Iberia launches Johannesburg for low tax South Africa redemptions

For anyone bemoaning the lack of Avios availability on British Airways flights to South Africa, there is some good news.

Iberia has announced a new ‘three flights per week’ service from Madrid to Johannesburg from August 2016.

It will depart on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays, using a new Airbus A330-300 with a two class configuration.

The 23.45 departure time is convenient if you are travelling down from London after work, with the return landing into Madrid at 6.35am – meaning you still have a chance of getting back to your desk in London before lunch.

A return flight in Business Class is a bargain 85,000 Avios plus just €182 (£132) of tax.  Economy (blue class, ie Iberia’s cheaper redemption bucket) is 42,500 Avios plus €162.  This is off-peak pricing, which covers most of the last third of the calendar year under the Iberia Plus scheme (you can see the Iberia peak and off-peak calendar here).

You MUST book through Iberia Plus to get this pricing.  If you book via ba.com you will get a large fuel surcharge added to your ticket.  As long as your Iberia Plus account is 90 days old and has earned 1 Avios point (a transfer from Amex Membership Rewards would do it) you can use ‘Combine My Avios’ on ba.com to send them across for free.

To put this in context, a flight from London to Johannesburg on BA using Avios on an off-peak date will cost you a whopping 125,000 Avios + £523 – although, with Iberia, you need to factor in the cost of getting to Madrid.

Iberia availability is also very good – the standard two business class flights per seat are there – so you may be able to find seats for dates in early Autumn 2016 where British Airways is currently sold out.

Once in South Africa, you can book connecting flights around the region, including down to Cape Town, using Avios points on Comair, a British Airways franchise partner.

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 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 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:

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

(Want to earn more Avios?  Click here to visit our home page for our latest articles on earning and spending your Avios points and click here to see how to earn more Avios this month from offers and promotions.)