Iberia is Spain’s flagship airline. Based out of Madrid, its main hub is located within the same city and operates from the Adolfo Suarez Madrid–Barajas Airport (MAD).
The loyalty program of Iberia is called Iberia Plus and the currency you can earn is known as Avios. If the name Avios sounds familiar, that’s because it’s also the currency of British Airways and Aer Lingus—each a member of the IAG group—and more recently, Qatar Airways.
Iberia flies to around 120 destinations worldwide. Iberia’s reach, however, is nearly limitless thanks to its unique position within IAG and as a member of the Oneworld alliance.
Here is everything you need to know about Iberia and the Iberia Plus program.
History
Rohrbach R-VIII Roland
Founded in 1927, Iberia Lineas Aereas de Espana, S.A., or more commonly called by just its first name, Iberia, started out by flying commercial connections between Madrid and Barcelona.
In 2011, Iberia Airlines joined with British Airways and the newly merged company formed IAG (International Airlines Group). IAG grew again in 2015 when it purchased the Irish carrier Aer Lingus.
Each individual entity continues to operate under its original brand, despite the purchase and renaming, and each continues to use its own loyalty program. Collectively, these three airlines use Avios as their award currency and these can be transferred from one loyalty program to the other. Qatar Airways is not part of IAG but adopted Avios as its currency and points can be transferred there as well.
Understanding each program is key to maximizing your Avios earnings and redemptions, but for now, we will focus on the Iberia Plus loyalty program.
Earn Iberia Avios
From flying to using a co-branded credit card to earning while you shop, the ways to load up on Avios seem almost endless. Here are all the roures to earn Iberia Plus Avios.
Flying Iberia
Each time you take a flight with Iberia, you can earn Avios. The number of Avios you will earn is based on how much money you spend on your ticket, also known as a revenue-based earning system. The base rate for all Iberia Plus members is 5 Avios per 1 euro (about 1.08) spent. Elite status holders will earn even more:
- Plata (Silver): 6 Avios per 1 euro
- Oro (Gold): 7 Avios per 1 euro
- Platino (Platinum): 8 Avios per euro
- Infinita (Infinite): 8 Avios per euro
- Infinita Prime (Infinite Prime): 8 Avios per euro
Earning Status
In order to earn elite status with Iberia, you’ll need to either accumulate Elite Points or hit a flight segment threshold. Fortunately, you do not need to meet both requirements.
To earn Elite Points, you’ll need to do some actual flying. How many Elite Points you earn will depend on the booking class and the distance in miles flown. Additionally, specific zones will earn a different number of Elite Points.
Each level of status has its own Elite Points or segments requirement:
- Plata: 1,100 Elite Points in a year or 25 flight segments
- Oro: 2,250 Elite Points in a year or or 50 flight segments
- Platino: 12,500 Elite Points in two year
Lifetime Statuses
- Infinita: 125,000 lifetime Elite Points
- Infinita Prime: 200,000 lifetime Elite Points
Your qualifying Elite Points are calculated from April 1 of year one to March 31 of the following year for Plata and Oro status. For Platino, Elite Points are calculated from April 1 from year one to March 31 two years later.
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Flights on Partners
As a member of the IAG group and Oneworld alliance, Iberia Plus is flush with partners. Members can earn Avios and Elite Points when flying with each of its partner airlines. Partner airlines earn Avios and Elite Points at different rates. Fortunately, Iberia has a convenient chart to help you figure out how many Avios you should earn when you fly each partner.
Credit Card Spending
A co-branded credit card can be one of the fastest ways to help you accumulate a stash of frequent flyer miles. Iberia partners with Chase and offers the Iberia Visa Signature® Card. Not only does the card come with a generous welcome offer of 85,000 Avios after spending $5,000 on purchases within the first three months of account opening, it also has some perks that can be useful for those who frequently fly Iberia metal. With this card, you will earn 3 Avios per dollar on purchases with Iberia, British Airways, Aer Lingus, and LEVEL, 2 Avios per dollar on hotel accommodations when purchased directly with the hotel and 1 Avios per dollar on all other purchases.
Because the Iberia Visa Signature® Card is issued through Chase, it is subject to Chase’s 5/24 rule. Before you apply, make sure that you are both eligible and that this card is the best option for you, as it will take up one of your 5/24 slots.
Iberia Visa Signature® Card
Welcome Bonus
Earn 85,000 Avios.
Annual Fee
$95
Regular APR
21.49% - 28.49% Variable
Credit Score
Excellent, Good (700 - 749)
The Iberia Avios Visa Signature credit card has an appealing welcome bonus, a reasonable annual fee and the ability to earn $1,000 discount voucher, after $30,000 in annual spending each year. If you typically fly Iberia, this can be a great way to rack up the miles towards free or discounted flights.
- Reasonable annual fee
- Generous welcome bonus
- No foreign transaction fees
- Lackluster rewards rate outside of specific airlines
- No included baggage or lounge perks
- Limited time offer! Earn 85,000 Avios after you spend $5,000 on purchases within the first three months of account opening.
- Earn 3 Avios per $1 spent on purchases with Iberia, British Airways, Aer Lingus, and LEVEL.
- Earn 2 Avios per $1 spent on hotel accommodations when purchased directly with the hotel.
- Save 10% on Iberia flights purchased on iberia.com/Chase10
- Earn a discount voucher of $1,000 to use toward two tickets on the same flight for each calendar year you make purchases of $30,000 on your card
- Pay no foreign transaction fees when you travel abroad.
- Simply tap to pay with your contactless Iberia Visa Signature Card. Just look for the contactless symbol at checkout. It’s fast, easy and secure!
- Member FDIC
Transfer Partners
Credit Cards
Iberia Avios can be transferred from several major banks to the Iberia Plus loyalty program. The following transferable bank currencies allow you to convert your points to Iberia Plus at the following rate:
- American Express Membership Rewards: 1 Membership Reward point to 1 Avios
- Bilt Rewards: 1 Bilt Reward to 1 Avios
- Chase Ultimate Rewards®: 1 Chase Ultimate Reward point to 1 Avios
- Marriott Bonvoy: 3 Marriot Bonvoy points to 1 Avios. Get an additional 5,000 Avios each time you transfer your Bonvoy points in increments of 60,000.
- Wells Fargo Rewards: 1 Wells Fargo Rewards point to 1 Avios
Hotel Transfer Partners
Some hotels also allow their points to be transferred to Iberia Plus. Usually, these conversions are a poor value, and you are better off using your points for award nights. However, if you have no plans for future stays and the points are just sitting around collecting dust, converting your points to Avios can make sense.
These hotels include the following:
- ALL-Accor: 3,000 ALL points to 3,000 Avios
- IHG: 10,000 IHG One Rewards points to 2,000 Avios
- Marriott: Starting at 9,000 Marriott Bonvoy Points to 3,000 Avios
- Melia Hotels International: 100 MeliaRewards points to 30 Avios
Shopping Portals
The Iberia Plus online shopping portal allows you to earn Avios on your everyday purchases. Visit the store, where you’ll find U.S. and international brands and begin earning.
Read more: How to maximize shopping portals
Buying Avios
Iberia Avios regularly go on sale. Buying Iberia Avios during these sales may seem like a valuable option, but the reality is that there are much cheaper ways to get Avios.
If you do find yourself in a position where you need Avios––topping off an account for an award redemption––you can do so by visiting the Iberia Plus Buy Miles page. Members can purchase up to 200,000 Avios per calendar year.
Car Rentals
- Avis: Get up to 5 Avios per euro spent or 3 Avios per dollar spent up to a maximum of 10,000 Avios per rental. Plus, earn 1,000 Avios when you join Avis Preferred and on your first Preferred rental.
- Budget: Earn 2 Avios per 1 euro spent on your car rental, for all groups of cars and for domestic and international hires. Maximum of 10,000 Avios for each rental.
How To Redeem Avios
On Iberia Flights
Iberia uses both a distance-based chart for redemptions and a seasonal peak/off-peak calendar for pricing award flights. Because the chart is distance-based, the number of Avios needed will correlate with the distance from the origin of the trip to the destination.
This is the off-peak chart for flights booked with Avios.
This chart shows the peak-season pricing when using Avios to book a flight.
As you can see from the charts above, the shorter the distance, the fewer Avios required. Additionally, off-peak pricing is cheaper than peak-season pricing.
On Flights With Partners
As a member of the IAG group and Oneworld airline alliance, you can use your Iberia Avios to book and fly on all of Iberia’s partners.
Additionally, Iberia has several codeshare partners, each of which can be booked with Avios.
Each of Iberia’s partners has its own award chart, and the number of Avios needed to fly with that partner will vary from airline to airline.
As an example, the following chart shows how many Avios you’ll need to book a flight on American Airlines.
Fees
Cancellation and Changes
Changes and cancellations on Iberia are allowed up to 24 hours before the flight. There may be a penalty depending on the class of service you purchased, and no changes or refunds are permitted with Avios used to book Vueling Flights.
Infant Fees
Iberia considers children 24 months and under infants and allows them to fly as a lap infants. Lap infants are charged between 10% and 30% of the fare of the accompanying adult.
Children over two years old and under 12 years old traveling on domestic flights are eligible for a discount. The amount of the discount depends on the fare. On international flights, this discount percentage will also vary depending on the fare and the destination.
Sweet Spots
One of Iberia’s best sweet spots is for business class flights during off-peak pricing from the U.S. to Madrid. For example, a business class flight from Chicago (ORD) to Madrid, Spain (MAD) will cost just 34,000 Avios one way.
Another prime Iberia Avios use is for short-haul trips in economy class around Europe. A flight from Madrid to Barcelona, for example, costs just 4,500 Avios one way.
Quirks
IAG Members Points Transfer
A huge advantage of Iberia’s partnership with IAG is the ability to transfer your Avios from one loyalty program to another. Iberia Plus members can move their Avios from Iberia to British Airways, AerLingus or Vueling Club, and vice versa.
This opens up the opportunity to accumulate massive amounts of Avios. It also gives you the opportunity to get the most out of your Avios redemptions, as each program has its own award chart and, consequently, sweet spots.
To combine your Avios from Iberia to either British Airways or Aer Lingus, you’ll need to head over to Iberia Plus Combine My Avios page and log in to your Iberia Plus account. On this page, you’ll be asked how many Avios you’d like to transfer. You’ll also choose which program to transfer to, so make sure to have your British Airways Executive Club number or your Aer Lingus AerClub number handy. The last step will be to review and confirm the transfer.
There are a few quirks and rules to be aware of when combining your Avios. For one, your Iberia account must be at least 90 days old in order to send or receive Avios. You also cannot directly transfer Iberia Avios to Qatar Privileges. However, you can combine your British Airways Avios with Qatar Avios and then send your British Airways Avios to Iberia.
Sometimes, for no specific reason, you just won’t be able to combine your Avios via this route. If you run into this issue, you can try circumventing it by heading to Avios.com, making an Aer Lingus AerClub account, and transferring your Avios that way. It will add a step, but it can be worth it if it means you can combine your miles.
Expiration
Iberia Avios expire after 36 months. Fortunately, you can extend the expiration of your Avios by having some kind of qualifying activity. Qualifying activity includes collecting or using Avios, spending on your co-branded Chase Iberia Visa Signature® Card, and earning Avios through flying and shopping portals.
Activities which will not extend the life of your Avios include buying Avios and transferring them from one of its IAG partners.
Family Pooling
Iberia doesn’t offer points pooling, but its partner, British Airways does. British Airways gives the option to set up household accounts in which you can combine up to seven family members’ Avios. By pooling your family miles together in your British Airways household account, you can then turn around and transfer those Avios into your Iberia account.
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Bottom Line
Thanks to the ease of accumulating Avios and the solid award charts of Iberia, the Iberia Plus program continues to provide impressive value for award travel. Sometimes it can take a bit of digging, but the effort is worth it, especially if you have some flexibility with your plans.
