How to earn up to 100,000 Avios on the British Airways, Iberia and Aer Lingus cards

If you’re planning a big getaway, taking advantage of sign-up bonuses across travel credit cards is a great way to offset some of the costs. And sometimes, this involves an international airline loyalty program.

There are currently identical offers of up to 100,000 Avios on the British Airways Visa Signature Card, Aer Lingus Visa Signature Card and Iberia Visa Signature Card. Each one is a tiered offer, where you’ll earn 75,000 Avios after you spend $5,000 on purchases within the first three months of account opening, and an additional 25,000 Avios after you spend $20,000 within the first 12 months of account opening.

TPG pegs Avios at 1.5 cents apiece, so if you earn the full 100,000 Avios, you’d take home $1,500 in value.

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All three cards boast similar benefits, so here’s a quick look at each.

British Airways Visa Signature Card

Annual fee: $95.

Sign-up bonus: Earn 75,000 Avios after you spend $5,000 on purchases within the first three months of account opening, and an additional 25,000 Avios after you spend $20,000 within the first 12 months of account opening.

Earning rate: Earn 3 Avios per dollar on all British Airways, Aer Lingus and Iberia flights, 2 Avios per dollar on all hotel stays booked directly and 1 Avios per dollar on all other purchases.

Other benefits: 

• 10% off British Airways flights starting in the U.S. (must book through the site provided in your welcome materials).
• Get $100 statement credits ($200 for business and first-class seats) up to three times a year when you book a reward flight to London on British Airways and pay for your taxes and fees with your card.
• Earn a Travel Together Ticket valid for round-trip travel originating in the U.S. when you spend $30,000 on the card in a calendar year — which can now be redeemed for a 50% discount as a single passenger.

Check out the full card review.

Apply now: British Airways Visa Signature Card

Aer Lingus Visa Signature Card

Annual fee: $95.

Sign-up bonus: Earn 75,000 Avios after you spend $5,000 on purchases within the first three months of account opening, and an additional 25,000 Avios after you spend $20,000 within the first 12 months of account opening.

Earning rate: Earn 3 Avios per dollar on all British Airways, Aer Lingus and Iberia flights, 2 Avios per dollar on all hotel stays booked directly and 1 Avios per dollar on all other purchases.

Other benefits: 

• Earn an economy companion ticket when you spend $30,000 in a calendar year (although it’s only valid on ticket between the U.S. and Ireland).
• Priority boarding on Aer Lingus flights between the U.S. and Ireland.

Check out the full card review.

Apply now: Aer Lingus Visa Signature Card

Iberia Visa Signature Card

Annual fee: $95.

Sign-up bonus: Earn 75,000 Avios after you spend $5,000 on purchases within the first three months of account opening, and an additional 25,000 Avios after you spend $20,000 within the first 12 months of account opening.

Earning rate: Earn 3 Avios per dollar on all British Airways, Aer Lingus and Iberia flights, 2 Avios per dollar on all hotel stays booked directly and 1 Avios per dollar on all other purchases.

Other benefits: 

• 10% off Iberia flights booked through Iberia.com/Chase10 with your card.
• Earn a discount voucher of $1,000 to use toward two tickets on the same flight each year you spend $30,000 on purchases on your Iberia Visa card.

Check out the full card review.

Apply now: Iberia Visa Signature Card

Are these offers worth it?

First, let’s talk about the sign-up bonuses. As noted above, all three credit cards earn up to 100,000 Avios. TPG values Avios at 1.5 cents each, meaning that you could take home $1,500 worth of rewards on any of these cards.

However, you would need to spend a total of $20,000 in the first 12 months to earn this full bonus. That breaks down to $1,667 per month. And since the standard earning rates on the cards aren’t that strong, you could be sacrificing value by not swiping a card that’s better for everyday purchases.

That said, remember that you’re not limited to using your Avios on these three airlines. You also have access to Oneworld redemptions with carriers like American, Japan Airlines, Qantas and Qatar.

There’s been a lot of positive news around these currencies over the last few months, too:

• You can now book Aer Lingus flights using Avios on British Airways’ website.
• You’ll pay lower fuel surcharges on Iberia-operated flights using British Airways Avios.
• Qatar Airways adopted Avios as its currency, and BA lowered the price on Qatar-operated awards.

In short, there’s a lot of added flexibility with the 100,000 Avios you can earn from any of these cards.

Bottom line

If you’re not someone who typically flies with any of these airlines, these offers alone may not be enough to make any of the cards worth it. However, those who do travel often on Avios-earning airlines (or want to redeem on partners like American) could find value in these low-cost cards from Chase.

Keep in mind that these cards are subject to Chase’s 5/24 rule, which means if you’ve applied for five or more cards in the past 24 months, you almost certainly won’t be approved. Additionally, an application for one of these cards will count toward your 5/24 slots. So make sure that applying for one of these offers won’t preclude you from applying for other high-value Chase cards in the near future.

Related: Best airline credit cards

Featured image by Fasttailwind/Shutterstock.