Some links to products and partners on this website will earn an affiliate commission.

The launch of the British Airways triple Avios promotion earlier this month might not have been quite the PR triumph they were hoping for. Sloppy drafting meant that there was considerable confusion about which flights were included and what triple Avios really meant.

Multiple ‘clarifications’ were made, and the upshot is that the promotion applies to BA flights to all destinations + American Airlines, Iberia and Finnair flights between Europe and North America; and triple Avios means triple ‘base’ Avios, not actually triple Avios.

For Economy flights that doesn’t make a difference, but for Business Class it means you would earn 350%-450% of flown Miles rather than 450%-750%, and for First Class 450%-500% rather than 750%-900%. It’s still a generous promotion, but not as good as it first looked.

Fortunately, BA’s sister airline Iberia has now launched its own ‘triple Avios’ offer – and this one really does look like Triple Avios! 

You need to sign into your Iberia Plus account to see the offer and you do need need to register.

The first thing to point out is that this offer only applies to travel between Europe and North America, and that travel on BA, AA and Finnair is eligible as well as on Iberia itself.

Booking and flight period: 15th September – 15th December.

Unfortunately, the marketing department at Iberia seem to have been been inspired by their colleagues at BA, and have managed to draft an offer without bothering to write all the relevant terms and conditions. We can therefore only take the offer at face value, and there’s good reason to think that in this case triple Avios really means triple Avios.

The fact the offer says “triple Avios” and that the terms (such as they are) state “valid for all cabins” is no guarantee.

The real reason for hope is the example used in the promotional email, “fly to New York (from Madrid) and earn up to 26,880 Avios instead of 8,960 Avios”.

The eagle-eyed amongst you will have spotted the asterisk at the bottom of the offer, which links to a passage that states, “* Number of Avios earned for a full Business fare”.

Standard ‘Iberia Plus’ earning rates for Business Class are the same as BA – 150% of flown Miles for discounted Business and 250% for Full Business Class.

The Iberia Avios calculator shows the flight distance between Madrid and New York as being 3,584 Miles, and then multiplies that by 2.5 (250%) to show the full/flexible Business Class earnings of 8,960 (one way), so the figures used in the email are correct.

Tripling 8,960 does indeed work out at 26,880 – so it’s pretty clear from the example Iberia uses that they really are intending to triple the full amount of Avios normally earned, not just base Avios.

What this means is that the Avios earning rates for flights between Europe and North America on Iberia, BA, AA or Finnair and credited to Iberia should be as follows:

• Economy Lowest: 75% of flown Miles
• Economy Low: 150% of flown Miles
• Economy Flexible: 300% of flown Miles
• Premium Economy Lowest: 300% of flown Miles
• Premium Economy Flexible: 450% of flown Miles
• Business Lowest: 450% of flown Miles
• Business Flexible: 750% of flown Miles
• First Lowest: 750% of flown Miles
• First Flexible: 900% of flown Miles

The Avios calculator on the Iberia website doesn’t seem able to calculate First Class earnings correctly (perhaps because Iberia don’t offer First Class), so I can’t be 100% certain of the earnings rates for that, but as the standard earnings rates for all other classes mirror BA, I’m fairly confident First does too.

Conclusion

This is an extremely generous offer, and for anyone who took advantage of the brilliant £690.00 BA/AA/Iberia Business Class Europe-USA prices, it works out particularly well!

If you’re lucky enough to work for a business that still pays for full/flexible Business Class and you’ve got some transatlantic flights coming up, you’re in for an absolutely massive Avios haul if you credit to Iberia Plus!

Terms and Conditions:

Offer valid for purchases and trips between 15 September and 15 December 2016 on direct flights eligible to earn Avios with origin/destination Europe to/from the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada or Mexico operated and sold by Iberia, American Airlines, British Airways or Finnair. Valid for all cabins and fares eligible to earn Avios.
Booking and flight period: 15 September 2016 – 15 December 2016.
All purchase channels included.
This promotion is personal and non-transferable, valid except for typographical error or omission.
Registration before 15 December is required to benefit. Customers who register before 15 October will receive the promotional Avios in their account after that date. Customers who register after 15 October will receive the promotional Avios in their account after 15 December, when the promotion ends. This offer can be accumulated with other offers valid during the same period.