British Airways Visa Signature Card overview
The British Airways Visa Signature® Card (see rates and fees) won’t be your best choice for utilizing certainly one of your helpful 5/24 slots with Chase. Nonetheless, its low annual price, sturdy incomes potential and credit to cowl gasoline surcharges make it a compelling possibility for a lot of British Airways loyalists. Card Score*: ⭐⭐⭐
*Card Rating relies on the opinion of TPG’s editors and isn’t influenced by the cardboard issuer.
Some profitable bank card choices from overseas airways are sometimes neglected, and the British Airways Visa Signature Card — the one cobranded bank card that British Airways affords within the U.S. — is amongst them.
It includes a $95 annual price and we advocate candidates have a credit score of 670 or greater to extend their probabilities of approval.
It would not include widespread airline advantages similar to a free checked bag or precedence boarding. Nonetheless, it is one of many extra helpful airline playing cards available on the market due to its large welcome bonus and money-saving perks.
Let’s look at whether or not the cardboard deserves a spot in your pockets.
British Airways Visa execs and cons
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British Airways Visa welcome bonus
The British Airways Visa is presently providing 85,000 Avios after spending $5,000 on purchases inside the first three months of account opening.
Based on TPG’s April 2025 valuations, Avios are value 1.4 cents apiece, so incomes 85,000 Avios is value a wholesome $1,190. The present provide is barely greater than earlier affords and is value profiting from in the event you’ve had this card in your radar.
One necessary notice: Like different Chase-issued shopper playing cards, the British Airways Visa falls underneath Chase’s 5/24 rule. In the event you’ve opened greater than 5 bank cards up to now 24 months (from all banks, not simply Chase), your utility will probably be rejected.
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Associated: Cards currently offering welcome bonuses of 100,000 points or more
British Airways Visa advantages
Though the British Airways Visa lacks most of the typical cobranded airline card perks, similar to a free checked bag and precedence boarding, those it does provide can nonetheless save British Airways flyers a major quantity on money and award tickets.
- Reward flight assertion credit score: Obtain an announcement credit score 3 times a yr of $100 for Financial system (World Traveller) and Premium Financial system (World Traveller Plus) seats — or $200 for Enterprise (Membership World) and first-class seats (as much as $600 per calendar yr) — while you ebook a reward flight to London touring on British Airways and pay taxes, charges and costs together with your British Airways Visa Signature Card. This may help you fight British Airways’ notoriously excessive gasoline surcharges.
- Journey Collectively Ticket: Spend $30,000 on the cardboard every calendar yr and earn a Travel Together Ticket, which lets you add a companion to a Reward Flight for no further value or save 50% on the Avios required if touring solo. That is on any round-trip British Airways, Iberia or Aer Lingus redemption in any class.
- 10% flight low cost: E-book by way of the web site offered in your welcome supplies and get 10% off eligible British Airways flights.
- Visa Signature perks: As a result of it is a Visa Signature card, you may get perks like lost/delayed baggage protection, purchase protection, secondary car rental insurance and entry to the Visa Signature Luxurious Lodge Assortment.
- No foreign transaction fees: You will not be charged further charges while you use your card overseas.
Once more, these are completely different advantages than you may discover on many cobranded airline playing cards, however they’ll present important worth to those that usually ebook award flights utilizing Avios.
Associated: British Airways Club: Guide to Avios, elite status and transfer partners
Incomes Avios on the British Airways Visa
The British Airways Visa outdoes most different cobranded airline playing cards on the earnings aspect. With the British Airways card, you may earn:
- 3 Avios per greenback spent on purchases with British Airways, Aer Lingus, Iberia and Degree
- 2 Avios per greenback spent on resort bookings made straight with the resort
- 1 Avios per greenback spent on all different purchases
Whereas these aren’t spectacular incomes charges, the bonus classes and the worth cardholders can get from the cardboard’s further advantages make this a very good card possibility for a lot of British Airways frequent flyers.
Associated: The best ways to earn British Airways Avios
Redeeming Avios on the British Airways Visa
The obvious strategy to redeem the Avios you earn with the British Airways Visa is to ebook award tickets with British Airways. Due to British Airways’ distance-based award chart, one of many greatest candy spots in this system is for short-haul awards.
This system costs a mere 6.500 miles for award flights which can be 651 miles to 1,151 miles lengthy throughout off-peak season and 12,750 miles for enterprise class throughout off-peak season. To place that in perspective, a flight from London to Rome matches into that band.
Nonetheless, British Airways imposes hefty taxes and surcharges on a few of its personal worldwide award tickets.
Subsequently, the best uses for Avios are typically for companion awards. You might redeem your factors on greater than a dozen Oneworld alliance airways, similar to American Airways, Alaska Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qatar Airways.
Associated: How to maximize the British Airways distance-based award chart
Transferring Avios on the British Airways Visa
You may switch Avios on the British Airways Visa to different Avios-earning airlines like Aer Lingus, Finnair, Iberia and Qatar Airways. This lets you journey to many Oneworld locations and ebook them with these Avios.
Because the mileage foreign money of British Airways and these 4 companions, you can transfer Avios between the 5 airways.
Iberia tends to cost considerably decrease taxes and surcharges than British Airways. Moreover, Iberia costs primarily based on whole miles flown as a substitute of per phase, making it the winner for some connecting itineraries.
I’ve gotten good worth from my Avios by utilizing them to ebook by way of Iberia to fly from O’Hare Worldwide Airport (ORD) and San Francisco Worldwide Airport (SFO) to Madrid in enterprise class for underneath 34,000 Avios every time.
Associated: How to book Iberia flights to Spain (and beyond) using Avios
Which playing cards compete with the British Airways Visa Card?
Chances are you’ll resolve to go together with a special card that earns Avios or a card that earns transferable factors you can switch to Avios, like certainly one of these:
- In case you are not over the 5/24 rule: The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (see rates and fees) additionally comes with a $95 annual price and earns 5 factors per greenback spent on journey when booked by way of the Chase Journey℠ portal and a couple of factors per greenback spent on all different journey. It additionally earns bonus factors on eating and choose streaming providers. For extra data, learn our full review of the Chase Sapphire Preferred.
- In case you are over the 5/24 rule. The American Express® Gold Card has the next annual price of $325 (see rates and fees) but additionally affords greater incomes charges and comes with many helpful perks that offset the annual price, together with a wide range of assertion credit (enrollment required). The Membership Rewards factors earned by this card might be transferred at a 1:1 ratio to British Airways. For extra data, learn our full review of the Amex Gold.
- If you wish to earn Avios with a special card: The Iberia Visa Signature® Card has the identical incomes construction because the British Airways Visa. Nonetheless, it has extra Iberia-specific perks, like a 10% discount when reserving choose Iberia flights.
The knowledge for the Iberia Visa Signature Card has been collected independently by The Factors Man. The cardboard particulars on this web page haven’t been reviewed or offered by the cardboard issuer.
For extra choices, take a look at our full record of the best airline credit cards.
Associated: 5 reasons why you should care about British Airways Avios
Is the British Airways Visa value it?
The British Airways Visa is effectively value it if you wish to earn helpful Avios. Its advantages, like the ten% flight low cost and the as much as $600 annual reward flight assertion credit score, can simply assist you to recoup the annual price value. Nonetheless, you may probably want a special card in the event you’re over Chase 5/24 or do not journey on airways that use Avios.
Backside line
Diversifying your portfolio of loyalty currencies is important on this planet of journey rewards, and the British Airways Visa represents a unbelievable strategy to do exactly that. With a helpful welcome provide, a low annual price and the chance to get a few of your taxes and costs credited again, this card is a good selection for British Airways loyalists.
Apply right here: British Airways Visa Signature Card
For charges and costs of the Amex Gold card, click on here.