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Iberia changes announced – earning status could be almost as easy as it is now under BA!

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Iberia has announced changes to Iberia Plus this afternoon.

As expected, it will be easier to earn status by crediting British Airways flights to Club Iberia Plus than British Airways Club.

You will also earn elite points when you spend with non-flying partners, up to 30% of your status requirement.

Importantly, you will get bonus elite points on British Airways flights credited to Club Iberia Plus.

My maths shows that, for business class flyers, you could earn status as easily in Club Iberia Plus as you can currently earn it in British Airways Executive Club.

IMPORTANT: We have written this article based on information supplied by Iberia but, with so much to digest and some in Spanish, errors could have occurred.

How will Club Iberia Plus work?

In theory it is a similar system to the new BA one.

However, it is NOT linked directly to spend.

€1 of net spend =1 elite point BUT there will be bonuses on top based on your travel class.

This applies to spend on Iberia, British Airways and American Airlines. Other oneworld partner airlines are treated differently as I explain below.

What are the new Club Iberia Plus tiers?

This is what will happen:

  • Plata – equivalent to British Airways Bronze – 3,500 elite points or 20 segments
  • Oro – equivalent to British Airways Silver – 7,500 elite points or 40 segments
  • Platino – equivalent to British Airways Gold – 20,000 elite points or 90 segments
  • Platino Prime – also equivalent to BA Gold – 30,000 elite points

The Infinita and Infinita Prime levels remain but I am ignoring those given the spend requirement.

Note that Platino is actually only 19,000 elite points because, when you hit 18,000 points, you receive 1,000 bonus elite points. For simplicity I have used 20,000 elite points throughout this article.

Platino and Platino Prime will come with upgrade vouchers as an extra benefit.

IMPORTANT: Qualification by segments is ONLY available on Iberia and Iberia Express-coded flights. It does NOT include British Airways or even Vueling flights.

‘Travel class’ bonuses look decent

Whilst British Airways Club is offering short term tier bonuses, these will be a permanent part of the new Iberia scheme.

You get, when flying Iberia:

  • 75 to 150 bonus elite points per segment based on short haul economy ticket type
  • 175 to 275 bonus elite points per segment based on short haul business ticket type
  • 150 to 250 bonus elite points per segment based on long haul economy ticket type
  • 275 to 325 bonus elite points per segment based on long haul premium economy ticket type
  • 350 to 600 bonus elite points per segment based on long haul business ticket type and route
Iberia Plus changes

Iberia gave an example of someone flying 10 return trips to Bilbao from Madrid in flexible business at €270 return (€243 base fare).

In theory this earns you 2,430 elite points towards status.

However, the ‘class of travel’ bonus is substantial. You’d get an extra 550 elite points per return trip, giving you a total of 7,930 elite points for the 10 trips.

This means that you can earn British Airways Silver equivalent for €2,720 of spend – in this example – vs around £10,000 of spending if you were a BA flyer.

Don’t fly in flexible business class? It’s still not a bad deal.

Iberia gave an example of someone taking four ‘Optima’ economy flights to Paris Orly at €300 return.

€1,200 of gross spend means €1,080 of net spend. This would earn 1,080 elite points BUT you also get a bonus of 600, for a total of 1,680.

Important: British Airways flights earn bonuses

You will earn the following bonus elite points when crediting a British Airways flight to Club Iberia Plus:

  • Short-haul – 75 elite points in economy, 175 elite points in business
  • Long-haul (3,000+ miles) – 150 elite points in economy, 275 elite points in premium economy, 350 elite points in business, 450 elite points in first class

Important: oneworld flights will earn at an attractive flat rate

Unlike British Airways Club, which is giving you elite points on oneworld partners at a % of miles flown, Club Iberia Plus will earn at a flat rate.

Take a look at this:

If you fly business class to Bangkok from London on Qatar Airways, you would earn 5,000 elite points.

This is just about enough for BA Silver equivalent (Iberia Oro) status if you earn the maximum 30% of elite points that can come from partners. Oro is 7,500 tier points but reduces to 5,250 if you earn 22,500 Avios from partners.

You can earn status points via partner earnings

When you earn Avios with Iberia non-airline partners, you will ALSO earn elite points.

The rate will be 10:1.

Note that these do NOT replace the Avios you earned. You will receive Avios AND elite points on partner transactions.

You CANNOT convert American Express Membership Rewards points into status points. However, points earned from the Iberia shopping portal DO count.

You can earn 30% of the points needed for status via this method.

Iberia Plus changes

The following are EXCLUDED as ways of earning status points from partners:

  • Avios transfers and gifts
  • Transfers of currencies from other loyalty programmes to Iberia Plus Avios (this includes American Express Membership Rewards, looking at the small print)
  • Avios transferred or merged from accounts in British Airways, Vueling, Aer Lingus, Finnair or Qatar Airways programmes
  • Welcome bonus rewards (e.g. when signing up for a new credit card)
  • Promotional Avios collected with Iberia Plus bonus rewards
  • Avios collected as prizes in competitions and draws, whether for winning or participating
  • Complimentary Avios and compensation for incidents
  • Avios collected on flights

Conclusion

These spend thresholds, given the reduced purchasing power of the Spanish market, are at the very top end of expectations. I understand they were only set at this level under pressure from British Airways.

What Iberia has done in response is effectively reduce the thresholds by 30% by allowing you to earn elite points from partners.

The threshold has been reduced even further by offering permanent bonus points on all flights on BA, American Airlines and Iberia and generous earning rates on other oneworld partners.

It’s a shame that Membership Rewards transfers do not count as this would be an easy win for UK members. However, earning 22,500 Avios per year from the Iberia estore (to earn you the maxmium 2,250 elite points towards Oro / BA Silver equivalent) should be possible.

Here’s an example.

You pay £350 return for a BA Club Europe flight of which £275 is base fare.

  • In British Airways Club, you earn 275 base elite points towards the 7,500 required for Silver – you need 37 (!) trips to earn a Silver card
  • In Club Iberia Plus, you earn 330 base elite points (£275 = €330) plus 350 bonus elite points for a total of 680 points towards the 7,500 required for Silver (or 5,250 if you earn the maximum 2,250 elite points allowed from partners) – you need as few as 8 trips to earn the equivalent of a Silver card

In fact, the maths would actually be the same as it is now in many cases if you are flying business class:

Here’s a short haul comparison:

  • A Club Europe return flight to Frankfurt currently earns 80 tier points in Executive Club, so BA Silver requires eight returns
  • Under the new Iberia system, you also need eight return Club Europe flights to Frankfurt, assuming each is £350 return (£275 / €330 net) and you earn the maximum allowed number of elite points from non-flying partners

Here’s a long haul comparison:

  • A return Qatar Airways business class flight to Bangkok currently earns 560 tier points in Executive Club, out of the 600 you need for Silver
  • Under the new Iberia system, a return Qatar Airways business class flight to Bangkok earns 5,000 tier points in Club Iberia Plus, out of the 5,250 you need for Oro (Silver) status, assuming you earn the maximum number of elite points from non-flying partners

Perhaps Club Iberia Plus will be a happy home for many HfP readers?

More to follow as we get the full details.

You can find out more on the Iberia website here.

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Category

Iberia and Club Iberia Plus

Comments (443)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Zain says:
    16 Feb16 February 09:52

    Can I check why are folks recommending MH or RJ to achieve status? I contacted their respective FF customer service teams and the redemption rates on alliance partners are quite poor. What use is status if you can’t actually redeem your accumulated points?

    Or is everyone banking on trying to use OWE/OWS perks via MH/RJ but then do a last minute switcheroo to an Avios program to hoard useable points? My concern is that door may shut at some point.

    Any thoughts?

    • Larry says:
      16 Feb16 February 12:20

      you trade worse point earnings for ease of getting status, there’s no universally accepted ‘better program’, it all depends on your individual circumstances, preferences and flying patterns

  • Cicero says:
    16 Feb16 February 10:10

    Rob quoted here: https://www.thetimes.com/travel/advice/the-new-loyalty-scheme-that-can-rescue-your-british-airways-status-nqqc7ccsh

    BA management are not very bright

    • Martin S says:
      16 Feb16 February 11:13

      The Times have mixed up the concept of flying with an airline and crediting a flight to a FF scheme of an airline. Several times they talk about switching to Iberia flights.

      • Dubious says:
        16 Feb16 February 12:10

        Perhaps they have updated the article, because I don’t see that.
        Quote:
        “Enter your Iberia Club membership on your Cathay booking and you will earn 3,200 tier points.”

        • Points Hound says:
          16 Feb16 February 12:40

          End of the opening paragraph:

          “Iberia, its European business partner airline, has unveiled changes to its loyalty scheme and canny travellers have realised that they can attain coveted silver or gold status more cheaply by flying Iberia than by flying BA”.

          Pretty clear the above refers to flying in Iberia metal.

          • Richie says:
            16 Feb16 February 14:28

            ..or do they mean flying with an Iberia flight number when the operating air carrier is British Airways or British Airways Euroflyer or British Airways Cityflyer or an Iberia One World affliate airline such as Air Nostrum or Iberia Express?

          • Points Hound says:
            16 Feb16 February 15:54

            That’s what the article goes on to confirm absolutely, but for the opening paragraph to such an article, that last sentence certainly infers that the author meant flying on an Iberia aircraft as opposed to a BA one using an IB FF number, as the OP pointed out was the misconception at points in the article.

            I only pointed this out in reply to @Dubious who said he/she could not see any mention of switching to Iberia flights in the article.

    • RC says:
      16 Feb16 February 12:23

      BA management?
      You mean the ‘smartest guys in the room’ (and they are all middle aged white men – no diversity at all).
      I’d encourage anyone to search ‘vasu raja AA’, to see where a combination of arrogant misplaced confidence about a new paradigm gets you.

      • Richie says:
        16 Feb16 February 13:16

        @RC sounds like you have enough material for a book.

      • Rob says:
        16 Feb16 February 13:56

        To be fair they are probably the best that the money buys you!

        Oliver Ranson was estimating the new Head of Revenue Deliver will only be on £99k if it is an internal appointment https://revman.substack.com/p/bas-new-head-of-revenue-delivery and this is one of the key roles in the airline. No wonder staff can’t afford to try out other airlines 🙂

        • Cicero says:
          16 Feb16 February 16:39

          That is the problem. It is logical that BA applied the “cost-cutting is in our DNA” approach to management salaries, as well as to other aspects of the airline, and the result is the low-calibre individuals who have created this mess.

        • yonasl says:
          17 Feb17 February 07:15

          I know an IAG ex consultant with director level. Thy are allowed to “expense” £500,000 to IAG flights in addition to having Gold and also elite status in hotels and car rentals. Don’t just look at the salary level.

          • Rob says:
            17 Feb17 February 07:38

            You clearly haven’t met any real BA divisional management. Come to our summer party and meet some and see the reality.

  • bigbaby says:
    16 Feb16 February 16:24

    can i ask what may be a very daft question, but please be patient with me..

    if i have an economy ticket return to frankfurt with BA that costs me GBP200 and useable spend is 130, 1) how many tier points do i get if i left it with BA FF program and how many tier points do i get if i used my Iberia FF number on that same BA flight instead, including bonuses etc…? Apologies if it is obvious to everyone, i am still in the dark and would appreciate help..

    • Rob says:
      16 Feb16 February 16:31

      130 on BA (out of 7,500 for Silver or 20,000 for Gold) – this excludes the current temporary BA bonuses. You hit Silver with 58 returns.

      155 + 75 + 75 on Iberia = 305, assuming it triggered the lowest Iberia bonus of 75 points each way and that £130 = €155. You hit Silver with 25 returns.

      However, if this was your regular flight BA would be just as good because 25 x return flights will get you Silver because you’d hit 50 sectors, so you can forget the ’58 returns’ number above.

      • bigbaby says:
        16 Feb16 February 16:36

        thats super helpful – thanks! and the actual Avios earned would be otherwise the same regardless of whether i credited the flight to BA (Ba flight) or IB? working assumption is no prior status w BA or IB (so BLue or equiv)..?

        • Lady London says:
          16 Feb16 February 22:06

          Yes and if you decide to go for the 50 flights method of qualifying then if you have to connect from your local airport via London then that would tick off 4 flights per return out of the 50.

          Also if you look at flights offered if you’re going abroad somewhere where BA only flies part way and you have to switch to another airline on tbe journey to get where you’re going then look at options carefully as sometimes that second leg on another airline will have a BA flight number and mostly that counts as a BA flight for your 50.

          Best to book directly with the airline wherever possible unless it’s a corporate trip with a decent corporate travel agent if you can regardless of tempting pricing as these things are easier to be sure about that way and if something goes wrong you:d be in a world of potential pain with most purely online sellers.

          • bigbaby says:
            17 Feb17 February 06:34

            thanks! i am london based so the regional UK won’t apply for that leg, but i guess my angle was – if i have to do 20 return trips to Frankfurt w BA (FF credited to Iberia) as per above, and also i do two occasional trips (business) credited to IB, to the USA, which usually is the pattern, how far would i be from the Iberia equivalent of BA gold? i assume Biz ticket to NY is about 3200gbp.

            so on the above example, 20 returns to frankfurt at 305 points each = c. 6000 tier points

            2 returns business to NYC at 3600 eur equiv = 7200 points + the bonus at 350 per flight business x 4 = 1400 = 8600 –

            Is that about all in 14,400 tier points? if someone can confirm if this is remotely accurate, will be appreciated! Also, im this case do i still need 20,000 points for the gold or was there some sort of a discount …?

            Thanks a lot!

  • BobtheBuilder says:
    16 Feb16 February 17:18

    To earn emerald with Iberia, do I have to take 1 or more Iberia flights (if I meet the 20K tier point criteria)?

  • Robert says:
    16 Feb16 February 17:44

    I know this question has been asked before in various ways, but I haven’t seen a definitive answer to to it.
    I understand from the thread that if you have BA Gold or Silver and want to build status with IB form 1 April, the best way is to use BA FF when booking, checking in, fast track, and getting into the lounge. (assume no status on IB).

    The question is, what is the best way to switch the FF number from BA to IB once you are in the lounge?
    – Is it going to the customer desk in the lounge? (some have mentioned this, but will they always do it?)
    – Is it by using the BA chat feature?
    – Is it by using Royal Air Maroc website?

    What are pros and cons of those 3 methods (assuming they are all valid?)
    Bonus question: If you switch FF to IB before departure, is there a risk that your boarding group gets reset to 9 (or whatever group pertains to your travel class if it’s lower than you Gold or Silver group). I would worry especially about the CS desk in the lounge reissuing the boarding card without the group entitlement.
    Thank you in advance for your help on this.

    • BA Flyer IHG Stayer says:
      16 Feb16 February 20:47

      If you change your number to IB and there is no status with that then of course you’re more then likely to be bumped down the boarding group list.

      You can’t have everything!

  • NorthernLass says:
    16 Feb16 February 17:59

    You don’t specifically need IB status to access a lounge, so I’m not sure why you’d need to do this.

  • AA says:
    16 Feb16 February 20:05

    Daft question alert:

    Currently BA Gold for 2025/26. Most of my flights are from the UK to Asia, Middle East and Spain. From April 1, based on Asia/Middle East flights being on Business and EU flights in economy, what is the best FF programme for me?

    Currently use a mix of Qatar/Finnair/BA to get to Asia and Middle East, all from EDI.

    Rarely fly Iberia as it’s normally Vueling.

    Any advice greatly appreciated.

  • G says:
    17 Feb17 February 12:33

    Forgive my ignorance, but where in the Iberia Plus FAQ do the 1000 Bonus Elite Points feature? An ‘automatic’ 5% discount on the level required for Platino (BA Gold equiv.) seems quite generous?

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

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