Questions and Answers

I have just saved $1,200 by booking 3 business class tickets on BA’s website accessed through AARP. I understand that had I possessed the British Airways credit card, I could have saved another $450 or so with that CARDOFFERU (which I did not dare to use without actually having the card). Now I am thinking that I will get the card not so much for the signup bonus primarily, but this 10% off from BA fares. That would definitely offset the yearly $95 fee. Can you tell me, that:
1. If I have the card, do I get the 10% off of any fare?
2. What was the highest bonus ever offered (it is 50k now)?
Thanking you.

As far as I’m aware 100K is the largest bonus ever. I got that bonus 3-ish years ago and it was offered again earlier this year.

I’ll let someone else answer your question #1

I think the 10% off is always valid, as long as you’re a card holder and as long it’s in BA metal

[QUOTE=”MidSouth Skier, post: 23383, member: 184″]As far as I’m aware 100K is the largest bonus ever. I got that bonus 3-ish years ago and it was offered again earlier this year.

I’ll let someone else answer your question #1[/QUOTE]
Thank you for your quick reply! Was the 100k a basic 50k + another 50k if you spend $25k? I seem to remember that the bonus had two “components”.

[QUOTE=”David W, post: 23385, member: 29″]I think the 10% off is always valid, as long as you’re a card holder and as long it’s in BA metal[/QUOTE]
Thank you for your quick reply! I see – that is a shame, because my plan was to book flights on BA.com but always book the transatlantic segment on AA metal. So in that case the 10% off would not work…..

I booked a trip myself for next summer too, with the AARP discount. I actually skipped the 10% VISA discount and instead knocked $300 off by using up some Avios. The 10% would have only been about $150 off. Not my best use of Ultimate Rewards, but I’ve got a huge stockpile and thought it was a good chance to burn some.

I like the idea of the British card too, but unfortunately CARDOFFERU and Avios are not stackable, so just remember to crunch the numbers

[QUOTE=”rickyw, post: 23392, member: 1436″]I booked a trip myself for next summer too, with the AARP discount. I actually skipped the 10% VISA discount and instead knocked $300 off by using up some Avios. The 10% would have only been about $150 off. Not my best use of Ultimate Rewards, but I’ve got a huge stockpile and thought it was a good chance to burn some.

I like the idea of the British card too, but unfortunately CARDOFFERU and Avios are not stackable, so just remember to crunch the numbers[/QUOTE]
Thank you! Yes, that is definitely worth remembering! I think I wait a couple of months for a hopefully better bonus before applying.

Where are you headed by the way, Daniel? Curious to hear other people’s deals!

I snagged DC to Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia in July.

[QUOTE=”rickyw, post: 23394, member: 1436″]Where are you headed by the way, Daniel? Curious to hear other people’s deals!

I snagged DC to Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia in July.[/QUOTE]
I actually posted the deal I got as a comment to Lucky’s post on the Black Friday deals on BA (I bought the tickets BEFORE his post appeared – pure luck I guess). I bought 3 BNA-BUD roundtrip business class tickets for August 2017 (that itinerary is always very expensive, so in the past I often flew from JFK and got positioning flights to and from). I paid a total of $4,954.38 for all 3 tickets going through the AARP website. I booked it in a way that we will fly on AA metal always except between LHR and BUD. Was able to select seats immediately. The 1-2-1 reverse herringbone seats on AA are far better than the non-reserveable 8-in-a-row BA business class seats……

Nice trip [USER=1592]@Daniel B[/USER]. To answer your previous question, yes the BA increased offer was dependent on a two step qualification of min spend for 50k and then the additional spend to get the balance 50k. I ended up putting 30k on the card to snag the BOGO ticket since I was so close but never ended up using it.

[QUOTE=”Gaurav, post: 23401, member: 79″]Nice trip [USER=1592]@Daniel B[/USER]. To answer your previous question, yes the BA increased offer was dependent on a two step qualification of min spend for 50k and then the additional spend to get the balance 50k. I ended up putting 30k on the card to snag the BOGO ticket since I was so close but never ended up using it.[/QUOTE]
Thanks for the info. Yes, I was afraid of that (that needed some extra spending to get the total of 100k bonus).