British Airways Card Reward Flight Statement Credit

The British Airways Visa Signature® Card is one of the more useful co-branded airline credit cards out there. In this post I wanted to focus on one specific benefit of the card, which takes some of the sting out of British Airways’ carrier imposed surcharges when redeeming Avios.

Why the British Airways Visa is worth it

There are lots of great reasons to pick up the British Airways Visa Card. Among other things, the $95 annual fee card offers:

• A phenomenal welcome bonus
• A 10% discount on paid (cash) British Airways flights when originating in the United States
• A Travel Together Ticket (companion voucher) when you spend $30,000 on the card in a calendar year; this allows a companion to fly with you on an award ticket, and you just have to pay the taxes, fees, and carrier imposed surcharges for them
• Reward flight statement credits of up to $600 per year when redeeming Avios, which I’ll cover in more detail in this post

If you fly British Airways with any frequency, then it really is worth picking up this card. Even if you don’t fly British Airways much, the card’s bonus will get you lots of value, given all the great ways to redeem British Airways Avios.

Read a full review of the British Airways Visa Card.

British Airways Visa award surcharge rebate

One major pain point of the British Airways Executive Club program is the high carrier-imposed surcharges that apply when redeeming Avios for travel on British Airways. Fortunately a little bit of the sting is taken away for those with the British Airways Visa Card. Those with the card receive up to $600 in statement credits each calendar year for taxes, fees, and carrier-imposed surcharges on award reservations:

• You can get a $200 reward for a flight in British Airways first or business class
• You can get a $100 reward for a flight in British Airways premium economy or economy

You’re capped at a total of three credits per year, for up to $600 in statement credits. In other words, if you used the credits for three economy tickets you’d be capped at $300, while if you used the credits for three business class tickets you’d be capped at $600.

How the BA reward flight statement credit works

How do you go about taking advantage of the reward flight statement credits offered by the British Airways Visa Card? Here are some details and terms to be aware of:

• You have to pay for the taxes, fees, and carrier imposed surcharges with the British Airways Visa in order to get the statement credits; there’s no registration required
• The booking must be for a transatlantic itinerary originating in the United States with the transatlantic portion of the ticket on British Airways (though a connecting flight may be included on another airline)
• One-way or roundtrip travel is eligible, though only if originating in the United States
• The reservation must be made out of the primary cardmember’s Executive Club account, though it’s fine if someone else is traveling
• The statement credit will post within 45 days of the eligible reservation being made
• In the event that the ticket is canceled, the statement credit will be reversed

Is the BA award reward flight statement credit worth it?

It’s no doubt frustrating how British Airways has pretty steep surcharges when redeeming for travel on British Airways (fortunately there are lots of ways to redeem British Airways Avios for travel on other airlines with little or no carrier imposed surcharges).

A one-way first or business class award ticket from the United States could easily run you over $800 in cash. Understandably that’s something that a lot of people just avoid altogether, though there are some great reasons to redeem on British Airways as well:

• British Airways has an award seat guarantee, and makes at least four business class award seats available on each flight, so it’s nice to be guaranteed award availability
• If you want to travel direct to & from London, you can’t beat British Airways’ network, as the airline has a global network, and even serves all kinds of secondary cities
• British Airways’ premium experience is improving considerably, as the new Club Suites are a great business class product

The reward flight statement credit also potentially offers value for economy redemptions. Carrier imposed surcharges aren’t as high for travel in economy, so the $100 statement credit per ticket goes even further there.

While it’s not for everyone, I know many people do find value redeeming on British Airways. If you are going to redeem for travel on British Airways, then the reward flight statement credit takes some of the sting out of redemptions.

Bottom line

The British Airways Visa Card offers up to $600 per calendar year in reward flight statement credits. This comes in the form of a $100-200 per ticket statement credit, depending on the cabin you’re booking. While the surcharges will still be substantial, this does help take some of the sting out of British Airways award redemptions.

This is only one of the many great benefits of the card, as it also offers an excellent welcome bonus, a 10% discount on British Airways flights, a companion voucher in conjunction with spending, and more.

If you’ve used the British Airways Visa‘s reward flight statement credit, what was your experience like?