Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

Big 40% bonus lets you buy Avios points via Iberia for as low as 1.0p each

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I normally do not recommend buying Avios unless you need to ‘top up’ an account for an immediate redemption. With a few exceptions, buying a large proportion of the miles you need is rarely a good deal.

This is a bit different.  Iberia Plus is currently offering a bonus of 40% on purchases of Avios points. This deal runs until Sunday 29th May, see here for further details.

Note that you need to log-in to see details of the bonus offer. Without logging in, the page just shows the standard pricing.

Iberia A330 350

The deal does not seem to be targetted – I see it on my account but I haven’t received an email about it.

There is no minimum purchase.  Even a 2,000 Avios purchase gets you 800 bonus Avios.

At the top end, you will be paying €1,800 for 140,000 Avios (100,000 + 40%).  Given the weak £, this works out at exactly 1p per Avios, based on £1,393.  You would need to add a 3% foreign exchange fee to this price if your credit card has one.  Smaller quantities would be pricier.

I would not usually be a buyer, even at this price.  1p per Avios is usually my (very conservative) target value when I redeem so I don’t like paying that much to get them.

However, it may well make sense for you if:

you have a specific redemption in mind where you know you will get over 1p per point of value

you value the ‘easy points’ aspect of this offer (no need to visit Tesco, apply for a new credit card etc etc)

You MUST have been an Iberia Plus member for 90 days before you can transfer your bought points across to BA. 

You must also have earned at least one Avios in the account before you can buy points (one easy option is a small Amex Membership Rewards transfer, or credit a flight, hotel stay or Avis rental).

If you have never earned an Avios via Iberia Plus then you are stuck and cannot buy until a transaction has gone through your account – and that won’t happen in time for Sunday.


How to earn Avios from UK credit cards

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:

Barclaycard Avios Plus card

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios card

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

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

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £15,000 Read our full review

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.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

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.

Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa

Huge 30,000 points bonus until 12th May 2024 Read our full review

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.

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

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.

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points sign-up bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and FREE for a year Read our full review

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

Comments (102)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • mark2 says:

    or 0% with Lloyds Avios (and extra Avios) or other cards.

  • Dave says:

    doing the math for anything under 10,000 + bonus I cant understand where the 1p comes from they all work out TCO north of 1.4p….

    is this only if for people who want to spend thousands rather than top up your account?

    • harry says:

      That’s where the recent Groupon offer was better, where Avios cost between 0.7p-1p even for small amounts

      • Alex W says:

        If you don’t mind waiting months for them to turn up!

        • Chris says:

          2-3 weeks before they appeared on my statement, and the groupon offers come via iberiastore giving even more avios in total.
          These IB / BA deals look pretty poor in comparison but handy if you need them soon.

    • Rob says:

      Yes, 1p is the top end price – smaller purchases are pricier

  • Gavin says:

    This is a good deal for me.

    I often fly London to the alps with ski equipment and I never get less than 1p per avios of value from my redemption. Usually I get more value, plus the ability to use my status benefits and flexibility which are hard to quantify.

  • takke says:

    OT but Curve just emailed saying they are ‘temporarily’ no longer accepting Amex.

  • JohnNI says:

    O/T Just had email from Curve. Amex is suspending dealings with Curve from the 31st May

  • RTS says:

    Well… time to call for a refund….

    • Ben says:

      I think this spells the end for Curve and that we’ll be lucky to get refunds (at least from them direct) as they will be lucky to retain any customers…

  • AndyR says:

    Got the email too. The Curve card has turned into a waste of time. First the cash withdrawal facility was restricted to a paltry £200/month and now no Amex support.

  • Jon says:

    From the FAQs regarding refunds of the Curve card:

    What refund am I entitled to?
    If you’ve got a card ordered but not on the way, you haven’t been charged anything at all, so you just need to cancel your order using your personal link which we’ve sent you via email. You’re also welcome to try Curve’s other features for 14 days after activation, during which time you can get a refund, no questions asked, if you don’t love it.

    If your card is on its way or you’re already using it, you are also entitled to a refund. You have until 23rd June to continue to use Curve’s other features, and if you don’t love it by then, we’ll offer you a refund, no questions asked.

    • Arun T says:

      Officially this is just a “pause” and not a complete withdrawal but I can’t imagine this is coming back any time soon. They say this is due to ensuring Amex can give proper customer support – I suspect to manage all the duplicate transactions and potentially further limiting cash withdrawals.

      TBH I was more interested in the MasterCard acceptance for Amex rather than the cash part – but still a hugely frustrating waste of time.

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