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Occasionally, using points or miles within their original airline rewards program offer the best ways to get the most value out of them. However, in most cases, you want to use another program’s rewards to book a partner flight, but transferring points from one loyalty program to another is usually not allowed. The Avios ecosystem is a notable exception to the rule.
With the recent adoption of the Avios currency by Qatar Airways Privilege Club, you can now transfer Avios among four different airline rewards programs: Aer Lingus AerClub, British Airways Executive Club, Iberia Plus and Qatar Airways Privilege Club.
The Avios currency allows you to transfer your points among all four of these airlines at a ratio of 1:1.
It might be advantageous to transfer your Avios to the airline that offers a better redemption rate or a transfer bonus, to top off one of your accounts when you need to book a specific flight or to pool all of your Avios in one account.
It should be noted that you can transfer Avios only to yourself unless you have a British Airways Household Account, which allows you to accrue Avios for up to seven family members.
Let’s dive into how you can transfer your Avios points among the four programs and when doing so may be to your advantage.
How to Earn Avios
Flying with Aer Lingus, British Airways, Iberia or Qatar Airways is the most straightforward way to earn Avios, but it’s not the only way.
Three of the four of these airlines also have their own co-branded credit card that’s great for earning Avios for U.S.-based travelers, including:
All of these credit cards have lucrative welcome offers that can be a great way to rack up Avios. And, if you can justify paying the annual fees, there’s nothing stopping you from keeping all of them in your wallet. Keep in mind that you must be under Chase 5/24 to be approved for these credit cards.
You can also boost your Avios account by transferring points in from one of their transfer partners, such as American Express Membership Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards, Citi ThankYou Rewards or Capital One at a ratio of 1:1. You can also convert Marriott Bonvoy points to Avios at a 3:1 ratio.
And, regardless of which Avios program you transfer your points from, you can then transfer your Avios among the four airlines to get the best deals.
Aer Lingus Visa Signature® Card
75,000
Bonus Avios
Earn 75,000 Avios after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first three months of account opening.
Annual Fee: $95
British Airways Visa Signature® Card
75,000
Avios
Earn 75,000 Avios after you spend $5,000 on purchases within the first three months of account opening.
Annual Fee: $95
75,000
Avios
Earn 75,000 Avios after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first three months of account opening.
Annual Fee: $95
Transferring Avios Among Programs
Unfortunately, not all transfers from one Avios program to another can be done directly. If you want to move your Avios among certain programs, you may have to move your points to one program first before moving them again to their final destination.
Here are the ways that you can move your Avios from one program to another:
To Aer Lingus | To British Airways | To Iberia | To Qatar Airways | |
---|---|---|---|---|
From Aer Lingus | - | Through Avios.com | Through Avios.com | Transfer to British Airways, then to Qatar Airways |
From British Airways | Through Avios.com | - | Through British Airways website | Through British Airways website |
From Iberia | Through Avios.com | Through British Airways website | - | Transfer to British Airways, then to Qatar Airways |
From Qatar Airways | Transfer to British Airways, then to Aer Lingus | Through British Airways website | Transfer to British Airways, then to Iberia | - |
As you can see, there are ways to transfer Avios among all four airline programs. However, some of these transfers require multiple steps.
You want to make sure that all of your information matches across your different Avios accounts. If your name, birth date, mailing address or email address don’t match when you request a transfer, it could fail.
Also, note that both your British Airways Executive Club and Iberia Plus accounts must be at least 90 days old to transfer points in or out. Additionally, both accounts must have qualifying activity.
Let’s go into more specific detail about transferring Avios among programs.
Combine Your Avios Via Avios.com
The easiest way to transfer your Avios among programs is through the Avios.com website using your AerClub login. Transferring points this way doesn’t have many of the bugs and frustrations that transferring them other ways can have.
Unfortunately, Qatar Airways currently allows transfers to and from British Airways only, so you’ll have to use British Airways as an intermediary if you want to transfer Avios between Qatar Airways and Aer Lingus or Iberia.
The best way to transfer points between British Airways and Qatar Airways is by linking your two accounts on either the British Airways website or the Qatar Airways website. You can’t transfer rewards between these two programs on Avios.com.
It’s also easier to use the British Airways website to transfer Avios between British Airways and Iberia than it is to use Avios.com.
Transferring Avios to/from Aer Lingus
To transfer points between Aer Lingus and British Airways or Iberia, simply log in to Avios.com using your Aer Lingus credentials. Then, go to the “Combine My Avios” page and select either Iberia Plus or British Airways from the drop-down menu.
From there, you can choose how many points you want to transfer and in which direction you want them to be transferred (for example, Aer Lingus to British Airways or British Airways to Aer Lingus).
Then, Avios.com will ask you to review and confirm your transfer. Once the transfer is confirmed, you will receive an email to your email address on file.
At this time, Aer Lingus doesn’t allow transfers directly to or from Qatar Airways. If you want to transfer Avios between Aer Lingus and Qatar Airways, you have to first transfer them to British Airways regardless of which direction you’re moving the points. (More on this later.)
Transferring Avios to/from British Airways
To transfer Avios between British Airways and Aer Lingus, log in to Avios.com and go to the “Combine My Avios” page and transfer your Avios as mentioned above.
However, if you want to transfer Avios between British Airways and Iberia, it’s easier to do so through the British Airways website. Simply log in to your British Airways Executive Club account and go to the “Combine My Avios” page and choose Iberia Plus.
You’ll be prompted to enter your Iberia Plus login credentials. From there, you can choose how many Avios to transfer and in which direction. You can also do the same thing through the Iberia website.
Transferring Avios between British Airways and Qatar Airways works exactly the same way as transferring between British Airways and Iberia.
Log in to your British Airways Executive Club account and go to the “Combine My Avios” page and choose Qatar Airways Privilege Club. Then, you’ll be prompted to enter your Qatar Airways Privilege Club login credentials. From there, choose how many Avios to transfer and in which direction. You can also do the same thing through the Qatar Airways website.
Transferring Avios to/from Iberia
To transfer Avios between Iberia and Aer Lingus, you can log in to Avios.com and go to the “Combine My Avios” page and transfer your Avios as mentioned above.
The easiest way to transfer Avios between Iberia and British Airways is through the British Airways website or the Iberia website as mentioned above.
If you wish to transfer Avios between Iberia and Qatar Airways, you’ll have to transfer your Avios to British Airways on the British Airways website or the Iberia website first. Once your Avios are in your British Airways account, you can then transfer them to Qatar Airways through the British Airways website or the Qatar Airways website.
Transferring Avios to/from Qatar Airways
If you wish to transfer Avios between Aer Lingus and Qatar Airways, you’ll have to use British Airways as an intermediary.
For you to move Avios from Aer Lingus to Qatar Airways, you need to transfer your Avios from Aer Lingus to British Airways via Avios.com first. Once the Avios are in your British Airways account, you can transfer them to Qatar Airways through either the British Airways website or the Qatar Airways website. To move the Avios from Qatar Airways to Aer Lingus, do the same actions in reverse.
If you’re looking to transfer Avios between Iberia and Qatar Airways, you’ll have to use British Airways as an intermediary.
To go from Iberia to Qatar Airways, you need to first transfer your Avios from Iberia to British Airways through the British Airways website or the Iberia website. Once the Avios are in your British Airways account, you can transfer them to Qatar Airways through the British Airways website or the Qatar Airways website. If you need to transfer Avios from Qatar Airways to Iberia, just do the reverse.
You can transfer Avios between British Airways and Qatar Airways through the British Airways website or the Qatar Airways website as mentioned above.
Reasons to Combine Avios
There are a few scenarios in which you might want to combine your Avios.
Transfer your Avios from one program to another to buy a specific award flight
Because all four airlines have different award charts, there are also different sweet spots in all four programs that you can utilize to your advantage.
Let’s say that you have 150,000 Avios in your Aer Lingus account and none in your British Airways account, but you want to book an award flight through British Airways for 100,000 Avios. In this scenario, you’ll want to transfer your Avios from Aer Lingus to British Airways.
Pool all of your Avios in one account
Pooling all of your Avios into one account can also help you afford award flights. Let’s say that you have 25,000 Avios in your Aer Lingus account, 25,000 Avios in your Qatar Airways account, 25,000 Avios in your Iberia account and 25,000 Avios in your British Airways account. You find an award flight from Aer Lingus you’d like to buy for 100,000 Avios. In this scenario, you’ll want to transfer your Avios from your other three accounts into your AerClub account.
Top off one of your accounts with Avios from another account
Transferring Avios can also be useful if you want to buy an award flight through a certain program and you only need a few points to top off your account to afford it. Let’s say Iberia offers an award flight for 100,000 Avios, but you have only 90,000 Avios in your Iberia account. However, you also have 20,000 Avios in your Aer Lingus account. In this scenario, you’ll want to transfer your Avios from Aer Lingus to Iberia.
Take advantage of one program’s award redemption rates
Since Qatar joined Avios, British Airways has dropped its redemption rates on flights from the U.S. to Doha and now charges 70,000 Avios for a one-way flight in business class, the same as Qatar.
However, because British Airways charges per segment, connecting flights still require more Avios than they do with Qatar Privilege Club.
For example, a one-way flight in business class from the U.S. to the Maldives can be booked for 105,000 to 137,500 Avios through British Airways Executive Club, but the same ticket can be booked for 85,000 Avios through Qatar Privilege Club.
Naturally, you want to use fewer points for the same ticket, so you can move Avios from British Airways to Qatar to book this flight.
Take advantage of a transfer bonus offered through one of the programs in the Avios family
Say, American Express Membership Rewards is offering a 30% bonus on points transfers to British Airways. Let’s use the same Maldives flight as above in this example.
In this scenario, you want to transfer Amex points to British Airways with the bonus and then transfer the Avios from British Airways to Qatar and book the flight using fewer miles, which is 85,000 miles, as you might recall. With the transfer bonus in mind, you can book this flight with just 66,000 points instead.
The Bottom Line
The fact that Avios can be used across four different airline rewards programs means that it should be easy to identify sweet spots where this currency can provide excellent value. And, considering you can earn Avios by flying with four different airlines, you should be able to rack them up fairly quickly.
If you want to boost your Avios balance, another great way to do so is by signing up for one of these airlines’ co-branded credit cards. Chase issues three credit cards for Aer Lingus, British Airways and Iberia.
No matter how you earn Avios, they’re a valuable currency because of how many different award flight options they can unlock for you.
New to the world of points and miles? The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is the best card to start with.
With a bonus of 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months of account opening. , 5x points on travel booked through the Chase Travel Portal and 3x points on restaurants, streaming services, and online groceries (excluding Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs), this card truly cannot be beat for getting started!
Earn 75,000 Avios after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first three months of account opening.
Earn 75,000 Avios after you spend $5,000 on purchases within the first three months of account opening.
Earn 75,000 Avios after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first three months of account opening.
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