Earlier today Chuck was the first to share the details about the new Chase Iberia credit card that is now available for new applications. I thought it would be a good idea to take a deeper look at the card and answer some of the frequently asked questions regarding it.
Contents
Card Basics
- $95 annual fee, not waived first year
- Sign up bonus of up to 75,000 points. Bonus broken down as follows:
- 50,000 Avios after $3,000 in spend within the first 3 months
- An additional 25,000 Avios after $10,000 in spend within the first year
- Card earns at the following rates:
- Earn 3 Avios for every $1 you spend on Iberia, British Airways, Aer Lingus, LEVEL and OpenSkies purchases.
- Earn 1 Avios for every $1 you spend on all other purchases
- $1,000 discount voucher each calendar year (more on this below) after you make $30,000 in purchases on your card
- 10% off Iberia flights
- No foreign transaction fees
- Visa Signature
Sign Up Bonus
As the card has just been launched, the 75,000 Avios bonus is the only bonus we’ve seen. That being said the bonus being offered is the exact same we currently see on the Chase British Airways card. I suspect these cards will always offer the same bonus. In the recent past we’ve seen a bonus of 100,000 Avios on that card (although it required $20,000 total spend). Because of that it might make sense to not apply for the Iberia card until the sign up bonus increases to 100,000 (and I’m fairly certain it will at some stage). Although $20,000 spend will be out of reach for a lot of people, in that case applying now would effectively get you the same bonus.
This card also has the 24 month language that states:
This product is available to you if you do not have this card and have not received a new cardmember bonus for this card in the past 24 months
At least with this card you can alternate between it and the British Airways card and soon to be launched Aer Lingus card as well.
$1,000 Discount Voucher
When you make $30,000 in purchases within a single calendar year you receive a $1,000 discount voucher. The discount voucher is in the form of a code that can be used by the card member when purchasing two tickets (must be same flight and same class of travel). The discount voucher can be redeemed at https://www.iberia.com/chase10 and is valid for 12 months from date of issue. It’s not extendable or transferable. The companion must travel with the cardmember on both the outbound and inbound journey. The voucher can only be used on flights which are operated by Iberia.
Personally don’t see a lot of value in this discount voucher, especially given you need to spend $30,000 to receive it. If you put that $30,000 on a 2% cash back card you’d earn $600. If you put it on this card you’d likely earn 30,000 Avios and the discount voucher so it can be good value if you can take advantage of it. It’s probably better value as well when the sign up bonus is higher and you’re already required to spend $20,000 to get the full bonus.
10% Off Iberia Flights
You receive a 10% discount on Iberia flights from any destination. You must book through https://www.iberia.com/chase10. The discount is on the flight fare only. Taxes, fees and carrier charges are excluded. On the British Airways version of this card, it covers the full fare (including taxes & fees).
Chase 5/24
Fortunately it looks like the Chase 5/24 rule does not apply to this card. Here are some datapoints confirming this: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, (note I won’t be adding any more datapoints as I think it’s safe to say that 5/24 doesn’t apply to this card at this stage. If that changes I will update this section).
Our Verdict
It’s always nice to see new credit cards being added. As mentioned, I do think the sign up bonus on this card will increase to 100,000 points at some stage but with that will come the $20,000 spend requirement. That will be out of reach for a lot of readers. 50,000 Avios for $3,000 in spend with the option of another 25,000 for another $7,000 in spend within the first year is still quite a strong initial offer though. I don’t see a lot of reason for most people to keep this card long term though, so most people will want to cancel after the first year to avoid the annual fee.
F.A.Q.
Can you transfer points between Iberia Avios & British Airways Avios?
Yes, you can move Iberia Avios to British Airways. Transferring from British Airways to Iberia is easier, but transferring from Iberia to British Airways is still possible. What you need to do is pull in the Avios from your Avios.com account, rather than trying to push them from the Iberia account. Hat tip to FT user Jetstreamer.
Do these points expire?
Yes, Iberia Avios expire 36 months after they are earned. Whenever you have any earning or spending activity the expiry resets and you’re given another 36 months (e.g basically earn or use them every 35 months and they won’t expire). Transfers from American Express Membership Rewards (presumably Chase UR as well) also reset the clock.
Best Uses Of Iberia Avios
This section should really be best uses of Iberia & British Airways Avios as you can transfer between the two as mentioned above. Some options:
- Flights to Madrid. One way in business class to Madrid from Miami, New York, Boston will cost you 34,000 avios each way in business class. You’ll pay about $200 in taxes & fees on a round trip ticket.
- Transfer to British Airways and use for American Airlines domestic flights. One way in economy to Hawaii is 12,500 Avios.
- 25% off award sales. Recently they have been frequently having 25% off all award tickets, see here.
I suck when it comes to redeeming points, so share your favorite sweet spots in the comments below.
Also a quick note, we’re trying to improve the quality and usefulness of these review type posts. I’d love your feedback in the comments, is there something else you’d like to see? Less/more of something? Let us know below.
No good support for the client Wish Iberia associated with a different card
The 1000-voucher expiration date is one year. Does that mean you have to travel by that year or can you book by the end of the year to travel later? Thanks
Anyone have problems redeeming this voucher? I selected my flight, applied my voucher code, the $1000 was correctly applied. Then at checkout, it says cannot use this voucher. I went through the process again and the website said the code had been used. Iberia has the absolute worst IT and almost as bad CSRs. I guess I’ll have to call tomorrow.
I just saw this article that the Avios program is shutting down and that avios points will be transferred to the BA Executive Club program.
http://www.businessinsider.com/british-airways-avios-frequent-flyer-scheme-closing-points-2018-4
I recently signed up for the Chase Iberia Plus card and was planning on transferring the sign up bonus points to my BA a/c. However, as mentioned in this article, the way to do that would be by pulling in the Iberia Avios in to Avios.com a/c and then pushing it to the BA program. My problem is that I don’t have an avios.com a/c and when I tried to sign up, I don’t see an option any more. Does anyone know how to sign up for Avios.com?
Thanks!
So after some research, I found out how this can still be done. You can sign up for Aer Lingus’ AerClub program – https://www.aerlingus.com/aerclub/ (Needless to add, ensure that all your details match – Name, DOB, email)
Then you’ll be able to use your AerClub username and password to sign in to avios.com. Once there, you can go to “My Account” and click on combine my Avios (the direct link: https://www.avios.com/us/en_us/my-account/combine-my-avios?from=myAccountOverview)
There in the dropdown, you can see both Iberia and BA.
NOTE: You cannot transfer Avios from Iberia (or BA) to Avios.com if your Iberia / BA account is less than 3-months old.
hope that helps.
Probably the best perk of this card is the $1,000 voucher combined with 10% discount. So, $30,000 spend gets 30,000 Avios. I have usually got more than 4 cent value out of Avios, but even on a conservative basis, it’s worth $600.
I have seen some direct flights to BCN and MAD in Premium Economy go for around $1,100. So, you are flying two passengers for just around $1,000 after taking 10% and $1,000 voucher. Can’t wait for Iberia to partner with Alaska. I will probably get rid of my BA Chase card if that happens.
Just signed up last night with a 12k limit – I was at 8/24.
Thanks for all the useful info!
I am planing to relocate back to Spain from the US and thinking about keeping some US credit cards. Maybe this could be a good one to keep, given the uses of the Iberia Avios within the Spain territory. Does this make sense?.
BTW, the spanish version (Iberia ICON) is really really bad (1 Avios / 2 euros).
Thx.
I suppose you can, but how do you intend to pay your bill? You have to do it from a US bank.
It might be costly. It seems to me you would end up paying ‘double’ exchange transfer rates?
You purchase something in say Spain for say $100 euros. Visa would convert this to USD based on the rate for the day of the purchase. Say this equates $150 today. Then you have pay that bill 30 or so days later. I assume you living in Spain are getting paid in Euro. Now you have to somehow transfer money from EUR to USD to a bank in the US. Say you use TransferWise (I think it is one of the most economical ways to do it). They will charge you from 0.5 to 1% transfer fee. Their exchange rates seem to be pretty good, but you would be paying the exchange rates for the day you are making the transfer. It is possible you now have to pay 101 EUR to get 150 USD (plus 0.50 to 1 EUR the transfer fee).
It is also possible that you might have to pay less (if the exchange rate moved in your favor), but you are definitely paying for the exchange of money from one currency to another. And you are doing it 2 times.
BTW: To my understanding credit cards in Europe have significantly smaller cashback/miles benefits, because there is a law that limits the interchange rates charged to merchants (which in the US are around 2% for credit cards). This is where the money for the rewards comes from.
Ok, dumb question but I have my reasons for wanting to now and cannot find an answer. Can I transfer IBERIA Avios over to VUELING Avios, now that they have switched from Puntos to Avios? If so, is this through Combining as well?
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Thanks for the great post. As far as improving things, I would say just keep doing what you are doing. I love the simplicity of the site, combined with cross posting of useful information. The fact that you have information listed on how to best use the card for other carriers and such, that we normally would have to hunt to find out, is great! Maybe you could do a full post on it and cross link to this post? I also like that you include user’s useful comments and then update the main post.
Thanks for the feedback.