MileValue is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites, such as CreditCards.com. This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. This site does not include all financial companies or all available financial offers. Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more.

Note: Some of the offers mentioned below may have changed or are no longer be available. You can view current offers here.


Through April 11, Iberia Avios awards are being priced with a 25% discount in celebration of the company’s 25th anniversary. The discounted price applies to travel dates now through June 15, 2017 as well as October 1 through December 15, 2017, flying any routes on Iberia, Iberia Express, and Iberia Regional Air Nostrum planes.

The only points that transfer directly to Iberia are Membership Rewards, but at the crappy rate of 250:200. Considering how good of a deal this sale is though, and some of the already cheap Iberia prices between the United States and Europe (especially during Off-Peak Season), even transferring Membership Rewards could represent a good value. But don’t do that if you don’t have to.

Other Ways of Indirectly Transferring Points to Iberia Avios

Hopefully you already have a British Airways Avios Executive Club account and an Iberia Plus account, and both of them have been open for at least 90 days. If so, then you can transfer freely between the two programs. Since Ultimate Rewards and SPG Points both transfer 1:1 to British Airways Avios, move your points from there, and then transfer from British Airways to Iberia. If you transfer SPG Points in increments of 20k, you’ll even get a 5k for every 20k transferred.

Caveats to BA to Iberia Avios Trick:

  • You Iberia Plus account must had at least 1 Avios in it at some point. (You could always make a Membership Rewards to Avios transfer to get those points, or enroll in any current offers for subscribing/participating in email or social media. Some hotel points transfer to Iberia as well, but transfer times could be slow.)
  • Your name, email address, and date of birth must match exactly between British Airways and Iberia accounts.

If you don’t have a British Airways account, open one now, and if you don’t have an Iberia account, open one now, to start the 90 day clock for future times when you want to transfer between accounts. Here is a post from One Mile at a Time explaining detail with screenshots how to handle the transfer. A commenter noted that the process worked for them a month ago–so I have full faith it still works.

All that being said, if you don’t have both accounts open already and aged 90+ days, it still could be worth it to transfer Membership Rewards to Iberia at the 250:200 rate.

Let’s take a look at potential high value Iberia awards you can book during this sale.

Iberia Off-Peak Season

The most saccharine sweetspots are on Iberia’s Off-Peak Season Chart, which applies for any day that’s not red on the following calendars:

Remember, the 25% discount applies to flights now through June 15, as well as October 1 through December 15.

Iberia Off-Peak Season Award Prices

The 25% discount only applies to flights on Iberia, Iberia Express, or Iberia Regional Air Nostrum planes, so let’s take a look at the award charts flying their own metal.

Here’s the Off-Peak Season award chart for flying Iberia.

Considering Madrid as the destination, here are examples of cities that fall in the fifth, and sixth bands (most likely for international flights you’d take):

  • Band 5: Boston, Chicago, New York
  • Band 6: Los Angeles, Miami

That means with the current discount, you can book Iberia Business Class from Boston, New York City, or Chicago to Madrid for only 25,500 Avios, Premium economy for 19,150, or economy for a mere 12,750 Avios.

And from Miami and Los Angeles, you can book Iberia Business Class to Madrid for 31,875 Avios, Premium economy for 23,800 Avios, or economy for just 15,950 Avios

Iberia does collect fuel surcharges on their own flights, but thankfully they’re way reasonable than those collected by British Airways on such transatlantic flights.

For example, here’s how a Premium economy award in November between Chicago and Madrid priced:

…and an economy award between New York City and Madrid in November…

…and a Business Class award between New York City and Madrid in November.

Finally, here’s a Premium economy award between Miami and Madrid in November:

Here’s the Off-Peak Season award chart for flying Iberia Express, which might be useful if you need to hop around Europe during your trip.

Considering Madrid as the base, here are examples of cities that fall in the first three bands:

  • Band 1: Santiago de Compostela, Malaga, Oviedo, Sevilla, Vigo, Menorca, Palma de Mallorca, Ibiza, Nantes, Niece, Rennes, Lyon (only 3,375 Avios + taxes in economy w/discount )
  • Band 2: Las Palmas, Tenerife, Santa Cruz de la Palma, Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, Manchester, Paris (CDG), Napoles, Edimburgh, Dublin, Amsterdam, Stuttgart, Berlin, London (LGW), Birmingham, Cork, Malta (only 5,625 Avios + taxes in economy w/discount)
  • Banda 3: Copenhague, Athens, Budapest, Goteborg, Santorini, Reikiavik, Krakow, Oslo (only 7,500 Avios + taxes in economy w/discount)

Here are the award charts for flying Iberia Regional Air Nostrum (links at bottom of page).

Award Space

What I found through my searches was plenty of award space in economy and Premium economy, and sporadic/less available Business Class space. The Deal Mommy agrees from what she’s seen.

Bottom Line

For redemptions made by April 11, all Iberia awards flying their own planes, on all routes, are eligible for a 25% discount as long as your travel dates are between now and June 15, or October 1 and December 15, 2017. If you can travel during Off-Peak Season within those windows, you can book seriously cheap awards to Madrid right now–even in Business Class, even from the west coast.

If you have both a British Airways Executive Club account and an Iberia Plus account that have been open for 90+ days, then it is more advantageous for you to transfer Ultimate Rewards or SPG Points to British Airways Avios first, then move them (freely) from your BA Avios account to your Iberia Avios account. Ultimate Rewards and SPG Points transfer to British Airways Avios 1:1, while the other most common way to access to Iberia Avios–Membership Rewards transfers– have a ratio of 250:200.

Iberia’s anniversary promotion doesn’t only apply to redemptions. You’ll also earn 25% more Iberia Avios if flying a revenue ticket during the same travel date windows that the redemption discount applies to.

Madrid
Madrid

Hat tip The Deal Mommy

Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.

Just getting started in the world of points and miles? The Chase Sapphire Preferred is the best card for you to start with.

With a bonus of 60,000 points after $4,000 spend in the first 3 months, 5x points on travel booked through the Chase Travel Portal and 3x points on restaurants, streaming services, and online groceries (excluding Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs), this card truly cannot be beat for getting started!


Editorial Disclaimer: The editorial content is not provided or commissioned by the credit card issuers. Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of the credit card issuers, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the credit card issuers.

The comments section below is not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser’s responsibility to ensure all questions are answered.