Iberia launches a new Avios reward chart, reduces some economy prices

As I mentioned briefly in my article yesterday on Iberia’s current ‘25% off some Avios redemptions’ sale, the airline has published a new redemption chart.  Actually, two new redemption charts for peak and off-peak dates.

I will work this into our main ‘Avios Redemption University’ article on Iberia in case you need to refer to it later.

The changes are wholly positive, surprisingly.

Here is the old Iberia reward chart.  This had become out of date because of Iberia’s new Premium Economy seating and the launch of the Tokyo route.  For clarity – this chart is ONLY for Iberia flights and does not apply to BA flights booked via Iberia Plus.

And here are the new 2017 charts:

Prices marked with a * apply from 10th March 2017.  As you can see, many ‘full fare economy’ tickets are coming down in price.   This is NOT the availability you see if you book an Iberia redemption at ba.com – ‘full fare economy’ availability is a lot better and is only available via Iberia Plus.

If you want the upgrade chart, it is on the Iberia website here.

The list of destinations by band is here:

Chicago has been dropped into Zone 5 instead of Zone 6, in the same way the British Airways makes Cape Town and Johannesburg artificially cheap by putting them into a cheaper zone than they should be.

The scaling between Economy and Business is lower with Iberia.  Premium Economy is 2x Economy with BA, whilst on Iberia it is roughly 50% more.  Business (peak) is 2.5 x compared with 3x on BA.

The sweet spot remains the US destinations in Zone 5.  New York, on BA via ba.com, is 120,000 Avios peak / 100,000 Avios off-peak plus roughly £530 in taxes and charges in Club World.  With Iberia Plus, it is 100,00 peak / 68,000 off-peak plus roughly £175 in taxes and charges for Business – although you need to factor in the cost and time of getting to Madrid.

The new Tokyo route is also substantially cheaper off-peak.  With British Airways you are looking at 180,000 Avios peak / 150,000 Avios off-peak plus £500+ for Club World.  With Iberia, it will be 175,000 Avios peak / 119,000 off-peak plus under £200 of charges.

Finally, remember that Iberia and British Airways have different peak and off-peak dates – you can see the full list here.

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.)