{"id":21215,"date":"2011-04-07T19:00:11","date_gmt":"2011-04-07T23:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"\/\/www.askmrcreditcard.com\/news\/?p=21215"},"modified":"2011-04-07T19:00:11","modified_gmt":"2011-04-07T23:00:11","slug":"how-to-use-your-british-airways-executive-club-miles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.askmrcreditcard.com\/news\/how-to-use-your-british-airways-executive-club-miles\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Use Your British Airways Executive Club Miles"},"content":{"rendered":"

As I have been writing, the British Airways Visa Signature\u00ae Card -Limited Time Offer<\/a> is now offering 100,000 miles as a sign up bonus. While this is an incredible number, it begs the question; What can you do with these miles?<\/p>\n

Using Miles On British Airways<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is the most obvious use of the mile, but it comes with several potential drawbacks. Nearly all British Airways flights go through London, with a few through Birmingham or Manchester. Their award chart is not bad, and their award seat availability is said to be decent.\u00a0 The big problems here is BA’s outrageous fuel surcharges.\u00a0 These are so out of line with even the most onerous “taxes and fees” that BA awards are really just discounts.\u00a0 The surcharges are per flight, so continuing to destinations past London can double the surcharge.\u00a0 Furthermore, the charges increase with the class of service.\u00a0 It is not hard to put together an award <\/em>itinerary in Business or First where the fuel surcharges add up to over $1,000. They even apply to infants carried on your lap!
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\nIt is hard to say what is more egregious, the obscene surcharges or the fact that British Airways doesn’t even publicize them. Sure there are tons of references to the existence of taxes fees and surcharges, but there is currently no chart on their web site that displays exactly what their surcharges are for any particular flight.\u00a0 You can even search for award availability, but without having enough mileage in your account, you can’t even price out the cost of your award ticket.\u00a0 This obfuscation is tantamount to fraud.\u00a0 Chase itself is complicit as they continue to advertise the mileage bonus for their card as being enough for a “reward flight” that is merely just a discount.<\/p>\n

That said, the real value here is where Chase cardholders spend $30,000 in a calendar year, earning a companion award certificate.\u00a0 Now, you are really able to stretch your miles for some great reward options.\u00a0 For example, you could take your 100,000 miles, spend another $30,000 to earn your companion certificate and you would have 137,500 miles.\u00a0 That would be enough for a business class ticket from North America to anywhere in Europe, North Africa, and several destinations in the middle east.<\/p>\n

Partner Awards<\/strong><\/p>\n

British Airways is a member of the OneWorld Alliance<\/a>, which includes American Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Iberia, Japan Airlines, Lan Airlines, Malev, Mexicana, Qantas, Royal Jordanian, and S7 Airlines of Russia.\u00a0 Furthermore, BA has separate partnerships with Alaska Airlines, Aer Lingus, and Kingfisher Airlines of India.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, you cannot use the companion award certificate when redeeming on a partner.<\/p>\n

The way BA’s partner award redemption works, there are three different types of awards that can include a partner.<\/p>\n