Earlier this month, British Airways (BA) mistakenly displayed a 20% bonus when transferring points from Chase Ultimate Rewards to Avios. Initially, it looked strange because the bonus wasn’t showing on Chase’s website, making it seem as though it was being offered on the BA side.
When airlines offer transfer bonuses instead of banks, it often takes a day or two before the additional miles show up, so it wasn’t that odd when folks who tried to take advantage of the bonus didn’t see them right away. However, after two days, BA pulled the transfer bonus display off of their website, explaining that it wasn’t supposed to take effect until March 1st.
This left folks who had already transferred points in the lurch…after all, they wouldn’t have transferred to Avios had they not seen the bonus that BA itself was advertising.
We had reached out to BA to find out if they’d be honoring the 20% bonus for those who had transferred while the ad was up. We hadn’t heard anything back, but a reader has confirmed that the bonus was added to their account today (we’d love to hear additional data points from other people who transferred, though).
While it would have been nice had British Airways confirmed they’d be honoring this right away (and truthfully, most of us assumed they would) it’s still nice to see them proactively awarding the points without making members have to get on the never-ending, follow-up hamster wheel of doom.
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Hi! I need to transfer some points to BA for a redemption, does anyone know if this transfer bonus is still slated to come into effect on March 1st? If so, I’ll wait a few days.
Yes, we’ve been told that it will be in effect starting 3/1.
Do we have to click a special link for the bonus to apply or is it automatic after transferring from chase? Is this only from chase to BA or can I also transfer from Amex?
There isn’t a transfer bonus right now. It will start on 3/1 and then you should be able to see it in your Ultimate Rewards transfer page.
This particular bonus is just from Chase. You can track all current transfer bonuses on this page.
Avios were deposited into my account as well. I did reach out requesting they make good on this offer after reading it was a mistake. No email confirming it would be honored, BA just went ahead and deposited the bonus.
Just saw the bonus in my BA account. No email to alert me. Thanks, Frequent Miler.
Yes – I just logged in after reading this and saw the bonus has posted on my Avios.