Just when I was starting to think we would never see a 100k welcome bonus offers again--the British Airways Visa bonus hits 100,000 Avios (OFFER EXPIRED). The new offer is double the 50,000 bonus the offer has been for the past months. The minimum spend is high on this bonus and you will have to spend $20,000 within a year to get the full 100,000 Avios. The terms are similar to the last time this card offer was available.
One of the biggest perks of this card is that after you spend $30,000 you earn a companion certificate that allows a second person to travel completely free (you only pay taxes) on an award ticket. This can be a huge value. Say you book a business class ticket from the US to London using the companion pass, you can get two roundtrip business class tickets for 100k Avios.
How to Avoid Fuel Surcharges when Using Avios
When redeeming Avios on BA or some partner airlines fuel surcharges can really kill the deal. When redeeming an international flight on British Airways the fuel surcharges can cost over $1,000! There are some ways to avoid or at least minimize them by using partner airlines that do not charge high fuel surcharges.
No Fuel Surcharges:
- Air Berlin - to/from Europe and some Middle East
- LAN - to/from most of South America
- American Airlines - domestic US and North American flights
Low Fuel Surcharges:
- Aer Lingus – to/from Europe
- Iberia - to/from Europe
- American Airlines - to/from Asia
Based on these partner airlines that do not charge high fuel surcharges you can get to most destinations paying very low fees. For example, using Aer Lingus for a roundtrip flight from the US to Dublin will only run you $25 in fees.
To get down to South America, both LAN and American Airlines will be a good option and fees will be low enough. American Airlines is also the best option for domestic flights and to get to/from Central America/Caribbean.
Getting to Asia or Australia is another problem, and you will run into very high fuel surcharges on Qantas. I would not recommend using Avios for travel to get across the Pacific and would look at using other miles.
The Bottomline
It has been awhile since we had seen a card offer this high, so this is a nice break from the 50k offers. If you can manage the $20,000 spend within a year, now is a great chance to get 100,000 Avios.
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