How to Transfer Chase Points to British Airways

Chase's travel cards give you lots of ways to use your rewards. One of the best and most versatile options is to transfer Chase points to British Airways. There are plenty of award airfare deals you can book using British Airways Avios, including going across the pond and much more.

This guide will show you how you can transfer Chase points to British Airways. After that, we'll look at using British Airways Avios and which redemptions are worth the price.

What you need to transfer Chase points to British Airways

There are only a few Chase credit cards that let you transfer points to travel partners. To make a transfer, you'll need one of the following Chase cards:

Before you can transfer Chase points to British Airways, you need to have an account in the airline's loyalty program. You can join the British Airways Executive Club for free through the airline's website.

How to transfer Chase points to British Airways

When you're ready to transfer Chase points to British Airways, follow these steps:

1. Log in to your Chase Ultimate Rewards account.

It's easiest to do this through the Chase Ultimate Rewards site. If you have multiple rewards credit cards with Chase, select the one with the points you want to use after you log in.

2. Select "Transfer to Travel Partners."

To see this option, first click "Earn / Use" at the top of the screen. This opens a dropdown menu with a list of redemption options.

3. Select British Airways from the list of partners, and then select "Transfer Points."

British Airways is listed in the airlines section of Chase's travel partners.

4. Choose a recipient for the transfer.

You can only transfer Chase points to British Airways if the recipient is yourself or an authorized user on your account living in the same household as you. After you pick the recipient from a dropdown menu, enter the Executive Club account number.

5. Choose the number of points to transfer.

Chase requires you to transfer at least 1,000 Ultimate Rewards points. Transfers must be in increments of 1,000 points. There's a 1:1 transfer ratio, so each Ultimate Rewards point is worth 1 Avios.

6. Submit the transfer.

The final page is a review screen where you verify the details of the transfer and confirm it.

Transfers process instantaneously. Keep in mind that after you transfer Chase points to British Airways, you can't undo it. For that reason, only make the points transfer after you've picked out the award airfare you want to book.

RELATED: The Definitive Guide to Chase Ultimate Rewards Points

How to book an award ticket with British Airways

To book an award ticket with British Airways, select "Book a flight with Avios." On the airline's homepage, you'll find this option in the drop-down menu under "Book."

You'll need to log in to your Executive Club account, if you haven't already. Fill out the search form with your departure city, destination, travel dates, and desired travel class. Once you've done that, select "Get flights."

British Airways is different from many airlines in that it doesn't let you search for award airfare from its homepage. Instead, you need to log in to your Executive Club account. Then, go to your account summary. You can reach it by clicking on your name in the top right corner of the airline's website.

Use the "Book with Avios or money" section on the left side of your account summary page to search for award airfare. Remember to choose "Book with Avios" under the "Payment type" selection.

Unfortunately, the search process with British Airways is clunky, to put it generously. Here are a few things to expect:

• Although British Airways flights can have up to four types of seats available (Economy, Premium Economy, Business Class, and First), its search tool only displays three at a time. Depending on what type of seats you search for, either economy or first class won't be displayed. You must go back and adjust your search if you want to see those other seats.
• Ticket prices for award flights aren't available in the flight search. Select your tickets, and then you'll see how many credit card miles they cost (and the award ticket fees) in the "Journey" summary.
• Search results aren't always accurate for British Airways' partner airlines. If you know the partner airline you want to use, try searching for award availability on its site instead. Once you've found the flights, search on British Airways. Call in if they don't show up (and ask them to waive the phone booking fee, since it's a site error).

Maximizing value when you transfer Chase points to British Airways

Here's what you need to know about purchasing award tickets with Avios:

• British Airways bases the cost of a ticket on the distance of the flight, even for bookings with partner airlines, and that can result in excellent bargains on short-haul flights.
• There are two types of award tickets: peak and (less expensive) off-peak, with the ticket type depending on the flight's date.
• Award bookings through partner airlines always get the peak rate.
• American Airlines is one of British Airways' transfer partners. So when you transfer Chase points to British Airways, you can book award tickets on the largest U.S. airline.
• The airline is known for heavy surcharges on award tickets, especially if the ticket is in business class or first class.

That final point is why not everyone thinks Avios are a worthwhile rewards currency. While it's true that many British Airways awards tickets have sky-high surcharges, there are plenty of exceptions. Where Avios shine is in short-haul flights and booking award tickets with partner airlines.

For flights outside the United States and up to 650 miles, British Airways charges just 4,750 Avios for an off-peak economy ticket, or 5,250 Avios for a peak economy ticket. That makes Avios extremely useful if you want to bounce around Europe, Japan, Latin America, or anywhere else British Airways or one of its partners flies.

Flights under 650 miles that start or end in the United States cost 7,500 Avios for an economy ticket. But Avios can still come in handy for flights in the States, particularly the flights that are expensive but not very far. If you want to take the ever-popular trip from the West Coast to Hawaii, you can book an economy ticket for just 13,000 Avios each way through American Airlines or Alaska Airlines.

Should you transfer Chase points to British Airways or redeem through Chase's portal?

You can also use your Chase points as cash for bookings with the Chase Travel portal. You get $0.0125 per point with the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card or the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card. You get $0.015 per point with the Chase Sapphire Reserve®.

I recommend looking for high-value redemptions that you can book with Avios first, instead of going through the Chase Travel portal. It's possible to get $0.02 per point, $0.03 per point, or more this way. However, sometimes there aren't any such award tickets available, especially after factoring in taxes and fees. If you can't find anything, using your points as cash through Chase Ultimate Rewards is a good back-up plan.

READ MORE: How to Use the Chase Travel Portal

Chase's British Airways credit card

Chase and British Airways have also teamed up on a co-branded credit card, the British Airways Visa Signature® Card. It charges an annual fee of $95 and offers:

• 75,000 bonus Avios after you spend $5,000 on purchases within the first three months of account opening
• 3 Avios per $1 on flight purchases with British Airways, Iberia, and Aer Lingus
• 2 Avios per $1 on hotel accommodations booked directly with the hotel
• 1 Avios per $1 on other purchases
• 10% off British Airways flights starting in the United States when you book through the website provided in your welcome materials
• Up to $600 in reward flight credits per calendar year (credits towards taxes and fees when booking award airfare with British Airways)
• A Travel Together Ticket allowing you to bring one companion on an award flight, available every calendar year that you spend at least $30,000 on purchases with your card

Considering it has quite a few perks and one of the bigger sign-up bonuses for an airline card, the British Airways Visa Signature® Card is worth a look. Like other airline credit cards, it's best suited for loyal frequent flyers. You can get quite a bit of value from it, but only if you fly with British Airways often.

If you don't, pick a Chase card with Ultimate Rewards points. The Ultimate Rewards program gives you far more redemption options. You can still transfer Chase points to British Airways, but you can also send them to any other hotel or airline partner. You also have access to the Chase Travel portal.

Using Chase points to fly with British Airways

As difficult as the British Airways website is to navigate, Avios can be a useful rewards currency. You won't find many better ways to book those short to mid-length flights for a small number of miles. They also give you a way to book award tickets with American Airlines and the other carriers in the Oneworld alliance. Overall, you won't lack options when you transfer Chase points to British Airways.

Still have questions?

Here are some other questions we've answered:

• How Do Credit Card Points Work?
• How to Redeem Points on a Chase Credit Card
• How to Transfer Chase Points to Hyatt