Iberia launches ‘Part Pay with Avios’ – and it’s rubbish

From July 2nd, Iberia is letting you use Avios to pay for part of the cost of a cash ticket.  “All your Avios count and they also discount” is the catchy slogan they are using.

British Airways launched a similar ‘part pay with Avios’ scheme last year.  I wasn’t very excited about that – although it is better than it was at launch after tweaking – and I am even less excited about this.

I was a little excited when I got the email.  I was promised the ability to save 25% of my flight cost using my Avios points, which could have been substantial for a long-haul flight.

In truth, you can’t.

I did a test booking from Madrid to Buenos Aires for late September.  The economy ticket came out at €1,137.  The maximum discount offered to me was €113 – for a cost of 25,950 Avios.

This is a terrible deal.  €113 is £89.  That works out at 0.35p per Avios.

This is shocking.  Remember that it is almost impossible to get less than 0.5p per Avios point even if you use all of your points for hotel bookings, car hire, champagne, sports tickets, Eurostar tickets or one of the hundreds of other random things that avios.com can sell you.

I then tried a short-haul flight from Madrid to London.  On a €217 flight the maximum discount was €30.  That would cost me 5,575 Avios.  This is a slightly better result as you get 0.43p per Avios.  I still wouldn’t go near it though.

For some reason this deal is also only available on flights that start in Spain.  If you try to book London to Madrid then you are not offered the discount.  It is also not available on BA flights, only Iberia, Iberia Express and Vueling.

If you want to know, full details can be found on the Iberia website here.

---

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (September 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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 26th September 2024, sign up for FREE Barclaycard Avios Mastercard and you will receive a sign-up bonus of 10,000 Avios. This is double the usual bonus! You only need to spend £1,000 within 90 days. Our full review is here. Click here to apply.

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.

There is also a British Airways American Express card for small businesses:

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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 22nd October 2024, the bonus on American Express Business Platinum is increased to up to 80,000 Membership Rewards points, worth 80,000 Avios. You will receive 8 points per £1 spent for the first three months, on up to £10,000 of spending. Click here to read our full card review. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 22nd October 2024, the bonus on American Express Business Gold is increased to up to 40,000 Membership Rewards points, worth 40,000 Avios. You will receive 4 points per £1 spent for the first three months, on up to £10,000 of spending. The card is FREE for your first year. Click here to read our full card review. Click here to apply.

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