Thanks to the Frugal Travel Guy, here’s a link to the British Airways 100K Visa offer – back on, but who knows for how long?? If you’re interested, check it out now!
50K at sign up, 50K when you spend $2K in the first 90 days. 100K will get you 2 roundtrip tickets to Zone 1 (England, Ireland, etc.) from the U.S. Better yet, have your wife or husband sign up at the same time and combine your miles as a Household Account.
See the offer here:
1.26.10 Update: it’s now 30K miles plus get $50 off every ticket. Click on the link above.
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January 7th, 2010 at 4:40 pm
Award travel doesn’t exempt you from flight-related taxes, and since November 1st 2009 these have become exorbitant for travel to and from the UK. For a non-stop flight from North America to any UK airport, on any airline, expect to pay in the region of $350-$400 taxes per person.
The increase was passed under the guise of a carbon tax, but the UK government has yet to prove that the funds are being used for environmental purposes. This tax is based in part on the distance flown, so one way around this is to fly to a European airport and then take a connecting flight to the UK. The tax only applies to the short leg of the trip, and is about 1/10th that for long haul flights.
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Kevin Reply:
January 7th, 2010 at 6:05 pm
Good point, and we’ve discussed this elsewhere on the site. I can fly (I just checked this evening) Premier Economy from ORD to Naples and back, and the fuel surcharge, using British Airway miles, is $314.45; the regular fare is $1936.45 or a savings of $1622. per ticket. It’s still a great deal.
Better yet would be to use BA miles on partner airline American, which does not charge the fuel surcharge for award tickets.
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January 8th, 2010 at 1:35 am
@Kevin, the final clause in the MILEAGE SUMMARY says:
BA Miles cannot be earned or redeemed on American Airlines transatlantic flights between the United States and London.
Anyone know if someone living outside the USA can apply for this card?
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Kevin Reply:
January 8th, 2010 at 6:18 am
Thanks for the clarification. I’ll have to see if you can use BA miles for AA flights to other European destinations.
As for your question, why not just try completing the application?
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January 9th, 2010 at 8:42 pm
A quick follow-up: the Chase BA card is for U.S. residents.
American flies direct from ORD to Rome, which is great as we’ll be able to avoid the Heathrow – Gatwick bus ride and attendant stress and cost when we go to Italy.
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