Iberia devalues its Avios reward chart by up to 20%, but good value remains

Earlier this month, Iberia took a small axe to its reward chart.

We’ve been a bit slow to cover this, I accept, but by the scale of frequent flyer devaluations it was manageable and the best deals are still good ones.

More importantly, taxes and charges remain as low as they were.

You can see the source data on this page of the Iberia website where it looks at airline earning – click on the Iberia logo in the airlines block.

What is the Iberia Club award chart?

From the start of this month, this is the new table based on ONE-WAY flights:

There are two exceptions to this chart. Flights between London and Madrid are priced off the British Airways (unpublished) reward chart. Flights between Madrid and Barcelona, which are branded Air Shuttle, also have separate pricing.

This is very similar to old British Airways chart before Reward Flight Saver was introduced, and is basically close to what the ‘middle’ pricing option is when you book a BA redemption on ba.com.

The big sweet spot – which remains the sweet spot after these changes – is flying Madrid to New York for (off-peak) 40,500 Avios each way in business class.

Up to last month, this flight would have cost you 34,000 Avios each way, off peak, in business class.

The cost in Avios has therefore gone up by 19%.

The good news is that taxes and charges remain low:

Because the taxes and charges element has not gone up, the overall increase (Avios plus taxes and charges) is a lot lower than 19%.

It also goes without saying that getting a business class flight to the US East Coast (or anywhere within 3,000 to 4,000 miles of Madrid) for 81,000 Avios + around £200 return remains a great deal.

Remember that you can use your British Airways 2-4-1 Companion Voucher on Iberia. You would be looking at 81,000 Avios + £472 return for TWO people from Madrid to New York. That’s not bad.

You still need to get to Madrid, of course. In a perfect world you want to book your connection as a separate ticket because it means you won’t pay UK long haul business class Air Passenger Duty of £216.

Where does Iberia fly long-haul?

We published this article showing all of Iberia’s long-haul routes. It is correct as of January 2025.

To get the exact distance of a flight, the easiest option is to visit gcmap.com. In the search box type ‘MAD-XXX’ where XXX is the airport code for where you are going, and click ‘Distance’.

Entering MAD-MIA, for example, shows that Miami is 4,424 miles using the Great Circle Mapper system. This means that an off-peak business class Avios redemption is 50,500 Avios plus taxes and charges each way.

How do you book these Iberia flights with Avios?

You DON’T need to move your Avios to Iberia Club to get this pricing. The same Avios and taxes rates apply when you book via ba.com.

You MUST book via ba.com if you want to use your British Airways American Express 2-4-1 Companion Voucher.

The only reason to book via iberia.com would be if you want to book an economy redemption on Iberia, because you will see more availability when you book via Iberia Club. To do this, you need to use ‘Combine My Avios’ to move your Avios into an Iberia Club account.