Some secrets about the Avios program that not everyone knows and how to make 100 free avios
We talked in a previous article about the Avios program (or rather programs), the loyalty scheme of airlines belonging [...]
Vueling
Iberia
British Airways
Aer Lingus
Oneworld
We talked about In a previous article of the Avios program(s), the loyalty scheme of the airlines belonging to the IAG group.
In this article:
There are, however, some special aspects of these programs that may be missed by first-timers. Let us look at them together.
It pays to enroll early in at least 3 programs
One of the main advantages is to be able to freely move your Avios points from one program to another. In order to do this, you need to register with the loyalty clubs of the different airlines (British Airways, Iberia, Vueling/Aer Lingus) with the same master data (first name, last name, date of birth, address) otherwise it will not be possible to transfer points from one program to another.
The best bonuses
In addition, in order to transfer points to/from Iberia Plus, the account must have been open for at least 90 days and have earned at least 1 avios. A peculiarity of Vueling and Aer Lingus is that both rely on an external platform (avios.com) for points management, so it would only take one registration to take advantage of both companies' benefits.
There is a group account, but only with British Airways
Only BA allows for the creation of a single account into which the miles earned by the entire family can flow. In order to create it, all members must be registered with the same residential address. Minor children, who otherwise would not be able to join the BA Executive Club, can also be included in a group account.
All participants in a group account continue to earn their Avios based on flights or activities taken, but when Avios are used to book a flight or stay, they are withdrawn from all members' accounts in proportion to how many they have.
Sometimes you have to do a triangulation
If our BA account is part of a group account, we may have problems moving Avios to/from Iberia. In this case, we will rely on the Vueling/Aer Lingus account opened through avios.com, doing 2 steps.
Avios can be earned through online shopping
Through the shopping.avios.com platform, by logging in with your Vueling credentials, you can get cashback in Avios from lots of online stores. If you then chew a little Spanish, you can log into your Iberia Plus account, set the country to España and access the IberiaPluStore portal. From there register at showroomprive.es, which gives 100 Avios to every new user. This way, you will have earned your first Avios (and activated your account so you can transfer them).
For travel to the Americas with Avios, Iberia costs less than BA
By booking a ticket through Avios, tax-wise, an Iberia flight costs much less if it is booked on iberia.com, not only compared to a similar BA flight booked on ba.com, but also compared to the same Iberia flight booked on ba.com.
So, if you want to fly Iberia (which connects many destinations in North/Central/South America) you better transfer your Avios to Iberia.com and book from there.
For long-haul business class, Iberia requires fewer Avios than BA
British Airways' and Iberia's mileage tables are similar in structure but different in values. Generally, for flights over 3,000 miles, compared to BA, Iberia requires more Avios in economy, but significantly fewer in business class.
If we add to this the fact that cyclically Iberia offers a promo to travel two with the miles needed for one ticket, there goes the couple's business class travel to the U.S. or South America becomes almost affordable. Below is the Iberia table and for comparison the BA table:
| Iberia: cost in Avios for award flights (excluding taxes and surcharges) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zone | Distance | Discount Economy | Economy | Premium Economy | Business Class | ||||
| Off-peak | Peak | Off-peak | Peak | Off-peak | Peak | Off-peak | Peak | ||
| 1 | 1-650 miles | 4,500 | 5,000 | 6,750 | 7,500 | - | - | 9,000 | 10,000 |
| 2 | 651-1,150 miles | 7,500 | 8,250 | 11,250 | 12,500 | - | - | 15,000 | 16,500 |
| 3 | 1,150-2,000 miles | 10,000 | 11,000 | 15,000 | 16,500 | - | - | 20,000 | 22,000 |
| 4 | 2001-3000 miles | 11,000 | 12,500 | 16,000 | 18,750 | - | - | 21,250 | 31,250 |
| 5 | 3,001-4,000 miles | 17,000 | 20,000 | 22,000 | 28,000 | 25,500 | 35,000 | 34,000 | 50,000 |
| 6 | 4,001-5,500 miles | 21,250 | 25,000 | 27,750 | 35,000 | 31.750 | 43,750 | 42,500 | 62,500 |
| 7 | 5,501-6,500 miles | 25,500 | 30,000 | 33,250 | 42,000 | 38,250 | 52,500 | 51,000 | 75,000 |
| 8 | 6,501-7,000 miles | 29,750 | 35,000 | 38,750 | 49,000 | 44,250 | 61,250 | 59,500 | 87,500 |
| 9 | 7.001+ miles | 42,500 | 50,000 | 55,250 | 70,000 | 63,750 | 87,500 | 85,000 | 125,000 |
| Madrid-Barcelona Shuttle | - | - | 4,500 | 4,500 | - | - | 9,000 | 9,000 | |
| Madrid-London | 6,500 | 7,500 | 9,750 | 11,250 | - | - | 12,750 | 15,000 | |
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| British Airways: cost in Avios for award flights (excluding taxes and surcharges) | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zone | Distance | Economy | Premium Economy | Business Class | First Class | ||||||
| Off-peak | Peak | Off-peak | Peak | Off-peak | Peak | Off-peak | Peak | ||||
| 1 | 1-650 miles | 4,000 | 4,500 | 5,750 | 6,750 | 7,750 | 9,000 | 15,500 | 18,000 | ||
| 2 | 651-1,150 miles | 6,500 | 7,500 | 9,500 | 11,250 | 12,750 | 15,000 | 15,500 | 30,000 | ||
| 3 | 1,150-2,000 miles | 8,500 | 10,000 | 12,750 | 15,000 | 17,000 | 20,000 | 34,000 | 40,000 | ||
| 4 | 2001-3000 miles | 10,000 | 12,500 | 20,000 | 25,000 | 31,250 | 37,500 | 42,500 | 50,000 | ||
| 5 | 3,001-4,000 miles | 13,000 | 20,000 | 26,000 | 40,000 | 50,000 | 60,000 | 68,000 | 80,000 | ||
| 6 | 4,001-5,500 miles | 16,250 | 25,000 | 32,500 | 50,000 | 62,500 | 75,000 | 85,000 | 100,000 | ||
| 7 | 5,501-6,500 miles | 19,500 | 30,000 | 39,000 | 60,000 | 75,000 | 90,000 | 102,000 | 120,000 | ||
| 8 | 6,501-7,000 miles | 22,750 | 35,000 | 45,500 | 70,000 | 87,500 | 105,000 | 119,000 | 140,000 | ||
| 9 | 7.001+ miles | 32,500 | 50,000 | 65,000 | 100,000 | 125,000 | 150,000 | 170,000 | 200,000 | ||
High and low seasons are not the same for everyone
The cost in Avios of award flights varies depending on the high (peak) or low (off-peak) season according to a schedule that is different depending on the carrier operating the flight.
In practice, BA, Iberia, and Aer Lingus each have their own calendars based on vacations, bridges, and vacations in the relevant country, so there are times of the year that are high or low season for everyone, and others that are only high or low season for some.
If you want to book a flight in spring or fall, it may be useful to check whether the period you choose happens to be in high or low season and possibly adjust your travel schedule. I have created a shared calendar for my site with the high season periods of the three carriers, you can find it below:
You can also earn Avios by traveling with Emirates, Air France or KLM...
...as long as the flight is codeshared with Qantas. In fact, Qantas is BA's only partner with whom you can earn Avios and tier points also on codeshare flights operated by carriers outside the Oneworld alliance.
Not all Emirates flights have codeshare with Qantas, for KLM it is only the flight between Amsterdam and Singapore, for Air France the flights from Paris Charles De Gaulle to Singapore and Hong Kong. In order to be credited with Avios, the flight must be booked as Qantas, so the advice is to purchase it directly from the Australian airline's website.
You can earn Avios by flying with United (for a little longer probably)
Despite being part of the Star Alliance, United has long partnered with Aer Lingus, so it is possible to earn Avios by crediting flights to the AerClub program. In this case, Avios will be recognized in proportion to the amount spent, not the miles flown (AerClub recognizes 3 Avios for every € spent). Now that Aer Lingus has joined the transatlantic joint venture along with British Airways, American Airlines, Iberia, and Finnair, the deal with United is likely to be cancelled.
Speaking of Aer Lingus.
You can book Aer Lingus flights with Avios through the avios.com platform (for both AerClub and Vueling Club users) but, strangely, it seems that if you book by phone through the British Airways call center (using Avios BA), the cost of fees is lower than online. I have not yet had a chance to verify this in person, but with the entry of the Joint Venture in the previous point, this anomaly may also disappear soon.