One of the largest credit card bonuses is back – the British Airways 100K Avios credit card. The normal offer is 50,000 Avios so this bonus has doubled that, while still offering the regular bonus built-in. Is it a good offer to jump on?
The British Airways 100K Avios Offer
The 100K Avios Tiered Offer
The 100K Avios available with this increased credit card offer is actually a tiered offer – and I really like it! Most credit cards that have limited time offers will give a higher bonus but also add things like the normally waived annual fee. Or, they will have a higher minimum spending threshold.
In this case, the base offer on this card stays the same – 50,000 Avios after spending $2,000 in 3 months. The rest comes in tiered bonuses based on increased spending. Here is how the complete bonus plays out:
- 50,000 Avios after spending $2,000 in 3 months
- Additional 25K Avios after spending $10,000 in the first year
- Additional 25K Avios after spending another $10,000 in the first year
That adds up to 100,000 bonus Avios after spending $22,000 total. Counting the spending, you will receive a total of 122,000 Avios!
Card Details
- Travel Together Ticket see below
- Earn 1 Avios for every dollar spent and 3 Avios for spend on British Airways
- No Foreign Transaction Fees
- Annual Fee of $95 not waived the first year
- Application Link (this is not a referral link)
The Travel Together Ticket & Spending Strategy
The British Airways credit card also comes with a Travel Together ticket. This lets you bring someone along on British Airways when you book an award ticket from the US to where BA flies. The bad part is that you need to pay the taxes/fees/surcharges on both tickets and that is very expensive on British Airways. Basically, assume that you will be paying for two economy tickets (because of the fees) and the Avios for the award for the primary ticket but you will be able to fly in business or first class for that.
To get this Travel Together ticket, you need to spend $30,000 in a calendar year. If this is of interest to you, my suggestion is this – spend the minimum of $2,000 in the first 3 months of having this card but do not spend another dollar on it until January 1. At that point, start spending to hit the $20,000 for the rest of the bonus and that will leave you just $10,000 away from getting the Travel Together ticket.
Up To 22 Award Tickets
This year, British Airways devalued their Avios for use in premium cabins, though many people will still find some value with that (especially with this increase in the offer). For US-based flyers, one of the best values to get from Avios is for flying short-haul on carriers Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, and US Airways. For direct flights under 650 miles, you will pay only 4,500 Avios for that one way flight.
Short-haul flights can often be one of the more expensive domestic tickets so this card offer gives incredible value! This does not just work for US flights, of course. You can use that for short-haul flights around the world. However, some of those carriers will charge higher fees.
For more on booking these awesome flights, check out this guide.
Summary
There is a ton of value to be had with this 100K offer. If you are able to meet the spending for the full amount, it can give you a ton of award flights. If you cannot meet the spending, you will still receive the normal bonus for only spending $2,000 in 3 months.
Of course, the card has had the annual fee waived for a while so having to spend the $95 for the annual fee the first year will need to be taken into account. If you do not currently have the card and you have not received the cardmember bonus in at least 24 months, you are eligible for this bonus.
Really it should be “up to 25 flights” since off peak awards on BA are 4000 avois. 😉
That is true! But, since it is of great interest to many for the US domestic side, I did not want to confuse. Though, I guess I did! 🙂