Until September 26th, you can transfer your Chase Ultimate Rewards points to Avios (British Airways, Iberia, or Aer Lingus) with a 30% bonus, meaning 1,000 Chase UR points becomes 1,300 Avios.
This comes just after Capital One launched an Avios transfer bonus. In that case the bonus makes transfers 1:1 instead of 2:1.5.
As a reminder, British Airways Avios are best used for short flights on any oneworld carrier – AA and British Airways, obviously, but also Iberia, Finnair, JAL, Qantas and more. These tickets start at just 4,000 Avios (off peak) for the shortest routes.
There are some long haul edge cases. For instance, you could transfer to Iberia if you find award space in Business Class on their East Coast to Madrid route where you’d pay just 34,000 Iberia Avios each way meaning you’d need to transfer just 27,000 Chase points to book. (Note that if you had to change your flight with Iberia, it can be, well, a huge hassle).
Aer Lingus has some sweet spots as well, like the US to Ireland for 13,000 – 16,250 Avios (no surcharges) or 50,000 – 62,500 Avios each way in Business Class. This would be if you find space on Aer Lingus metal. The lower pricing is from the East Coast, the higher is West Coast.
Importantly, while you can get a credit card to earn Avios, like the British Airways credit card, which currently have 100,000 point bonus offers, a true Avios fan who doesn’t currently have a Sapphire card and hasn’t gotten the bonus in the last 48 months would do better with the 100,000 point offer on the Chase Sapphire Preferred.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card Earn 60,000 bonus Ultimate Rewards points (worth up to $750 or more!) when you spend $4,000 in 3 months. How to apply for this offer.
HT: OMAAT
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