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Home  >  Iberia  >  My Avios Have Arrived And I Can’t Spend Them Fast Enough
Iberia

My Avios Have Arrived And I Can’t Spend Them Fast Enough

Kyle Stewart Posted onJuly 3, 2018September 15, 2021 14 Comments

Iberia ran a promotion a couple of weeks ago with limited terms that many travelers took advantage of. After $340 and an hour of bliss with their excellent website, the Avios have arrived much to the dismay of many. The problem is spending them. 


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They Are Here, Now What?

I can’t believe they are really here. I was fully prepared to have to take a refund (though Matthew pointed out earlier today that should not be the case – he was right). I was also prepared to challenge the charges on my credit card but won’t have to do that either. Now the race is on to spend them faster than I received them.

They're here!
They’re here!

I have planned my call with the flight numbers needed, the information from each traveler’s passport and will shortly dial their US call center (if you dare – see update below):

1-800-772-4642

Spanish line:

+34 913 894 357

I Said I Would Use Them On American Coach Awards, Did I Mean It?

Oh yes. I have checked the availability of my flights recently and they are still wide open. Booking now before others have even had their points post will help me to ensure that I get ahead of the phone line for what will be, I am certain, a challenging experience.

UPDATE: On the phone with the first rep, they rudely ended the call and I mean rude.

UPDATE 2: On the second go around the rep was far more pleasant but she indicated that they could not help with Iberia Plus and suggested I call the Spanish line (now listed above). Also, just a heads up, the most British possible phone agent will scream at you about every 20 seconds while on hold, “All of our agents are busy at the moment, please hold the line. Thank you.” So… holding, I guess. 

UPDATE 3: I got through, third rep, this one in Spain. I’m told it’s the wrong number again, they can’t transfer. I repeated back the number to her, it’s the same as above. She doesn’t understand why it’s not working. I do…

UPDATE 4: New rep states they cannot see American Airlines space (I am reading the flight numbers and know they have seven coach award seats available right now). Suggests I call American, to spend my Avios. I switch to Spanish explaining that of course I cannot spend my Avios with American Airlines by calling them. Puts me back on hold while she checks with her supervisor.

I have just one trip picked out with space so I quickly need to identify the next and secure it. I would hope to execute both on the same call but I can’t be sure that will be possible. I do speak Spanish (poorly) so perhaps I have a small advantage over others that may face a language barrier – Lifemiles is really difficult to use for English speakers like myself – though I should not expect a Spanish airline to speak English. I hope they do, I hope this isn’t an issue, but I wouldn’t presume that to be the case.

I intend on reporting back once my tickets are issued.

Why Spend Them So Fast?

There are a few reasons why I intend to get rid of these points as fast as they entered my account. The first is that I have a specific purpose and I suspect that after all of the Iberia flights have filled up, others will turn to simple answers from partners nearby. Even if my specific destination is available from American Airlines, the connecting flights may not be. Right now I can secure those with a simple itinerary, I hope to avoid a rush to fill up connecting flights reducing my options for using them at all.

Another reason I will spend them as fast as humanly possible is to avoid the looming December 1st deadline. Any Avios I do not spend by then will be relinquished from my account. I recall putting off upgrade certificates when US Airways and American merged and the long hold times with US Airways made it so tough to redeem the upgrades that I missed the deadline. Luckily, it was extended though I highly doubt that would be the case. Out of my account on confirmed tickets is a far safer position to hold, then any day close to the deadline.

I am also in a rush to spend these is that I don’t necessarily trust Iberia to not add further stipulations to the deal. I purchased my tickets in Mexico from the US website and had to reset my password to gain entry. While both of these two countries were included in the offer, some have mentioned that if they were out of country accessing a different country’s Iberia.com website that their accounts have been frozen (albeit temporarily). I don’t see my situation as ambiguous, but I also don’t want to wait around until someone else does.

Some of my tickets fly in the near term. I do not want any confusion about the validity of the Avios staying in my account once those flights take off without me on them.

Have your Iberia Avios arrived? What will you spend them on? Matthew passed on the deal, as others did, any regrets about not taking advantage of the promotion?

Previous Article Introduction: Two Countries, Six Flights on Lufthansa
Next Article Review: British Airways Galleries Lounge – London Heathrow T3 (LHR)

About Author

Kyle Stewart

Kyle is a freelance travel writer with contributions to Time, the Washington Post, MSNBC, Yahoo!, Reuters, Huffington Post, MapHappy, Live And Lets Fly and many other media outlets. He is also co-founder of Scottandthomas.com, a travel agency that delivers "Travel Personalized." He focuses on using miles and points to provide a premium experience for his wife and daughter. Email: sherpa@thetripsherpa.com

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14 Comments

  1. Adam Reply
    July 3, 2018 at 5:20 pm

    Why not book online? Is there more availability over the phone?

    • Kyle Stewart Reply
      July 3, 2018 at 5:32 pm

      That website is useless in my experience.

      • Luiz de Freitas Reply
        July 3, 2018 at 5:55 pm

        … be openminded and use Iberia Plus website … preferably use them to redeem transatlantic flights to Madrid from the US or from other cities in Central America … very easy to do … no headaches … I just have booked GRU/MAD rtn in Business …

        • Kyle Stewart Reply
          July 3, 2018 at 6:13 pm

          Unfortunately, I am not having the same experience you are with their website, but I hope it improves.

  2. Surfer Reply
    July 3, 2018 at 5:44 pm

    just wait until the thousands of other people start trying this…….

  3. Shaun Reply
    July 3, 2018 at 6:09 pm

    I booked some roundtrip AA first class awards a few minutes ago…no issues. You are doing roundtrip, correct? I don’t think one-ways are possible on non-IB/BA partners if that’s what u are trying to book

  4. Pete Reply
    July 3, 2018 at 6:15 pm

    Hope your points aren’t rescinded when you start no-showing for your 10 flights.

    • Kyle Stewart Reply
      July 3, 2018 at 6:19 pm

      Me too. It doesn’t violate the terms and the implicit confirmation from their staff, but I don’t trust it either.

  5. Ted Reply
    July 3, 2018 at 10:32 pm

    I took part on Day 1 and points arrived this afternoon. I promptly booked LAX to Europe – on Iberia, off-peak in Business. Fortunately, the dates I scoped out earlier this week were still available so I didn’t hesitate to book them. I had to transfer in some points from a credit card to top off the account but everything seemed to work.

    • Matthew Reply
      July 3, 2018 at 10:42 pm

      Congrats on the booking Ted!

  6. MeanMeosh Reply
    July 3, 2018 at 11:36 pm

    Considering the (mis)adventure you’re already having, I have zero regrets for not taking advantage of this promotion. Your experience would have left me banging my head on my desk all day long, which isn’t worth 90k points…

  7. Boaz Reply
    July 4, 2018 at 12:37 am

    How do you check American Airlines availability with Iberia? I’d like to fly from nyc-phx , but have no clue if those flights are available.

  8. Dominik Reply
    July 4, 2018 at 5:32 am

    The Iberia site for award searches is not too bad. The only annoying restriction is that partner airlines can´t be booked on a one-way basis, only returns. I used the 90k miles for a Southamerica return. MAD-LIM / GIG-MAD in C for 85k + 132€ tax (two one-ways; 108€ and 24€).

  9. Mick Reply
    July 4, 2018 at 9:12 am

    I feel sad with the 66,000 Iberia points I had in my account from a cancelled redemption. The already sparse availability on Iberia metal from Ord to mad seems now to have been obliterated 🙁

    Wish everyone well but selfishly this promotion hasn’t helped me…….

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