[Expired] Chase Ultimate Rewards: 30% Transfer Bonus To British Airways Avios (1:1.3)

Deal has expired, view more British Airways deals by clicking here.

The Offer

  • Chase Ultimate Rewards program is offering a 30% transfer bonus when you transfer to British Airways Avios. Normally you can transfer at a rate of 1:1 and under this promotion that increases to 1:1.3

The Fine Print

  • Valid until 11:59 PM ET June 16th, 2019

Our Verdict

This is the first transfer bonus we’ve seen from Chase as far as I know, this could be potentially very big if we start seeing them offer transfer bonuses to other travel partners as well. Both Citi & American Express offer transfer bonuses on a regular basis so it would make sense for Chase to offer them as well to stay competitive. In terms of the offer itself how useful it is will depend on how you value Chase UR & Avios. If you normally transfer to Avios anyway this is a fantastic deal and I don’t see them offering anything better in the near future (although it’s kind of impossible to tell considering this is the first transfer bonus).

Hat tip to Chong786 & reader JSD
    William Charles
  • On April 22, 2019, 17:32

View Comments (25)

  • Looks like the deal might be back. In my UR portal this morning, I had the following offer on my account "Earn 30% Bonus Avios. Transfer points to Aer Lingus, British Airways, or Iberia through 12/09/20 and you’ll get 30% more Avios as a bonus."

  • Thanks for the heads up! Was able to book a one way SCL -> AKL for 30k avios (23k UR) + ~$50

  • I doubt this ever goes beyond Avios. I think this is only because Amex frequently offers Avios bonuses and Chase doesn't want Amex to have an advantage among travelers who use Avios.

  • Another site which shared this information chose within its post to prominently promote the Chase FREEDOM card. There was no mention of something most of your readers know: that although you earn UR points from purchases on the Freedom card you cannot redeem for airline miles which is the point of the transfer bonus. So the advertising of a card which in no way relates to the 30% bonus headline is troubling.

    • Just curious, since I don't know the site, but was it an auto generated ad? Or was it them promoting the card manually?

  • While I’m excited that Chase is finally offering a transfer bonus, I am very underwhelmed by this particular offer. Most British Air reward flights from the US have outrageous carrier surcharges costing several hundred to over a thousand dollars. In some cases the surcharges can even exceed the cost of buying a regular coach seat for cash.
    AMEX usually offers a similar Avios bonus at least once a year which I have used on several occasions. Unfortunately, I’ve built up a large stash of points (600k) which I’ve had a difficult time using at any reasonable valuation so I just let them sit while British Air continues to devalue them.
    Unless you have an immediate use for the points, I would pass on this offer.

    • It's true that using Avios for BA flights is problematic (massive understatement), but using BA Avios for short flights on partners can be great value. Plus you can transfer BA Avios to Iberia Avios, opening up some other good possibilities.

  • in a hobby where almost all news is bad news, this is fantastic news and probably the best news i've read since the introduction of the sapphire reserve. if chase offers frequent, even occasional, transfer bonuses to their partners then the value or UR went up by a lot.

    • Agreed, though it remains a big unknown whether more will happen and if so, how often. One would think that they would not just do one random transfer, but who knows!

  • wow this makes their UR program more interesting. is this for only certain cards that can transfer (like CSR only) or is it for any of their eligible cards that can xfer

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