British Airways credit card (A review)

In this brief guide, we are going to discuss the British Airways credit card.

Does British Airways have a credit card?

Yes, Barclays has a  credit card which serves as a purchased airlines credit card where you can earn points if you spend on your British Airways credit card.

British Airways credit card

Birithsi airways have two credit cards:

The British Airways American Express® Credit Card

The British Airways American Express® Premium Plus Card

British Airways American Express® Credit Card

The British Airways American Express® Credit Card is a reward credit card.

Here are the main features and benefits of this card:

•  Representative 22.9% APR variable. This is based on a credit limit of £1200.]
• Variable-rate of interest which changes in line with the Bank of England base rate
• No annual fee on this British airways credit card
• You get a 5k bonus avios welcome offer if you spend £1k within your first 3 months of opening the British airways credit card account.
• You get 1 Avios for every £1 you spend
• You can add additional cards for friends, family members etc . This may help you spend more and earn more rewards faster
• You will be automatically enrolled in the British Airways executive club as a British airways credit cardholder.
• You could earn a 2 for 1 or companionship ticket when you spend £20k in each year you win the British Airways credit card. You will still have to pay the taxes and carrier fees for the flight.
• You get a lot of travel benefits such as travel insurance to preferential travel arrangements
• You can access the global assist customer service wherever you are in the world in any language.
• You get travel accident insurance which protects you for up to £75,000 on public transport when you purchase your travel ticket with your British airways credit card.

To be eligible for this card you will need to be:

Be at least 18 years of age

Be a UK resident with a permanent UK address

Have a UK bank account

Have no history of bad credit

If you are self-employed you will need to have been working for at least 1 year.

You may miss out on the welcome bonus if you have held any other American Express cards in the past two years.

You can apply for this card here. The application could take less than 10 minutes and you will get a decision in about 60 seconds.

British Airways American Express® Premium Plus Card

The British Airways American Express® premium plus Card is a reward credit card.

Here are the main features and benefits of this card:

•  Representative 76.0% APR variable. This is based on a credit limit of £1200.Interest rate for purchases: 22.9% p.a. variable.
• Variable-rate of interest which changes in line with the Bank of England base rate
• You have an annual fee on this British airways credit card. It is £195.
• You get a 25k bonus Avios welcome offer if you spend £3k within your first 3 months of opening the British airways credit card account.
• You get 1.5 Avios for every £1 you spend on purchases
• Collect 3 Avios  for every £1 spent with British Airways flights and holidays
• You can add additional cards for friends, family members etc. This may help you spend more and earn more rewards faster
• You will be automatically enrolled in the British Airways executive club as a British Airways credit cardholder.
• You could earn a 2 for 1 or companionship ticket when you spend £10k in each year you win the British Airways credit card. You will still have to pay the taxes and carrier fees for the flight.
• You get a lot of travel benefits such as travel insurance to preferential travel arrangements
• You can access the global assist customer service wherever you are in the world in any language.
• You get travel accident insurance which protects you for up to £250,000 on public transport when you purchase your travel ticket with your British Airways credit card.
• You will get travel inconvenience insurance which covers flight cancellations, delays and delayed luggage when you pay with your British Airways credit Card. There may be some exclusions. Check the terms and conditions.£200 for flight delay, overbooking or missed connection. £750 for baggage delayed by airline for 6 hours. An additional £1,000 for extended baggage delay by the airline.

To be eligible for this card you will need to be:

Be at least 18 years of age

Be a UK resident with a permanent UK address

Have a UK bank account

Have no history of bad credit

If you are self-employed you will need to have been working for at least 1 year.

You may miss out on the welcome bonus if you have held any other American Express cards in the past two years.

You can apply for this card here.

What to consider when getting your credit card?

Whilst the British airways credit card may be right for you, there could also be other potential credit cards which suit you better. It is always advisable to use a credit card eligibility checker which provides you with all the credit cards you may be eligible for outside of the British Airways credit card.

When comparing multiple credit cards; below are the things you should look out for before applying.

Eligibility

Each card issuer will have its own lending criteria that you will need to meet before they will provide you with an offer of credit. There are now credit card eligibility checker platforms which let you know which credit cards you are eligible for and which you have a high probability of getting on application. 

Most credit card providers now have their own credit card eligibility systems in place which will let you know if you will be approved for a credit card with them or not. These tools use a soft credit check t pull your credit file data and hence does not leave any footprints which are visible to the public or harm your credit score.

You should avoid applying for a credit card if you are not confident you will be accepted as rejections for credit could damage your credit score and history. This may then affect your ability to get further credit in the future.

Interest rates

When getting a credit card, the interest rates on the credit card are a very important factor and you should always lookout for the APR figure. The interest rates on the credit card are the rates that will be charged on any outstanding credit card balance which you carry over from one month to another. If you pay your credit card balance in full each month then you will not have any interest to pay.

Credit cards typically come with up to 55 interest-free days on purchases if you don’t carry a balance month-to-month.

Credit limits

You should look at the credit Credit limits when choosing a credit card provider as the credit card limits will determine how much you can spend on your credit card. Most credit card providers may offer you a credit limit increase if you can show good credit behaviour over a few months.

Rewards and perks

Credit card providers offer various rewards and perks but usually, these are reserved for applicants with high credit scores.

Fees

Some credit card providers will have annual fees on their credit cards but these are usually for credit cards with high credit card limits and lots of rewards or perks.

You should always check what fees are attached to your credit card. These can include annual or monthly account fees, cash advance (withdrawing cash using the card) fees, overseas transaction fees and others.

How to get your British Airways credit card

To get your British Airways credit card, check to see if you have a credit score first.

If you are unsure of what your credit score is then you should check your credit score from the four credit bureaus in the UK: Experian, Crediva, Equifax and Transunion.

Some of these credit bureaus may charge you a fee to view your credit report so what you can alternatively do is request a statutory credit report which is a free credit report which each credit bureau must provide to you upon you requesting it.

Alternatively, you can also use credit score services such as Checkmyfile and clearscore to check your credit report.

Once you have done this you should then check on a credit card eligibility platform to see what credit cards you are eligible for and then apply for the best credit card. This may be the British Airways credit card or it could be another credit card from a different provider which suits you better.

In this brief guide, we discussed the British Airways credit card. If you have any questions or comments, please let us know.

If you need financial advice and you live in the UK then you could contact the Money Advice service over the phone or via chat for impartial advice.

You can also contact the debt charity “Step Change” if you are in debt and need help.