Need to Top off Your Avios Account? Buy Points With up to a 45% Bonus
Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.
The points and miles world has been abuzz over Iberia for the last two weeks. In case you missed it, Iberia launched a promotion where Iberia Plus members could earn 9,000 Avios per flight booked, up to a maximum of 90,000 bonus Avios. An Iberia spokesperson confirmed that the bonus Avios would be earned even if passengers didn't take the flights.
After great gnashing of teeth, the bonus Avios finally started posting to accounts this week, and TPG has plenty of recommendations about how you can spend those points.
But, what if these bonus Avios leave you short of your award goals? In a timely promotion, Iberia is running a buy-points promotion now through July 15 giving members a chance to get up to 45% bonus points when buying Avios. If you buy at least 100,000 Avios, you'll effectively purchase points at 1.46 cents each.
TPG doesn't maintain a valuation for Iberia Avios. But, unlike the bonus points through the 90k promotion, these purchased points can be transferred 1:1 to British Airways Avios — which TPG values at 1.5 cents each. With that said, I wouldn't recommend speculatively buying Avios through this promotion. Make sure you have a plan for spending Avios.
The regular price for buying Iberia Avios starts as high as 2.7 Euro cents per point, which is currently 3.17 US$ cents per Avios. But, you can drop that price to just 1.24 Euro cents per point (1.46 US$ cents) with this promotion. You'll get the maximum 45% bonus when you purchase at least 100,000 Avios. Here is the breakdown of this promotion's bonus chart:
- 2,000 to 15,000 points: 20% bonus
- 20,000 to 35,000 points: 30% bonus
- 40,000 to 90,000 points: 35% bonus
- 100,000+ points: 45% bonus
However, the purchase rate varies depending on how many Avios you buy. To save you the math, here are all of your options for buying points with this promotion:
| Purchase Rate | Bonus Avios | Total Avios | Cost (Euros) | Cost (USD) | US$ Cents Per Avios |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2,000 | 400 | 2,400 | € 54 | $63 | 2.64 |
3,000 | 600 | 3,600 | € 72 | $85 | 2.35 |
4,000 | 800 | 4,800 | € 91 | $107 | 2.23 |
5,000 | 1,000 | 6,000 | € 109 | $128 | 2.14 |
6,000 | 1,200 | 7,200 | € 128 | $150 | 2.09 |
8,000 | 1,600 | 9,600 | € 164 | $193 | 2.01 |
10,000 | 2,000 | 12,000 | € 201 | $236 | 1.97 |
15,000 | 3,000 | 18,000 | € 293 | $344 | 1.91 |
20,000 | 6,000 | 26,000 | € 385 | $453 | 1.74 |
25,000 | 7,500 | 32,500 | € 477 | $561 | 1.73 |
30,000 | 9,000 | 39,000 | € 569 | $669 | 1.71 |
35,000 | 10,500 | 45,500 | € 661 | $777 | 1.71 |
40,000 | 14,000 | 54,000 | € 757 | $890 | 1.65 |
45,000 | 15,750 | 60,750 | € 845 | $993 | 1.63 |
50,000 | 17,500 | 67,500 | € 935 | $1,099 | 1.63 |
60,000 | 21,000 | 81,000 | € 1,118 | $1,314 | 1.62 |
70,000 | 24,500 | 94,500 | € 1,300 | $1,528 | 1.62 |
80,000 | 28,000 | 108,000 | € 1,476 | $1,735 | 1.61 |
90,000 | 31,500 | 121,500 | € 1,647 | $1,936 | 1.59 |
100,000 | 45,000 | 145,000 | € 1,800 | $2,116 | 1.46 |
125,000 | 56,250 | 181,250 | € 2,257 | $2,653 | 1.46 |
150,000 | 67,500 | 217,500 | € 2,705 | $3,180 | 1.46 |
175,000 | 78,750 | 253,750 | € 3,153 | $3,706 | 1.46 |
200,000 | 90,000 | 290,000 | € 3,601 | $4,233 | 1.46 |
How to Buy Iberia Avios
To take advantage of the promotion, follow these steps:
- Log into your Iberia Plus account.
- At the top of the webpage, select "Buying or transferring Avios" through the Iberia Plus menu. You can also try this link.
- Select Purchase next to "All Iberia Plus customers."
- Select the number of Avios you'd like to buy.
- Add your credit card details.
- Review the information, check the box to agree to the Terms and Conditions and click Pay Now to finalize the purchase.
There's a standard limit of 100,000 purchased Avios per calendar year, per account. However, this limit is being elevated to a maximum of 200,000 Avios per calendar year for this promotion.
Which Credit Card to Use
First, as the purchase currency is Euro, it's important that you choose a credit card with no foreign transaction fees. Since this purchase is processed by Points.com, these purchases likely will not code as travel. So, you won't get 3x from the Chase Sapphire Reserve or the Citi Premier® Card. With one exception: we've noticed that the Ink Business Preferred card has earned 3x points per dollar spent on Points.com. If you don't have that card yet, you'll want to use the best non-bonus category credit card for your situation.
TPG featured card
at Capital One's secure site
Terms & restrictions apply. See rates & fees.
| 5X miles | Earn 5X miles on hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel |
| 2X miles | Earn unlimited 2X miles on every purchase, every day |
Pros
- Stellar welcome offer of 75,000 miles after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first three months from account opening.
- You'll earn 2 miles per dollar on every purchase, which means you won't have to worry about memorizing bonus categories
- Rewards are versatile and can be redeemed for a statement credit or transferred to Capital One’s transfer partners
Cons
- Highest bonus-earning categories only on travel booked via Capital One Travel
- Enjoy a one-time bonus of 75,000 miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening, equal to $750 in travel
- Earn unlimited 2X miles on every purchase, every day
- Earn 5X miles on hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel
- Miles won't expire for the life of the account and there's no limit to how many you can earn
- Receive up to a $120 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck®
- Use your miles to get reimbursed for any travel purchase—or redeem by booking a trip through Capital One Travel
- Enjoy a $50 experience credit and other premium benefits with every hotel and vacation rental booked from the Lifestyle Collection
- Transfer your miles to your choice of 15+ travel loyalty programs
- Top rated mobile app