British Airways Visa Signature Card

Rewards by category

Our take

This card is built for one kind of traveler: someone who books flights on British Airways or its sister airlines Aer Lingus, Iberia, and LEVEL. Those flight purchases earn 3x Avios, hotels earn 2x, and everything else falls to 1x. At the 1.2-cent Avios valuation SwipeCaddy uses for rankings, that 3x works out to roughly 3.6 cents back per dollar on airfare with the BA family.

The honest tradeoff is how narrow the earning is. Outside BA-family airfare and hotels you sit at 1x, which at the 1.2-cent valuation is roughly 1.2 cents back per dollar of everyday spending. The marquee perks carry conditions too: the Travel Together Ticket takes $30,000 in purchases in a calendar year, and the up to $600 per year in reward flight statement credits only matters if you redeem Avios for flights.

In a small wallet, treat this as a specialist. Swipe it for flights on British Airways, Aer Lingus, Iberia, or LEVEL, where you earn 3x and the card separately offers 10% off select British Airways flights through ba.com/Chase10, and for travel abroad, since it charges no foreign transaction fees. Let a flat-rate card carry the rest of your spending, where 1x Avios is the weakest link.

The math

Run $250 a month of hotels through this card and you're earning about $72 a year at our conservative valuations. Against the $95 annual fee, that top rate needs roughly $2,000 a month of hotels spend before it beats a no-fee flat 2% card.

Store bonuses

• British Airways3x

Key benefits

• Travel Together Ticket after $30,000 in purchases in a calendar year
• Up to $600 per year in reward flight statement credits
• 10% off select British Airways flights via ba.com/Chase10
• No foreign transaction fees

Common questions

Does British Airways Visa Signature Card have an annual fee?

Yes — $95 per year.

What does British Airways Visa Signature Card earn on hotels?

2x on hotels.

What rewards does British Airways Visa Signature Card earn on everything else?

1x on all other purchases, in Avios.

How do you earn the Travel Together Ticket on the British Airways Visa Signature Card?

You need $30,000 in purchases on the card in a calendar year. That works out to $2,500 a month, every month, so it only fits households that can route serious spending through one card. If your annual spend lands well below that, value the card on its 3x flights and statement credits instead.

Is the British Airways Visa Signature Card good to use outside the US?

It charges no foreign transaction fees, so there is no surcharge on purchases made abroad. Combine that with 3x Avios on flights booked with British Airways, Aer Lingus, Iberia, and LEVEL, and it is a reasonable card to pack for international trips. For everyday purchases, lean on whichever card in your wallet beats its 1x base.

Related reading

• How we value points and miles (and why our numbers are lower than everyone else's)SwipeCaddy ranks cards by reward rate × a conservative cash value per point: 1¢ for cash back and transferable points (Chase, Amex, Citi, Capital One, Bilt), 1.1–1.3¢ for airline miles, 0.4–1.4¢ for hotel points, and 0.8–0.9¢ for store currencies. Optimistic transfer values are recorded for context but never ranked, because most people never achieve them.