British Airways Visa Signature bank card assessment: Full particulars

The British Airways Visa Signature® Card (see charges and costs) won’t be your best choice for utilizing considered one of your worthwhile 5/24 slots with Chase. Nevertheless, its low annual price, sturdy incomes potential and credit to cowl gas surcharges make it a compelling choice for a lot of British Airways loyalists. Card Score*: ⭐⭐⭐

*Card Score relies on the opinion of TPG’s editors and isn’t influenced by the cardboard issuer.

Some profitable bank card choices from international airways are sometimes ignored, and the British Airways Visa Signature Card — the one cobranded bank card that British Airways provides within the U.S. — is amongst them.

It incorporates a $95 annual price and we advocate candidates have a credit score rating of 670 or larger to extend their possibilities of approval.

It does not include frequent airline advantages resembling a free checked bag or precedence boarding. Nonetheless, it is one of many extra worthwhile airline playing cards in the marketplace due to its huge welcome bonus and money-saving perks.

Let’s look at whether or not the cardboard deserves a spot in your pockets.

The British Airways Visa is presently providing 85,000 Avios after spending $5,000 on purchases throughout the first three months of account opening.

In response to TPG’s April 2025 valuations, Avios are price 1.4 cents apiece, so incomes 85,000 Avios is price a wholesome $1,190. The present provide is barely larger than earlier provides and is price benefiting from in case you’ve had this card in your radar.

One essential observe: Like different Chase-issued shopper playing cards, the British Airways Visa falls underneath Chase’s 5/24 rule. If you happen to’ve opened greater than 5 bank cards previously 24 months (from all banks, not simply Chase), your software will seemingly be rejected.

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Associated: Playing cards presently providing welcome bonuses of 100,000 factors or extra

Though the British Airways Visa lacks most of the normal cobranded airline card perks, resembling 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 12 months 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 12 months) — once you e-book a reward flight to London touring on British Airways and pay taxes, charges and expenses together with your British Airways Visa Signature Card. This may also help you fight British Airways’ notoriously excessive gas surcharges.
• Journey Collectively Ticket: Spend $30,000 on the cardboard every calendar 12 months and earn a Journey Collectively Ticket, which lets you add a companion to a Reward Flight for no further price 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 the web site offered in your welcome supplies and get 10% off eligible British Airways flights.
• Visa Signature perks: As a result of this can be a Visa Signature card, you may get perks like misplaced/delayed baggage safety, buy safety, secondary automotive rental insurance coverage and entry to the Visa Signature Luxurious Resort Assortment.
• No international transaction charges: You will not be charged further charges once you use your card overseas.

Once more, these are totally different advantages than you may discover on many cobranded airline playing cards, however they’ll present vital worth to those that frequently e-book award flights utilizing Avios.

Associated: British Airways Membership: Information to Avios, elite standing and switch companions

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 Stage
• 2 Avios per greenback spent on lodge bookings made straight with the lodge
• 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 choice for a lot of British Airways frequent flyers.

Associated: The most effective methods to earn British Airways Avios

The obvious solution to redeem the Avios you earn with the British Airways Visa is to e-book award tickets with British Airways. Because of British Airways’ distance-based award chart, one of many greatest candy spots in this system is for short-haul awards.

This system expenses a mere 6.500 miles for award flights which are 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 suits into that band.

Nonetheless, British Airways imposes hefty taxes and surcharges on a few of its personal worldwide award tickets.

Subsequently, the greatest makes use of for Avios are typically for associate awards. You would redeem your factors on greater than a dozen Oneworld alliance airways, resembling American Airways, Alaska Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qatar Airways.

Associated: Learn how to maximize the British Airways distance-based award chart

You may switch Avios on the British Airways Visa to different Avios-earning airways like Aer Lingus, Finnair, Iberia and Qatar Airways. This lets you journey to many Oneworld locations and e-book them with these Avios.

Because the mileage forex of British Airways and these 4 companions, you’ll be able to switch Avios between the 5 airways.

Iberia tends to cost considerably decrease taxes and surcharges than British Airways. Moreover, Iberia expenses primarily based on complete miles flown as an alternative of per phase, making it the winner for some connecting itineraries.

I’ve gotten good worth from my Avios through the use of them to e-book by 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: Learn how to e-book Iberia flights to Spain (and past) utilizing Avios

• If you’re not over the 5/24 rule: The Chase Sapphire Most well-liked® Card (see charges and costs) additionally comes with a $95 annual price and earns 5 factors per greenback spent on journey when booked by 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 companies. For extra info, learn our full assessment of the Chase Sapphire Most well-liked.
• If you’re over the 5/24 rule. The American Categorical® Gold Card has the next annual price of $325 (see charges and costs) but in addition provides larger incomes charges and comes with many worthwhile perks that offset the annual price, together with quite a lot 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 info, learn our full assessment of the Amex Gold.
• If you wish to earn Avios with a unique card: The Iberia Visa Signature® Card has the identical incomes construction because the British Airways Visa. Nevertheless, it has extra Iberia-specific perks, like a 10% low cost 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 added choices, take a look at our full listing of the greatest airline bank cards.

Associated: 5 the explanation why you need to care about British Airways Avios

The British Airways Visa is effectively price it if you wish to earn worthwhile Avios. Its advantages, like the ten% flight low cost and the as much as $600 annual reward flight assertion credit score, can simply show you how to recoup the annual price price. Nevertheless, you may seemingly want a unique card in case you’re over Chase 5/24 or do not journey on airways that use Avios.

Diversifying your portfolio of loyalty currencies is vital on the planet of journey rewards, and the British Airways Visa represents a improbable solution to do exactly that. With a worthwhile welcome provide, a low annual price and the chance to get a few of your taxes and costs credited again, this card is a superb selection for British Airways loyalists.

Apply right here: British Airways Visa Signature Card

For charges and costs of the Amex Gold card, click on right here.