AwardWallet receives compensation from advertising partners for links on the blog. The opinions expressed here are our own and have not been reviewed, provided, or approved by any bank advertiser. Here's our complete list of Advertisers.
Few things take the excitement out of booking an award flight faster than seeing a large cash total on top of your hard-earned miles or points. Airline-imposed surcharges can add hundreds — or even thousands — of dollars to an award ticket. These fees can turn what should be a lucrative redemption into an expensive headache.
You usually don’t notice these fees on cash fares because they’re bundled into the ticket price. With award flights, however, they’re broken out separately, and you’re responsible for covering them in cash.
Some airlines — including all major U.S. carriers — don’t levy fuel surcharges. Meanwhile, other airlines have become infamous for these surcharges. One airline that is well known for charging steep carrier surcharges on award tickets is British Airways.
Thankfully, there are ways to reduce the impact of those fees. One of the most effective options when booking British Airways Avios awards is the British Airways Visa Signature® Card (Rates & Fees).
Here’s what you need to know about this unique cardholder benefit, which offers up to $200 in rebates per Avios booking, up to three times per year.
Page Contents
How To Save up to $600 Annually on British Airways Award Tickets
The British Airways Visa Signature® Card is British Airways’ co-branded travel rewards credit card for U.S. residents. It carries an annual fee of $95, but includes several cardholder benefits designed for frequent British Airways flyers.
- Earn 75,000 Avios after you spend $5,000 on purchases within the first three months of account opening.
- Earn 3 Avios per $1 spent on purchases with British Airways, Aer Lingus, Iberia, and LEVEL.
- Earn 2 Avios per $1 spent on hotel accommodations when purchased directly with the hotel.
- 10% off British Airways flights starting in the US when you book through the website provided in your welcome materials.
- Every calendar year you make $30,000 in purchases on your British Airways Visa card, you'll earn a Travel Together Ticket good for two years.
- Pay no foreign transaction fees when you travel abroad.
- Simply tap to pay with your contactless British Airways Visa Signature Card. Just look for the contactless symbol at checkout. It's fast, easy and secure!
- Member FDIC
- 3X Avios per $1 spent on purchases with British Airways, Aer Lingus, Iberia, and LEVEL
- 2X Avios per $1 spent on hotel accommodations
- 1X Avios for every $1 spent on all other purchases
Cardholders earn 3 Avios per $1 spent on eligible purchases with British Airways, Aer Lingus, Iberia, and LEVEL. They can also earn a companion award ticket after meeting qualifying spending requirements. But one of the card’s most valuable perks is a reward flight statement credit worth up to $600 — a benefit that’s especially useful for award travel.
Here’s how it works.
With this benefit, cardholders can receive up to $200 in statement credits when redeeming Avios for a transatlantic flight operated by British Airways. The amount depends on the cabin booked:
- Get a $100 credit on economy bookings (World Traveller)
- Get a $100 credit on premium economy bookings (World Traveller Plus)
- Get a $200 credit on business-class bookings (Club World)
- Get a $200 credit on first-class bookings
This benefit can be utilized on up to three bookings per year.
To receive the statement credit, cardholders must use their British Airways Visa Card card to pay the taxes, fees, and carrier-imposed surcharges associated with the award booking.
It’s also important to note that the credit applies per booking, not per passenger. Even if multiple travelers are on the same award itinerary, you’ll receive only $100 for economy or premium economy bookings, or $200 for business or first class.
Why This Benefit is Valuable
The British Airways Club (formerly the Executive Club) and the program’s Avios currency are popular and versatile. Avios can be used for short-haul flights within the Americas, long-haul routes from Europe to Asia, and many other redemptions.
However, the program has one major drawback.
British Airways levies some of the highest carrier-imposed surcharges of any airline. Avoiding these fees has become increasingly difficult when booking Avios awards to, from, or within Europe and the United Kingdom.
Not only have these surcharges become harder to avoid, they have also increased. In December 2025, British Airways raised its carrier-imposed surcharges for award travel across all cabins.
Here are examples of how much travelers can expect to pay in carrier surcharges when redeeming Avios on British Airways across the Atlantic:
- Orlando (MCO) to London (LGW) in Economy: 33,000 Avios + $83.50
- Los Angeles (LAX) to London (LHR) in Premium Economy: 74,250 Avios + $198.50
- St. Louis (STL) to London (LHR) in Business: 99,000 Avios + $510
- New York (JFK) to London (LHR) in First: 75,000 Avios + $1,183.50
It’s easy to see why the British Airways Visa Card card’s rebate of up to $200 per booking is so valuable.
The Fine Print
There are several important restrictions to keep in mind with this benefit.
First, eligible awards must be operated by British Airways, depart from the United States, and cross the Atlantic. Other segments in the itinerary may be operated by partner airlines, as long as the transatlantic flight is flown by British Airways.
For example, you could fly American Airlines from another U.S. city to connect in New York, continue to London on British Airways, and then connect onward to Spain on Iberia. As long as the U.S.–to-U.K. segment is operated by British Airways, the booking remains eligible.
Second, the award must be booked from the primary cardmember's British Airways Club account.
Additionally, Cash + Avios — bookings in which you use your Avios to reduce the total cash price of a flight — are ineligible for this benefit. The booking must be a true Avios award, with cash used only for taxes, fees, and carrier-imposed surcharges.
Finally, cardholders must use their British Airways Visa Card card to pay those charges to receive the statement credit.
Chase reserves the right to reverse the statement credit if the flight is canceled or the itinerary is changed so the transatlantic segment is no longer operated by British Airways.
Credits typically post within 45 days of purchase and should be reflected on your statement within one to two billing cycles. As always, review the card's terms and conditions before applying, since benefits can change with little notice.
Related: How To Search and Book British Airways Avios Award Flights
Additional Ways To Avoid British Airways Surcharges
AwardWallet has covered British Airways’ carrier-imposed surcharges extensively, including several strategies that can help travelers avoid them entirely.
Here is a quick overview of the other ways that you can avoid British Airways’ surcharges when booking awards with Avios:
- Redeem Avios for flights within the Americas, including Hawaii
- Redeem Avios for transatlantic awards on flights operated by Aer Lingus or Iberia
- Book Qantas awards with Avios for flights across Australia
- Book flights within Japan on Japan Airlines using Avios
If your goal is to fly with British Airways or you aren’t all that flexible with your travel plans, the British Airways Visa Card card remains one of the best ways to soften the blow that comes with the airline’s hefty fuel surcharges.
Related: How To Avoid British Airways Carrier Surcharges When Using Avios
The Bottom Line
British Airways award flights carry some of the highest carrier-imposed surcharges in the industry. One-way business-class and first-class awards can include several hundred dollars in fees, while economy and premium economy awards often top $200. These charges can quickly chip away at the value of your Avios.
This is where the British Airways Visa Card card’s reward flight statement credit stands out.
While it won’t eliminate British Airways’ surcharges entirely, receiving up to $200 back per eligible Avios booking — up to three times per year — can meaningfully reduce the cash cost of award travel on British Airways-operated flights departing the U.S.
For travelers who regularly fly British Airways, this benefit alone can justify holding the card. Even a single eligible economy or premium economy redemption can offset the card’s $95 annual fee, while business or first class bookings can deliver even greater value.
- Earn 75,000 Avios after you spend $5,000 on purchases within the first three months of account opening.
- Earn 3 Avios per $1 spent on purchases with British Airways, Aer Lingus, Iberia, and LEVEL.
- Earn 2 Avios per $1 spent on hotel accommodations when purchased directly with the hotel.
- 10% off British Airways flights starting in the US when you book through the website provided in your welcome materials.
- Every calendar year you make $30,000 in purchases on your British Airways Visa card, you'll earn a Travel Together Ticket good for two years.
- Pay no foreign transaction fees when you travel abroad.
- Simply tap to pay with your contactless British Airways Visa Signature Card. Just look for the contactless symbol at checkout. It's fast, easy and secure!
- Member FDIC
- 3X Avios per $1 spent on purchases with British Airways, Aer Lingus, Iberia, and LEVEL
- 2X Avios per $1 spent on hotel accommodations
- 1X Avios for every $1 spent on all other purchases
For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: British Airways Visa Signature® Card (Rates & Fees)
![The Best Credit Cards for Trip Interruption and Trip Cancellation Insurance [2024]](https://awardwallet.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Ricardo-Cruz-Unsplash-passenger-with-flight-information-boards-at-airport-featured.png)
This does not work. I booked several tickets, followed all the rules, and never got the credits. I called Chase and BA – both of them said it was the others fault. The BA agent seemed to see my point and said she would escalate but nothing. I spent at least 4 hours on the phone chasing this with no success.
That’s quite concerning. I just sent an email to the email you have listed for this comment requesting more details. Happy to take a look and escalate it as I can.
Thinking about how to maximize the benefit. Is it possible to split the charge, paying for the fuel surcharge specifically with the BA VISA and the rest of the ticket with another card (AMEX Platinum 5X points)?
If so, then purchasing two round trip tickets individually, paying surcharges with BA Visa (3X Avios, $200 rebate per ticket) and the rest with AMEX Platinum (5X Membership Rewards) seems like a good strategy.
Of course, it would be better if the fees were not there in the first place and the ticket were cheaper. But the fees are there and if buying the tickets anyway I will happily take hundreds of dollars in my pocket.
No way to do it that I’m aware of, but it could be possible if you talk with a BA phone rep. Anyone ever try this?
Great!
So it would cover half of one person’s fuel surcharges on a US to Europe business class flight. ?
Definitely a good feature, BA redemptions are ridiculously expensive on longhaul flights.
Great offer, but as others have said some surcharges that BA imposes are ridiculous. On the other hand RFS is one of the few best ways to redeem points in any FFP.
Wish UK-based BA card offered anything this generous.
How about they just do away with a “fuel surcharge” that has ZERO to do with fuel but everything to do with Surcharges and deceiving consumers.
This benefit makes this card a no-brainer for BA flyers. Easily covers the annual fee.
At least BA is admitting that they have high taxes and fuel surcharges.
How does BA keep up in the face of competition from low cost carriers?
This would be better if the surcharges on BA tickets were lower.
Exactly!!
The restrictions on flights originating in US is still weird. Wish they could have made it originating or ending in US.
For my purposes, I completely agree. 🙁
Probably doing that to keep their costs down
Makes the charges more palatable for a trip or so but overall, the fees are a rip off.
Those surcharges make me cringe, but it’s always nice to see positive changes.
Seems like there are a lot of gotchas. Very careful planning might net the full $600, but only if you can snag biz/first seats to start with. At least at $95 (easy to make the 3 mo 50K miles spend; most probably won’t make the second 50K) it’s a reasonable gamble.
As mentioned by quite a few above, while certainly welcome, this only makes a small dent in their ridiculous surcharges.
BA should get rid of this charge in the first place instead of giving partial credit.
The spending requirement to get the full bonus is pretty absurd for a consumer card. Out of reach for most, I imagine.
Not if you put every single possible expense on a credit card. But def still a reach. Helps keep my 5/24 count down
So if you travel, economy, you’ll need 3 bookings to save a maximum of $300.
Even more valuable when you think about how this works with one-way flights. Just book your flight back with some other points
that’s great! make a sense
This does have me thinking about BA. They do have lots of taxes yes and that usually is why I don’t use them. Haven’t had any use for intra Europe flights with them. I will still have to look into AA possibly passing on anything using their miles on BA. But I do want to fly them. Their biz really looks enticing.
Would there be any reason to really use Chase points or MR points to cover the paid cost of the flight? I’m sure that there is a post. I will have to look at the basic BA info blog too.
This is good news because it is a way to reduce our costs.
It would be better if BA just didn’t charge as much for fuel surcharges!
This is great! Although I probably still won’t get this card, it is a benefit that I would like to see on some other cards. It definitely would lessen the pain of fuel surcharges.
Agreed. It would be nice to see this type of perk added to the BoA Virgin Atlantic card.
On the surface, this seems like a great deal if you travel on BA a lot. But not sure if it’s a great enough carrot for me to start traveling on BA for a leisure, one time trip.
Do you think it is possible that BA finally became aware of the millions and perhaps billions of dollars in fares they have been losing to other airlines as a result of BA’S EXTREMELY large fees?
Do AA award redemptions on BA count?
Does not seem likely. From the T&Cs: “a. …receive a statement credit of up to $200 US per booking… when redeeming Avios for a reward flight on British Airways.” If it’s an AA award, one is not redeeming Avios.
$600 goes really fast considering the surcharges but it’s better than nothing
This beats paying for tickets to and from Europe in that the Avios points you pay for are awarded based on the distance you fly. This could work.
I have to say, even with the spectre of fuel surcharges always looming, I have still felt like I was getting huge value from the BA F redemptions we’ve made over the years. The way I’ve always viewed it is that we were “purchasing” massively discounted F tickets. Experience-wise, our flight crews have ranged from excellent to downright awesome, and the First Class ground experience is right up there near the top… in fact, I think the Concorde Room at JFK might be my all-time favorite lounge. To me, this is an “enhancement” that actually is an enhancement.
Even with $200 off, BA’s carrier imposed charges are a massive rip off.
I’ve noticed some high taxes on AA bookings through British too.
This is better than nothing, for sure, but the surcharges on BA flights are so insanely high sometimes that even getting $200 off is still not enough to make the flight worthwhile. I would not use the BA miles on BA flights – maybe AA short-hauls etc.
Nice to see more BA cards on offer.
BA fuel surcharge is traditionally very high compared to US carriers.
It sounds good until you look at the huge spending requirement, you can currently earn up to 100,000 bonus Avios when you open a new account. Not sure if this will pencil out on my budget.
That certainly is a generous offering with the $600 if you can make the details of the trip work in your favor. Does that mean that if you book a trip for you and your spouse that each would get the $200 credit?
Hi Mara, I think the ideal way to handle that would be to book each ticket as a separate reservation. I’d expect (by don’t have any definitive data) that they would offer only one credit on a ticket for two, but you could earn a credit for each ticket if booked separately, as long as both reservations come from the primary cardholders Exec Club account.
Interesting that the new benefit only covers eastbound flights from the US to the UK.
I suppose as long as the flight originates from the US, booking a one-way or round-trip ticket doesn’t matter?
Yep, that’s our understanding.
But this new benefit is a game-changer because Chase is sharing a significant part of the cost to book BA flights when you pay the taxes and fees with your British Airways Visa Card.”
When I have flown BA from the USA to London in Business Class, the fuel surcharge has been $900-1000 for a round trip. So, getting a rebate of $200 certainly is not a “game changer” for me or for most other folks, I would surmise.
It’s nice to see some of the less popular cards get a makeover. That said, it still seems better to simply avoid BA metal altogether. Last time I checked a BA itinerary, the surcharge was hundreds of dollars, so although better than nothing, there’s better ways to book transatlantic flights.