Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

BIG NEWS: Use your BA Amex 2-4-1 companion vouchers on Iberia and Aer Lingus

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British Airways and American Express have announced some exciting news today about the British Airways American Express 2-4-1 companion voucher.

Effective immediately, these vouchers can be used on Aer Lingus and Iberia flights.

How does New York for 34,000 Avios RETURN, PER PERSON, IN BUSINESS plus just £213 of taxes and charges per person sound?

This is particularly good news for those in the Manchester area who will be able to redeem on the long haul flights operated by Aer Lingus to New York, Orlando and Barbados.

Use American Express companion vouchers Iberia Avios

The rules are the same as for redemptions on British Airways:

Another upside is that taxes and charges on Iberia redemptions are substantially lower than those on British Airways flights.

Here is an example using Iberia to fly to New York from Madrid (I am assuming that you buy separate flights to Madrid to escape UK Air Passenger Duty):

68,000 Avios FOR TWO PEOPLE IN BUSINESS CLASS, RETURN plus £425 in taxes and charges between you isn’t too bad ….

We will run some articles over the next few days showing you where you can fly on Aer Lingus and Iberia to take advantage of this new benefit. We’ve updated our main article on the key benefits of the British Airways Premium Plus American Express card.

You can see the current card features in our British Airways Premium Plus American Express review here and our free British Airways American Express review here.

There is some other news about the extension of Reward Flight Saver to Club World flights. This is complex and isn’t necessarily a good deal – take a look at our two other articles published today.


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.

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.

Comments (230)

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

  • ADroyd says:

    I booked MAD-LIM through BA in July for 2 people in July 2023 using Avios (obviously not 241, as I hadn’t picked up a new version by then), priced at 170000 and £415.80 for taxes and fees, which doesn’t look too bad now. As a mere Bronze holder, I am fed up with having to pay an extortionate sum to reserve seats at around £130 each – each way! However, I went on to the IB site a couple of weeks later and grabbed the seats I wanted for £0. I then realised I had made a mistake and went back and changed them. That saving more than made up for the fees.

  • Delboy65 says:

    This morning booked IB Club MAD GIG in November (plus IB Econ LHR MAD) for total 135k avios + £471 ..

    compared with 200k and £1,100 direct with BA (the savings will pretty much pay for the hotel in Rio)

  • Cam says:

    Has anyone actually found any availability on Manchester Aer Lingus flights in Biz?

    Searched various routes/dates and nothing. Eco shows up immediately though.

  • Martin says:

    Can I ask whether the new Barclays cabin upgrade vouchers can be used as well as the 241 vouchers on Iberia?

  • Paul says:

    I am curios at why we can’t use the ‘old style’ Amex 2 for 1 voucher on Iberia ex Madrid? Especially when you can use the ‘new style’ one without any issues?! Why restrict the old ones to ex UK only? People with the old style (like me!) earned them fair and square although mine has been extended due to the pandemic! Miffed! Lol

  • Tom says:

    has anyone found an easy way to search for avios/reward flight availability for Iberia? Looks like the BA Reward Flight Finder doesn’t allow.

  • Richard Peters says:

    224500 Avios Madrid to New York is a tad more than 68000!

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

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