Iberia cuts long-haul routes and your low-tax redemption options

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Many people forget that Iberia also has Avios as its reward currency (since BA and Iberia have the same parent) and that you can transfer your Avios into Iberia Plus.

(Transfers of Avios to Iberia Plus can only be done on Iberia Plus accounts which are 90 days old and which have earned 1 Avios.)

This article looks at Reward Flight Saver options from Madrid. This article looks at Iberia’s long haul network.

Iberia is very attractive to Avios collectors because it charges very low taxes. As my July post pointed out, a business class ticket on Iberia from Madrid to New York is 80,000 Avios plus £89 of tax (when booked on the Iberia website). A BA flight from London to New York in business is 80,000 Avios plus £520! If you don’t mind buying a separate flight to Madrid, you can save a lot of money.

Unfortunately, Iberia is a financial basket-case, losing €1.7m per day. In an attempt to restore profitability, it is taking a knife to certain routes for 2013.

Athens, Istanbul, Cairo, Santo Domingo, San Juan, Montevideo and – annoyingly – Havana are to go.

The remaining long-haul (non Europe) destinations are, I think:

Africa – Accra, Algiers, Casablanca, Dakar, Luanda, Malabo (Equatorial Guinea), Oran
North America – Chicago, Miami, New York, Boston, Los Angeles
South America – Bogota, Buenos Aires, Caracas, Guatemala City, Guayaquil (Ecuador), Lagos, Lima, Mexico City, Mauritania, Panama City, Quito, Rio do Janeiro, San Jose (Costa Rica), San Salvador, Santiago, Sao Paulo
Asia – none
Middle East – Tel Aviv

The better news from Iberia is that it will be rolling out its new business class seat across its A340-600 fleet and the A330’s due for delivery in 2013. They will be a variant of the flat EADS Solstys seat.

This is a massive improvement on the current seat:

How to earn Avios points from UK credit cards

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (December 2021)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards. Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways BA Amex American Express card

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up, no annual fee and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending ….. Read our full review

British Airways BA Premium Plus American Express Amex credit card

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the UK’s most valuable credit card perk – the 2-4-1 companion voucher Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points, such as:

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & two airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

30,000 points and an unbeatable set of travel benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital On Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios:

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

The most generous Avios Visa or Mastercard for a limited company Read our full review

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus: