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This year (1st April onwards) I will probably do 50 segments on OW flights (including Vueling). If I understand correctly, with Club IB (current status Plata due Iberia CC), after 40 segments, I will be IB Gold = BA Silver/OW Sapphire and my Vueling flights will count. If I credit to RJ then after 46 segments (excluding Vueling???) I will be Platinum Hawk = BA Gold/OW Emerald.
I’m looking for a pros and cons for each option please? Do I earn Avios (or convertible points if crediting to RJ?). The real RJ benefits are of course only on the carrier but I could use the upgrade for a trip to the far east…? Advice appreciated.
As Vuelling isn’t a OW airline it’s very unlikely that a flight operated by them would qualify towards RJ status. I can’t say for certain as their website isn’t that clear to me when I read it.
RJ has its own points currency. These are not convertible to avios and also have a different value proposition to avios.
@indiacpapa Take a look at this on FT
VY may have counted for status with IB before the recent IB changes, but whether it still does or not is unclear, there seems to have been a slightly change in the phrasing of the relevant Ts & Cs. Not suggestion that it counts for RJ at all.
It will all depend on what you value most highly – the status benefits (RJ) or collecting an easier to use currency (IB for Avios)
I will probably do 50 segments on OW flights (including Vueling)
It’s still a known unknown if Vueling Will be included (they are not OW).
The wording of the Spanish terms implies that they are, but not in a way which I’m confident about. A Spanish miles site said they had reached out to Iberia for confirmation, but there has been no response to that.
Actually, I’ve just flown a Vueling flight booked with Vueling, with my IB FF number – flight cost less taxes plus seat fee was 87.15, I received 88 elite points.
I did NOT receive flight credit. So from this sample of one, Vueling flights do not count as a segment, at least when booked with Vueling.
Yes, REALLY close to my Plata card….
Closer than with BAC though …
There’s also a long thread on FT specifically about the new IB scheme. I can’t get my head around it but that may be because I don’t really have any incentive to do so for at least another 12 months, by which time various schemes may well have changed their terms again!
Warning: Vueling/Level flights DO NOT count toward RJ segments! Only Iberia metal & Iberia operated by Air Nostrum/Iberia Express. So with the last mentioned no I2 flights, only IB.
For Iberia status it’s only Iberia/Iberia Express flights that count – other Oneworld flights don’t count for status by number of flights. For RJ it’s any Oneworld flight as far as I know, so excluding Vueling or Aer Lingus.
@Tootsci @NorthernLass et. al.
Ostrich was not made Platinum, but has requalified for Gold instead. Glad for that, but back to the drawing board.
1. Iberia operated by Iberia Express flights were NOT credited. So don’t go shuttling to Gran Canary, Ibiza etc.
2. Iberia metal & operated by Air Nostrum flights to destinations that are not included in the Earn Miles Calculator on RJ’s website were NOT credited. So don’t go flying to Badajoz, Castellon de la Plana or a seasonal French destination etc.Ostrich is invested now, so he’ll simply start over: another 46 flights by EOY.
Oh lordy! Thanks for letting us know. Has that been confirmed to you by an RJ CS rep? Poor Ostrich’s wings will be very tired…
The outbound of the quick hop to MAD I’m doing this Sunday is with IB Express 😬 I only bought the cheap BA return to go with it to add two more segments…
Yes thanks for the update. I can’t see why IB Express wouldn’t qualify though 🤷♀️.
Even if the current RJ situation continues into 2026 I feel more confident crediting to IB and doing 40 segments for OWS, I think. Not being able to count MAN-MAD, which is an IB Express route, would create a lot of extra work.
Iberia Express is wholly owned by Iberia but for OW is considered an affiliate so can be treated differently. Air Nostrum is a franchisee and is not owned by Iberia at all. These small differences manifest themselves in different ways including for the purposes of 261.
It was confirmed initially, but I guess that wasn’t correct information? Perhaps others will have differing results. If this were AFKL I would “put in the work to achieve another outcome” since that those are my primary carriers (and very reliable ones at that). Ostrich knew he had to be extremely flexible from the start. Won’t dispute anything, will just try again. Perhaps late qualification would extend OWE to 2028, haven’t seen any data points on this yet either.
@NorthernLass I tend to agree with you on OWS. If Spain is in one’s sphere of travel, and one can manage 40 segments yearly, IB seems like the best option. But in the end it also comes down to what an individual’s requirements are. (I’ve literally only flown BA twice this year for example. It’s more of a gimmick, like earning the Order of The
Balkan Mountains 1st class with sash for, I don’t know, contributions to the Bulgarian steel industry).
@JDB indeed!As you say, if doing mostly IB flights probably less hassle to credit to IB. Whether things credit automatically or not to RJ does seem a bit random in my experience so far. The LHR-OSL leg of my trip last weekend credited about 3 days later, but the OSL-LHR which I flew just under 24h later has yet to credit!
I will wait until about a week after the LGW-MAD-LHR hop I’m doing on Sunday and if need be will do the form / email the CS team to get credit for all 3 segments. Next hop somewhere isn’t until later this month. Will let you know what happens with the IB Express one…
@titaniumostrich post on FT
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/36738818-post663.html
All might not be lost? Will require email(s) to the RJ CS team and no doubt some waiting to hear back as they are seem short staffed but perhaps worth a go?
Definitely worth a try.
I have several IB/IB Express segments booked for the 2nd half of the year so will monitor how they credit and what they earn under the new system. It won’t be much as they’re mostly IB equivalent but it should be possible to scale up.
Alright, alright, you upped my spirits ;). I’ll eagerly wait to hear back.
Fingers crossed they will credit for you Titanium. It is my current plan to do IB/OW segments crediting to RJ starting next year…
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