In general, frequent-flyer programs don’t allow you to transfer airline miles to other frequent-flyer programs. For instance, if you have Delta SkyMiles in your account, you can’t transfer those miles to another airline rewards program. This is the way that almost every frequent-flyer program in existence works. A notable exception to this rule is the Avios rewards currency.

The Avios rewards program allows travelers to transfer rewards between any of the frequent-flyer programs that use the Avios currency freely at a 1:1 ratio. The Avios program is owned by International Airlines Group (IAG), a multinational airline holding company that also owns Aer Lingus, British Airways, Iberia and Vueling. All four of these airlines use the Avios currency. Qatar Airways adopted the Avios currency in 2022, and Finnair joined the Avios roster in 2024.

With the recent adoption of the Avios currency by Finnair Plus, you can now transfer Avios among five major airline rewards programs:

Several other smaller frequent-flyer programs also use the Avios currency.

Transferring Avios between these programs allows you to access all of the airline partners of each program with a single currency. Certain programs also offer sweet spots that aren’t available in other programs, so transferring Avios can help you get a lot more value out of the currency. As the Avios currency is adopted by more and more frequent-flyer programs, the number of partners and number of sweet spots you can access only increases.

However, 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 five programs and when doing so may benefit you.

British Airways

How to Earn Avios

Flying with Aer Lingus, British Airways, Finnair, Iberia or Qatar Airways is the most straightforward way to earn Avios, but it’s not the only way.

Several of these airlines also have co-branded credit cards that are available in the U.S. and are great for earning Avios for U.S.-based travelers, including:

 All information about Aer Lingus Visa Signature® Card and Iberia Visa Signature® Card have been collected independently by 10xtravel.com. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

All of these credit cards have lucrative welcome offers that can be a great way to rack up Avios. As long as you can justify paying the annual fees, there’s nothing stopping you from opening all of them. Keep in mind that you must be under Chase 5/24 to be approved for these credit cards.

You can also boost your Avios balance by transferring points into one of the Avios-based frequent-flyer programs from one of their transfer partners. Every major transferable credit card rewards currency can be converted to Avios at a 1:1 ratio through one of its transfer partners.

The following chart shows the Avios-based partners for each of these major credit card rewards programs.

Credit card rewards programAvios-based transfer partner
American Express Membership Reward• Aer Lingus AerClub
• British Airways Executive Club
• Iberia Plus
• Qatar Airways Privilege Club
Bilt Rewards• Aer Lingus AerClub
• British Airways Executive Club
• Iberia Plus
Capital One Rewards• British Airways Executive Club
Chase Ultimate Rewards• Aer Lingus AerClub
• British Airways Executive Club
• Iberia Plus
Citi ThankYou Rewards• Qatar Airways Privilege Club

If your credit card partners with one of the Avios-based airlines, it’s essentially the same as having every Avios program as a transfer partner because Avios can be moved freely between all of these programs.

air lingus

Transferring Avios Among Programs

Unfortunately, not all transfers from one Avios program can be done directly to another. If you want to move your Avios between certain programs, you may have to move your rewards 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 LingusTo British AirwaysTo FinnairTo IberiaTo Qatar Airways
From Aer Lingus-Through Avios.comTransfer to British Airways, then to FinnairThrough Avios.comTransfer to British Airways, then to Qatar Airways
From British AirwaysThrough Avios.com-Through British Airways websiteThrough British Airways websiteThrough British Airways website
From FinnairTransfer to British Airways, then to Aer LingusThrough British Airways website-Transfer to British Airways, then to IberiaTransfer to British Airways, then to Qatar Airways
From IberiaTransfer to British Airways, then to Aer LingusThrough British Airways websiteTransfer to British Airways, then to Iberia-Transfer to British Airways, then to Qatar Airways
From Qatar AirwaysTransfer to British Airways, then to Aer LingusThrough British Airways websiteTransfer to British Airways, then to FinnairTransfer to British Airways, then to Iberia-

As you can see, there are ways to transfer Avios among all five major airline programs that use the Avios currency. However, some of these transfers require multiple steps.

You want to make sure that all of your information matches across your multiple 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 your Iberia Plus account must be at least 90 days old to transfer points in or out. Additionally, both your British Airways Executive Club and Iberia Plus accounts must have qualifying activity.

Let’s go into more specific detail about transferring Avios among programs.

Iberia

Combine Your Avios Via Avios.com

If you’re transferring Avios between Aer Lingus, British Airways and Iberia only, the easiest way to do so is through the Avios.com website using your AerClub login. Transferring points using an AerClub account doesn’t have many of the bugs and frustrations that British Airways or Iberia can have.

Unfortunately, Finnair and Qatar Airways currently allow transfers to and from British Airways only, so you’ll have to use British Airways as an intermediary. For instance, if you want to transfer Avios from Finnair to Aer Lingus or to Iberia, you’ll need to transfer to British Airways first. The same goes for transfers between Qatar Airways and Aer Lingus or Iberia. Transfers into or out of Finnair Plus or Qatar Airways can’t currently be executed through Avios.com.

The best way to transfer points between British Airways and Finnair or Qatar Airways is by linking your accounts on the British Airways website. You can also link your accounts on the Finnair website or Qatar Airways website.

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.

Combine my Avios

From there, 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’ll receive an email to your email address on file.

At this time, Aer Lingus doesn’t allow transfers directly to or from Finnair Plus or 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.

Transferring Avios to from British Airways

You’ll be prompted to enter your Iberia Plus login credentials. From there, 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 or Finnair works exactly the same way as transferring between British Airways and Iberia.

Transferring Avios to from British Airways

Log in to your British Airways Executive Club account, go to the “Combine My Avios” page and choose Qatar Airways Privilege Club or Finnair Plus. You’ll be prompted to enter your Qatar Airways Privilege Club or Finnair Plus login credentials. From there, choose how many Avios to transfer and in which direction.

Finnair

Transferring Avios to/from Finnair

If you want to transfer Avios between Finnair and British Airways, the easiest way to do so is by logging into your British Airways Executive Club account and going to the “Combine My Avios” section. Then, you can select the Finnair Plus program, the direction in which you want to send your Avios and how many Avios you want to transfer. You’ll then need to enter your Finnair Plus credentials to complete the transfer.

To transfer Avios between Finnair and Aer Lingus, Iberia or Qatar Airways, you’ll need to use British Airways as an intermediary. Regardless of which direction you want to move your Avios, you’ll need to first transfer your Avios to British Airways and then transfer them again to their final destination.

Note: According to Finnair, you won’t be able to transfer Avios between your British Airways Executive Club account and your Finnair Plus account until late spring 2024. 

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.

Transferring Avios to and from Iberia

If you wish to transfer Avios between Iberia and Finnair or 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 Finnair or Qatar Airways through the British Airways website.

Transferring Avios to/from Qatar Airways

To transfer Avios between Qatar Airways and British Airways, go to the British Airways website or the Qatar Airways website and go to the “Combine My Avios” section. Then, choose the direction in which you wish to send the Avios and the number of Avios that you wish to transfer. You’ll also have to enter your account credentials for both programs to complete the transfer.

If you want to transfer Avios between Qatar Airways and Aer Lingus, Finnair or Iberia, you’ll have to use British Airways as an intermediary. So, you’ll have to transfer Avios into the British Airways Executive Club program and then transfer them again to their final destination.

Qatar Airways

6 Reasons to Combine Avios

As you can see from the processes described above, transferring Avios between programs can sometimes be slightly complicated, especially when you need to transfer your Avios to British Airways first before transferring them again to their final destination.

However, transferring Avios between programs can lead to some serious advantages. Here are a few scenarios in which you might want to combine your Avios.

Gain access to another program’s partner airline redemptions

Even though British Airways, Finnair, Iberia and Qatar Airways are all members of Oneworld alliance, meaning they have many of the same partner airlines in common, all of these airlines also have their own lists of other non-alliance partners. By transferring Avios between programs, you can gain access to a partner redemption that you might not be able to access through another Avios-based program.

For example, Qatar Airways allows you to redeem Avios for flights operated by Bangkok Airways whereas British Airways doesn’t. So, if you want to use Avios to book a flight on Bangkok Airways and your Avios are currently in British Airways Executive Club, then you may want to transfer some Avios to Qatar 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.

If you find an award flight from Aer Lingus you’d like to buy for 100,000 Avios, you may want to combine 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 need just a few thousand Avios to top off your account to afford it.

Let’s say Iberia offers an award flight for 100,000 Avios, but you have 90,000 Avios in your Iberia account. However, you also have 20,000 Avios in your Aer Lingus account. In this scenario, you might want to transfer 10,000 Avios from Aer Lingus to Iberia.

Take advantage of one program’s award redemption rates

Because all five major airlines that use the Avios currency have different award charts, there are also different sweet spots in all four programs that you can utilize to your advantage.

For instance, 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.

So, 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, in this scenario and other scenarios like it, you might want to transfer Avios from British Airways to Qatar Airways to get the flight at a cheaper award rate.

Take advantage of a transfer bonus offered through one of the programs in the Avios family

Occasionally, credit card rewards programs will offer transfer bonuses for transfers made to certain partners. For instance, American Express Membership Rewards might offer a 30% bonus on points transfers to British Airways.

Now, let’s say that you want to book that same flight from the U.S. to the Maldives from the example in the previous section (which costs between 105,000 and 137,000 Avios through British Airways and 85,000 Avios through Qatar Airways, according to their award charts) and all of your points are in American Express Membership Rewards.

In this scenario, the smartest way to book that flight using your Amex points would be to first transfer them to British Airways and take advantage of that transfer bonus and then subsequently transfer those Avios to Qatar Airways to book the flight at a lower rate.

It’s important to note that both British Airways and Qatar Airways are transfer partners of American Express Membership Rewards. However, if you were to transfer Amex points to British Airways and then buy this flight through British Airways, you’d need to transfer at least 81,000 points (since the flight costs at least 105,000 through the British Airways Executive Club program and there’s a 30% transfer bonus).

If you were to transfer Amex points directly to Qatar Airways and then book the flight directly through Qatar Airways, you’d need to transfer 85,000 points (since the flight costs 85,000 Avios through the Qatar Airways Privilege Club program and there’s no transfer bonus for transfers to Qatar Airways).

However, if you were to transfer your Amex points to British Airways and then transfer them again to Qatar Airways, you’d only need to transfer at least 66,000 points. Those 66,000 Amex points would give you 85,800 Avios if you take advantage of the transfer bonus to British Airways. Then, you could move 85,000 of those Avios over to the Qatar Airways Privilege Club program to take advantage of the lower award rate.

Take advantage of faster transfer times between certain programs

At times, if you need to have Avios in a certain account quickly, it can be advantageous to transfer them between certain programs. For example, let’s say that you need to purchase an award flight with Iberia Plus within the next two days and you want to transfer points from American Express Membership to do so.

Unfortunately, transfers between Amex and Iberia Plus tend to take several days, which means that you wouldn’t be able to buy that award flight right away.

Amex and Iberia Plus

However, there’s a workaround for this. While transfers between Amex and Iberia take several days, transfers between Amex and British Airways are instant, and so are transfers between British Airways and Iberia.

So, instead of waiting multiple days to transfer Amex points directly to Iberia, you can instead transfer them to British Airways instantly. Once the Avios have landed in your British Airways account, you can then transfer them instantly to Iberia. In this scenario, you’ve moved your points from Amex to Iberia within a matter of a few minutes (compared to a few days) by using British Airways as an intermediary.

The Bottom Line

The fact that Avios can be used across five major airline rewards programs means that it should be easy to identify sweet spots where this currency can provide excellent value. Considering you can earn Avios with five different major airline rewards programs, you should be able to rack them up fairly quickly.

Once you have Avios in one of your accounts, it can be greatly advantageous to transfer them from one frequent-flyer program to another. However, transferring Avios can be slightly complicated, especially when you have to transfer Avios to the British Airways Executive Club program before transferring them again to their final destination.

By following the instructions in this article, you can gain access to more partner redemptions and more valuable sweet spots with your Avios.