BA Chase Visa Signature Card (USA) and Travel Together questions [Master thread]
Nov 6, 2009, 2:14 pm
#106
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: In between BRU, BSL , AOI and the rest of the world
Programs: BAEC Gold, LX Sen, HH Diamond, SPG Plat, MR Silver
Posts: 187
Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8900/4.6.1.168 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/120)
Hi all,
Your eyes weren't mistaking you - we have permanently increased the earn rate 25% on dollars spent on British Airways Chase Visa card. The .new program, which begins November 4th, .means you will earn 2.5 BA Miles for every $1 you spend on British Airways purchases and 1.25 BA miles for every $1 you spend on all other purchases.. The program will include several additional value-added enhancements.. Existing cardholders will receive official communication about these exciting enhancements before November 4. So stay tuned and until then, thanks for the enthusiasm.
Kind regards,
Dilly
Hi all,
Your eyes weren't mistaking you - we have permanently increased the earn rate 25% on dollars spent on British Airways Chase Visa card. The .new program, which begins November 4th, .means you will earn 2.5 BA Miles for every $1 you spend on British Airways purchases and 1.25 BA miles for every $1 you spend on all other purchases.. The program will include several additional value-added enhancements.. Existing cardholders will receive official communication about these exciting enhancements before November 4. So stay tuned and until then, thanks for the enthusiasm.
Kind regards,
Dilly
Nov 6, 2009, 2:25 pm
#107
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: MSY
Programs: BA GfL
Posts: 5,929
I would say that availability is pretty good (I've never really had a problem trying to get seats on BA, as long as I am somewhat flexible with dates). But "reasonable" is a very relative term when it comes to the taxes/fuel surcharge. Anyone who is used to earning/spending miles on US-based carriers will find BA's charges completely outrageous. Since I am more or less tied to BA for my long-haul travel and rack up a lot of miles with them, I have gotten used to the high dollar cost of award flights, but really I just grin and bear it.
Nov 6, 2009, 2:26 pm
#108
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Mostly AUS or rural England
Programs: BAEC redundant Bronze, AAdvantage Lifetime PLT, CO, WN, B6
Posts: 6,526
I am currently fully paid off on all cards and looking to switch to a better one for travel -- the primary use being flights from DFW/IAH to Europe, primarily UK/IRE/GER, and primarily in mid-March or June-July. I can put $30K/year to earn the companion ticket. Obviously, this offer could be of tremendous value to some people, but concerns over redemption availability and fuel surcharge/taxes make me wonder. What do current holders of this card and/or members in Executive Club think is the best use? In other words, if taxes/fuel charges are high and availability limited, it might be best for my wife and I to each get a card, hit the $2K spend to get 100K miles, and use it as a one-off way to fly B-class DFW-LHR at the Y price (e.g., taxes, fuel, and cc annual fee ~ = coach)? On the other hand if availability were good and taxes/fuel surcharge "reasonable," then I'd put all possible spending on this card to earn a companion ticket each year. Thanks
I can't answer everything, however:
- from Texas the total of fuel surcharges and UK business class departure tax are typically significantly less than the cost of an economy/coach round trip ticket. If you're transiting in London to/from another European destination within 24 hours I believe you won't pay the UK departure tax anyway.
- I find availability from IAH pretty reasonable - as an example I've been looking for 3 business class award seats over the Christmas period from IAH and had no problem to get them except for December 17-19. There's virtually nothing out of DFW already, and AA from DFW has only double priced AAnytime awards for a period of almost a month.
- look also at using the miles to upgrade - that seems to be easier on BA than AA, though you have to start from the higher 'T' fare. Overall that seems to be a wash compared with AA + the co-pays that BA doesn't charge (yet!)
In short, I think the card is a good deal - in your position (I suspect I'm caught by the new cardholder rule) I'd try it for a year - one round trip is certainly worth $75 and see how it goes.
Nov 6, 2009, 2:43 pm
#109
Join Date: Jul 2009
Programs: BA Exec Club Silver
Posts: 5
I am currently fully paid off on all cards and looking to switch to a better one for travel -- the primary use being flights from DFW/IAH to Europe, primarily UK/IRE/GER, and primarily in mid-March or June-July. I can put $30K/year to earn the companion ticket. Obviously, this offer could be of tremendous value to some people, but concerns over redemption availability and fuel surcharge/taxes make me wonder. What do current holders of this card and/or members in Executive Club think is the best use? In other words, if taxes/fuel charges are high and availability limited, it might be best for my wife and I to each get a card, hit the $2K spend to get 100K miles, and use it as a one-off way to fly B-class DFW-LHR at the Y price (e.g., taxes, fuel, and cc annual fee ~ = coach)? On the other hand if availability were good and taxes/fuel surcharge "reasonable," then I'd put all possible spending on this card to earn a companion ticket each year. Thanks
DFW - LHR return (May 09) MFU from WT+ to CW using 25k miles - Taxes, fees and surcharges = $624 per person.
DFW - LHR return (Sept 09) MFU from CW to F using 50k miles - Taxes, fees and surcharges = $659 per person.
I have had issues getting transactions authorized while in Europe so plan ahead, inform Chase of your travel plans and carry a number of backup cards. However, even having done this prior to travel some transactions have been declined. A call to Chase usually sorts this out but I have to wonder why the initial call informing them of my travel dates was not effective.
Nov 6, 2009, 8:03 pm
#112
Join Date: Sep 2002
Posts: 1,743
Bump
Perusing the T&Cs, I don't see any requirement to be a BAEC NA member. If someone is a European-based BAEC member (not Euro-cheat, but legitimate European BAEC member), where they prevented from taking part, so long as they have a US mailing address, SSN, and US credit history?
Nov 6, 2009, 9:35 pm
#113
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Intermountain West
Programs: Too many to list
Posts: 12,088
Sign in, go to "Executive Club" and click on "News and offers".
http://www.mychasecreditcards.com/br...ays/hp_postpin
http://www.mychasecreditcards.com/br...ays/hp_postpin
Nov 7, 2009, 5:12 am
#114
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: VIENNA, VA
Programs: UA 1P / *A Gold, SPG Gold
Posts: 26
Did anyone get an immediate response with the card application? I applied for my wife and myself and on both instances received a note saying that they would get back to us via mail. Im curious if this is a standard response or if there are others that got an immediate approval.
Nov 7, 2009, 7:55 am
#115
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: CT/ Germany - Ich spreche deutsch
Programs: UA 1K, Bonvoy LTTE, HH Dia, HY Expl
Posts: 4,657
Did anyone get an immediate response with the card application? I applied for my wife and myself and on both instances received a note saying that they would get back to us via mail. Im curious if this is a standard response or if there are others that got an immediate approval.
Nov 7, 2009, 9:24 am
#116
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Boise and McCall Idaho
Programs: DL, UA, AA, Hawaiian, Alaska
Posts: 245
Did anyone get an immediate response with the card application? I applied for my wife and myself and on both instances received a note saying that they would get back to us via mail. Im curious if this is a standard response or if there are others that got an immediate approval.
It's funny, in this thread people are concerned about the miles and award ticket availability, in the other thread people are worried about 1) how many Chase cards you can have, 2) how many credit bureau pulls you can have, i.e. a lot of card churning.
I like this thread the best.
Nov 7, 2009, 9:42 am
#117
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: USA
Programs: Alaska MVP, Marriott Lifetime Titanium (United Silver), Hilton Gold
Posts: 779
Sign in, go to "Executive Club" and click on "News and offers".
http://www.mychasecreditcards.com/br...ays/hp_postpin
http://www.mychasecreditcards.com/br...ays/hp_postpin
Nov 7, 2009, 10:25 am
#118
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: San Francisco
Programs: United GS, IHG Plat, SPG Gold, Marriott Plat
Posts: 260
Nov 7, 2009, 10:46 am
#119
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Southern Indiana, near SDF (Louisville KY)
Programs: Delta Platinum, AAdvantage 1MM, Bonvoy, Hilton, IHG, Emerald (National), BA Emirates
Posts: 246