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Avios from the Iberia ‘90,000 Avios’ points promo CAN be transferred to British Airways

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Many Head for Points readers took part in the Iberia ‘90,000 Avios for booking 10 one-way Iberia flights you didn’t have to fly’ promotion a few weeks ago.

You can read about it here, here and here.

This was a crazy offer, to put it mildly.  You could buy the cheapest 10 flights you could find, for around €250 all-in, and you’d have 90,000 Avios which – in the worse case scenario that you used them for a hotel room – would be worth £500.  Used for flights you should have been able to get £1,000 of value if used smartly.

When the Avios arrived, however, Iberia added a clause – the points could not be transferred to British Airways Executive Club.

Iberia 90,000 Avios now transferable to British Airways

For some people, this was OK.  For many others, who wanted to combine the 90,000 Avios with their existing BAEC balance in order to use a British Airways American Express 2-4-1 voucher, it was not good.

Iberia has now relented.  You will find that you can transfer out your 90,000  Iberia Plus bonus Avios into your British Airways Executive Club account.

This is – for clarity – exactly what Iberia promised me in writing would be possible when encouraging me to promote the offer on HFP.

However, before you do this, remember one thing.  Iberia also said that, if you do this, your Iberia account will have a negative balance of 90,000 Avios on 1st December because the promotional Avios will be treated as unspent and removed from your account.

You may not care about that.  You may care.  Either way, bear it in mind before you move your Avios into British Airways Executive Club.

The reason for this change of heart, by the way, is a full-page story on this offer which is appearing in The Mail on Sunday tomorrow.

PS.  Remember that Iberia accounts MUST be 90 days old before they can use ‘Combine My Avios’.  If you opened an account specifically for this promotion then put a note in your diary for September.  If your account IS 90 days old but ‘Combine My Avios’ is not working, try this method.

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

British Airways and Avios, Iberia and Iberia Plus

Comments (176)

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

  • Tyra says:
    29 Jul29 July 19:37

    I can’t remember if this has been covered (there’s been a lot of Iberia threads to keep on top of) but if you redeem your 90k Avios for Iberia Business class flights, are the taxes refundable as well as the Avios? Thanks 🙂

    • Rob says:
      29 Jul29 July 20:08

      Yes, less the cancellation fee

    • Lady London says:
      30 Jul30 July 15:25

      Yes but only if your booking consisted only of flights in IB and BA. Even one segment on another airline will make the whole lot nonchangeable and nonrefundable.

  • Randy says:
    29 Jul29 July 20:51

    If I leave the Avios in Iberia Plus and book a BA award flight from Iberia Plus:

    (1) Which Avios award chart is used? The Iberia Plus chart (often lower) or the BAEC chart (often higher)?

    (2) Will I get the benefit of the lower taxes and fees Iberia Plus charges, or will I have to pay the higher BAEC charges?

    (3) Will the Iberia Plus or BAEC peak/off-peak dates apply?

    • Rob says:
      29 Jul29 July 21:35

      The BA chart

      Iberia’s lower taxes and charges only apply to Iberia flights (obvs, as half the saving is APD as you’re starting in Madrid)

      BA peak dates

  • Scott says:
    29 Jul29 July 22:05

    Am I right in saying transatlantic flights on American booked through IB avios have to be roundtrip? Thanks

    • Rob says:
      29 Jul29 July 22:55

      Yes, all partners must be round trip. No open jaw either. And NOT refundable or changeable.

  • Rob says:
    30 Jul30 July 05:36

    A ‘Trick’ to move avios points out of Iberia account that has just worked for me… I kept either receiving an error message about my account having timed out (when on mobile) or only being able to move points from avios to Iberia when trying to CMA. Out of curiosity, I sent 100 points from avios to Iberia (instant transfer) and then reloaded the CMA screen. Suddenly I was able to move avios in both directions (specifically IB->avios) and in any size chunk I wanted. Result 🙂

  • DaveP says:
    30 Jul30 July 12:25

    Just gone to Iberia website to transfer Avios to BAEC to find that the transfer function within the ‘Buy, Give Away or Transfer Avios’ section has been removed! only the Purchase option is visible.

    IT glitch or sneaky move by Iberia?

    • Genghis says:
      30 Jul30 July 12:30

      I moved some earlier. Pull from avios.com and then pull from BA (the push from avios.com wasn’t working).

    • Guesswho2000 says:
      30 Jul30 July 12:40

      Their site’s a nightmare, do it from the BAEC end (or Avios.com if you have a BA HHA)

    • Rob says:
      30 Jul30 July 14:18

      Doesn’t work via IB anyway. Best to do it all from avios.com – pull from IB then push to BA.

      • the real harry1 says:
        30 Jul30 July 19:00

        I transferred 90K fine IB to BAEC (megoodwife). No HHA where she is concerned.

  • Paul says:
    31 Jul31 July 17:00

    I booked 2 economy returns on IB with the 90k miles in Blue class after transfers were stated as blocked. Can I cancel those flights, get a tax/charge/Avios refund and then transfer the miles to BAEC?

    • Rob says:
      31 Jul31 July 17:16

      In theory but if you want the flights I would leave them – saves cancellation fees and removes any risk of negative balances in December.

      • the real harry1 says:
        31 Jul31 July 17:31

        Inadvisable – in the same boat – not going to do that just to potentially save on RFS etc. T&Cs advise you’ll lose.

        • Paul says:
          31 Jul31 July 18:51

          Thanks both. Happyish with the bookings but that 90k with my other BAEC stash would have been a nice business treat for me and missus with 241 voucher. Wasn’t aware Ts&Cs forbade this?

  • James says:
    2 Aug2 August 21:48

    Rob, thank you for all the great articles; Good News – Iberia account opened on June 23rd, 10 flights purchased for Jan – Mar 2019, 90,000 Avios arrived before the end of July, but I do not seem to be able to move points from Avios or BA to Iberia – looking to get to 220,000 for 2 business class seats next April LHR-YYZ. Do I need to wait until September 23rd to move points into my Iberia account – Also is there a trick to buy BA PE tickets, all I can seem to see is Blue, Business or First.

    Thank you

    • James says:
      2 Aug2 August 21:54

      Rob, Found the article in the university so can answer my first question – I do need to wait 3 months.

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

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