Compare the Features and Benefits of British Airways Visa Signature Card and
Citi Rewards+®

On top of a generous sign up bonus, the British Airways credit card by Chase earns 3x Avios on British Airways, Iberia, LEVEL, and Aer Lingus and 2x Avios on hotel accommodations booked directly with the hotel. Avios can be shared between any Avios program, which also includes Qatar Airways (home of the QSuite) and you can redeem British Airways Avios for award tickets on oneworld airlines like American Airlines, Alaska Airlines, Cathay Pacific, and more.

Award tickets on short-haul American Airlines are actually a major sweet spot of the British Airways Avios program with flights like New York to Miami in coach going for just 9,000 Avios and $5,60 in tax.

More importantly, you’ll receive 10% off all British Airways flights that originate in the United States. (Must book through a special website provided with your new card.)

And then, after your first year, you can earn a Travel Together Ticket (a.k.a. Companion Ticket), good for bringing a companion for just the taxes and fees when you redeem a reward flight for yourself, when you spend $30,000 in a calendar year. Don’t have a companion to bring? You can use it for half off the points of an Avios award flight instead.

Finally, you’ll also receive up to a $600 statement credit on bookings for Reward Flights as described above in Unique Card benefits.

If you fly British Airways frequently, this airline credit card is truly compelling.

Keep in mind, from a pure points earning perspective, that the Chase Sapphire Reserve also earns 3x Chase Ultimate Rewards credit card points on these airlines and on all airlines, hotels and other travel and can even be transferred to Avios if needed – as well as a range of other travel partners, like World of Hyatt which offers excellent and outsized value.

So if you are getting the card for the points alone, you may want to rethink it. If you are getting it for the benefits, your head is in the right place.

Keep in mind that British Airways Avios expire after 36 months of inactivity, though that won’t be a problem if you are spending on this credit card!

If you don’t primarily fly BA, you might want to look at other airline credit cards or bank cards with transferable points.

Note: Per Chase’s 5/24 Rule, you will only be approved for a Chase card like the British Airways Visa card if you have applied for fewer than 5 personal credit cards within the last 24 months from any issuer. (Business cards do not count against the total, except for Capital One Spark Cash Select and Spark Miles plus Discover, but are subject to the policy).

The Citi Rewards+ card comes with no annual fee but offers a unique value proposition among the sea of rewards credit cards on the market. In fact, it’s the only credit card to automatically round up to the nearest 10 points on all purchases made with the card. This can be vastly beneficial for small purchases you make on the card, as you’ll get to supercharge your ThankYou points® earning ability with the Citi Rewards+.

The card’s only bonus categories are gas stations and grocery stores, which will be useful for most households. You’ll earn 2x points on the first $6,000 spent every year in these categories combined, which breaks down to roughly $500 in monthly spend. If you exceed this spending cap, you’ll only earn 1x points per $1 spent.

Redeeming your ThankYou points is easy through your online Citi account, where you’ll get the best redemption value from travel or gift cards at 1 cent per point. While other rewards like “Shop with Points” or redeeming for a statement credit may be enticing, these redemption options present a poor value at just 0.8 cents and 0.5 cents, respectively. (Note: When we value the “minimum” redemption value of this card in our calculator at 1 cent per point, we are assuming you will take the maximum redemption option of gift cards.)

No matter how you redeem your points, you’ll get to earn 10% of all the points you redeem every year — up to the first 100,000 points annually. That’s a nice little boost to your ThankYou points balance.

Not only is the Citi Rewards+ a good choice for everyday purchases, but it also makes for a great supplementary card to any other Citi rewards cards you may have in your wallet since you can pool your points together.

If you already have the Citi Premier, a popular travel rewards card, you’ll earn 3x points on restaurants, supermarkets and gas stations, air travel and hotels, and 1x point on all other purchases. That’s where the Citi Rewards+ comes in: you can use the card for small purchases or non-bonus categories to take advantage of that favorable 10% automatic round-up feature.

Plus, if you also have a Citi Premier, you can cash out all of your Citi ThankYou points for 1 cent each or transfer them to ThankYou airline and hotel transfer partners.

(Please note: Without also holding a Citi Premier or Citi Prestige card, you will not be able to transfer these points to Citi’s ThankYou® airline and hotel transfer partners.)

Finally, you’ll have peace-of-mind with important coverages like purchase protection and extended warranty that can come in handy when your eligible card purchases are damaged or stolen.