‘Combine My Avios’ is back to Iberia, Aer Lingus and Vueling – but with new rules

‘Combine My Avios’ is back and working!

As we covered two weeks ago, the service had been taken down for transfers between Iberia, Vueling, Aer Lingus and British Airways. Qatar Airways and Finnair were not impacted.

We had assumed that this was due to rampant Avios theft, which was taking advantage of a vulnerability to allow fraudsters to open Iberia Club accounts and suck Avios out of your British Airways Club account.

The good news is that everything seems to be up and running in a new format.

How does it work?

All ‘Combine My Avios’ transactions can now be done from this page at avios.com.

You will see this:

For Iberia, Vueling, Aer Lingus and Loganair, you click the top arrow and you end up here:

You are now creating permanent links

This is the important bit.

The first time you move Avios to or from an Iberia, Vueling or Aer Lingus account, you create a permanent link.

This is new, although it is the route that Qatar Airways, Finnair and Loganair have always used.

When you return to the page in the bottom screenshot, you will see your account numbers and balances for each programme.

Going forward, you do NOT need to re-enter your Iberia, Vueling or Aer Lingus account details each time you want to make a transfer. The details are permanently stored at avios.com and each transfer can be done very quickly, albeit with multiple levels of 2FA security to clear.

I tried it out last night and it seemed to work fine.

You are no longer forced to transfer via a BA account

You no longer need to use British Airways as a conduit, except for Qatar Airways and Finnair.

You can now transfer Iberia to Aer Lingus, Aer Lingus to Vueling, Vueling to Loganair etc in one transaction. You do NOT need to move your Avios into British Airways Club and then out again.

What data do you need to link accounts?

To quote:

The first name, surname, and email address registered on each account must match. If your date of birth is registered on either account, it must also match to complete the linking process.

Accounts cannot be unlinked

Take note! However, you MUST link your accounts to do a transfer now, so there isn’t much you can do about it.

Transfers can no longer be done via the call centre

This could be frustrating for some people. You can only link your accounts online and transfers can only be done online. The call centre can no longer help you.

There are no longer time limits before you can move Avios

You previously had to be a member of Iberia Club for 90 days, and have ‘earned’ an Avios on your account, before you could transfer in or out.

Effective immediately, there are no restrictions on when new accounts can begin to send and receive points.

Congratulations to the Avios team for getting this up and running. Not only should it make your accounts more secure (and end the current Iberia fraud) but it will make future Avios transfers easier.

The ability to move Avios between Aer Lingus, Vueling, Loganair and Iberia without having to go via British Airways first is especially welcome.