New Avios opportunities with Sixt and Iberia Express

There are two recent Iberia partnerships worth knowing about. 

You will need an Iberia Plus account to earn Avios points with these, but they can be quickly transferred across to an avios.com or British Airways Executive Club account using the ‘Combine My Avios’ feature online.  The only condition is that your Iberia Plus account must have been open for at least 90 days before you can transfer in or out of it.  I have already joined up.

Iberia Express is the new low-cost airline formed by Iberia to compete with Ryanair etc, and has been the cause of the recent industrial action by Iberia staff.  Iberia Express flights earning NOTHING if credited to BAEC, but they do earn in Iberia Plus at the same rate as standard Iberia flights.

Current overseas destinations are Dublin, Amsterdam, Edinburgh, Riga, Naples and Mykonos, all from its Madrid hub.  (I understand that you WILL earn Avios in BAEC if you book an Iberia Express flight under its BA or Iberia codeshare via ba.com or iberia.com but you will not earn anything in BAEC if you book it directly via Iberia Express’s website.)

Sixt is now a car rental partner with Iberia which is handy as it is not a BAEC partner.  (Here is my previous overview of car rental earning opportunites to gain Avios, although Europcar is no longer a BMI partner.)  Until 31st August you earn double Avios points with Sixt when credited to Iberia Plus.  Standard rates are 300 per day for a Standard or Tiny car and 400 for a Compact or larger (less 50% if booked on a corporate rate code), with a maximum of four days. 

During this promotion, the maximum earning is therefore 3,200 miles (400 x 2 x 4 days).

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2024)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital on Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 12th May 2024, the Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa card is offering a bonus of 30,000 points, convertible into 30,000 Avios. You must have a Limited Company to apply. Click here to learn more and click here to apply.

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.

There are also generous bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These cards are open to sole traders as well as limited companies.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.