Big discounts on Avios redemptions on Iberia – book by 31 October

Iberia Plus has launched a new promotion offering aggressive discounts on Avios redemptions on a number of Iberia routes. These include both European (although not to/from the UK) and long-haul.

Buenos Aires is the stand-out deal. This is available for just 30,000 Avios, return, in Economy if you can find seats at the ‘Blue’ level. This compares to a standard price of 60,000 Avios.

(Note that if you cannot find seats at Blue saver level, it is not such a good deal. A standard Economy redemption is 60,000 Avios in this sale – reduced from 90,000 – which is the same as the 60,000 Avios required at ba.com – albeit you have better availability and lower taxes.)

The same deal is also available to Panama and San Jose de Costa Rica.

Madrid to Dakar is just 10,000 Avios return if you can find a Blue ‘saver’ award and 20,000 Avios return in Economy otherwise.

European flights, from Madrid to Brussels, Nice, Lyon, Frankfurt, Dusseldorf, Bologna, Copenhagen, Oporto, Copenhagen, Marseille, Brussels and Vienna cost from 8,000 Avios return at Blue level and 16,000 in Economy (this is less interesting).

There are also internal Spanish flights available, although again the discounts are hardly huge unless you find Blue class availability. Madrid to Barcelona, Bilbao, La Coruna, Oviedo, Vigo and a few other destinations cost 4,000 Avios return in Blue class and 8,000 if you can only find fully priced Economy returns.

(Note that both Blue and Economy book into the Economy cabin. Blue is a deep discounted Economy redemption that Iberia uses to fill more lightly loaded services.)

Unfortunately, none of these deals are available in Business Class.

You must book at iberia.com by 31 October for travel by 20th December.

Taxes are also very low

Iberia has lower taxes than British Airways. Even Iberia flights booked on ba.com using BA Avios have substantially higher taxes than the same Iberia flight booked on iberia.com.

As an example, Buenos Aires return incurs taxes and charges of €189. If you could nab a return ticket in Blue class for a pre-Christmas break for 30,000 Avios plus €189 then I think you’d consider that a decent deal.

Remember, these are Iberia Plus deals ONLY

You can ONLY book these flights on the Iberia website.

You can ONLY book these flights using Avios in Iberia Plus.

If you don’t already have an Iberia Plus account then you are stuffed, unfortunately (although I have suggested many times that everyone should have one, specifically for promotions like this.) Even if you open an Iberia Plus account today, you cannot transfer Avios across from BA or avios.com until it has been open for 90 days.

I assume you could buy the Avios you need if you opened a new Iberia Plus account, but I cannot be 100% sure if a newly opened account is immediately able to purchase Avios points.

You cannot add a connecting BA flight to the same ticket

You don’t want to, because it would trigger long-haul Air Passenger Duty.

Your connecting flight to/from Madrid should be booked separately. If using Avios, it is 20,000 return in Economy from the UK.

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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.