Chase Ultimate Rewards currently offers one of their popular Avios points transfer bonuses, which is a small 20% boost on points transfers to British Airways Executive Club, Iberia and Aer Lingus.
Both Chase and American Express regularly offer bonuses to transfer points to British Airways in turn, so if you have points in both currencies, you can consider which one is more valuable to you.
This current 20% British Airways transfer bonus by Chase can be found in the online account under the Ultimate Rewards section:
Reminder: The promotion ends on March 31, 2025 and transfers usually post instantly when moved from Ultimate Rewards to your BA/Iberia account.
A 20% boost isn’t THAT attractive for a points transfer historically speaking, especially since British Airways isn’t the best program around for Premium Award redemptions in many cases. I do appreciate that you can book pretty much anything online with BAEC without having to involve a phone agent.
What I don’t like about them is the frequent blocking of Cathay Pacific (and, to a degree, Japan Airlines) inventory that’s been going on for a while now once you get closer to the departure date. There are some bargains to be had for Qatar Airways flights, though, so that could be a worthwhile option to explore.
You can also utilize the same transfer Bous for Aer Lingus and Iberia Plus (plus the options to move them to other Avios currencies such as Qatar Airways Privilege Club after the transfer hits your account):
One thing to keep in mind, however, is that Ultimate Rewards is a very flexible currency, while Avios are firm, and you’re tied to the program once the transfer is complete.
There is also a similar promotion from American Express that targets Qatar Airways Privilege Club Avios with the same 20% bonus.
Amex To Qatar Airways Privilege Club 20% Conversion Bonus Through March 31, 2025
Avios can now be interchanged between all the programs, making the currency a bit more flexible in terms of how to use it. Some programs offer expanded availability for their own airline, so if there’s no space on BA or QR, you could check with their own program and move points there.
I wouldn’t necessarily transfer points (especially at such a small bonus) unless I have at least a vague plan on how to use it. It’s better to stay flexible, especially as Ultimate Rewards has a pretty good use case for Hyatt as well.
Conclusion
This could be a well-timed opportunity for those with plenty of Ultimate Rewards points in their accounts to offload them to British Airways, keeping in mind their recent price increases. Many awards have gone up in price over the past few years. For example, Japan Airlines between Thailand and Japan was always a sweet spot, but both pricing and fuel surcharges went up like rockets.
A 20% Bonus isn’t huge, and in the past, there have been bonuses of up to 40%, although these days 30-40% seem to be more regular. I’d wait for a better one in the future.
