Through tomorrow, Iberia is running what I’d consider to be the airline promotion of the year. The airline is offering 9,000 bonus Avios for every flight you book directly on iberia.com. The best part is that the Avios are supposed to post within 10 days of when you book. Given that some Iberia tickets are $30 one-way, this is an opportunity to essentially buy 90,000 Avios for about $300, which is an insane deal. Yesterday I booked 10 tickets from Malaga to Madrid to take advantage of this offer.
The catch to be aware of is that the Avios have to be redeemed by December 1, 2018, so they come with a different expiration than your normal Avios.
While I’ve covered most of these things individually, I’m getting many of the same questions over and over, so wanted to answer some FAQs in this post, for anyone who is still on the fence about this promotion.
Can you convert these Iberia Avios into British Airways Avios?
Typically you can convert your Iberia Avios into British Airways Avios at a 1:1 ratio, though don’t count on this being possible here. These Avios not only come with a special expiration policy, but also apparently can’t be transferred regularly. They say that if a customer transfers these Avios to their Executive Club account, “they will have a negative balance in the Iberia Plus programme, as those Avios wouldn’t have been spent by the date mentioned above.”
I don’t know what exactly that means in practice, but I wouldn’t count on being able to transfer points in such a way. Or at least I wouldn’t take advantage of the promotion with the specific intent of doing that. It’s possible that you will be able to transfer Avios, though I’m not sure about the implications of having a negative Iberia Plus balance.
What’s the deadline to book under this offer?
The promotion is valid for bookings through Sunday, June 24, 2018. Since Iberia Plus is based on Spain, I’d expect the promotion to expire on local time, so you’ll have to book by 6PM ET, for example.
If I book multiple passengers on one reservation, does everyone qualify?
Yes, as long as you have everyone’s Iberia Plus number on the reservation, each member should qualify for the 9,000 bonus Avios.
Are one-way tickets eligible for this promotion?
Yes, absolutely, and Iberia has confirmed this on Twitter.
Hi, the promo is also valid for one way flights 😉
— Iberia_en (@Iberia_en) June 22, 2018
Can I book through a third party website?
Some have asked if it’s possible to book through a third party website, like wanting to redeem Ultimate Rewards points towards the cost of these tickets. Nope, in order to qualify you have to book directly on iberia.com.
Do I need to register for this promotion?
Nope. Just make sure you book an Iberia ticket through iberia.com during the promotion period, and add your Iberia Plus number to the booking. If you do that, you’re all set.
Do my Iberia Avios have to be redeemed for travel by December 1, 2018?
You have to redeem your Avios by December 1, 2018, though you can travel on a subsequent date. Generally Avios can be redeemed for travel up to 355 days out, so you could book for travel through November 2019.
Are there residency requirements for taking advantage of this promotion?
The terms & conditions don’t indicate that there are any residency requirements. However, some other blogs have mentioned that you have to book your ticket through iberia.com in Spain, France, Italy, Germany, Portugal, Russia, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Peru, Mexico, or the US, regardless of the origin of the flight.
I don’t see that in the terms, and I also don’t see any indication that the Iberia Plus account has to be registered in one of those countries, though this is one of the few grey areas of the promotion.
Do you actually have to take your flight?
An Iberia spokesperson has said “our Iberia Plus cardholders will be able to keep the promotional Avios, if they don’t fly the purchased segments.” The bonus Avios are supposed to post within 10 days of when you book the ticket, so if you book the ticket for travel next year, you’ll have earned and spent your Avios long before you have the chance to take the flights.
Do you need the Iberia Plus Credit Card to take advantage of this offer?
Some people have been confused since because many of the official statements from Iberia have talked about “Iberia Plus cardholders.” Outside the US, being a frequent flyer program member is often referred to as being a “cardholder,” and that’s the case here as well. So you don’t need any credit card to take advantage of this offer.
Is it too late to take advantage of this promotion?
Nope! Fares are still readily available. The best deal I see right now is for travel from Santander (SDR) to Madrid (MAD). Just book 10 one-way tickets on iberia.com for travel next year (there’s lots of availability in April and May).
The all-in cost is $27.73 per ticket.
Can you open multiple Iberia Plus accounts to take advantage of this multiple times?
The program terms limit you to one Iberia Plus account per person, so I wouldn’t mess around with that. However, your family members and friends can certainly open up their own Iberia Plus accounts (and you can assist them with that), and then you can book tickets for them.
Will Iberia honor this promotion?
Not only are the terms of this promotion pretty clear, but Iberia has been actively promoting the promotion and responding to people about it. This isn’t us taking advantage of some fat finger mistake, but rather this genuinely seems to be how they published the promotion. Whether or not a high level executive will be happy with this at some point is a whole different question when they see how widely this was taken advantage of is a whole different question.
Given all the restrictions, is this really worth it?
There are certainly a few restrictions here. You have to redeem Avios by December 1 (though travel can be on a subsequent dates), and there are general questions about whether or not they’ll honor the promo (I don’t see how they can’t, at this point).
So, is it worth it? What it comes down to here is that you’re acquiring Avios for about a third of a cent each. That’s an insanely low price, about a quarter of what I value them at. Everyone has to decide their risk vs. reward tolerance, but in my case I feel comfortable with this. If I were paying close to a cent per Avios I might not take advantage of this given the expiration date of these Avios, but at this cost I absolutely think it’s worth the (relatively) small risk, not to mention I’m just generally excited about seeing how this plays out.
As I explained in a previous post, my plan is to redeem 96,000 Avios for roundtrip American A321 first class between New York and Los Angeles, with no carrier imposed surcharges. I’ll just need to transfer over another 6,000 Avios (either from British Airways or Ultimate Rewards), and then I’ll have a three cabin first class ticket for less than I’d pay for coach.
How are you guys feeling about this promotion? How many tickets have you and your family booked? Anyone voluntarily sitting this one out?
I have a tricky question. Like everybody else, I booked flights within Spain to get these Avios. Now I realize I might want to book the award travel (not in Spain, of course) on the same day for which I booked the ticket I payed for (which I never intended to use) . Is the Iberia system going to cancel the award tickets because I will have two different tickets on different routes on the same day ?
The promo page is still alive on the Iberia US website, so I would imagine it's good for US locations until 11:59pm (Hawaii?). Not just CET midnight.
https://www.iberia.com/us/offer/iberia-plus/win-a-trip-with-avios/
I couldn't find any references indicating the 6pm deadline belongs to a loca Spain time. So it seems we could interpret is as local time where the purchase is taking place. Thoughts anyone?
Thanks @Tiffany!
No need to be fused about booking through link or not
1. on their website it wrote 'ibria.com' , that s it. That s legal by law. If they dont allow you to have mile then cliam dispute with credit card company
2. The link doesnt work anyway. When log in from the link page, it got error and sometime not show booking zone, sometime redirect to main page. So no need to be concern about.
Booked 10 tickets for a total of EUR 277 on random Spanish domestic flights. I will use none of these flights obviously. The plan is to simply move the 90.000 Avios to my BA Executive Club account and stay negative -90.000 on my Iberia account for ever. Am I missing something? Where is the catch?
@AlanD . I just got off the phone with Iberia trying to cancel flights because i read the same thing here. However, the agent confirmed for me that any flights booked directly on Iberia website will qualify for the bonus avios. So I am counting on that to be true.
@Tiffany I'm a little anxious about these new posts saying we have to book through the promotion link. The T&C's and everything coming out on Friday just said "on iberia.com" It's obviously too late to cancel those flights now. Should we be okay?
@ AlanD -- I don't know, unfortunately, and have only heard people start to say that in the past few hours. The last "official" word we got from Iberia was that anything booked on the website would work, but other people had reps tell them that phone/app bookings were also fine.
It's a little tricky to filter through the information (and mis-information) at this point, but we'll keep you updated as we know more.
The award availibility is really difficult. I see open wide award space on AA.com and alaskaair.com between MIA-LAX aswell as MIA-SFO but Iberia keeps giving the same error on these routes.....am I missing something?? I mean I can't even search normal fares between these routes as they say they are unavailable.....
I think this is a really good time for the OMAAT team to live up to the whole points and travel scheme.
While most promo's and deals are only make sense to the few who are familiar with programs and travel junkies, this is one promo in a long time that really makes sense for anyone and I think for a lot of people actually made sense to do.
Judging from the questions...
I think this is a really good time for the OMAAT team to live up to the whole points and travel scheme.
While most promo's and deals are only make sense to the few who are familiar with programs and travel junkies, this is one promo in a long time that really makes sense for anyone and I think for a lot of people actually made sense to do.
Judging from the questions on all these posts, many people partook in the promo because it was feasible but now don't know what to do with the Avios. ie. the website is tricky, rewards arent showing, i didnt use the promo link but still booked on iberia.com, etc. etc. etc.
I think this is a really good situation for the team to step by step follow the promo, list options, and in a way enlighten people how to really utilize points efficiently......after all isnt this a miles and points blog aimed at helping people??
@Michelle-I too booked via the regular website, but then read that you must book through the link. So I went back to the home page and saw the promo and clicked on the Avios icon and it brought me through to the page where it said, Collect 9000 Avios and had the booking window. I called Iberia to cancel the ones I booked not through the promo link and they did that for me.
For...
@Michelle-I too booked via the regular website, but then read that you must book through the link. So I went back to the home page and saw the promo and clicked on the Avios icon and it brought me through to the page where it said, Collect 9000 Avios and had the booking window. I called Iberia to cancel the ones I booked not through the promo link and they did that for me.
For everyone having trouble, Firefox works great and if you are having problems with Safari or Chrome, just quit those browsers and reopen them and start again. It should go through very smoothly. At least mine did. And I was also able to speak to Iberia on their English toll free number very quickly.
There are still ALOT of $34 fares from SVQ to MAD Feb-May 2019. And you cannot book more than 330 days from now for this promotion. Hope that helps. Make sure your Avios # is in the record.
@Tiffany: I'm looking for AA round trip availability between NYC and MIA.
@ Dave -- That should work. Try searching on alaskaair.com so you know specific dates and flights with availability before trying to use the Iberia site.
I didn't book through the promotional link but just direct on Iberia.. is that okay?
Hi all, I created my account two days ago and was just able to update my membership number onto each ticket online.
@Fred S
I do click promotion link. However, you cant log in to your account via promotion link page. When you click the human icon on right conner to log-in, it went automatic to some kind of error page. That page is still have Iberia menu and everything, just no place for you to book a flight. I have to click to main page to book flight. Their website is so very very low standard....
@Fred S
I do click promotion link. However, you cant log in to your account via promotion link page. When you click the human icon on right conner to log-in, it went automatic to some kind of error page. That page is still have Iberia menu and everything, just no place for you to book a flight. I have to click to main page to book flight. Their website is so very very low standard.
Sometime you already log-in. And when click on some page the new page become not log in. I really wonder with a huge organization like this why cant they hire a really good web and IT guy to do some work.
---------
And ...by all means. Even for people who dont know that need to click via the link. On their website the T&C did not say you need to click link. it said book through 'iberia.com' so regardless of they give you the miles or not. You can always disputes charge with credit card company. The proof is there. I have print screen and keep all evident.
I’ve never booked with iberia before. After receiving the points. Can I book flights for others. Ex: my parents. I wouldn’t be flying. Only them.
@ Mike I -- Yes, there's no restriction as to who you can book for.
I just spoke with Iberia and they confirmed that the bookings have to be made through the specific promotion link to receive the bonus points.
Since I booked directly via iberia.com (didn't search for flights on the input mask on the promotion link), I requested to cancel all bookings, since it's been <24 hours. Too high of a risk that they bail out afterwards.
Hi Ben, hi all,
Thanks for all the information! I have a question about the expiration date of the promo. I'm not a native English speaker and i'm wondering what BY june 24th actually means. If i read the terms and conditions in Spanish it looks like that all bookings between 21st and 23rd are eligible. How do you guys read the terms and conditions?
@ Michael -- Between the 21st and 11:59PM Spanish time on the 24th should be fine.
I try to ask my friend what should i do with the miles. So I went into Iberia website and try to see award chart availabilities. And cant find any flight except those that operate by Iberia and sub under. No oneworld flight available at any dates.
How can you use this avois to book oneworld flight Im confuse? Someone mentioned above that it should be the same with BA availability....no, BA have ton of...
I try to ask my friend what should i do with the miles. So I went into Iberia website and try to see award chart availabilities. And cant find any flight except those that operate by Iberia and sub under. No oneworld flight available at any dates.
How can you use this avois to book oneworld flight Im confuse? Someone mentioned above that it should be the same with BA availability....no, BA have ton of flight show but IB dont show any available flight at all weather i put one way or two way flight.
@ KJ -- The search tool can be annoying, but it's definitely possible. I've pulled up several itineraries today -- you have to search for a round-trip, using specific airport codes, and if there isn't space you won't get results.
Ok i just called iberia since i made account today. The account needs 24-72 hours to get activate. Once its activate, you can contact ibera and ask them to add your iberia plus number and yes you will be eligible to earn these avios even though if it doesn’t work whilst your making a booking( which is not working).
Don't forget that they can be used on hotels and car rentals too. I tried in vain yesterday to get award availability on routes that I need and no luck. So then I searched for the hotels in places I have booked and they are available, so I will use my Avios to book 2 or 3 room nights at a 1/3 of the price and save my own miles and cash.
I think the biggest, and most realistic, risk here is award availability. Something tells me that the scale of the promotion is going to make partner airlines severely restrict award availability to IB until December 1, and that for that reason IB will not allow transfer of the promotional avios to BA. Otherwise they will be facing the ire of their own frequent flyers.
I bought the 10 tickets yesterday, but am considering cancelling...
I think the biggest, and most realistic, risk here is award availability. Something tells me that the scale of the promotion is going to make partner airlines severely restrict award availability to IB until December 1, and that for that reason IB will not allow transfer of the promotional avios to BA. Otherwise they will be facing the ire of their own frequent flyers.
I bought the 10 tickets yesterday, but am considering cancelling them now, counting on the 24-hour grace period, although I'm not entirely sure all my purchases registered as US-based given that some were denominated in Euros (one of the wonders of the IB site)... I believe the 24-hour grace period is only available in the US.
Can Lucky or anyone please provide an example of AA domestic US availability they have found on the Iberia site?
@ Dave -- I've searched several routes today, and found space on AA -- what routes are you looking for?
2 questions:
1) what if I buy fully refundable tickets far in advance, use the Avios, fly the award ticket; then refund the tickets?
2) transfer to BA, then have negative IB, never use IB again?
@ Jordan -- If you refund the tickets, you'll lose the Avios. If you don't mind abandoning your Iberia account forever, it sounds like #2 is an option.
Even when I find a route that "works" using "pay with Avios", it seems to return the cash price results... bah.
@Jonathan:the document number glitch in the passport field to get the Iberia Plus number has been an issue before this promotion started. The glitch has to do with non-Spanish passport numbers. If you type in A1234B (you can use any beginning and ending letters and any four numbers in the middle), you don't get the error, and you will get a new membership number. Then you can book the flights before the promotion expires and...
@Jonathan:the document number glitch in the passport field to get the Iberia Plus number has been an issue before this promotion started. The glitch has to do with non-Spanish passport numbers. If you type in A1234B (you can use any beginning and ending letters and any four numbers in the middle), you don't get the error, and you will get a new membership number. Then you can book the flights before the promotion expires and get the Avios. You can later fix the passport number with a customer service person or sometimes via the website, but you don't need to fix it until shortly before you actually fly.
I was able to create an account just now, but also not finding the domestic availability online, even if found on AA.com... I'm a bit hesitant to pull the trigger if I won't be able to use these domestically.
@Jonathan I ran into this issue yesterday, I don’t think it’s the promotion but rather their crappy IT. When you call their customer service they give you an email, [email protected], send them your info and they’ll create an account for you. Took about 12 hours for me.
Just finished booking 2 x 10 one-way Tkts from SDR to MAD @ $28/tkt. Site kept crashing and Safari stopped working altogether. Got through using Chrome. Slow to load but patience is the key. Took a couple of hours to get it all done but $560 for 180,000 avios is worth the effort. Yeah, now the trick of trying to use them to maximum efficiency is before me. Hoping to go LAX to Colombia with...
Just finished booking 2 x 10 one-way Tkts from SDR to MAD @ $28/tkt. Site kept crashing and Safari stopped working altogether. Got through using Chrome. Slow to load but patience is the key. Took a couple of hours to get it all done but $560 for 180,000 avios is worth the effort. Yeah, now the trick of trying to use them to maximum efficiency is before me. Hoping to go LAX to Colombia with a stop in SJO on return. Any ideas how to accomplish this?
Thanks for ALL your wisdom.
Can I book a return reward flight bne to lax on Qantas ??
@Byron, nothing wrong with that. Chicago to Madrid in biz class is 34k Avios during off peak times.
I will be redeeming my Avios for that. Going to do Barcelona and San Sebastian :)
They have caught on, and figured out a way to stop people from doing this. I've tried for a couple hours now to sign up for the Iberia Plus program, and it keeps giving me an error (1601) saying my document number is bad (passport). They then tell you to call an 800 number, which just rings forever and no one actually answers. So basically they will be giving anyone who tries this now the...
They have caught on, and figured out a way to stop people from doing this. I've tried for a couple hours now to sign up for the Iberia Plus program, and it keeps giving me an error (1601) saying my document number is bad (passport). They then tell you to call an 800 number, which just rings forever and no one actually answers. So basically they will be giving anyone who tries this now the run around, until the deadline passes. Don't waste your time. And if you already got the deal, CONGRATULATIONS on beating the clock! I wish I had!
I did get 10 for me, 10 for the wife. Site was down and I just kept trying. Very strange thing happened about the time I had done 15 of the 20, and Chrome pops up saying this is an unsafe site. I then went to IE and finished out the last 5 flights. For me, the cost was $400 per person. If it does not work out as I hope, then I am not...
I did get 10 for me, 10 for the wife. Site was down and I just kept trying. Very strange thing happened about the time I had done 15 of the 20, and Chrome pops up saying this is an unsafe site. I then went to IE and finished out the last 5 flights. For me, the cost was $400 per person. If it does not work out as I hope, then I am not stuck that bad. Wife agrees.
I did look at flights from Chicago to Madrid and was seeing 34,000 Avios in Bus. Class. Something must be wrong with that.
@Dave I can't find any domestic availability either
When you look at a routing like AUS-LHR in F being 100,000 this looks an amazing deal (even with $500 in charges).
I live in Austin and this is available on the Iberia site. One of the main reason I jumped on the promo.
If Iberia doesn't honor the promotion, I will simply file a chargeback and cite merchant fraud.
BTW, all the AA domestic bookings I was trying to make were RT bookings.
So i was sloppy when I booked my first flight (of 10) and didn't add my IB number (I thought it did automatically). I added later under "manage my booking." Does this mean I won't get the 9k avios for that flight?
Was there ever a definitive answer whether American domestic one-way and/or open-jaw bookings are allowed??
Also, what about the "smaller" airports that don't show up in the Iberia award booking tool? Can those be booked by phone?
I just bought 10 one way tickets for each of myself and my wife using separate Iberia Plus accounts for around $27/ticket. I then started searching on the Iberia website for Avios availability to buy tickets on AA for domestic travel within the US and am finding no availability on numerous searches I have been running. Any ideas what I am doing wrong?
I've been following this promotion but haven't pulled the trigger because I'm not sure what I would do with 90,000 IB avios. Being primarily based in SFO, JFK is just over the 5,000 mile threshold, and I really have no desire to go to MIA. With the roundtrip requirement for most Oneworld partners and the inability to redeem on AS, combined with the need to redeem by Dec 1, I'm not sure this promo is...
I've been following this promotion but haven't pulled the trigger because I'm not sure what I would do with 90,000 IB avios. Being primarily based in SFO, JFK is just over the 5,000 mile threshold, and I really have no desire to go to MIA. With the roundtrip requirement for most Oneworld partners and the inability to redeem on AS, combined with the need to redeem by Dec 1, I'm not sure this promo is actually that lucrative, even though on paper it sounds like a good deal. I think it's telling that the best use that Lucky can come up with is LAX-JFK on AA F, which actually costs an extra 6,000 miles.
Lucky, I think the first FAQ should be: What are the (many) restrictions on redeeming these miles, especially with the roundtrip requirement for most partners.
@Bill,
There are currently almost no partner awards on CX due to the change they are having (they devalued and upgraded their IT on the 22nd).
With JAL supposedly they can access the same redemptions as BA but might need some calls.
I booked a bunch of flights I needed to take anyway. Only pain point is that since my connections will be on separate tickets, I won't be able to interline but it's worth it for the avioses
Booked same flight twice, should I care?
Iberia.com is not letting me register for their account. I'm putting my passport info in and it says to check document number and if it's correct call the Iberia Call Center, when I call the number provided it is dead, not even ringing
Should I buy two different tickets for a GVA-MAD-SVQ for example?
I can’t found any availability that matches AA website... there is an error message that shows up every time I try to search for a ticket that AA has saver level available
I bought the tickets via App. Is that an issue?
Have same experience as Davi above. Found Saver dates SMF-SKB in November, Round Trip on AA. "No availability has been found for the selected journey" on Iberia's site.
Don't think I'll be pulling the trigger on this promo. :-(
...Thanks Lucky! Guess I was mixing other promotions with this one since often you have to fly on their own metaI to qualify for the miles. Plus I always go into paranoid mode AFTER the fact assuming I had to have messed up somewhere along the way.
But so far, so good. (Holding breath...)
@Tom - I feel like this will somehow be regened. The $200 I spent was worth the risk, though. I'd kick myself in the event it is honored!
According to the Flyertalk thread, Iberia has confirmed that bookings via the app will NOT earn the bonus avios. (I'm sure other unexpected restrictions will be announced soon, probably after the fact.)
I, for one, don't trust Iberia even one tiny bit. My popcorn is ready, and I'm prepared to watch the epic meltdown.
Do flights labeled "Iberia Express" qualify or do they need to be on the ones simply labeled "Iberia" like in your screen shot above?
@ Chris Baxter -- Iberia Express is fine.
Oh and the app got around the annoying issue of the names don’t match that other users posted about when you have a new account. I was getting that error before the site crashed but no issues with the app.
I booked all my tickets via the app is that an issue Ben?
I had luck downloading the mobile app, signing in, and booking even with the site down. I was able to book all 10 in a few mins after the first booking.
Lucky, do you have any thoughts on IberiaPlus numbers not showing in the booking when looking up on the site? The number showed on email confirmation after booking.
This seems to be happening to a lot of ppl.
@ Mark -- Personally I wouldn't read too much into it, given how bad Iberia's website is. If the e-ticket receipt shows your Iberia Plus number, I'd feel pretty comfortable.
Wonder if Iberia is crashing it on purpose to prevent people from gaming this deal.
still crashed..........
The Iberia site is absolute trash!
lol, and the Iberia.com site has also just crashed.. do Iberia know what they are doing with this offer?
They have blocked known VPNs in the countries that qualify, so that seems to look like a clear indication they are restricting the offers to those countries, but it has been very unclear.
Also worth noting the account number must be input at the time of booking, not added afterwards.
@Lucky - Can ba.com be used to search AA domestic space for an Iberia Avios redemption?
@ Andre -- The availability should match, but when it comes time to book you'll have to use Iberia's site.
Following for the comments.
I can feel OMAAT team having to prepare a lot of Iberia-related content in the near future if/when the points get posted :)
I first looked for saver award between Brazil and Canada on AA's website (thorough MIA, DFW and JFK) and then searched for the exact same dates on Iberia's website and found absolutely nothing. I predict it's gonna be hard to find something to book on Iberia
Site is down.
Hi Lucky! Someone said if you have a lot of no show Iberia will put you in the blacklist. You think it’s possible?
@ Stefano -- It seems highly unlikely to me given that they're essentially authorizing it, but who knows for sure. They'd be blacklisting a whole lot of people.
Is the site down now?
Are Open jaws allowed on Iberia awards? Specifically asking for AA, so like JFK-LAX/SFO-JFK.
Thanks Lucky for posting about this yesterday. It will be fun to watch how this goes for the next 2-3 weeks in terms of people trying to get their miles and then trying to get value for their miles, but regardless of how it turns out promotions like this are exactly why this game has been so fun for the past 20 years. These low risk high reward opportunities don't come around much anymore, and...
Thanks Lucky for posting about this yesterday. It will be fun to watch how this goes for the next 2-3 weeks in terms of people trying to get their miles and then trying to get value for their miles, but regardless of how it turns out promotions like this are exactly why this game has been so fun for the past 20 years. These low risk high reward opportunities don't come around much anymore, and when they do I can't help thinking about the ridiculous promos, error fares and sweet spots of the 90's and 00's.
If I want to book but don't want to fly them, can I book a ticket for any date or does it have to be after December 1st?
@ W -- You should be able to book for travel before December as well, that's fine. I just mention booking later for those who truly want to be 110% safe/at ease.
@Brian - all 10 of mine showed up in Amex pending charges right away.
Planning to double down on this if I can get the website to load but I would not be surprised if the news is starting to permeate the interwebs beyond traditional points/miles blogs and the website may be overloaded for a while.
Yup, Iberia's site is definitely down. Lovely.
The Iberia website doesn't even load right now
Booked 10 RTs last night. Received email confirmations for each, showing Iberia Plus number for my wife and I. No bookings appear in my Iberia account and only two charges have hit my Amex for pending charges. Anyone else having a similar experience?
Hi Ben - When I try to find award availability on the calendar I input Departure: Los Angeles, Destination: NYC and Dates: Any Date/Duration, Passengers: 1
In return I get this:
Oops…
There are no flights that fit your preferences
You can change them or visit the section
Booking with avios
Playing around last night that was all it displayed when I tried LAX-DFW, LAX-MIA on random dates, or just to see...
Hi Ben - When I try to find award availability on the calendar I input Departure: Los Angeles, Destination: NYC and Dates: Any Date/Duration, Passengers: 1
In return I get this:
Oops…
There are no flights that fit your preferences
You can change them or visit the section
Booking with avios
Playing around last night that was all it displayed when I tried LAX-DFW, LAX-MIA on random dates, or just to see the calendar.
What am I doing wrong? Do I need to have Avios in my Iberia account for the search to work?
I've been planning a surprise trip for my parents to Spain and Portugal. This could not have come a better time. Looks like there is a huge amount of availability in the date range I'm looking at. Will be able to send them RT biz class for less than I would have paid for 2 economy RTs.
Hi, does anyone know whether it would be possible to redeem the avios for a flight late 2019 and then eventuality change the date later next year to 202?
@ Mark -- Tickets are only valid for a year from the date they're issued, so that wouldn't work.
Data point for those who haven't registered with Iberia Plus yet. I registered with Iberia Plus right before booking my 10 flights last night, but got an error code when I tried to enter my Iberia Plus during the booking process. I continued to purchase the tickets without entering my Iberia Plus number. My guess was that I was new in the system and it couldn't match me. This morning, I could go back to...
Data point for those who haven't registered with Iberia Plus yet. I registered with Iberia Plus right before booking my 10 flights last night, but got an error code when I tried to enter my Iberia Plus during the booking process. I continued to purchase the tickets without entering my Iberia Plus number. My guess was that I was new in the system and it couldn't match me. This morning, I could go back to the bookings page via the website and enter my number in the passenger info for each flight. I just got off of hold with a call to Iberia and the rep told me that she saw the Iberia Plus number there and that the bonus Avios would post by July 1. I'm happy for the many discounted flights I'll have for next year! Thanks tons for the info, Lucky!
Lucky, does Iberia let you do family pooling with these promotional avios?
@ JD -- Best I can tell they don't, unfortunately.
@Lucky, I have been playing with this all night and most oneworld redemptions are horrendous. There are very very few redemptions opportunity on CX and JAL. Redemptions on QF do not follow the miles chart, in fact, I can’t even figure out how the calculated the miles required. Redemptions of BA, well, let’s just say the surcharges alone are similar to the cost of tickets if you were to buy them outright. Maybe this works...
@Lucky, I have been playing with this all night and most oneworld redemptions are horrendous. There are very very few redemptions opportunity on CX and JAL. Redemptions on QF do not follow the miles chart, in fact, I can’t even figure out how the calculated the miles required. Redemptions of BA, well, let’s just say the surcharges alone are similar to the cost of tickets if you were to buy them outright. Maybe this works for domestic US flights, but to/from other parts of the world, not so much. Also business and first class availability is few and far in between.
Any ideas on how a refundable ticket would work here? Would I be able to buy a full-fare ticket, get the Avios, and then get a refund?
@ ChicagoBen -- It specifically says that if you refund your ticket you won't get Avios. And c'mon, at the rate of a third of a cent each, I feel like we have to give Iberia something. ;)
Ben, thanks. FWIW, I'm not seeing a lot of smaller airports on Iberia's site that American serves.
I've tried everything except calling at this point.I know I can get to a hub(on all legacies) but not being able to start by using these Avios makes them far less useful.
Oh well, that's what I get for living in a small town.
Does this promo required registration prior to booking? Sorry, if it has been asked. Thanks!
@ Kevin -- Nope, no registration required. You just have to enter your Iberia Plus number. That's a great question, and will add it to the post.
So can I book an award ticket with latam to Lima,Peru from usa.
@ Pito -- Pending availability, yes.
@Hidute its mentioned tge list is for roundtrip,and i ve heard Iberias wont allow one way redemption on partners.
Hooefully Lucky will clarify.
Qatar F class return 96000 avios for up to 5000 mikes looks insanely cheap.
@ Mo -- The only problem is that there aren't any Qatar A380 routes that are under 5,000 miles roundtrip. Their shortest routes are to Europe, which is 6,000+ miles roundtrip.
Good point Ben. I wonder if anyone’s had any experience of having a negative balance with any airline?
Is anyone else having an issue finding American Airlines flights on the Iberia site? I can't get ANY domestic AA flights to show up.
Iberia phone support says I have to book on AA's site. Is this true?
@ Justin -- There has to be availability in both directions available, or else it won't display anything. Also make sure it's saver space. Within those parameters I've had no issues pulling up space.
Thanks for the answer I was thinking for jal first class is it posible one way ?
@ Frank -- Roundtrip required, unfortunately.
Can you book one way flights on Oneworld flights?
Thank you
@ Frank -- It depends on the partner. For most oneworld partner flights, roundtrip travel is required.
Hey, thanks for this post and all the other coverage of this promotion. One question I still have (and that is more due to my infamilarity with Iberias Avios program) are the milage chart values for redemptions on Iberias website based on round trip or one way redemptions? Eg this one for travel on Qatar thanks for your help! https://www.iberia.com/web/webPartners.do?service=/web/showPartner.do&market=ES&language=en&country=ES&quadrigam=WPVUEL&quickaccess=true&idPartner=232489&idSector=641
Hey, thanks for this post and all the other coverage of this promotion. One question I still have (and that is more due to my infamilarity with Iberias Avios program) are the milage chart values for redemptions on Iberias website based on round trip or one way redemptions? Eg this one for travel on Qatar thanks for your help! https://www.iberia.com/web/webPartners.do?service=/web/showPartner.do&market=ES&language=en&country=ES&quadrigam=WPVUEL&quickaccess=true&idPartner=232489&idSector=641
@ Hudute -- That chart is based on cumulative roundtrip distance flown. For redemptions on Qatar, only roundtrip tickets are allowed.
Ben, my biggest trepidation is actually redeeming these things. I've read that Iberia's website/booking engine is trash while using Avios. Have you experienced this?
@ geoff -- Yep, Iberia's website isn't great, and their call center is awful. That's why I'm not viewing these Avios in too aspirational of a way. Generally American Airlines bookings work pretty well, so something like a simple LAX-JFK roundtrip shouldn't be an issue, for example.
So all bookings should be possible, it can just be time consuming. But at this cost that's something I'm fine with.
Re Your point about not being sure what’ll happen if you have a negative balance. Surely it’ll just mean that your account is no redundant and you won’t be able to use it again as it’ll always show a negative balance
@ Chris -- That's a possibility, I just don't want to recommend anything based on that, since I'm not sure what the precedent is there. Theoretically they could also presumably come after you if you have a negative balance and don't "repay" it. I doubt they'll do that, but I just don't know with certainty they'd let you have a negative balance forever and not do anything about it.