of statement credits that you can redeem against any of your travel expenses. Still, given the high price of transatlantic airfare, the British Airways Visa Signature offers tremendous value, if you’re willing to jump through a few hoops.
To take advantage of the 10,000 Avios offer, apply for the British Airways Visa Signature Card from Chase today. You will need excellent credit in order to be approved, and be aware of the $95 annual fee.
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While it may be good for society to value art highly, is it a good investment for any one individual who has millions of dollars to spare?
Thanks to the Consumerism Commentary Community
This article was written by Flexo in Administration. 13 comments.
In just a short period of time, Consumerism Commentary will be entering its tenth year of existence. The site’s ninth anniversary is approaching, and I’ve been involved with the website longer than I’ve been involved with any other commitment in my life. Jobs and relationships have come and gone, but Consumerism Commentary remains.
I started the website in an effort to track my personal finances at a time when I was struggling financially, though I had already started a new path towards financial independence. Thanks to the readers early on who believed the website offered something unique, the growth of the community has been nothing short of amazing. Consumerism Commentary has changed character a little bit from those early years, when a blog was more about short, quick chronological updates and about sharing links to other interesting things found online. Last year, I solidified the website’s vision, mission, and purpose. While the owner of the site is now different, not much else has changed, and there are no plans to change anything in the near future, except for perhaps a more professional-looking logo and site design.
Thanks to all the readers who have continued to visit this website since 2003, our fans and friends on Facebook, and particularly those who continue to participate in discussions today. Thanks also to all the colleagues who have offered their advice and encouragement, and a big thanks to Jay Frosting (also known as Bryan J Busch) and Tom Dziubek who have held down the podcast fort for several years.
And if you’ve encountered any technical issues with the website recently, please continue to bear with me as the technical team continues to work out the bugs.
Last week, my article about The Rich and the Rest of Us by Dr. Cornel West and Tavis Smiley attracted the attention of the two men, and I’m working on scheduling an interview with the pair later this week. They are crusading across the country to elevate the issue of poverty and potential actions to move the United States is a better direction towards resolution. Do you have any questions for Smiley and West?
There are five types of purchases — well, more than five but these five are big — you should never put on your credit card. Every purchase you make is tracked by your credit card issuers and can be used against you if the companies decide you’re a higher risk than they originally thought. And they can change your risk profile based solely on the types of stores you visit.
The Carnival of Personal Finance hosted by Musings of an Abstract Aucklander last week included my article about Sprint’s $300 million tax fraud lawsuit.
Adrian from 7 Million 7 Years talks about how it may be hard to believe that someone in New York struggles on an income of $350,000 a year, but he understands the perspective. Andrew Schiff, who works for a brokerage firm, earns this salary but “feels stuck” according to an article in the Wall Street Journal.
Mike, the Oblivious Investor, argues that even an individual with a reduced life expectancy should wait as long as possible before collecting payments from Social Security. There are some specific circumstances in which it might be beneficial to claim Social Security benefits early, however. Mike explains within the article.
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