Buying airline points strategically can make a lot of sense, especially for first and business class redemptions, where redeeming points represents a disproportionately good deal. Iberia Plus is currently offering an excellent bonus on purchased points, which some people might find to be worthwhile.
Promotion on purchased Iberia Plus Avios
Through Friday, November 12, 2021, Iberia Plus is offering a 50% bonus on purchased Avios. With this promotion, you can receive a 50% bonus if you buy anywhere between 2,000 and 200,000 Avios in one transaction.
How much does it cost to purchase Iberia Avios?
With Iberia Plus, the cost to purchase Avios varies based on how many you buy, even without any promotions — the more Avios you buy, the lower the cost per Avios. Under normal circumstances, Iberia Plus charges as little as 1.8 cents (in EUR) per Avios, before factoring in any bonuses or discounts.
There’s an important trick to getting the best price when buying Iberia Avios — you want the purchase to be priced in EUR rather than USD. For example, with this 50% bonus offer:
- If you bought 300,000 Avios (including the bonus) in USD you’d pay $5,523
- If you bought 300,000 Avios (including the bonus) in EUR you’d pay €3,601, which is ~$4,160; that’s a huge difference
That means you could buy Avios for as little as ~1.39 cents (in USD) each with this offer.
How can you make sure you’re charged in EUR rather than USD? You just have to go to the top of Iberia’s website and select the Spanish version of the site rather than the US version of the site (you can still use English as the language).
This shouldn’t violate any rules since you’re not claiming your account is registered in a different country. It should work just fine with a US credit card as well.
How many Iberia Avios can you purchase?
Iberia Plus lets you purchase up to 200,000 Avios per account per calendar year, before factoring in any bonuses.
Which credit card should you buy Iberia Avios with?
Iberia Plus Avios purchases are processed by points.com, meaning they don’t count as an airfare purchase for the purposes of credit card spending. Therefore I’d recommend using a card on which you’re trying to reach minimum spending, or otherwise, a credit card that maximizes your return on everyday spending.
In this case the best option is the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card (review), which offers 2x miles and has no foreign transaction fees. Usually the Chase Freedom Unlimited® (review) or Citi® Double Cash Card (review) would also be good options for maximizing everyday spending, but the cards have foreign transaction fees, so wouldn’t be a good option in this case.
- Earn 1% cash back when you make a purchase, earn 1% cash back when you pay for that purchase
- $0
- Earn 3% Cash Back on Dining
- Earn 3% Cash Back at Drugstores
- Earn 1.5% Cash Back On All Other Purchases
- $0
- Earn 2x Venture miles on every purchase
- No Foreign Transaction Fees
- Global Entry/TSA Pre-Check Credit
- $95
- 2x points on purchases up to $50k then 1x
- Access to Amex Offers
- No annual fee
Is buying Iberia Plus Avios worth it?
Generally speaking I’d consider buying Iberia Plus Avios for one of two reasons — you want to redeem them for travel on Iberia, or you want to transfer them to British Airways Executive Club.
The reason redeeming Avios for travel on Iberia is such a good deal is because the carrier imposed surcharges are much lower when booking through Iberia Plus than when booking through British Airways Executive Club. Despite the low fees, the mileage costs are still attractive.
For example, you can redeem for a one-way off-peak business class ticket from New York to Madrid for just 34,000 Avios, or from Chicago to Madrid for just 42,500 Avios. This is an excellent deal, and transatlantic off-peak business class awards are my single favorite use of Iberia Avios.
You could also redeem Iberia Avios on any oneworld partner airline, like American Airlines. This could be a great deal for domestic flights within the United States, for example. However, in general Iberia’s program has more restrictions than British Airways’ program when it comes to those redemptions, which is why I generally recommend transferring Avios to British Airways for free.
Tip: Transfer Avios to British Airways
While there are some good uses of Iberia Avios, you can also transfer Avios between British Airways Executive Club and Iberia Plus, assuming you’ve had both accounts open for at least 90 days, and the accounts have some activity. Therefore this is potentially a good opportunity to buy British Airways Avios at a discount as well (though just make sure you’re aware of the restrictions on transfers).
See this post for more on ideas for redeeming Avios.
How much are Iberia Avios worth?
Everyone will value points currencies differently, but personally I value Iberia Plus Avios at ~1.3 cents each. However, I tend to value points pretty conservatively, and there are many ways to get way more value from AAdvantage miles than that.
Do Iberia Avios expire?
Iberia Plus Avios expire after 36 months of inactivity. Any account activity that includes earning or redeeming Avios would reset the expiration of your points, so it should be pretty easy to keep them alive.
What other ways can you earn Iberia Avios?
While I think there’s a lot of value to be had with Avios, do keep in mind that there are quite a few ways to earn Avios with US credit cards. Iberia Plus is transfer partners with Amex Membership Rewards, Capital One, and Chase Ultimate Rewards.
On top of that, there are three credit cards issued in the US that earn Avios, and they even have phenomenal welcome bonuses:
You can find a detailed comparison of the three cards here.
- 5x Avios points on Aer Lingus
- Annual Companion Certificate
- Priority Boarding on Aer Lingus Flights
- $95
- 5x Avios per dollar spent on purchases with British Airways
- 10% Discount on British Airways Flights
- Reward Flight Statement Credit
- $95
- 5x Avios per dollar spent on purchases with Iberia
- 10% Discount on Iberia Flights
- Iberia $1,000 Flight Discount Voucher
- $95
Bottom line
Iberia Plus is offering a 50% bonus on purchased Avios, which has the potential to represent a solid deal. You could be purchasing Avios for as little as 1.39 cents (in USD) each, which is potentially attractive.
There are some unique uses of Iberia Avios, or alternatively you can transfer them to British Airways, assuming you’ve had both accounts open for at least 90 days.
Do you plan on purchasing Iberia Avios with a 50% bonus?
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Iberia Plus Selling Avios With 50% Bonus - One Mile at a Time
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