Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

You can book VERY low-tax American Airlines redemptions with Avios from Spain

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We have written many times about the financial benefits of booking long-haul Avios redemptions on Iberia, and via Iberia Plus and not British Airways Executive Club.

Taxes are a fraction of what you would pay to fly a similar route on BA direct from London, and comparing like with like the Iberia flights have lower taxes when booked on their own website.  This HfP article is a good introduction to redeeming Avios on Iberia.

There is an extra tweak to this topic that I never knew, however.

You can also get very low-tax American Airlines business class redemptions out of Spain.

Avios to book American Airlines

How low?  How about £73 return in Business Class?

Here are your options, based on booking the flight on the Iberia website for a return Business Class flight on American Airlines:

Madrid to Miami – 150,000 Avios + £77.20

Madrid to Dallas-Fort Worth – 150,000 Avios + £77.20

Madrid to Philadelphia – 100,000 Avios + £77.20

Madrid to New York – 100,000 Avios + £77.20

Barcelona to Charlotte (Summer only) – 150,000 Avios + £72.50

Barcelona to Chicago (Summer only) – 150,000 Avios + £73.60 

Barcelona to Philadelphia (Summer only) – 100,000 Avios + £73.60

Barcelona to Miami – 150,000 Avios + £73.60

Barcelona to New York – 100,000 Avios + £73.60

The best way to find days with availability is to use the American Airlines website.  You don’t need to log in or even have an account.

Go to the booking page, select ‘Redeem Miles’ and then click ‘Advanced Search’

Under ‘Options’ make sure you select ‘MilesAAver’ / ‘Business’ / ‘American Airlines’

On the results page, toggle ‘Number of Stops’ to ‘Non-Stop only’

Select ‘Show full calendar’

Look for days where the mileage is priced in blue.  If you don’t see any dates in Blue, there are no dates with Business Class MileSAAver seats.

When you find dates with availability, plug them into the iberia.com Avios search engine and it will show the seats as bookable.

Here are a few things to remember before you book.  The first one is the most important:

American Airlines redemptions booked via Iberia Plus are non-refundable and non-changeable.  I cannot stress this enough.  You will lose all of your Avios.  The only Avios redemptions that can be changed if booked via iberia.com are those on Iberia, British Airways, Air Nostrum and Iberia Express.  The only exception is if you are on a multi-leg flight and one leg is on Iberia with an IB flight code.  If there is any risk that you might need to cancel then book via ba.com instead and swallow the higher taxes.

There are no off-peak dates when you book with American Airlines.  Iberia has an off-peak / peak chart for its own aircraft (see here) so, on off-peak dates, you might get a better overall deal booking on Iberia if they fly the same route.  Madrid to New York on Iberia is only 68,000 Avios in Business Class off-peak, for example.

American Airlines uses a very broad fleet on aircraft, seats and configurations.  Be clear about what you are getting before you book.

In order to move your Avios from BA to Iberia Plus, your Iberia Plus account must be 90 days old and have earned 1 Avios (an Amex Membership Rewards transfer for 1000 points will do it).  If you have trouble getting ‘Combine My Avios’ to work, read this HfP article.

Don’t waste your time trying to book these flights on ba.com.  British Airways will add substantial surcharges.

Overall, though, there are some great deals here if you are prepared to take the time to travel via Spain in order to save.

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.

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.

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.

Category

American Airlines and AAdvantage, British Airways and Avios, Iberia and Iberia Plus

Comments (86)

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

  • filipino_chino says:
    30 May30 May 05:19

    Yes be-careful which aircraft you select, i flew AA from DFW to AMS and i was shocked how old it was! Drop down monitor between 20 people or so… so everyone had to watch the same thing, radio was rubbish… service was the same. The aircraft looked like it was one i used to fly in when i was about 15 flying charter from Manchester to Banjul, which had never stopped being flown!

    Flying out from LHR to LAX, it was a beautiful aircraft…

    • David says:
      30 May30 May 05:36

      I think the best thing to do is avoid any AA flight operated by a 757 or 767 ! They are shoddy 80’s throwback Cabins, awful !! The new 777-300 are lovely, and most 777-200’s are acceptable ! Basically… check the aircraft !! 😉

      • Nick_C says:
        30 May30 May 07:21

        The J cabin on AAs long haul 767s has been refurbished and is perfectly acceptable. 1-2-1 flat bed seating, and no scrambling over other people to get out of your seat. No IFE. They give you a tablet on long haul (Samsung, not Vallium!)

      • Andrew says:
        30 May30 May 10:57

        The old 757’s now only run the Hawaii route. The long haul are all now lie flat beds, still don’t like having a tablet as a watchable device though.

      • Curious says:
        30 May30 May 13:51

        Are the EDI-USA direct flights on shoddy aircraft then?

    • Lax says:
      30 May30 May 05:59

      Never seen a drop down screen in business.

  • Lumma says:
    30 May30 May 05:57

    Do these have to be return flights or can they be booked one way?

  • Lax says:
    30 May30 May 05:58

    AA are well known for altering their flights.

    I would say that there is a high probability of it changing, especially if you have a connecting flight, giving you the option of a refund.

    • TGLoyalty says:
      31 May31 May 00:27

      Or a re route on a preferable flight / departure or destination..

  • Nigel says:
    30 May30 May 06:15

    Dublin and Amsterdam are the classic cheap start points for international flights AND you can get to both places pretty cheaply from most regional airports. When you factor in the cost of flights to Spanish cities and back to the UK, there is precious little left worth bothering about in the difference of the costs of taxes.

    • Lumma says:
      30 May30 May 06:31

      Madrid and Barcelona are also very cheap places to get to though, despite being further to travel, so i certainly wouldn’t rule thus out.

      • Kris says:
        30 May30 May 20:09

        Not cheap from Glasgow. I don’t think there’s a direct flight to Madrid

        • Iain says:
          5 Jun5 June 08:05

          There are very cheap easy jet flights to Madrid from Edinburgh

    • wobbly wings says:
      30 May30 May 06:33

      I’ve done this a few times. If you have the days you can easily do couple of days for free in BCN or Mad out of the surcharges saved.

      • Colin MacKinnon says:
        30 May30 May 08:11

        From Scotland, Madrid is a fabulous connection point. Easyjet and IB Express flights.

        On the way back from Argentina once, I thought we’d go BA via LHR to get home well before the 6pm Easyjet from MAD-EDI. Because of poor viz at LHR, we got home after the Easyjet flight!

        But choose IB when you can, one of the best biz services around.

        • John says:
          30 May30 May 14:11

          Easy and IB Express from EDI to MAD ain’t cheap (in order to save overall)

          Theres no J on IB EDI-MAD either (instead there’s awful tight seating)

        • Brian W says:
          31 May31 May 00:25

          You mean from Edinburgh? Not Scotland.

  • Frenske says:
    30 May30 May 06:15

    If you booked a non-refundable flight with Avios but you need to cancel it for a legitimate reason. Does the travel insurance cover the value of the Avios?

    • Jonathan says:
      30 May30 May 07:15

      No, never heard of a travel insurance policy that recognises the value of Avios. I’ve used Avios a few times to book last minute travel when I’ve missed a flight and cash fares were higher than policy limits and the only solution was to use minimum possible Avios with maximum cash element which was refundable.

      • Genghis says:
        30 May30 May 07:48

        Doesn’t Plat?

        • Genghis says:
          30 May30 May 07:52

          Section 1.2
          For the benefits under this section to apply transport and/or accommodation must have been Purchased in full using:
          I. the Card;
          II. American Express Membership Rewards® points; or
          III. Any travel rewards programmes provided the taxes
          and/or surcharges have been Purchased using the Card.

        • Genghis says:
          30 May30 May 07:54

          Remembering “card” effectively means any Amex issued Amex if you follow the definitions through.

      • Mark2 says:
        30 May30 May 08:47

        Travel insurance included with Lloyds Platinum account specifically covers Avios but not 241 voucher.
        Which Avios bookings are not cancellable? Do you mean very last minute?

        • Darren says:
          30 May30 May 09:12

          The bits in red in the article.

        • Jonathan says:
          30 May30 May 15:47

          My understanding was that this refers to cover for hotels/meals and replacement flights if you booked travel using Avios. Ie. They will get you home or buy a replacement outbound flight if your plans are disrupted but they won’t refund you the Avios (or a cash value in lieu) if you for example cancel & don’t travel.

      • Pr99 says:
        30 May30 May 17:10

        Don’t know if it is still on the soon to be defunct Avios Travel website but the travel policies on there with Rock used to cover Avios on cancelled trips. If you met the criteria for a cancellation claim Rock would purchase back your Avios from the company. They obviously didn’t cover other frequent flyer schemes.

  • wobbly wings says:
    30 May30 May 06:30

    Is the copay element actually lower than booking them directly on aa.com? Or is this just for the agios rich and aamiles poor?

  • James A says:
    30 May30 May 06:58

    Hmmm what about QR from Spain on Iberia.com?

    • Michael C says:
      30 May30 May 07:43

      I looked into that last year, couldn’t see any goodies.
      I have, however, had some good prices from Singapore Airlines on BCN-SIN direct.

  • xcalx says:
    30 May30 May 07:52

    Customer service is another thing to consider, I have only had good experiences with them until now. Had the MAD-MAN flight of a MIA-MAD-MAN cancelled and is now leaving a day later. Phoned the 02036843774 they cant alter IB avios booking (have in the past) gave me 0034913742442 rang it a few times a day now for a week and no answer.
    Anyone got a IB to deal with changes.

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

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