What are the 2021 Avios peak and off-peak calendar dates for BA, Aer Lingus and Iberia?

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What are the peak and off-peak dates for redeeming Avios points? This article looks at the British Airways, Iberia and Aer Lingus peak and off-peak Avios calendars for 2021.

Remember that these calendars apply to the operating airline and not to where you book your flight. An Iberia flight uses the Iberia calendar even if you book it with the British Airways Avios redemption site.

If you need to refer to this in the future, you can find a link to this article under the ‘Avios’ tab in the HfP menu bar.

What if I am booking a partner airline such as Qatar Airways?

You need to remember that partner airlines are charged at peak rates at all times. This applies to Qatar Airways, American Airlines, Qantas, Cathay Pacific, Finnair etc. You can see the British Airways partner chart here.

Where do the Avios peak and off-peak calendars differ?

I have reproduced the calendars below. You will note that there are substantial differences between the two main calendars for BA and Iberia. Especially when travelling during school holidays on a route served by both by BA and Iberia, it may well be cheaper to book on Iberia or Aer Lingus.

If, for example, you want to travel on British Airways in April 2021, you will be paying the peak Avios price from 1st April until 19th April with just one off-peak day in between.

However, if you look at the Iberia calendar, you can see that Iberia’s peak period is only from 1st until 5th April.

There are also different peak periods around school holidays. On Iberia and Aer Lingus, February, May and October half terms are all off-peak.

The summer holidays peak season starts earlier on Iberia (18th June) and ends one week after BA.

The days around Christmas are also interesting as BA sees the full second half of December as a peak travel time whereas Iberia sees 21st-23rd and 28th-29th December as off-peak dates.

Of course …. you can only benefit from this if Iberia flies to your chosen destination, and you are happy transiting via Madrid. It is also not possible to use a British Airways American Express companion voucher if you fly with Iberia or Aer Lingus.

The 2021 British Airways peak and off-peak Avios calendar:

We have created an online peak/off-peak calendar for 2021 that you can subscribe to on your mobile device or calendar app. It will add an all-day event for peak days. Click here to subscribe to the British Airways calendar.

You can see the British Airways Avios redemption pricing chart here.

The 2021 Iberia peak and off-peak Avios calendar:

Iberia peak offpeak avios redemption calendar 2021

(With thanks to Point Me To the Plane who uncovered the peak dates for Iberia in 2021, which are not openly published.)

You can see the Iberia reward flight pricing chart here.

The 2021 Aer Lingus peak and off-peak Avios calendar:

Aer Lingus peak off peak Avios redemption 2021

You can see the Aer Lingus reward flight pricing chart here.

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: