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Update: Iberia is honoring this. See our follow-up post: Holy moly: Iberia is honoring it. 90K Avios now ~$260, and it’s for real. This post includes some fares that are no longer available, but many are still available from around $30 one-way.
German blog You Have Been Upgraded has written about an incredible promotion being offered by Iberia. I’ll note at the outset that this one is far too generous to last the way it is written. I suggest taking screen shots of everything and only getting involved if you can live with the fact that it’s a gamble. I also suggest reading the full post and understanding the 7 key things laid out at the bottom. That said, the payoff is pretty sweet: if this promo works as written, you could pick up 90,000 Iberia Avios for ~$183.
The Deal
- Iberia is offering Iberia Plus members 9,000 bonus Avios for every ticket they book on Iberia.com from June 21, 2018 – June 24, 2018 for for travel on Iberia, Iberia Express, or Air Nostrum up to a max of 90K Avios
Key Details
- You can get a maximum of 90,000 Avios from this promotion
- Bonus Avios are deposited in your account within 10 days of ticket purchase (i.e. not after you fly…)
- Multiple passengers on a single ticket will each earn 9,000 bonus Avios if they have been identified as Iberia Plus members at the time of booking (which presumably means entering their frequent flyer numbers)
- Bookings can be in any class and to any destination
- The terms do not require round trip bookings to earn 9K Avios
- Bonus Avios must be used by December 1, 2018
Quick Thoughts
The gist of it is this: book a ticket on Iberia.com, enter an Iberia Plus account number for the flyer, get 9,000 Avios. The promotion page clearly states any class, any destination as you can see above. There is no round trip requirement, meaning you’re better off booking separate one-ways as each ticket gets 9K (might as well book two one-ways and get 18K).
If that sounds too goo to be true, you’re right…it does. Here are the full terms.
The terms state that the 9,000 bonus Avios will be added within 10 days of purchase. The terms go on to say that if you request a refund, the promotional Avios will be withdrawn from your account. Of course, if you don’t make your flight because you get held up in traffic or don’t get your visa information squared away or your vacation time isn’t approved or you aren’t in the right country….you’re not really requesting a refund when you no-show. Further, if you make a bunch of speculative bookings next spring, you will both receive the Avios and be required to use them well before you are scheduled to fly….and plans can legitimately change in that time. Keep reading for caveats below.
Last year, I spent a few nights at the Park Hyatt Mallorca and it was really a gorgeous property.

Mallorca was in fact so beautiful that I’d be happy to speculate on returning…especially considering flights from Palma de Mallorca to Madrid are only $19 pretty much all of next February and March.

Actually, that’s a little misleading. When you click on a date, it shows $19 / 16 Euros. When I clicked through to Iberia, there was actually a price change…
I just about spit out my coffee at the thought of the 16 Euro price no longer being available…..so it got cheaper. That’s actually about $18.33 based on today’s exchange rate.
So the short version of the story is that ten of those bookings should yield you 90,000 Avios about 10 days from now. In other words, about $183.30 in bookings should get you 90,000 Avios well before you fly. That’s awesome as you can use those Avios to fly from Chicago, New York, or Boston to Madrid in lie-flat business class for 34K in off peak season (50K peak) or 42.5K from Miami one way (off-peak). In other words, $183 plus the taxes on your award ticket will get you a round trip business class ticket to Europe if this promotion sticks. There are several things to think about if you’re going to get involved in this:
Update: As indicated at the top, this promotion has been confirmed. Iberia intends to honor it even if you don’t fly the segments. See the post linked at the top for more info.
- The promotion is really generous. I could see it being very popular. I could see that leading to what Gary Leff calls “seller’s remorse” — i.e. the promo being pulled/changed/not honored. It’s a gamble.
- The promotional Avios need to be used by December 1st, 2018 or they are forfeited.
- If you request a refund, you lose the Avios.
- The terms don’t specifically state what happens in a no-show case. I wouldn’t want to plan to no-show before flying my award ticket.
- Iberia could frown on people who they perceive to be abusing their generosity. It’s certainly not out of their power to close an account. If you’re going to make a bunch of speculative bookings for the Avios, you might want to convince a friend or family member who doesn’t care about their future with Iberia to book tickets and then use their Avios to book you an award.
- While you might be able to use the Avios before December 1st to book an itinerary further in the future, see #4.
- This may create some competition for award seats on Iberia. Of course, there are other great uses of Iberia Avios. See below.
All that said, the promo is written in English on the US version of the Iberia site and they give exactly the kind of example I’m showing (a short domestic flight in Spain), so it’s hard not to expect this to work….except that it does seem nuts.
Iberia Avios aren’t only useful for flying to Spain. See these posts for more inspiration:
- From 11K RT on American: A sweet spot for North American redemptions
- Hacking Avios
- Searching for business class sweet spots in Iberia’s OneWorld award chart
Bottom line
If you skipped to the bottom here, hop up one section and read #1-#7. It’s worth noting one more time that I don’t see how this will last. That said, Iberia couldn’t be much clearer in their wording — it’s not as though this is a promotion that’s buried on the Spanish site and badly translated — it’s on Iberia.com/us. I’d go in with low expectations — but even if you make two or three speculative bookings and you’re able to use your Avios by December 1st, it wouldn’t be hard to come out well ahead. I don’t intend to get fully invested in this, but I may throw my hat in the ring for a couple of them. Two $18.33 bookings would give me enough Avios for a round trip ticket that’s up to 2,000 total miles, and that’s a pretty solid deal even without going too crazy.

[…] 1) Crazy: 90,000 Avios for $183 (too good to last) […]
[…] June 24, 2018, up to a maximum accrual of 90,000 points. The cheapest flight, according to FrequentMiler, seemed to be from Palma de Mallorca to Madrid for a little over $18 a ticket. Those that […]
[…] Crazy: 90,000 Avios for $183 (too good to last), Frequent Miler […]
[…] you got in on the recent crazy Iberia Plus promotion (See: Crazy: 90,000 Avios for $180 (too good to last) and Holy moly: Iberia is honoring it. 90K Avios for ~$260, and it’s for real), I’ve got […]
[…] the promotion of the year if it gets honored (it’s now over, but you can read more about it here and here). We have received a handful of reports today from readers whose accounts have been […]
10 days since the start now.. anyone get their miles yet??
tried logging in this morning and my account is showing error. can’t login .. hope its just an IT glitch. anyone else having issues?
No, I just logged in without issue. That said, Iberia is known for a buggy website. I wouldn’t worry unless that continues for days.
Trust me, the moment that these start posting, you won’t have to ask — everyone is going to be jumping up and down and screaming it from the mountaintops.
I’ve seen one single report online that said that someone else reported receiving the Avios — which makes me highly skeptical as, once again, everyone who participated in this promotion will be rushing to tell everyone else about how their Avios are posting if and when it happens.
Can you use Iberia Avois to book Alaska Airlines award flights?
“The promotional Avios need to be used by December 1st, 2018” .. this means that i can reserve a ticket until that date to use after that date ? Thanks
Do you know when on Sunday this is over … Is it local time …I am in the central us time zone.
No, I don’t think anybody knows. As long as you see the promotion advertised on the homepage, I would assume it’s not expired. But I don’t know that for sure.
” Greed is Good ”
Lets hope it works out with No Hassles as in I don’t Think So .
Gorden
Got my 10 flights.
Holding off on doing the same for my wife.
A little paranoid that IB could soon implement fuel charges on award tix, like BA.
i was trying to book another ticket just now, chose i’m flying and autofill my information including iberia plus number, some texts in red are showing “please check your Iberia Plus number xxxx because it does not match the name and family name on the booking. If you are an On Business member, the name must the same as the one you have with Iberia Plus. Change it with On Business before booking your flight.”
Has anyone met the same problem? Also I check my reservation made yesterday on the website, my plus no are removed for all of them.
I’m getting the same problem. I’d booked a few of these yesterday before it was confirmed by Iberia, and went in just now to round out a few more bookings. The deal has either hit a technical snag, or is dead. Not sure.
I just booked one about 5 minutes ago and checked that booking as well as the first one I made yesterday. Both are displaying my name and Iberia number correctly.
We’ve had some reports of the problem you guys are mentioning in the Frequent Miler Insiders group from people who newly created their Iberia account in the past couple of days. Is that the case for both of you? If yes, others are being told that they’ll have to wait 72 hours and call in to get their IB # added to the reservations. Not sure what to make of it, but agents are saying the promo will be honored.
It’s probably worth calling.
I registered after i heard this promo, minutes ago i called this number 1 (800) 772-4642, the agent confirmed that my bookings are under my plus no.
Update 6/22/18 at 11:34pm Eastern: I just booked PMI-MAD for 6/18/19 for 17.96 Euro. Changed the country to “Spain-EN” (English version). Looks like there is a seat left on both morning and evening that day and possibly on the next day.
It wont be bookable until midnight madrid time, and that’s when the promo ends *sigh*
i thought there is a 330 days restriction
Nope. 361 days. See the link in the update post linked at the top of this or search for an award within 330 days, then click “new search” near the top and it’ll let you book out further.
[…] to You Have Been Upgraded and Frequent Miler for noticing this […]
Post updated: Iberia has confirmed that they are honoring this. See this link for a follow-up:
https://frequentmiler.com/2018/06/22/holy-moly-iberia-is-honoring-it-90k-avios-now-260-and-its-for-real/
[…] Crazy: 90,000 Avios for $183 (too good to last) […]
Hmmm, I’ve successfully booked 4 flights but just when I was about to book the fifth IBeria blocked the usage of my credit card. I would suppose they identified I used it too many times for payments…anyone else having this issue?
Does anyone else still see “cheap” flights (~$20)? It looks like it went up to $30.
$20 flights sold out last night; $33/34 is the new $20, which was the new $18 (which sold out first)
Last I checked, Malaga was still $29. (and Mr. Rebates says $3 back)
as of a few minutes ago there were still $18.03 PMI – MAD fares in December
thanks… i did see 3 days in December PMI –> MAD. just need to find 7 more…. haha.
even if you are paying $33 a ticket it is still a ridic deal of 90K for $330 (perspective). In any case, plenty of AGP to MAD etc… for $29 too
not too familiar with iberia. is there a good redemption i can use the 90k pts from LAX? thanks.
There’s one leaving from Santander. about $29 deal.
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/29895613-post78.html
[…] 廢話不多說,英文好的人,直接去看消息原版。 […]
Nice ideas that you leave us here, Nick !
One question… if i buy a buy via Iberia site a flight and the company that apears is Vueling, i will also receive the avios ? Thanks
only Iberia, Iberia Express or Air Nostrum
[…] insane if you’ve got any Europe travel planned, Iberia has a lot of low cost flights (e.g Frequent Miler found some from €19. I’ve also taken flights in the past that I actually needed to fly for under $50). I’m […]
[…] insane if you’ve got any Europe travel planned, Iberia has a lot of low cost flights (e.g Frequent Miler found some from €19. I’ve also taken flights in the past that I actually needed to fly for under $50). I’m […]
it gets even better if you are willing to risk some avios upfront
Option 1) 20.12 for a o/w earns 9000Avios (0.22cpm)
Option 2) Use Avios discount on purchase, the offer being 2770 Avios discounting $18. That means a $2.12 fare nets me 6230 Avios (9000 – 2770), which is 0.035cpm
wrong calculation. Would be correct if you keep the avios, otherwise you can either spend only 62.300 avios for reward flight or to finance it with old “expensive” avios from your account.
Misleading title – 9000 for $183 – come one people be realistic u need to spend almost $2000 to get 90,000 stop bullshitting people
Are you retarded? lol
there’s gonna be a lot of empty iberia seats come 2019 lol
they have flight for $15. can you buy 10 on same account ?
I believe you are looking at Ryan Air which is $15
Any other flights, I click on all $19 options and it directly changes to $33…?
Were you able to book with your IB plus member#? I kept getting error so eventually I used my BA# instead, not sure if that will impact the bonus points as Incant find my booking under my account, I must search for it to locate it:(
Yes. I was able to book using IB Plus #
Anyone finding anything under 33 ?
I think all the $20s are sold out. 33-35 is only left
Yup. $20 sold out. Ugh
Looks like Iberia paused the flight search system now. 🙁
Nope. Still available. I just searched and purchased. But the $20 flights appear to have sold out
Is the $20 fare available only on one route — and only in one direction?
seems to b the case. i tried searching reverse direction and using google flights to view other locations within spain. this is by far cheapest route for something u dont plan on flying lol
the fight date must before 18/05/2019 ? thanks!!
Why? Does not say that in terms, I don’t think
https://www.iberia.com/es/offer/iberia-plus/win-a-trip-with-avios/ the website show : The date entered must fall within the next 330 days. 5/18/2019
The date entered must fall within the next 330 days. 5/18/2019 (pop up this message
I was able to book until June 17 2019
homepage…../es/offer/iberia-plus/win-a-trip-with-avios/ check this (i worried abut it
Yup, You can book up to 361 days in advance. I found flights beyond that book couldn’t book them
35 everywhere now. DANG! i still needed to get my wife’s done. i got 7 at 20.13 ea
Still some in May! Just looked on GFs.
is it letting u book may? mine says can’t book that far out
just did 05/30
Is there only one route (and only one way) for $20?
You need to search directly on Iberia’s site (not google). I currently see $20 fares from PMI-MAD (May 23 through June 6… there are probably more dates, but I that was from my first search). If prices go up much, try other airport pairings.
The funny thing I see the Ryan Air flights for 11 EUR on that route, now.
Still alive, booking $20 fares for wife and I. Try MrRebates for $3 cashback, lol. We’ll see if this sticks. I see fares disappearing from my cart because someone else is grabbing them 🙂
Dang I should have gotten $30 cashback. I should have taken the 30 seconds to do a quick search to see if any site offered cashback before booking 🙁
no worries, hard to say if cashback will post with all the identical charges, lol. we’ll see in 10 days if this works! or if I’m out some cash 🙂
Each one has a unique confirmation code. I think it should. MrRebates is pretty good at tracking orders compared to most sites. As long as you clicked through them every time before each order I think it would work.
Yes!
Try booking on Iberia’s site not google.
better hurry.. availability drying up quickly for the lowest fares
website so frustrating. timed out so many times. only $21 flights left and almost all gone it seems
I’ve gotten to the point where even though I’m logged in, every search means I need to prove I’m human… tip of the iceberg as far as the joke of a website they have.
looks like price went up? $33 pp
still plenty of days in March with $19, and even more in April / May for $21. I just did my 10 bookings.I hope I can make it to my flights 😉
Me, too! 🙂
Thanks! Got 10 booked at $21!
Would Iberia by Level flights work? the BOS > BCN is priced very well.
Doubtful. Terms state Iberia, Iberia Express, or Air Nostrum.
Got 9 flights in March and one in February $18.03 each. Thanks for posting the deal Nick! I wonder if I can just transfer these points to BA… I hope you do a follow up post in a couple weeks when the points post.
Can I redeem Ultimate Rewards through Chase and really capitalize on this deal?
No. Have to book via Iberia.
Going for it with both mine and my husbands accounts. Will also get 3x from Chase Ink Preferred.
don’t forget you can also add your Business Extraa account number to bookings (every point helps!)
What is this?
I’m not going to try this myself, but very interesting post. Please post an update once you know what happens. I know I can check back on this comment thread, but I’ll probably forget.
This reminds me of an old mileage run on Qantas booking seats on a bus from Paraburdoo to Tom Price.
Got in on this too. I’ll just think of it as gambling.
Can you tell me your departure/arrival destination for the cheap flights? Not sure how to get started. TIA
See the link in the post to Google Flights (the image of the calendar showing all of the $19 dates — click it) — I linked to the $19 flights from Palma de Mallorca to Madrid.
Tks!
I did the same. Grabbed 8 o/w flights to/from MAD for ~16 euros ea. & 2 o/w flights @ 32 euros ea. all in Jan/Feb/Mar. Came to approx. 220 euros incl. the fees, etc. Had to create new Iberia account. I will have to see if the points show up in the new few days.
Went for it. 90,000 Avios plus 540 UR points, worth the gamble 🙂
May the odds be ever in your favor. I look forward to hearing your success story.
Not that its a big deal, but if you buy in USD from their website the fx rate is actually better. Comes out to $180.30 for 10 flights
Good tip!
I wonder if the bonus Avios will help extend my Iberia miles that are going to expire in August. Will the new expiration date stick if I cancel the ticket after August (i.e. 9,000 Avios withdrawn by Iberia)?
just transfer them to ba. and then back to iberia. that’ll keep them from expiring.
I am afraid it doesn’t work that way. Per IB website, transferring miles will not extend the expiration date.
That’s not what Nathan suggested. If you transfer all and then transfer all back, that’s new miles. If you transfer one mile, then the remaining don’t get extended.
What if you actually flew these 10 flights. Any strategies for getting status or something with them?
“Use them” does that mean book by or fly by Dec 1?
I’d say book by. That said, I’d want to make sure that you fly your award ticket before you no-show any flights, lest they say you’re forfeiting the Avios and cancel your ticket.
Could you not simply transfer the Avios to BA or Aer club or an Avios.com household account to prevent any clawback, or to hold them for use past the December, 3018 deadline?
Theoretically yes. In practice, I wouldn’t feel confident enough to not use them before December 1st. As with the entire promotion, depends on your risk tolerance.
I had some promotional Avios from Iberia a few years ago that I tried to transfer to BA, but they would not transfer. I phoned Iberia and was told that the promo Avios could only be used on Iberia. This may happen with these promo Avios as well.
US based phone reps for Iberia are notoriously uneven (I had far better luck with Spanish based Iberia reps…. — they even had better english) Did you try booking via Iberia web site via partner airlines (including American…. BA & Aer Lingus should be ez?) ?
I’ve booked several short haul AA round-trip flights in US for 11k Iberia Avios (off the Iberia web site — and those points got there courtesy transfer from CUR)
Pass. I hope it works for you, but have you dealt with a Spanish company before? They will reneg in a heartbeat.
Spanish company that has legal presence in the US…
Oh boy, you just know the FAA is going to be running extra shifts to take down Iberia’s reneging on bonus miles!!
Pretty simple: if you don’t get your miles, file a dispute with your credit card company. Make sure you have a screen shot of the webpage for the promised miles for this promotion. You are not going to be out anything except for your time.
Have you bothered to read anything about Iberia? Iberia has been fully merged into International Aviation group (along with British Airways) for nearly a decade. HQ in London.