Fly Iberia’s A350 aircraft with its new flat bed business class to Madrid this Summer

Iberia takes delivery of its first Airbus A350 aircraft in June, a year ahead of its big brother British Airways.

Iberia already has a decent Business Class on its long-haul aircraft as I reviewed here.  It is a big step up on what British Airways offers in Club World.

There are no pictures yet of the interiors of the new aircraft.  They will be three class aircraft with Iberia’s new Premium Economy cabin of 24 seats installed.  Business Class will have 32 seats.

Iberia has promised that the new seat will be better than the existing version:

Wider – at 58cm vs 52.5cm

Larger TV – 18 inches vs 15.4 inches

Wider footrest and more storage

And flying soon to London ….

The new aircraft will debut on the Madrid to New York route in August.

However, from June, Iberia is planning to roster the aircraft onto the London to Madrid route for crew training.  This will allow you to book yourself into Business Class for the standard short haul rates and take a look at the new seat and service.

Iberia already runs a long-haul aircraft on one departure per day, usually early evening, with an A340.  This is how I got to write my review of the seat.   British Airways has also been running a daily service, early afternoon, with a Boeing 777 and occasionally a Boeing 787.

This is done purely for cargo reasons.  Finnair is running a new A350 between Helsinki and Heathrow on some services for the same reasons.  Because it is done for cargo, you can be confident that there will not be a last minute aircraft switch onto a short haul plane.

It isn’t yet clear if the new A350 will replace the A340 departure or if it will be slotted in somewhere else.  Once they appear in the timetable I will book myself on to take a look as I did with the Finnair A350, reviewed 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.