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When it comes to airline loyalty programs, avid award travelers have a love-hate relationship with British Airways. You'll find plenty of award availability on British Airways flights. But, that availability is often paired with ridiculous fuel surcharges and airport taxes that can erase much of the savings of using miles.
However, where British Airways shines is with discounted cash fares to Europe. Even better, these fares can be discounted even further by using the newly extended partnership with AARP and the Chase Visa 10% discount. If you're booking cash fares on British Airways and not taking advantage of either of these discounts, you're doing it wrong!
British Airways / AARP Discount
The American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) is open for anyone to join, regardless of age or employment status. While AARP restricts some of the benefits based on your age, the discount on British Airways is open to everyone.
Membership only costs $16 per year. Considering it can save you up to $200 per person on just one trip, it's a no-brainer for anyone planning to book a British Airways ticket.
While this discount is not a guaranteed benefit, British Airways has continually extended it year after year. This year's version of the promotion is good for bookings made through January 31, 2024.
Here's how much you'll save:
- $65 off return economy Standard* fares (World Traveller)
- $65 off return premium economy fares (World Traveller Plus)
- $200 off return business fares (Club World)
- $200 off return first class fares (First). Although this isn't an advertised discount, the discount is currently applicable to First Class fares
*AARP discount does not apply to economy Basic fares.
Again this year, the discount is available to all cabins of service — including premium economy. While it's not quite as generous as it has been in the past, a $65 discount is still better than no discount at all — as it's been for the last couple of years.
| For flights booked by: | Economy (World Traveller) | Premium Economy (World Traveller Plus) | Business Class (Club World) | First Class (First) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01/31/2024 | $65* | $65 | $200 | $200** |
| 01/31/2023 | $65* | $65 | $200 | $200** |
| 03/31/2022 | $65* | $65 | $200 | $200** |
| 01/31/2022 | $65* | $65 | $200 | $200** |
| 01/31/2021 | $65* | $65 | $200 | $200** |
| 04/30/2020 | $65 | n/a | $200 | n/a |
| 01/31/2020 | $65 | n/a | $200 | n/a |
| 01/31/2019 | $65 | n/a | $200 | n/a |
| 04/05/2018 | $65 | n/a | $400 | n/a |
| 01/31/2018 | $65 | n/a | $200 | n/a |
| 12/31/2017 | $65 | $130 | $200 | $200 |
| 01/31/2017 | $65 | $130 | $400 | $400 |
| 10/21/2016 | $65 | $130 | $400 | $400 |
| 07/31/2016 | $100 | $200 | $400 | $400 |
| 10/31/2015 | $65 | $130 | $400 | $400 |
* Not available for Basic economy tickets
** Discount is unadvertised but available
Terms and Limitations
- Book by January 31, 2024 for travel through January 31, 2024.
- At least one person on the reservation must be a member of AARP
- You have to use British Airways' dedicated AARP link to book your ticket.
- Discounts are only valid on round-trip (excluding open-jaw) fares.
- Discounts only apply to the base fare.
- Both inbound and outbound travel must in the same cabin (Economy, Premium Economy, etc.).
- Only valid for U.S. residents paying U.S. Dollars for travel originating in the U.S.
10% Chase Visa Card Discount
One of the advertised benefits of the British Airways Visa Signature® Card is a 10% discount on the purchase of British Airways flights by using a promo code. However, this promo code also (somehow) works with any other Chase Visa credit card. Even better, it's stackable with the AARP discount!
Key Terms
- Receive 10% off your purchase of British Airways' flights.
- Use the promo code CHASEBA10
- Valid for round-trip or open-jaw itineraries departing from the U.S. on flights marketed and flown by British Airways
- Valid for any class of service, including economy (World Traveller), premium economy (World Traveller Plus), business class (Club World), and First Class
- Book up to eight friends and family members traveling on the same flight
There's good and bad here. The good news is that BA calculates the discount based on your ticket's total purchase price, including all of the taxes, fees, and carrier surcharges. The bad news is that all flights have to be on British Airways' aircraft, meaning that itineraries that include connections on AA or any other partner airline won't qualify.
How to Add the Promo Code
Unfortunately, adding the code isn't quite as self-explanatory as you might expect. BA doesn't make it obvious where you can add this code, so I'll show you here.
Start by navigating to British Airways' website and search for your trip. Once you've found your desired itinerary and selected your flights, the second screen — entitled ‘Review your flights’ — will display your choice. This is where you add the promo code. As you scroll down the screen, you'll see a small, light-blue link that reads “Use Promotion Code or EVoucher”.
Once you select this, you'll see the menu appear where you can enter the promo code. It will display the calculated discount once you've successfully added the code.
Bottom Line
It's great that these discounts are still available. For anyone who finds themself booking British Airways revenue tickets, joining AARP is a no-brainer, even just for one booking. Additionally, if your itinerary meets the Chase Visa discount requirements, it's worth the 5 seconds it takes to add the promo code.
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Two weeks ago, I obtained a British Airways Chase Visa and AARP membership so that I could stack the discounts as described in this article. Unfortunately, I can’t figure out how to make it work. To get the AARP discount, I have to use the link from the AARP website to get to the BA website. When I try to use “CHASEBA10” as a promotion code, I get a spinning circle that doesn’t stop so I can’t continue with booking.
This is the info from Chase: “Receive a 10% discount on British Airways operated round-trip flights departing from the United States booked through ba.com/Chase10 when you use your British Airways Visa Signature card with promotion code: CHASEBA10. ”
So, it appears I have to log on via the Chase website to get their 10% discount. So, how do I get to stack the AARP discount?
Help please.
BA has definitely made it harder to use than before! I just tried it and this process worked: 1. Click through ba.com/Chase 10 2. log into my BA account. 3. Go here (https://www.aarp.org/membership/benefits/travel/british-airways/) and log into my AARP account. 4. Click Learn More to be directed to BA’s website 5. Search for an eligible route (ex-US) 6. Select eligible discounted fares 7. Add CHASEBA10 promo code. And I was able to stack the discounts. Hope that helps!
U.S. citizens only? Really? Or do you mean US originating customers? “Citizens only” would exclude Legal Permanent Residents and I don’t think that’s the intention.
Good catch. The T&C currently reads: “This exclusive AARP member offer is open to US residents paying in US dollars only, with travel originating in the US.”
So, we updated the post to reflect that it’s for US residents (not citizens)
Is there a time restrictions for Chase code with regards to dates? I was checking a RT from US to UK on BA and I get this message “The first departure date is outside the valid booking dates for CHASEBA10.” My Departure date was Nov 14th and return is Dec 14th.
Interesting! There’s no stated end date on British Airways’ website: https://www.britishairways.com/en-us/executive-club/collecting-avios/credit-cards/usa/chase-visa-signature
But it seems that you’ve found some undisclosed date restrictions.
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Error 403 – Sie verfügen nicht über die erforderlichen Berechtigungen zum Fortfahren
Error 403 – Vos autorisations sont insuffisantes pour continuer
Error 403 – No tiene suficientes permisos para seguir adelante
Error 403 – Non disponi di autorizzazioni sufficienti per procedere ulteriormente
Error 403 – Não tem permissões suficientes para prosseguir
138.26.219.166 | 18.afce5640.1643999272.eb2c0e1
the BA site is not working right
At first I was excited to be reminded and then saw the savings, which really any savings is good but I wish it were more. But don’t we all? lol!
I think it’d be better to have the visa card. But BA does still have the high taxes. I don’t know if I’d rather still redeem miles and pay the taxes still though.
It all depends on your situation! I’ve used this AARP discount a few times personally to save on cash tickets. Since BA’s taxes and fees are so high, I usually just end up paying cash for their flights and use my Avios/miles for other flights.
Great tip… i have both chase cards and am an AARP member… I agree with others though and ‘I won’t do a points booking on them because of the horrendous fees’ , unless there are no other options available.. Butdefinitely good to know as a cash alternative.
Can we use both discounts at the same time?
Per the T&C, the offers shouldn’t stack. But, in practice, you can apply both discounts at the same time.
This is a great reminder of a discount of which I was vaguely aware. I am a member of AARP because their low membership fees are easily outweighed by many discounts. I will have to think about using BA for a trip to Europe next year. I won’t do a points booking on them because of the horrendous fees, but I will have to consider them as an alternate to AA if I end up booking a cash fare.
I guess if you’re stuck paying for a BA flight, it’s better than nothing, but otherwise this is not a very compelling discount. I usually only use Avios for domestic AA flights as BA has just ridiculously hideous fuel surcharges when you them to or in Europe.
I wonder how many 20-somethings are members of the AARP? lol
I wish chase would partner up with some other airlines to make this discounts more widely available but I’ll take this for now!
Indeed, the BA website has quite a few bugs yet to be fixed. For example, the credit card payment processing function does not work properly.
This has been a really good benefit with BA and especially if you are invested in the OneWord alliance. Now i just wish they would actually improve their premium economy and business class seats.
If only BA wasn’t such a God awful hideous airline.
I have seen that the benefit with British Airways is indicated in the AARP website.
I rather hope that US citizens remain firmly in the USA until the and their government have some control on this pandemic. Things are bad enough in the UK and Europe without importing this plague further.
Wait, so you don’t have to reach a certain age before joining AARP? I was always under the impression that you had to be of retirement age to join and receive the benefits. I’m ok with only receiving minimal services due to my age, and the BA discount is one of those I’ll gladly take! So how soon can we start travelling again???
In Europe and some other countries, you do not need to pay to enjoy “pensioner discounts.” 🙂
This is a great offer. It is just a shame it is only for US originating travel and not for those of us travelling from Europe to the US.
It kind of makes sense though since they’re for US credit cards.
Well I think all airlines will have to big discount efforts to get passenger to buy tickets in this uncertain scenery..
with the cost cutting I wonder if this will go away?
Wow I didn’t know the AARP discount and Chase discount stacked.
Now if only we can travel to Europe anytime soon…haha.
Yes; it’s great that the AARP and Chase discounts stack! Now, if only these benefits continue long enough to use them once it’s safe to travel for pleasure again
Does the Chase discount work even if you don’t have their BA card?
It does! It’s only an advertised benefit of the BA card though, so there’s no guarantee that it will continue to work.
Both the BA and other Chase cards will trigger the discount?
That’s how it’s currently working!
So it’s a loophole right now?
I wouldn’t quite call it a loophole, but the promotion is being more broadly applied than advertised 🙂
Fascinating! I never would have thought there was no age restriction on AARP!
Nor did I. And, in our defense, I have to believe the overwhelming number of people have no clue whatsoever. I mean it’s literally called an association of retired persons. But, I certainly like learning it’s an option for us youngins as well.
this is indeed a very good benefit. If you are an elite with AA or in the OneWorld ecosystem, this benefit makes flying BA very useful (if only they would upgrade their economy plus seats soon).
The Chase Visa discount is a great bonus.
Thanks for the advice.
How can I join the AARP now?
Their website.
Wow. This is some VERY useful news. THX!