Iberia launches a new route to Orlando – Avios and Amex 2-4-1 vouchers accepted

It’s been a while since we covered a new long-haul route launch from Iberia, so it is good to hear about flights to Orlando.

Iberia will launch flights from Madrid to Orlando on 26th October and continue until the end of March.

These will be bookable on Avios although availability is thin at the moment. Remember that British Airways 2-4-1 American Express companion vouchers can be used on Iberia as long as you book via ba.com.

Flights will operate four days per week, on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.

The outbound leaves Madrid at 11.30am, which means that you will probably need to stay overnight in Madrid the day before. It arrives in Orlando at 4.45pm.

The return leaves Orlando at 6.20pm, landing in Madrid at 7.55am the following day. This makes it easy to get a connection back to the UK.

In terms of aircraft, Iberia is using an Airbus A330-300. This has 29 business class seats, 21 premium economy seats and 241 economy seats.

How to book with Avios

The ‘base’ Avios cost of Madrid to Miami is:

• Economy – 21,250 or 25,000 Avios each way, peak or off-peak

• Premium Economy – 31,750 or 43,750 Avios each way

• Business – 42,500 or 62,500 Avios each way

The Iberia peak and off-peak dates are here.

The Iberia website was not allowing you to book these flights for Avios yesterday. It was only showing Economy redemptions and even those were not bookable because the site could not calculate taxes and charges. ba.com was not showing any availability in any cabin. It may be fixed by the time you read this.

That said, with only 75 flights or so in each direction over the whole season, you will struggle to find a lot of Avios availability.

In terms of taxes and charges, the IT issues yesterday mean that I don’t know the cost. However, if you fly from Madrid to Miami, return, the taxes and charges are (this is what you pay at ba.com where it prices in £):

• Economy: £186
• Premium Economy: £189
• Business: £253

…. which is all very reasonable given the low Avios requirement. I assume Orlando taxes and charges will be very similar.

You can read more about the new service at Iberia’s media centre here.

Our last Iberia business class review, albeit of the new A350 seat, is here.

You can look up pricing and availability on iberia.com here.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2025)

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:

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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

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, and the standard card is FREE. Capital on Tap cards also have no FX fees.

There is also a British Airways American Express card for small businesses:

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.