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.

  • Hello says:
    30 May30 May 10:26

    OT sorry: anyone know whether we are likely to see another bonus Heathrow Rewards promotion on Apple purchases at Dixons any time soon?

    • Tim Cook says:
      30 May30 May 14:15

      yes, before the new Apple gear arrives (which basically means its a bad time to buy)

  • SLS says:
    30 May30 May 10:44

    Related but slightly O/T. I am currently in posession of two Lloyds vouchers one of which I need to use by the end of June. I have enough avios points and about 80k amex points and am trying to find the most effective way of combining the two vouchers (for a return trip with the wife) with a trip to the Maldives and Sri Lanka. Getting between the two is easy but getting to/from the Maldives and Colombo in a cost effective manner without jumping multiple planes is somewhat more difficult.

    My options to get to Male are via either Dubai, Colombo, KL, Singapore, Hong Kong. Any suggestions?

    We could use the voucher to round trip to Dubai. Then use Emirates from Dubai – Male – Colombo – Dubai. However that’s a lot of additional flying and interchanging. Plus economy ticket is £600 pp.

    Alternatively, voucher to Mumbai and back, fly Mumbai-Colombo-Male-Colombo-Male – but feels a bit long winded.

    • Jeff says:
      30 May30 May 12:05

      Check holidaypirates for deals which you can factor in your planning

    • Andrew (@andrewseftel) says:
      30 May30 May 16:19

      I’d be tempted to just book a UL cash fare and avoid all the plane hopping. Even UL economy was pretty good when I did it.

    • Pawel Siewko says:
      30 May30 May 17:09

      2 years ago we book cheap tickets with Air Pegasus to Doha and use Avios to get to MLE
      Next year we will use AA points 20000one way economy from Europe to Male

  • James says:
    30 May30 May 12:31

    Wish I could transfer QMiles to Iberia 🙁

    • Rob says:
      30 May30 May 13:48

      Technically you can via Accor but the devaluation is horrific!

  • Guy Griffiths says:
    30 May30 May 13:30

    Sorry OT. Quick one for Rob or anyone else.

    Had a flight cancelled out of Heathrow on Sunday night under the pretense of “bad weather” despite all other flights that night departing without problem along with the actual weather being clear and sunny (staff were actually embarrassed when the reason was announced)

    BA are have tried the “we are not liable for bad weather” angle despite all other flights departing ok and arriving at the destination ok. I’m guessing there would be an obusdman or something, does anyone else have experience of this?

    Thanks in advance.

    • Rob says:
      30 May30 May 13:47

      You make an EU261 claim and, if refused, you can escalate.

      We flew back 2 hours late from Zurich last night. Cabin crew made an announcement blaming it on bad weather. Captain then came on and said that the reason was that there were no tugs at Heathrow to push back the plane, the slot was missed and there was a 90 minute delay whilst they waited for a new take-off slot to come free ….. nothing to do with the weather at all.

      • Guy Griffiths says:
        30 May30 May 13:56

        Thanks Rob, coincidentally this was to Zurich too.

        Do you think this is a deliberate ploy to just weed out anyone who is not willing to put in the additional work to claim? I couldnt think of another reason. Either way another negative mark on BA

        • the real harry1 says:
          30 May30 May 14:06

          Of course. 90+% of people (with legit claims) will drop their claim when they are told (falsely) by BA that their claim is invalid because of XYZ BS

        • john says:
          30 May30 May 14:09

          Did you check the weather at the Zurich end to make sure it wasn’t the reason?

      • the real harry1 says:
        30 May30 May 14:13

        That wouldn’t be adequate justification for a cancelled flight leaving LHR to be denied EC261 compo – it’s called knock-on effects and BA is a big enough concern to make alternative provision for the outgoing flight from LHR if the incoming flight (into LHR) is already delayed.

        Ie they should switch in another plane, another crew if necessary.

        All part & parcel of running a big airline out of LHR – no extraordinary circs.

    • the real harry1 says:
      30 May30 May 13:52

      Sounds like knock-on effects from bad weather elsewhere – this is NOT an acceptable reason for an airline to get out of EC261 obligations, google ‘EC261 CAA’ for the full picture.

      There’s also an active forum EC261 on Flyertalk, describe your case with a bit more detail and you will get a good response.

      In short, sounds like you are entitled to compensation. Or you could have insisted on being re-routed FOC (also with competitor airline if more convenient for you) and received duty of care food/ drink/ hotel/ comms until your new flight.

      • Guy Griffiths says:
        30 May30 May 14:07

        Cheers Harry.

        There were no other flights as it was the last one and they did put me up in a hotel. However I still had to take a half day off work due to late arrival which obviously has opportunity as well as monetary costs attached.

        Just had a quick read and seems that there is a good chance appealing (c.50% with BA) so lets see how that plays out.

        • the real harry1 says:
          30 May30 May 14:15

          One thing they won’t ever pay out for is for consequential losses – no chance here, I’m afraid.

          But go for the rest.

        • James says:
          30 May30 May 17:05

          Ask for proof. You can gain the METAR reports for LHR and ZRH which will give you the weather for the two airports. There was forecasted high risk of CB activity in the LTMA for the afternoon. There was no demand vs capacity restrictions due to weather on Sunday which compulsory cancels flights. The BA720 was due to be operated by G-EUPE which arrived at 17:38, 53 minutes late from Figari. BA756 BSL, BA958 MUC and BA916 FRA were also cancelled and due to depart at similar times.

    • Nick says:
      30 May30 May 22:52

      With the absolute greatest of respect – and I’m not one to shy away from a good BA-bashing – but the weather in the LTMA has been atrocious the last few days, with thunderstorms and other weather patterns causing havoc to flight routings, even though it might *look* clear at the airport terminal. So it is reasonable to expect weather-related delays and cancellations, and demanding compensation isn’t necessarily fair on BA. You might get lucky, but equally you might want to think twice about claiming through legal means unless you’re absolutely certain it wasn’t weather-related and you have proof (or think it might be reasonable to get it).

      • the_real_a says:
        30 May30 May 23:25

        If i was to get caught on the m25 due to bad weather – and this caused me to miss check in, do you think BA would be gracious enough to refund my ticket? After all it would be reasonable in such scenarios for BA to expect people to be delayed on motorways. The last few years has seen BA as a cost saving move, fob off even genuine complaints. So i’m in the camp ‘screw em they would to you…

        • Brian W says:
          31 May31 May 00:30

          + 1 x 1000

        • Lady London says:
          1 Jun1 June 14:13

          Plus other airlines’ flights were still taking off.
          I don’t think it’s just British Airways that seems to be not telling the truth about the reason they choose to cancel a flight. For a while I got the impression that Swiss liked to cancel the second-to-last flight out of Zurich, such was the regularity with which it was announced to be cancelled “due to bad weather” when other airlines flights to the same destination were still taking off and so did the last Swiss flight approximately 1 hour later… but with half a load of passengers presumably having combined the two flights due to the “bad weather”.

  • C says:
    30 May30 May 14:06

    OT, but can I self-refer from Amex Platinum to the SPG card? Does anyone know the referral bonus for this? Thanks!

    • Robman says:
      30 May30 May 14:50

      Yes, I have done exactly this about two months ago. I received 18,000 MR points for the referral, the same as for any referral from Platinum.

  • Phil says:
    30 May30 May 16:15

    @Rob – I just cancelled my BA AMEX card with a view to getting the BAPP card in 6 months. Do you think the BAPP will be around long enough for me to get it in 6 months and hit the minimum spend (will likely take me most of the year to do so) for 241?

  • where2travel says:
    30 May30 May 16:39

    Slightly off-topic but I was amazed to book ex-MAD to Australia (in J) last week using AA miles to find the taxes/fees were just £54 per person.

  • barry cutters says:
    30 May30 May 17:22

    OT – but maybe someone can help .

    AMEX gold .i spent £15k in 2 months , but th 10k points bonus hasnt been added to my account.
    Called today and was told i need to finish year and pay the £140 then it would be added.
    Anyway around this – otherwise im better cancelling and joining again in 6 months.
    No upgrade to plat offer at the min either apparently . 🙁

    • Genghis says:
      30 May30 May 17:29

      Not seen you around recently cutters. Hope all’s well.
      That’s correct. The bonus posts just after anniversary (and that’s why I don’t do it). Upgrade Gold charge->Plat still working as of a month ago for me.
      https://www.americanexpress.com/uk/content/platinum-charge/upgrade/

      • barry cutters says:
        30 May30 May 18:21

        cheers – will follow link.
        Good thanks – i had a few long work trips in europe in the spring which took its toll so took a few months off to recover and renovated a couple houses ready for students in sept.
        Also had a month in vietnam . Back at work now and back on the weekly commute to Basel so should have plenty of time to keep up with current -miles- affairs .
        Thanks for the link – will apply immediately

        • Polly says:
          31 May31 May 01:28

          Bet Vietnam was good. Did you cover most of the country in your month? Fascinating country..we hope to go back as weather was awful when we went last year esp Halong bay. Rain and mist all the way up north.

      • Boi says:
        31 May31 May 15:51

        What about plat companion card- is there a link?

    • Polly says:
      30 May30 May 17:41

      Barry
      Worth upgrading anyway to Plat. The 20k bonus should appear once you do the spend. Then refer yourself for another card type and get a further 18k MRs.

      • the real harry1 says:
        30 May30 May 18:51

        Yep Plat upgrade link working fine 2 weeks ago. From Plat you could refer self + 1, both to SPG cards, which gets 36K on the referral. The SPG cards get 11K each, one cardholder can send the Starpoints to the other = 22K + 5K bonus if you send them to Amex (permanent 25% bonus on 20K sent to Amex). Or keep the Starpoints for hotels I guess, good with the Marriott link these days.

        • Benylin says:
          30 May30 May 19:36

          By +1 do you mean supplement card? I never see the 5k earnt for supplement, do I just try it anyway?

        • Genghis says:
          30 May30 May 19:56

          Give it a go

        • the real harry1 says:
          30 May30 May 19:58

          2 different cards with different main cardholders, eg self + significant other, stretching it I suppose also self plus mum/ dad/ bro/ sis etc (with their consent) – some families are close-knit enough to say OK to this provided you the points guy take all the card responsibility

        • the real harry1 says:
          30 May30 May 20:08

          You might have a mate who would give this the OK for a few pints, if you don’t have a significant other. Provided there’s no chance of you not paying off the card (because you’re mates, after all), the only downside for them is a temporary dent on the credit report. Must be same address, though (SPG points transfer between SPG a/cs).

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