How to maximise your Avios when flying British Airways partners – by crediting to Iberia

It seems strange, but British Airways Executive Club and Iberia Plus do not have the same earning rates for oneworld partner flights.  This means that, in some cases, it is preferable to credit a cash flight on a some airlines to Iberia Plus rather than to British Airways.

We touched on this recently when I looked at the wheretocredit.com website.  The example I used in that article was for a Finnair flight, which earned more Avios in Iberia Plus than in British Airways Executive Club.

This article provides a full list of these cases, and it is worth referring back to it when you find yourself booked on a oneworld airline partner.

You need to be clear about two caveats, however:

If you credit a flight to Iberia Plus and not British Airways Executive Club, you obviously will not earn BA tier points.  If tier points are important, credit to BA irrespective of miles earned.

If you have British Airways status, the status bonus you receive when flying American Airlines or Japan Airlines closes the gap between the earning rates.  You do not get a status bonus on the other carriers listed below.

Remember that it is easy to transfer Avios from Iberia Plus to British Airways, using the ‘Combine My Avios’ function on either website.  An Iberia account must be 90 days old before you can transfer in or out.

If ‘Combine My Avios’ is not working properly from Iberia to BA, it WILL work if you use avios.com as an intermediary.  Open yourself an Aer Lingus AerClub account here, log in at avios.com with those details and use ‘Combine My Avios’ to pull from Iberia and then push to British Airways.

The % figure in the list below refers to the proportion of the miles flown which will be earned for that particular flight.

You can find full details of all the British Airways partner airlines on this page of ba.com.

For oneworld partner airlines not listed, such as Cathay Pacific, all ticket types earn equally in both Iberia Plus and British Airways Executive Club.

What ticket classes are not treated equally by Iberia Plus and British Airways Executive Club?

Finnair

Economy – S, N earn 50% in IB (25% BA), H earns 100% IB (70% BA)

Japan Airlines

Economy – K earns 70% in IB (50% BA)

Business – I earns 125% in BA (70% IB)

Malaysia Airlines

Economy – M earns 50% in BA (25% in IB)

Qantas

Economy – K, L, M, S, V earns 50% in IB (25% in BA)

Qatar Airways

Economy – T earns 50% in IB (25% in BA)

Royal Jordanian

Economy – K, M, V earn 50% in IB (25% in BA), P, R earn 50% in IB (0% in BA), H earns 100% in IB (25% in BA)

S7

Economy – M, R, T, L, V, S earn 50% in IB (25% in BA), K earns 100% in BA (50% in IB)

SriLankan

Economy – Y, B, P, H earn 100% in BA (80% IB), K earns 100% in BA (70% IB), W, M, E earn 70% in IB (50% BA), R, S earn 50% in IB (25% BA)

Business – J earns 150% in IB (125% BA)

In addition, remember that you earn Avios in British Airways Executive Club with:

Aer Lingus

Alaska Airlines

and you can earn Avios in Iberia Plus with:

Interjet (Mexico)

Binter (Canaries)

Avianca (restrictions apply)

LEVEL

Vueling

Air Nostrum

and you can earn Avios in Aer Lingus Aer Club with:

United Airlines

If you want to learn how to redeem Avios points via Iberia Plus, to save a lot of money on taxes and charges, take a look at this article in our ‘Avios Redemption University’ series.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (January 2023)

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:

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 21st February 2023, the sign-up bonus on the British Airways Premium Plus American Express card is increased to 35,000 Avios from 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points.

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: Capital On Tap has increased its sign-up bonus to points worth 30,000 Avios if you apply by 4th February. This is exclusive to Head for Points readers. Click here to apply.

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.

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.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.