Iberia cuts long-haul routes and your low-tax redemption options

Many people forget that Iberia also has Avios as its reward currency (since BA and Iberia have the same parent) and that you can transfer your Avios into Iberia Plus.

(Transfers of Avios to Iberia Plus can only be done on Iberia Plus accounts which are 90 days old and which have earned 1 Avios.)

This article looks at Reward Flight Saver options from Madrid.  This article looks at Iberia’s long haul network.

Iberia is very attractive to Avios collectors because it charges very low taxes.  As my July post pointed out, a business class ticket on Iberia from Madrid to New York is 80,000 Avios plus £89 of tax (when booked on the Iberia website).  A BA flight from London to New York in business is 80,000 Avios plus £520!  If you don’t mind buying a separate flight to Madrid, you can save a lot of money.

Unfortunately, Iberia is a financial basket-case, losing €1.7m per day.  In an attempt to restore profitability, it is taking a knife to certain routes for 2013.

Athens, Istanbul, Cairo, Santo Domingo, San Juan, Montevideo and – annoyingly – Havana are to go.

The remaining long-haul (non Europe) destinations are, I think:

• Africa – Accra, Algiers, Casablanca, Dakar, Luanda, Malabo (Equatorial Guinea), Oran
• North America – Chicago, Miami, New York, Boston, Los Angeles
• South America – Bogota, Buenos Aires, Caracas, Guatemala City, Guayaquil (Ecuador), Lagos, Lima, Mexico City, Mauritania, Panama City, Quito, Rio do Janeiro, San Jose (Costa Rica), San Salvador, Santiago, Sao Paulo
• Asia – none
• Middle East – Tel Aviv

The better news from Iberia is that it will be rolling out its new business class seat across its A340-600 fleet and the A330’s due for delivery in 2013.  They will be a variant of the flat EADS Solstys seat.

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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.