Bits: more on combining Avios from Iberia Plus, up to 50% bonus buying Flying Blue miles

News in brief:

More ideas if having trouble using Combine My Avios with Iberia Plus

I wrote an article last year on how to do ‘Combine My Avios’ from an Iberia Plus account.  Reader David dropped me a note with another hint.

When you log in at Iberia Plus, the password checker is NOT case sensitive.  You may originally have registered ‘RaFfLeS’ as your password but ‘raffles’ would work.  On Iberia Plus.

When using ‘Combine My Avios’, however, the password check is case sensitive.  ‘raffles’ would therefore not work.  If you have been having issues then this might help.

The other tip when getting Avios out of Iberia Plus is to combine them into an avios.com account and do the transfer from inside the avios.com site.  This is generally more successful than converting to a ba.com account, and you can of course immediately move them from avios.com to ba.com anyway.

Up to 50% bonus for buying Flying Blue miles

Flying Blue, the Air France / KLM loyalty programme, is running a bonus promotion for anyone who is looking to top up their account.

Until July 21st, the following bonus is available when you buy miles:

• Up to 2,000 Award Miles = 10% Bonus
• 4,000 – 8,000 Award Miles = 20% Bonus
• 10,000 – 18,000 Award Miles = 30% Bonus
• 20,000 Award Miles = 50% Bonus

Members can buy up to 75,000 miles per year, excluding bonuses. Elite members have no cap.

At the top end, buying 75,000 miles with an extra 37,500 will cost €2,062.  That works out at 1.3p per mile which is not a massive bargain.

At the end of the day, though, I don’t imagine anyone except an existing Flying Blue member topping up an account getting excited by this. It is also worth remembering that Flying Blue is an American Express Membership Rewards partner – why pay for a pile of FB miles when you can take out an Amex Gold and get 20,000 miles free (22,000 if I refer you)?

If you are interested, the link to buy miles is here.

---

How to earn Flying Blue miles from UK credit cards (April 2024)

Air France and KLM do not have a UK Flying Blue credit card.  However, you can earn Flying Blue miles by converting Membership Rewards points earned from selected UK American Express cards.

These cards earn Membership Rewards points:

• American Express Preferred Rewards Gold (review here, apply here) – sign-up bonus of 20,000 Membership Rewards points converts into 20,000 Flying Blue miles. This card is FREE for your first year and also comes with four free airport lounge passes.

• The Platinum Card from American Express (review here, apply here) – sign-up bonus of 40,000 Membership Rewards points converts into 40,000 Flying Blue miles

• American Express Rewards credit card (review here, apply here) – sign-up bonus of 10,000 Membership Rewards points converts into 10,000 Flying Blue miles. This card is FREE for life.

Membership Rewards points convert at 1:1 into Flying Blue miles which is an attractive rate.  The cards above all earn 1 Membership Rewards point per £1 spent on your card, which converts to 1 Flying Blue mile. The Gold card earns double points (2 per £1) on all flights you charge to it.