Ole, ole! Iberia is running a hot, hot, hot deal: Fly from Boston, New York, Washington, or Chicago to Madrid from 6,400 Avios and about $88 one way for travel dates starting in October (and only 8K from most other US cities!). I stumbled on this sale while doing award searches last night and I see that Upgraded Points has since published about it with a lot of insight about the sale. Availability is pretty good in the outbound direction (from the US to Spain). I’m seeing less availability on the return journey at the lowest levels, but either way this is tough to beat. Be aware that the deal here appears to be on economy class only and the cheapest seats are “Basic” — i.e. with changes for a fee, but no cancellation. If you like a little more flexibility, the cheap seats start at 10K in “comfort”, which provides for both changes and cancellations for 25 Euros.
The Deal
- Iberia is offering an award sale for flights between the US and Spain starting at 6,400 Avios each way. You must book by 9/11/25 and you can travel between 10/1/25 and 12/5/25.
Key Terms
- The cheapest fares are “basic” and can be changed for a fee but not cancelled and they do not include checked baggage (“comfort” fares that include a checked bag and the ability to cancel for a fee start at 10,000 Avios one way)
- Be aware that you can not currently move Avios between British Airways and Iberia. If you transfer Avios for this deal, there is currently no way to move them to or from Iberia, so use a transferable currency that transfers directly to Iberia.
Quick Thoughts
As you can see on the calendar above, this isn’t a one-off redemption but rather it is available almost the entire first week of October and then on and off from there (I haven’t advanced to see quite how far out it goes). Not every flight is available, but you’ll often find these “Basic” fares for 6,400 Avios one way.
If you see the 6,400 Avios and fear that you’ll be in for a nasty surprise when you see the taxes & fees component, fear not: at that price, you’ll pay only about $88 in taxes and fees.
I don’t always get very excited about economy class redemptions to Europe, but the value here is hard to ignore. Compare against the cash prices for the same flight:
At a starting price of $374 and a cash component of about $88, your 6,400 Avios are saving about $288.
The deal gets a little squishier if you’re looking at booking round trip since round-trip pricing can be pretty competitive from the northeast to Europe. I used October 3-6 for sample dates. Google Flights showed a round-trip price of $423. Alternatively, the round trip comes out to 12,800 Aivos and $218.41.
That’s still not a terrible deal since the 12,800 Avios are saving you about $205 — a value of around 1.6c per point — but it isn’t quite as impressive thanks to the higher taxes & fees departing Europe.
Keep in mind though that the cheap seats are “Basic” fares. If you want the ability to cancel for a fee, you’ll need to pony up for “Comfort” (note that while most Iberia partner awards are completely nonrefundable, Iberia does allow for refunds on “Comfort” fares or higher).
Upgraded Points calls out the fact that while the 6.4K pricing stands from Boston, New York, Chicago, and Washington, DC, you’ll only pay a little more if you’re flying from further away. Miami, Dallas, and Los Angeles start at just 8K one way. Availability from Los Angeles is a bit sparse, but it is a great deal if it lines up with your plans.
Note that the sale pricing is only available on Iberia-operated flights and other additional legs you add won’t be discounted, so this deal is best suited for those flying to/from Madrid or Barcelona. Upgraded Points also notes that Premium Economy can be had for as few as 11,800 Avios one way, but I haven’t stumbled upon any availability for that.
The sale is scheduled to last for about a week, but despite this being shoulder season, I wouldn’t be surprised if many dates get scooped up in the first few days.
Finally, while most transferable currencies have a link to Avios, keep in mind that you can not currently move Avios to or from Iberia from British Airways. This means that if you don’t have Iberia Avios in your Iberia account, you’ll need to transfer from a program that links directly with Iberia (Amex Membership Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards, Bilt Rewards, or Wells Fargo). Also remember that if you transfer to Iberia for this sale and later change your mind, there is currently no way to move your Avios from Iberia to another Avios program.
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Thanks for posting! I was able to book 2 roundtrip tickets for NY to Madrid for Thanksgiving. Booked Thompson Madrid for the stay as well. So excited!!!
Remember for Iberia you need to consider both the cost of cancelation and the likelihood of a successful cancelation and refund of points. The refund likelihood is somewhere in the 25-75% range, even when you qualify.
Om WhatsApp channel it’s super easy. Cost is 25USD/EUR and from experience Avios arrive 3-4 days into IB account.
Just be wary of visiting Spain in late fall, especially outside the big cities. It gets dark by around 5:00 p.m., today siesta give me afternoon, and they eat dinner at 9:30. It’s a much better destination in the spring.
FYI, it is possible to move Avios from BA to Iberia (just did one last night).
But you need to call up Iberia to have an agent manually process the transfer.
You also need to already have some Avios in your Iberia account (just transfer the minimum from a transferable currency) and the information in both your BA and Iberia accounts need to match, including contact information.