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  This had become out of date because of Iberia’s new Premium Economy seating and the launch of the Tokyo route.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.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2025)

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

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

Get 5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

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

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

30,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £15,000 Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 30,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

80,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large 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, and the standard card is FREE. Capital on Tap cards also have no FX fees.

Capital on Tap Visa

NO annual fee, NO FX fees and points worth 1 Avios per £1 Read our full review

Capital on Tap Pro Visa

10,500 points (=10,500 Avios) plus good benefits Read our full review

There is also a British Airways American Express card for small businesses:

British Airways American Express Accelerating Business

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

There are also generous bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These cards are open to sole traders as well as limited companies.

American Express Business Platinum

50,000 points when you sign-up and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and FREE for a year 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.