Just stumbled across this one when writing a monster post, and thought it worth mentioning here. Iberia Avios are wonderful things. They allow you to redeem at the same mileage rates as British Airways Avios, but with much lower taxes and fees. The wonderful thing about them is you can transfer British Airways Avios to Iberia Avios and book the same plane, paying way less money.
The stinker about them is… you have to have a ‘primed’ account with Avios. Primed means your account should be open for 90 days and have at least a single Avios in it. If you have an American Express Card in the Membership Rewards family you can transfer these in. If you don’t the annoying thing of course is earning these Iberia Avios. Well, not anymore… here’s a neat trick for you:
Sign-up for a Marriott account, and select Iberia Plus as your mileage partner. That means for every $1 you spend at Marriott you get to earn Iberia Plus. Whats more.. if you use the link below you also register yourself for a Free Night with Marriott after 2 paid stays.
Free Night after two stays – The Link
If you already have a Marriott account I’m not sure if you want to (or can) sign up for another one to get this, perhaps for a significant other etc or whatnot. On signup, here is a high level guide of how to set Iberia for those of you that have the mind of gerbil:
Also, if you never plan to stay in a Marriott I thought it might be neat to check out other options, and guess what? Hertz is a partner too!
You will note the second image is without arrows, because if you cannot understand what is happening in this image I don’t want to encourage you to drive. That’s stewardship right there.
Show Me the Money!
Wondering what all the fuss is about? Well, here is the price for exactly the same flight, from the BA website and from the Iberia website.
British Airways price for Iberia Metal
Iberia Price for Iberia Metal
For those of you that don’t know what a Euro is worth compared to a dollar – if you are going to Madrid look it up. I could tell you now, but FX rates constantly change, and if you go by what you read on a blog there is a very high chance that you will be tricked by a band of Gypsy’s on your next trip to Europe, and we couldn’t be having that.
I transferred Avios between BA and Iberia this month and the process was very quick and easy. For further reading you might want to check out Five Reasons to transfer to the Other Other Avios -there are more programs than just BA and Iberia that use this very valuable currency.
Can Iberia Avios be used for BA metal? If yes then is there a difference in the fuel surcharge?
Unsure – should be able to but when I search for NYC-LON it routes me on IB metal via MAD. I feel like you could typically work around such routing by demanding the metal on a call in, but calling in to IB is not easy as you have to call Spain…
Matt:
Little confused, here. I have points in my BA Avios account, which have been there for well over a year (been spending and adding, fot BA card, etc.). Can I transfer to Iberia now? Have Iberia account with no points in it now. If I transfer, can I use for same partners in US? Can I use for same partners I could with BA points?
Thanks.
You can’t transfer in BA until you prime the account by putting in IB miles. This post is the answer to your problem: txf MR to IB Plus (not to BA) or earn at a partner like Marriott or Hertz. Once you get some miles in the account this way you have opened the gates to txf BA miles in.
You can use for the same partners – but consider that Avios are best used on Hops – in North America there is no value in using IB over BA since BA only charges $2.50 each way on AA metal. However, there might be value in other routes. See answer above regarding BA metal.
Hi Matt,
I still dont get something…I’ve got the Iberia account opened now for 3 months. But sitting empty. When I do an Amex transfer now, is the account ready for the BA Avios transfer, or does the 3 month clock start now? (in which case, boo…)
I think if the account has been open for 3 months you should be ok after txf… Cost you 1k to find out for sure 🙂
Any problem if my ba avios is a family account??
Not that I know of
Matt,
Your comment that Gypsy’s will trick you in Europe is a little harsh, it’s like saying male blog writers that travel are gay, sure some are but not all.
I don’t trick people and I’m gypsy, and you I presume (likely) never visited a ER for something stuck up your rear-end from strange male on male (un-natural) sex.
Btw, I like the site, avios have saved my family so much over the past few years, last month Bos-Mad 5 seats 340k R/T not bad for a 7 hour flat seat.
Yeah it’s a little harsh, sorry. Stereotypes abound. My father had good relationships with them in the UK and once catered a wedding for the daughter of the King.