Buying airline points strategically can make a lot of sense, especially for first and business class redemptions, where redeeming points represents a disproportionately good deal. Iberia Plus is currently offering an excellent bonus on purchased points, which some people might find to be worthwhile. This is the program’s first offer of 2023.
In this post:
Promotion on purchased Iberia Plus Avios
Through Wednesday, February 22, 2023, Iberia Plus is offering a 50% bonus on purchased Avios. With this promotion, you can receive a 50% bonus if you buy anywhere between 2,000 and 200,000 Avios in one transaction.
How much does it cost to purchase Iberia Avios?
With Iberia Plus, the cost to purchase Avios varies based on how many you buy, even without any promotions — the more Avios you buy, the lower the cost per Avios. Under normal circumstances, Iberia Plus charges as little as 1.8 cents (in EUR) per Avios, before factoring in any bonuses or discounts.
One major thing to be aware of is that the pricing for purchasing Avios varies significantly based on where your account is registered. For example, with this 50% bonus offer:
- If you bought 300,000 Avios (including the bonus) in USD you’d pay $5,523; that’s a cost of 1.84 cents (in USD) per Avios
- If you bought 300,000 Avios (including the bonus) in EUR you’d pay €3,601, which is ~$3,853; that’s a cost of 1.28 cents (in USD) per Avios
Unfortunately there’s a catch. Back in the day you could purchase Avios in EUR even if your account was registered in the United States, while nowadays that doesn’t seem to be possible anymore. So as you can tell, this offer represents a much better value if your account is registered in the European Union rather than the United States.
How many Iberia Avios can you purchase?
Iberia Plus lets you purchase up to 200,000 Avios per account per calendar year, before factoring in any bonuses.
Which credit card should you buy Iberia Avios with?
Iberia Plus Avios purchases are processed by points.com, meaning they don’t count as an airfare purchase for the purposes of credit card spending. Therefore I’d recommend using a card on which you’re trying to reach minimum spending, or otherwise, a credit card that maximizes your return on everyday spending.
In this case the best option is the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card (review), which offers 2x miles and has no foreign transaction fees. Usually the Chase Freedom Unlimited® (review) or Citi® Double Cash Card (review) would also be good options for maximizing everyday spending, but the cards have foreign transaction fees, so wouldn’t be a good option in this case.
- Earn 1% cash back when you make a purchase, earn 1% cash back when you pay for that purchase
- $0
- Earn 3% Cash Back on Dining
- Earn 3% Cash Back at Drugstores
- Earn 1.5% Cash Back On All Other Purchases
- $0
- Earn 2x Venture miles on every purchase
- No Foreign Transaction Fees
- Global Entry/TSA Pre-Check Credit
- $95
- Earn 2x Venture miles on every purchase
- No Foreign Transaction Fees
- 10,000 bonus miles every account anniversary
- $395
- 2x points on purchases up to $50k then 1x
- Access to Amex Offers
- No annual fee
Is buying Iberia Plus Avios worth it?
Generally speaking I’d consider buying Iberia Plus Avios for one of two reasons — you want to redeem them for travel on Iberia, or you want to transfer them to British Airways Executive Club. Redeeming Avios for long haul flights on Iberia is an exceptional value.
For example, you can redeem for a one-way off-peak business class ticket from Chicago or New York to Madrid for just 34,000 Avios. This is an amazing deal, and transatlantic off-peak business class awards are my single favorite use of Iberia Avios.
You could also redeem Iberia Avios on any oneworld partner airline, like American Airlines. This could be a great deal for domestic flights within the United States, for example. However, in general Iberia’s program has more restrictions than British Airways’ program when it comes to those redemptions, which is why I generally recommend transferring Avios to British Airways for free.
Tip: Transfer Avios to British Airways
While there are some good uses of Iberia Avios, you can also transfer Avios between British Airways Executive Club and Iberia Plus, assuming you’ve had both accounts open for at least 90 days, and the accounts have some activity. Therefore this is potentially a good opportunity to buy British Airways Avios at a discount as well (though just make sure you’re aware of the restrictions on transfers).
Note that you can also transfer Iberia Plus Avios to Aer Lingus AerClub Avios or Qatar Airways Privilege Club Avios.
See this post for more on ideas for redeeming Avios.
How much are Iberia Avios worth?
Everyone will value points currencies differently, but personally I value Iberia Plus Avios at ~1.3 cents each. However, I tend to value points pretty conservatively, and there are many ways to get way more value from Iberia Plus Avios than that.
Do Iberia Avios expire?
Iberia Plus Avios expire after 36 months of inactivity. Any account activity that includes earning or redeeming Avios would reset the expiration of your points, so it should be pretty easy to keep them alive.
What other ways can you earn Iberia Avios?
While I think there’s a lot of value to be had with Avios, do keep in mind that there are quite a few ways to earn Avios with US credit cards. Iberia Plus is transfer partners with Amex Membership Rewards and Chase Ultimate Rewards.
On top of that, there are three credit cards issued in the US that earn Avios, and they even have phenomenal welcome bonuses:
- Aer Lingus Visa Signature® Card (review)
- British Airways Visa Signature® Card (review)
- Iberia Visa Signature® Card (review)
You can find a detailed comparison of the three cards here.
- 3x Avios points on Aer Lingus
- Annual Companion Certificate
- Priority Boarding on Aer Lingus Flights
- $95
- 3x Avios per dollar spent on purchases with British Airways
- 10% Discount on British Airways Flights
- Reward Flight Statement Credit
- $95
- 3x Avios per dollar spent on purchases with Iberia
- 10% Discount on Iberia Flights
- Iberia $1,000 Flight Discount Voucher
- $95
Bottom line
Iberia Plus is offering a 50% bonus on purchased Avios, which has the potential to represent a solid deal. You could be purchasing Avios for as little as 1.28 cents (in USD) each if you have an account registered in the European Union, which is potentially an amazing deal.
There are some unique uses of Iberia Avios, or alternatively you can transfer them to British Airways, assuming you’ve had both accounts open for at least 90 days.
Do you plan on purchasing Iberia Avios with a 50% bonus?
Is anyone getting redirected to a page saying site is down for maintenance? It won't let me get past logging in when on the page to bu them, I'm using the link below, but maybe there's an alternative access that works?
https://www.iberia.com/es/iberiaplus/partners/ocio-compras/compra_regalo_y_transfencia_avios/?sid=pid%7E256371
Even i'm in Switzerland, I get price in USD... I will just don't buy it...
One key point you missed, to buy Avios at Iberia you have to either a) hold one of their cards for at least 90 days, or b) already have Avios in your account.
So, I just created an account but can't even go in to price them. I suppose I could transfer 1K from AMEX just to gain access to pricing and availability...
Is it work.. did you purchase miles?
why do airlines consistently sell points at more than they are worth? for example delta sells you 50,000 sky miles for $1,750. 50,000 Skyniles is only worth around $550. why don’t airlines treat buying miles more like buying gift cards? There is likelihood the points will never be redeemed or will be redeemed for a very poor redemption rate. Plus, redemption rates are constantly being inflated. So, wouldn’t the airline rather have your cash up...
why do airlines consistently sell points at more than they are worth? for example delta sells you 50,000 sky miles for $1,750. 50,000 Skyniles is only worth around $550. why don’t airlines treat buying miles more like buying gift cards? There is likelihood the points will never be redeemed or will be redeemed for a very poor redemption rate. Plus, redemption rates are constantly being inflated. So, wouldn’t the airline rather have your cash up front in exchange for no immediate services provided? I would think, if anything, miles would be sold for less than they could potentially be worth (much like how retailers will discount gift cards sometimes)
They do sell them for less than they're worth. I paid around 50k avios for a SJO-MAD flight in J in January. So by that math I could get 5 or 6 J long haul flights for €3600. That to me is great value.
ok but that seems to be more exception than rule. at least with US carriers - I would say it is very difficult to get ahead with buying miles at their normal rate unless you just need a small top up. For example, Delta business class new york to rome costs $7,775 cash on average day this summer. That same seat in miles costs 750,000 Skymiles. Buying that many skymiles would cost you $26,250 cash....
ok but that seems to be more exception than rule. at least with US carriers - I would say it is very difficult to get ahead with buying miles at their normal rate unless you just need a small top up. For example, Delta business class new york to rome costs $7,775 cash on average day this summer. That same seat in miles costs 750,000 Skymiles. Buying that many skymiles would cost you $26,250 cash. Granted, Delta may occasionally run a sale for buying miles and *perhaps* there is some way to get better value by redeeming skymiles for flights on non-delta metal (though even that is getting quite difficult). Its not just Delta-the math also doesn't check out for most other US carriers
Because people will buy them at inflated prices...