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Review of the British Airways Visa Signature Card (review). This card is one of the most popular airline co-branded credit cards. It offers many benefits to anyone who uses British Airways, regardless of frequency, and also has a fantastic welcome bonus.
This post will focus on the British Airways travel along ticket. It is a benefit you can get if you spend $30,000 on purchases made on the British Airways Visa within a calendar year. It is worth spending $30,000 on the card to get a companion voucher.
Enjoy a 10% Discount on British Airways Tickets with the BA Visa
British Airways Card Travel Together Ticket
British Airways Visa perk is the travel together ticket. This tends to create the most divergent opinions among people. It is worthless for some, and valuable for others.
Let's take a closer look how this benefit works.
Basics of a British Airways Companion Voucher
When you spend $30,000 on purchases during a calendar year, the British Airways Visa will provide a companion coupon. You can earn one of these cards per year. The voucher will be deposited into your Executive Club account within four to six weeks after you have completed the required spending. These are the basics you should know about redeeming your certificate.
This ticket is only valid on British Airways flights that originate in the United States. It's not valid on any partner airlines such as American Airlines, Iberia, and so on.
It can be used for either a round-trip or one-way ticket
It can be used for business, first, and economy travel.
The certificate must be redeemed within 24 months from the date it was issued. Outbound travel must occur before that date. However, you can return later. We have seen extensions for pandemic reasons, but that is the general rule.
You can have stopovers with your ticket
To use the award, there must be availability for at least two passengers on your flight.
Both passengers must pay taxes and surcharges to the carrier. However, you can redeem Avios only for one passenger.
The BA companion certificate can potentially provide a lot of value
Redeem your British Airways Travel Together Ticket
It might seem simple to take advantage of the companion voucher for British Airways. It seems like a good deal to get two international award tickets for the price of one. There are some things you need to know, and I will address them below.
British Airways: How Much Do They Charge for Award Tickets?
British Airways offers a distance-based award scheme. The cost of each segment is calculated individually, as shown in the following chart.
Zone // Distance Economy off Peak // Peak Premium Economy of Peak // Peak Business Off Peak // Peak First Of Peak // Peak Zone 1.
1-650 miles*
*Not available in North America. 4,000 // 5,500 5.750 // 6,750 7,750 // 9,000 15,500 // 18,000 Zone 2.
651-1150 miles 6,500 // 7,500 9,500 // 11,250 12,750 // 15,000 25,500 // 30,000 Zone 3
1151-2000 miles 8,500 // 10,000 12,750 // 15,000 17,000 // 20,000 34,000 // 40,000 Zone 4
2001-3000 miles 10,000 // 12,500 20,000 // 25,000 31,250 // 37,500 42,500 // 50,000 Zone 5
3001-4000 miles 13,000 // 20,000 26,000 // 40,000 50,000 // 60,000 68,000 // 80,000 Zone 6
4001-5500 miles 16,250 // 25,000 32,500 // 50,000 62,500 // 75,000 85,000 // 100,000 Zone 7
5501-6500 miles 19,500 // 30,000 39,000 // 60,000 75,000 // 90,000 102,000 // 120,000 Zone 8
6501-7000 miles 22,750 // 35,000 45,500 // 75,000 87,500 // 105,000 119,000 // 140,000 Zone 9
7001+ Miles 32,500 // 50,000 65,000 // 100,000 150,000 // 150,000 170,000 // 200 000 British Airways Executive Club Award Chart
British Airways offers peak and off-peak pricing. Prices vary depending on when you travel. Additive pricing is used for each segment to determine how much an award will cost. There are certain quirks in award pricing, especially intra-European connections. However, the above summary is useful.
Surcharges for high-carrier carriers and APD in the UK
One of the major drawbacks to redeeming Avios in British Airways for travel is the high travel fees.
British Airways is well-known for its high surcharges for award tickets. These can sometimes reach $1,000+ per person in premium cabins for roundtrip tickets. Please note that surcharges vary from market to market, so surcharges may be significantly different depending on whether you are in Paris or Copenhagen.
If you have a flight that departs from the UK and has a stopover lasting more than 24 hours, the UK Air Passenger duty will be charged. This is $113 for economy and $247 for premium economy, business or first class.
BA Visa Carrier Surcharge Rebate
British Airways has high-priced surcharges that must be paid by the carrier to redeem your companion ticket. However, you can combine benefits. You can redeem your companion ticket to receive a $100-200 statement credit. The BA Visa provides up to $600 per year in statement credits towards award ticket surcharges. This is how it works:
For a British Airways reward flight, you can receive a $200 reward
For a British Airways reward flight, you can receive a $100 bonus
These won't be included in the amounts below because the rebate is credit after the fact.
Where to Find Your British Airways Companion Voucher
Your companion certificate will be sent to you within four to six weeks after your spending is complete. I was notified by email that my companion certificate had been issued to me within two weeks after the closing date of the eligible statement.
After the certificate has been added to your account, you will be able to redeem it whenever you visit the award search tool.
The Economy Travel Together Ticket is Rarely Worth It
It is not worth using Avios to redeem for British Airways Economy travel. In many cases, the surcharges are nearly as high as what you would pay to buy a ticket in cash.
You could, for example, fly roundtrip in economy off-peak from New York to London with the British Airways companion coupon for 26,000 Avios and $633.80.
This is not bad considering that most of the fees are the UK APD and the rebate on fuel surcharges. It is still a good deal. Especially considering that you had to spend $30,000 to get the voucher and that roundtrip paid tickets can be as low as $500.
You would pay 49,500 Avios plus $648.90 per person if you flew from New York to Rome via London.
I would not consider spending $30,000 to get that card.
Travel Together Tickets Could Make Sense in First and Business Class
Given the cost of business and first class tickets if you pay cash, British Airways generally has the best rate for redeeming.
You could, for example, use the companion coupon to book a roundtrip off peak business class ticket between New York City and London. It costs just 100,000 Avios (yay), plus $3,562.14(booo). This is an average of 50,000 Avios and $1,781 per head.
A companion voucher to purchase a roundtrip, off-peak award ticket for business class between New York City and Rome (via London), would cost you 140,00 Avios plus 3 180.90.36. This is an average of 70,000 Avios and $1,595 per head.
But what if you need to travel further? For example, you could fly all the ways to Johannesburg but incur higher surcharges from the airline. You could pay 237,500 Avios plus $4.375.70 for two passengers in business class. This is an average of 118.750 Avios and $2,188 per person.
First class? For 136,000 Avios and $3,562.14, you could book a roundtrip first-class off-peak ticket from Boston to London with a companion coupon. This is an average 68,000 Avios and $1,781 per passenger.
British Airways Has An Award Seat Guarantee
Although surcharges imposed by carriers can be annoying, British Airways Executive Club has one great thing: it guarantees that there will always be an amount of award availability for each flight. The airline has at least four award seats for business class on every flight that opens to the public.
This is an amazing feature because there are many airlines that don't release award space as soon as the schedule opens. You can redeem your Avios and companion voucher on any flight you choose, provided you are quick.
British Airways offers at least four business-class awards per flight
Is the British Airways Travel Together Ticket worth it?
Below are some examples of how to redeem your British Airways companion voucher. The companion voucher can be worth the effort. There is no single answer.
Who should not earn the British Airways Companion Voucher?
The voucher is not for you if you don't value premium travel and/or are not willing to spend more than $1,000 per person on an award ticket.
It is fair that people don't choose programs that have high surcharges. There are many other options that don't charge such large surcharges. You still have to pay the surcharges for 2 passengers, but you get a rebate up to $200 per itinerary.
Who should earn the British Airways Companion Voucher?
The companion voucher from British Airways is worth the cost in many cases. British Airways' business class product has been greatly improved with the introduction of Club Suites. The airline also boasts an amazing network of routes in the United States and is increasingly flying to secondary markets. (Pre-pandemic, we saw the airline announce or launch flights to Austin and Charleston, Nashville and New Orleans. This is a.
The companion ticket is a great option if you value the convenience of nonstop flights to London and want to fly first- or business class.
The companion ticket also allows you to stopover in London. If this is something that interests you, it may make sense.
If you book in the right time, the companion voucher can be viewed as a way to get a highly discounted business class ticket on any of your choice of flights for two. Although British Airways offers some amazing business class fares from the United States, they are not often available from London to the United States. This makes it the best way to fly nonstop between the United States and the UK.
British Airways has significantly improved their business class product
Bottom line
The British Airways Visa is a very well-rounded card. The card offers many perks, including a nice welcome bonus and discounts of up to 10% on British Airways tickets. You can also get $600 per annum in statement credits that can be used to offset carrier surcharges. This card is well worth keeping if you travel with British Airways at any frequency.
Some people love the companion voucher for British Airways, while others hate it.
It really depends on how you travel. It might be worth it if you are willing to travel in comfort nonstop from London. The value proposition doesn't seem as clear if youre planning to travel to other countries or if you don't value flying nonstop.
This is not the right place for you if you prefer to fly economy or don't mind paying extra on award tickets.
Have you ever earned a travel-together ticket if you have the BA Visa? What was your experience with it?
