Master Your Avios Skills

Avios is an instant transfer partner of several credit card transferable points (e.g., MR and UR points). There are several different Avios family members (British Airways Executive Club, Iberia Plus, Aer Lingus AerClub, Finnair Plus Avios and Qatar Privilege Club Avios) with varying award charts, taxes and cancellation prices.

Avios Transfer Partners & Best Redemptions

Sign up for individual Avios accounts with all the programs

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
5. Finnair Avios https://auth.finnair.com/content/en/join/finnair-plus

Avios Transfer Prerequisites

Here are a few rules before you can inter-transfer Avios between all the accounts:

• The name and other personal details (e.g., DOB, phone number, email, etc.) must match across all accounts.
• Make sure your date of birth is in date/month/year format.
• Wait 90 days after joining the Iberia Plus account before initiating a transfer.
• Iberia account must show some activity in the last 3 years (e.g., move 1000 MR/UR points to Iberia).
• Activate 2-factor authentication on Finnair and British Avios.

Transferring Avios between accounts

Once linked, Avios can be transferred between the accounts instantly, for an unlimited number of times. However, the transfer rules and procedures vary from each partner account.

Procedure for transferring Iberia Avios to British Avios

You can only initiate an Avios transfer after you have had the Avios in your Iberia account for 3 months (90 days). Click on the link after logging into your Iberia account and you will see the “Combine Avios” section (see image below) at the bottom of the page.

Procedure for transferring British Avios to Finnair or vice versa

Click on the following link to combine both British and Finnair Avios (link), but expect some glitches with the SMS verification system from Finnair.

Procedure for merging/transferring British and Qatar Avios

Click on the following link to combine both British and Qatar Avios (link).

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

Use this link to redeem flights on Qatar/British Airways.

Finnair Avios Sweet Spots

• Avios can be directly transferred between Finnair and British Airways after 2-factor authentication.
• Finnair Plus award seats are released 361 days in advance on its own metal and there is an award seat guarantee on flights to and from Helsinki (see image below for JFK-HEL October 2025 flights searched on October 26th 2024).

• Finnair passes on a reasonable amount of taxes compared to British Airways.
• Finnair Plus charges €50 for award changes or cancellations up to 24 hours before departure.
• Finnair US to Helsinki business class: Finnair Avios can be used to book one-way for 62,500 Avios with significantly less taxes ($140.50) compared to booking with British Avios ($1,047.30). One can book the same flights with AA or Alaska Mileage Plan with much less in taxes, but neither of those programs will let you book 361 days in advance.

• Finnair Helsinki to intra-Europe one way business class for 10,000 Avios.
• Cathay Pacific business class: Finnair Avios can be used to book a Cathay Pacific one way from North America to Hong Kong for only 75,000 Avios and $150.60 (difficult to find award space).

British Avios Sweet Spots

British Airways Executive Club prices each segment separately, so the best use is to book nonstop, short-haul economy or business class flights. You will be 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 levels. Off-peak/peak levels only apply to British/Iberia/Aer Lingus bookings.
• Examples of routes within the International Zone 1 (<650 miles) include Sydney-Melbourne, Lima-Cuzco, London-Paris, Tokyo-Osaka, etc., which can be booked for 4500/9000 Avios.
• Examples of routes within the International Zone 2 (651-1150 miles) are Hong Kong-Shanghai, Tokyo-Seoul, and Brisbane-Melbourne.
• Examples of routes within the International Zone 3 (1,152-2,000) include 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

Iberia Avios Sweet Spots

• 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 at 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 extra dollars in taxes. Business class Iberia Europe flights are more like premium economy, but still expensive to book with cash.
• Iberia charges 25 Euros for any award changes and cancellations. I have cancelled 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 Sweet Spot

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 “Aer Lingus off-peak calendar dates” to easily bring up the results in a PDF (link). 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.

Qatar Avios Sweet Spots

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 in taxes compared to an 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 Qatar business class Avios redemptions (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 bookings with points. Even if you only have access to Citi TY points, they can be moved first to Qatar and later merged with British/Iberia as needed. Most Avios award cancellation fees are very reasonable and awards are usually released well in advance of planning 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/).