Get 500 free Avios for joining IHG Rewards Club – no stay required

Avios (via Iberia Plus) and IHG Rewards Club have joined forces to offer you 500 Avios points for signing up – no stay required.

Full details are on the IHG website here.

IHG Rewards Club is the loyalty programme for Holiday Inn, InterContinental, Holiday Inn Express, Crowne Plaza, Hotel Indigo etc.  A lot of Head for Points readers will already be IHG Rewards Club members – but perhaps there are members of your family, perhaps people with whom you share a British Airways Executive Club household account, who are not?

Now, before I go on, a quick confession.  Back in July, IHG ran a similar offer with Virgin Atlantic’s Flying Club.  The offer was very badly described by Virgin.  On their website, it said you got 500 miles just for joining.  On the IHG landing page, it also said you got 500 miles just for joining.  In the small print – which I missed when I wrote about it – it said that you had to join up AND STAY to get the 500 miles.

There is no such doubt here.  The small print, and indeed the large print, makes it clear that NO STAY IS REQUIRED.  All you need to do is:

sign up for IHG Rewards Club via this page of their website

set up your profile so that you earn Iberia Plus Avios and not IHG Rewards Club points from your stays

and do it before 31st December

When do you get the Avios?

The wording is suitably vague:

“Avios will automatically be awarded by Airline partners on completion of Registration, and in any event before 15th February 2018”

…. but there is a good chance they arrive quickly.

Remember …. you need an Iberia Plus account

This offer ONLY works with Iberia Plus accounts.  If you don’t have one, go over to the Iberia website and join.

Once the 500 Avios have arrived, you can use ‘Combine My Avios’ to move them from Iberia Plus to your avios.com or British Airways Executive Club account.

You cannot transfer Avios out of Iberia Plus until the Iberia account is 90 days old.  If you join Iberia Plus as a new member today, and even if IHG posts your 500 Avios quickly, you won’t be able to move them across to BA until early January.

Get a fast track to IHG Gold status too

There is also a ‘fast track to Gold’ offer.  If you complete three nights at IHG hotels in the 90 days following registration, you will be upgraded.  Gold would usually require 10 nights.

This isn’t hugely beneficial, since you can get free Gold status by getting the free IHG Rewards Club credit card (representative APR 18.9%) – no spending required.  There are not many benefits to being Gold, although you will get a few hundred bonus points and usually a free drink or snack on every stay.

You can sign up, or discover more details, on this page of the IHG website.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2025)

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 Mastercard

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

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

Get 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

30,000 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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 30,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

80,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large 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, and the standard card is FREE. Capital on Tap cards also have no FX fees.

Capital on Tap Visa

NO annual fee, NO FX fees and points worth 1 Avios per £1 Read our full review

Capital on Tap Pro Visa

10,500 points (=10,500 Avios) plus good benefits Read our full review

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

British Airways American Express Accelerating Business

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

50,000 points when you sign-up 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.