Master Your Avios Skills

Avios is an instant transfer partner of several credit card transferable points (e.g., MR and UR points). There are 4 different Avios family members (British Airways Executive Club, Iberia Plus, Aer Lingus AerClub, and Qatar Privilege Club Avios) with varying award charts, taxes, and cancellation policies. I will describe the best ways to accumulate Avios (by either getting Avios credit cards or transferring the credit card points) and the procedure to merge them for the best redemptions. This post contains no affiliate links, and I am simply posting my personal experience with Avios earnings and redemptions.

Best Ways to Earn/Transfer Avios

Avios Transfer Prerequisites

There are a few rules before you can transfer points between British/Iberia/Aer Lingus Avios accounts:

• The name should match all the accounts.
• Wait for 90 days after joining the Iberia Plus account before initiating a transfer.
• Iberia accounts must show some activity in the last 3 years (e.g., move 1000 MR/UR points to Iberia unless you have a Chase Iberia Avios credit card).

Sign-up for Free Avios Accounts:

1. British Avios https://www.britishairways.com/travel/execenrol/public/en_us?campaignCode=EXCALP
2. Iberia Avios https://registro-iberia.iberia.com/?language=en&origin=US
3. Aer Lingus AerClub https://www.aerlingus.com/html/registration.html
4. Qatar Avios https://www.qatarairways.com/en/Privilege-Club/QRPC2019.html

Procedure to Transfer Avios Between British, Iberia and Aer Lingus Accounts

Avios can be combined and transferred between each other on all 3 websites, but the process works more reliably on Aer Lingus (avios.com).

After you have created British Airways and Iberia accounts and transferred some miles into them by linking to credit card programs, you should create a free avios.com account (https://www.avios.com/us/en/join-avios). Then it is easy to combine all the Avios and transfer them to each other based on the redemption needs. (https://www.avios.com/us/en_us/my-account/combine-my-avios)

For example, moving British Avios to Iberia Avios requires 2 steps (first move British Avios to Aer Lingus then move them to Iberia).

You need to log in here with the British Avios user ID and PW.

Procedure for Merging British and Qatar Avios

Click on the following link to combine both British and Qatar Avios. https://exchange.shopping.ba.com/partner/qatar#:~:text=Just%20link%20your%20British%20Airways,move%20Avios%20between%20the%20two.&text=Move%20Avios%20at%20any%20time,of%20your%20Executive%20Club%20account.

After merging both accounts, your Qatar dashboard will reveal the total number of Avios:

To redeem flights on Qatar/British airways use the following link.

https://www.qatarairways.com/en/Privilege-Club/postLogin/dashboardqrpcuser/redeem-Avios.html?qr_1666910166776#beTId_qatar-flight|

Best Avios Redemptions

In general, British Avios should be used for all one-way short-haul flights. Iberia Avios are best used to fly from the U.S. to Europe (nonstop to Spain and connecting flights to other parts of Europe). Qatar Avios can be used to book overseas connecting flights via Doha to Asia, India, Africa, Australia, and New Zealand.

British Avios Sweetspots

British Airways executive club prices each segment separately, so the best use is to book nonstop, short-haul economy or business class flights. You are required to call 1800-452-1201 to book certain award flights (Alaska and Aer Lingus) as they are not bookable online.

• Most partner flight awards are priced at peak level. Off-peak/peak levels only apply to British/Iberia/Aer Lingus bookings.
• Examples of routes within international Zone 1 (<650 miles) are Sydney-Melbourne, Lima-Cuzco, London-Paris, Tokyo-Osaka, etc., which can be booked for 4500/9000 Avios.
• Examples of routes within international Zone 2 (651-1150 miles) are Hong Kong-Shanghai, Tokyo-Seoul, and Brisbane-Melbourne.
• Examples of routes within international Zone 3 (1,152-2,000) are Hong Kong, Tokyo, Lima, Buenos Aires, Sydney, and Auckland.
• Flights within North America under 651 miles are still counted as zone 2 and require 7,500 Avios.
• The lowest taxes are charged for award booking flights on Alaska, Latam, AA (western hemisphere), Cathay Pacific, JAL, Qantas, and Qatar.
• The British Avios cancellation/refund fee is 35 British pounds per person, but there is also the option to forfeit the taxes & fees totaling less than that amount. This is an attractive option when booking some of the partner redemptions with the least amount of taxes.

AA nonstop flights within North America

JAL nonstop flights within Japan

Qantas nonstop flights within Australia

How to Escape High Taxes on British Airways US to LHR Outbound Flights with Avios booking?

Taxes are high on flights from the U.S. to the UK on British airways (~$780 in the example image below).

The best way to avoid the high British Avios booking taxes is to book the same flight with Asia Miles which charges ~70% less taxes.

It is important to know that Asia Miles savings on taxes only work best on outbound flights from the US to London (https://awardcracker.com/how-to-pay-70-less-award-taxes-on-british-airways-us-to-london-flights/).

Iberia Avios Sweetspots

• Iberia Plus has peak and off-peak dates updated every year (https://www.iberia.com/us/iberiaplus/using-my-avios/). 
• JFK/BOS/ORD-MAD off-peak business class costs only 34K Iberia Avios (peak business class costs 50K Iberia Avios). Business class bookings from other eastern U.S. cities with nonstop service (MIA/DFW) will cost 42.5K Avios off-peak and 62.5K Avios for peak calendar dates respectively.
• Business class taxes are $119 (look at the 1st column Avios & money on the bottom of the webpage. If you are short of Avios, it is not a bad deal to buy them compared to paying cash for a business-class flight.
• I recommend booking Iberia flights 11 months before the travel date (especially if you are looking for 2 seats on a weekend), as they consistently open the award seats from US destinations to Madrid (less so to Barcelona).
• You can also book business class connecting flights from Madrid to other destinations in Europe for an extra 10-15K Avios and a few more dollars in taxes. Business class in Iberia Europe flights is more like premium economy but still expensive to book with cash.
• Iberia charges 25 Euros for any award changes and cancellations. I have canceled 2 award flights in the last year and was able to reach customer service with minimal hold times. They refunded my Avios and taxes promptly within 5 business days (I was not even charged the refund fee).

Iberia Avios Booking example from Miami to Madrid

Iberia Avios Booking example from Dallas to Madrid

Iberia Avios Booking example from Chicago to Madrid

Iberia Avios Connecting Flight from Chicago to Geneva via Madrid

Aer Lingus Avios Sweetspot

Aer Lingus has a more generous off-peak chart compared to British & Iberia and it is easy to find off-peak travel dates during most non-summer months. I recommend performing a Google search for the “Aer Lingus off-peak calendar dates” to easily bring up the results in a PDF (https://www.aerlingus.com/media/pdfs/AC_calendar_2023.pdf). The best economy class redemption is to fly Aer Lingus round-trip from North America to Ireland for 26,000 Avios (13,000 Avios one-way).

Business class redemption for the same flight will cost 50,000 Avios (off-peak) and reasonable taxes. See an example of a one-way booking below for 2 passengers.

United is a codeshare partner of Aer Lingus and it is easy to see the calendar view of the award space on the United award search page, but several times there is a mismatched award space between both programs. Compared to other Avios programs, Aer Lingus is not generous in releasing premium cabins for award booking.

Qatar Avios Sweetspots

Qatar Airways Q suite redemptions need no introduction since they are the most luxurious way to travel the world. Until Qatar merged with the Avios system, AA miles were the best way to book these flights with the lowest taxes. Since AA miles are hard to earn and earning Avios is extremely easy, anyone can enjoy booking Qatar airway flights after their recent merger with Avios. You will pay more taxes compared to AA mile redemption, but they are very reasonable for these long-haul flights.

Award ticket changes/cancellations (24 hours before departure) are very easy with Qatar Avios as they just charge $ 25 USD and it can be done online.

Some of Qatar business class Avios Redemption Examples (some are for 2 people) are listed below.

• Atlanta to Doha

• Chicago to Bangkok (for 2 passengers)

• Chicago to Phuket (for 2 passengers)

• Chicago to Zanzibar (for 2 passengers)

• Chicago to Windhoek, Namibia (for 2 passengers)

• JFK to Cape Town (CPT)

• JFK to JNB

• Chicago to Kathmandu, Nepal

• Chicago to Kilimanjaro

• Chicago to Nairobi

• Chicago to Perth

• Chicago to Maldives

• Chicago to Hanoi, Vietnam

• Delhi to JFK

• JFK to Amman

Summary

Avios redemptions can take you to all 6 continents for your bucket list travels and they are an integral part of award booking with points. Even if you only have access to Citi TY points, they can be first moved to Qatar and later merge with British/Iberia as needed. Most Avios award cancellation fees are very reasonable and awards are usually released well in advance to plan your overseas trip. If you sign up for a new Iberia account and get a 9-digit number, the Amex MR point link process may not work at this time. See my post for further details (https://awardcracker.com/new-iberia-plus-members-are-not-able-to-link-accounts-amex-mr-point-portal/).