Avios are a great point currency allowing you to redeem flights with Iberia, but you can also move the points to Vueling, British Airways or Aer Lingus. You can also use Avios for hotel bookings, car rental, and other activities. However, in my opinion, being based in Spain, the best value you can get from Avios is redeeming them for long-haul flights from Madrid with Iberia, especially flying in business. You can read more about using Avios on Avios.com.
Iberia offers two personal credits cards to choose from. Let´s look at them both.
Iberia Icon
Iberia ICON is the superior of the two. With Iberia ICON you earn 1 Avios for each 2 EUR spent (half of the value you get with AMEX). However, since this is VISA you can pay with this card everywhere where AMEX is not accepted so it´s a great compliment to your AMEX. You can also earn extra Avios for your online shopping via Iberia Store and with other partners like some hotels or restaurants.
You get up to 20.000 Avios as a welcome bonus meeting their spend criteria – You get 9.000 Avios for spending 1.500 EUR in the first 6 months, 3.000 Avios for spending 600 EUR in the next 3 months and then another 3.000 Avios in the following 3 months. Then you should also spend 100 EUR with Iberia in the first 12 months to get 5.000 Avios. On top of that, you can get 4.000 Avios for requesting a supplementary card and spending 200 EUR there within 3 months. Finally, you can also receive 9.000 Avios for recommending the card to your family or friends.
A great benefit is that you will also get Ibeira Silver status making you eligible for priority boarding, additional luggage for free in Iberia flights and you will be earning 25% extra Avios on your flights.Besides that once per year you can benefit from buying flights with Avios during Iberia Flying Days at a 50% reduction, which is a great deal. During the whole year, you can use a 10% discount on cash price with Iberia when you pay with ICON.
Other things to consider can be booking hotels with benefits via Visa Luxury Hotel Collection, getting Avis Preferred Plus status for car rental and a discount of 3 cents per liter on gas with Repsol.
The annual quota is free for the first year and if you decide to keep the card for the following year, the annual fee is 90 EUR.
Iberia ICON is the superior of the two. With Iberia ICON you earn 1 Avios for each 2 EUR spent (half of the value you get with AMEX). However, since this is VISA you can pay with this card everywhere where AMEX is not accepted so it´s a great compliment to your AMEX. You can also earn extra Avios for your online shopping via Iberia Store and with other partners like some hotels or restaurants.
You get up to 20.000 Avios as a welcome bonus meeting their spend criteria – You get 9.000 Avios for spending 1.500 EUR in the first 6 months, 3.000 Avios for spending 600 EUR in the next 3 months and then another 3.000 Avios in the following 3 months. Then you should also spend 100 EUR with Iberia in the first 12 months to get 5.000 Avios. On top of that, you can get 4.000 Avios for requesting a supplementary card and spending 200 EUR there within 3 months. Finally, you can also receive 9.000 Avios for recommending the card to your family or friends.
A great benefit is that you will also get Ibeira Silver status making you eligible for priority boarding, additional luggage for free in Iberia flights and you will be earning 25% extra Avios on your flights.Besides that once per year you can benefit from buying flights with Avios during Iberia Flying Days at a 50% reduction, which is a great deal. During the whole year, you can use a 10% discount on cash price with Iberia when you pay with ICON.
Other things to consider can be booking hotels with benefits via Visa Luxury Hotel Collection, getting Avis Preferred Plus status for car rental and a discount of 3 cents per liter on gas with Repsol.
The annual quota is free for the first year and if you decide to keep the card for the following year, the annual fee is 90 EUR.
Apply for Iberia ICON here using my referral link.
Iberia Classic
Iberia Classic, as the name suggests is the lower version of the 2 Iberia cards. With Iberia Classic you earn 1 Avios per 5 EUR spent so this is not a great value compared to ICON or AMEX cards.
As a welcome bonus, you get 4.500 Avios after spending 1.500 EUR in the first 6 months – more simple conditions than with ICON but also much less Avios. You can also get a supplementary card and receive 1.500 Avios after spending 200 EUR in the first 3 months. Just like with ICON you can also recommend the card and you get a referral bonus of 4.500 Avios for recommending Iberia Classic or 9.000 Avios if they get Iberia ICON.
You do not get a Silver status with Iberia, but you can still buy flights with Iberia using a 10% discount and buy flights using Avios during Flying Days but instead of a 50% discount, you get 25% only.
On the plus side, you can also book hotels with benefits via Visa Luxury Hotel Collection, get Avis Preferred Plus status for car rental and a discount of 3 cents per liter on gas with Repsol.
The card is free for the first year and from the send year the fee is 45 EUR per year.
Considering both Iberia ICON and Classic have the annual quota free for the first year, I would always recommend applying for ICON to get more benefits and later either cancel the card or move to Classic. After my first year with ICON, I called to cancel and they offered me to keep ICON for the next year at the price of Classic so I would only consider applying for Classic if some reason your application for ICON was denied. However, if you want to apply for Classic, you can still do it using my referral link HERE, thanks!
Overall, as mentioned earlier, Iberia ICON is a good addition to your American Express (read more HERE), but it should not be your only credit card on your journey to free travel. The welcome bonus is not bad, Silver status with Iberia is good as well but the main benefit I see is the 50% discount on tickets paid in points during Flying Days and the fact that AMEX is not accepted everywhere so keeping Iberia card in your wallet is a great way to make sure EVERYTHING you ever pay for gets you some points.
Iberia Classic, as the name suggests is the lower version of the 2 Iberia cards. With Iberia Classic you earn 1 Avios per 5 EUR spent so this is not a great value compared to ICON or AMEX cards.
As a welcome bonus, you get 4.500 Avios after spending 1.500 EUR in the first 6 months – more simple conditions than with ICON but also much less Avios. You can also get a supplementary card and receive 1.500 Avios after spending 200 EUR in the first 3 months. Just like with ICON you can also recommend the card and you get a referral bonus of 4.500 Avios for recommending Iberia Classic or 9.000 Avios if they get Iberia ICON.
You do not get a Silver status with Iberia, but you can still buy flights with Iberia using a 10% discount and buy flights using Avios during Flying Days but instead of a 50% discount, you get 25% only.
On the plus side, you can also book hotels with benefits via Visa Luxury Hotel Collection, get Avis Preferred Plus status for car rental and a discount of 3 cents per liter on gas with Repsol.
The card is free for the first year and from the send year the fee is 45 EUR per year.
Considering both Iberia ICON and Classic have the annual quota free for the first year, I would always recommend applying for ICON to get more benefits and later either cancel the card or move to Classic. After my first year with ICON, I called to cancel and they offered me to keep ICON for the next year at the price of Classic so I would only consider applying for Classic if some reason your application for ICON was denied. However, if you want to apply for Classic, you can still do it using my referral link HERE, thanks!
Overall, as mentioned earlier, Iberia ICON is a good addition to your American Express (read more HERE), but it should not be your only credit card on your journey to free travel. The welcome bonus is not bad, Silver status with Iberia is good as well but the main benefit I see is the 50% discount on tickets paid in points during Flying Days and the fact that AMEX is not accepted everywhere so keeping Iberia card in your wallet is a great way to make sure EVERYTHING you ever pay for gets you some points.
Apply for Iberia Classic here using my referral link.