Massive Avios Devaluation? No, I Was Wrong

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Well, this is embarrassing. As it turns out, there was no devaluation of the Iberia Avios program. The rates in this post have been consistent since November 2011.

Almost no one in the world knew the rates for Iberia Avios oneworld redemptions because they weren’t bookable online. Thankfully this FlyerTalk thread and in particular these two posts set the record straight.

Travellair said:

“I don’t know what the fuss is all about. These have been the same Avios amounts for Oneworld redemptions through IB Plus since 2011. (I have printouts).

Surely they are not competitive, but there have been no changes at all.
Back in November 2011, what IB Plus did was maintain their own distance bands for Oneworld redemptions and simply adjust x15 the original IB Plus Point amounts, therefore, causing such disparities. (Even though the amounts shown are for return trips, compulsory for Oneworld redemptions under IB Plus)

My guess is that whoever first stated that this had been a devaluation simply hadn’t studied or compared the chart before and assumed they were the same as BAEC and that now an increase had taken place.”

Raffles said:

“I just found this in an FT thread from 2005:

As for a Oneworld-award the price seems to depend on the amount of miles your journey covers. AGP-MEX direct is 5678 miles, and AGP-MAD-LHR-MEX (for example) would be 6582 miles. Most routings would fall into the 5,001 – 8,000 mile category, which costs 3200 points in Tourist (economy) class.

… which corresponds to the above, and to the 48,000 quoted on the new table.

So nothing happened ….?!

Here is the thing. You cannot book OW redemptions online with IB, never could. And as they were non refundable, no-one did. So no-one knew the rates.”

Here is the current (and past Avios) prices for flights on Iberia:

• What is the partner award chart?

Here is the current and past Iberia Avios award chart for oneworld partners:

Iberia’s award chart for oneworld partners is terrible. If you have had a British Airways Avios and Iberia Avios accounts open for at least 90 days you can freely transfer between the two.

Use Iberia Avios to book Iberia flights. (The Avios price is the same, but the fuel surcharges are lower.) Use British Airways Avios for other flights because the Avios price is lower and fuel surcharges are the same.