Vueling Club Program Guide: Everything You Need to Know

The Avios airline rewards currency is quickly becoming one of the best currencies in the airline industry, especially with the conversion of the Finnair Plus program to Avios in March 2024. This currency is used by Aer Lingus AerClub, British Airways Executive Club, Iberia Plus, Qatar Airways and now Finnair Plus. The biggest benefit of Avios is that they can be transferred freely between any of the aforementioned five programs, giving points and miles enthusiasts the ability to access any of these airlines’ list of partners with Avios.

However, there’s another, often overlooked airline that also uses Avios: Barcelona-based, low-cost carrier Vueling. This Spanish carrier is owned by the International Airlines Group (IAG), the same holding company that owns British Airways, Iberia and the Avios program, so it’s no surprise that travelers can earn Avios for flying with Vueling.

Through the Vueling Club program, members can earn Avios on flights with Vueling as well as redeem Avios for flights with Vueling and Iberia. You can also earn Avios for shopping online through the Avios eStore or by signing up for a Vueling co-branded credit card and making everyday purchases.

Notably, you can often earn more Avios by crediting flights on Vueling to Iberia Plus than to Vueling Club. Iberia Plus awards Avios based on the distance of your flight, whereas Vueling Club awards Avios based on the price of your airfare. So, before you fly with Vueling, you should compare the Iberia Plus earnings chart to the Vueling Club earnings chart to determine which would reward you with more Avios. We’ll explain more about that later.

Additionally, Vueling Club offers pretty terrible redemption value for your Avios. So, if you do earn Avios through the Vueling Club program, you’ll definitely want to transfer them to one of the other Avios-using programs before spending them.

In the following sections, we’ll discuss everything you need to know about the Vueling Club program, including elite status, earning Avios, redeeming Avios and which of those redemption methods offer the best value.

Vueling Club Program Overview

Formed in 2004, Vueling is a relatively young airline and started out only operating a single route between Barcelona and Ibiza. However, in 2005, it added a second base in Madrid and then added its first international base in Paris in 2007. True to its Ibizan routes, though, the airline partnered with MTV and had several of its aircraft repainted with MTV-themed liveries in 2008 and even EDM DJ David Guetta’s face on the side of one of their aircrafts.

Over the years, Vueling continued to expand its route network, adding bases in several other major European airports. Eventually, the airline created enough of a footprint in the industry to catch the attention of International Airlines Group (IAG), which acquired Vueling in April 2013. Today, Vueling operates routes to destinations in Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

Following the IAG acquisition, Vueling replaced its previous frequent flyer program (which was called “Punto”) with the current frequent flyer program known as Vueling Club, which offers members the opportunity to earn Avios as well as redeem those Avios for award flights.

Like many other low-cost airlines, Vueling doesn’t have an extensive list of airline partners. Currently, Vueling Club members can only earn Avios on Vueling-operated flights and can only book award flights operated by Vueling and Iberia.

Vueling also has a codeshare agreement with British Airways in which they market certain British Airways flights through the Vueling website. However, you can’t credit British Airways flights to Vueling Club and you can’t redeem Avios for British Airways flights through Vueling Club.

However, the great thing about the Avios rewards currency is that it can be freely transferred between Aer Lingus AerClub, British Airways Executive Club, Finnair Plus, Iberia Plus and Qatar Airways (as well as other, smaller airlines like Vuelin, SUN-AIR and Binter Canarias). Avios earned through the Vueling Club program can be moved to any of these aforementioned programs, giving you the ability to leverage that program’s list of airline partners and award charts.

We’ll get into the best ways to do this later in the article.

Vueling Club Elite Status Program

The Vueling Club member has an elite status program that rewards members that fly frequently on Vueling. This program has a single elite status tier and is generally very simple.

To become a Vueling Club Premium member, the only elevated elite status tier in the Vueling Club program, you either need to fly with Vueling 40 times within any 12-month period or book 20 return flights on Vueling within any 12-month period. When you’re near the required number of flights to earn Premium status, Vueling will send you an email informing you how many more flights you need to take within a certain time period in order to earn Premium status.

A “flight” counts as a journey from an origin to a destination, meaning that a one-way flight with a connection would only count as one flight. For instance, if you were to fly one-way from Madrid to Brussels with a connection in Barcelona, it would only count as one flight toward Premium status. If you were to take a round-trip flight from Madrid to Brussels with a connection in Barcelona in each direction, it would count as two flights toward Premium status.

Every Vueling flight will count towards earning Premium status. However, flying in certain fare types may help you reach Premium status even faster. For instance, some international flights booked with Fly Grande fares may count as two flights per direction. So, if you were to fly round-trip from Madrid to Brussels in Fly Grande fare class, it might count as four flights toward earning Premium status.

Once you achieve Premium status in the Vueling Club, it’s unclear how long you’ll retain that status. It seems as if the term of your Premium membership is completely at the discretion of Vueling. In Vueling’s terms and conditions, it states:

“Vueling will establish the validity of the virtual Premium card. Once expired, the member must again meet the required conditions or be selected by Vueling to have Premium status.”

However, there is no mention of the normal term length of a Premium membership.

Regardless of how long your Premium membership lasts, these are the benefits that you’ll enjoy during your membership term:

• Access to special customer service channel
• Earn double Avios when flying with Vueling
• Receive a 50% discount on any Vueling flight once per year
• Exclusive check-in desks with Vueling
• Fast Track at security control when flying with Vueling
  • Available at the following airports: Malaga, Alicante, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Bilbao, Brussels (only with TimeFlex), Dusseldorf, Rom (Fiumicino), Florence, Fuerteventura, Hamburg, Ibiza, A Cornuña, London (Gatwick), Lisbon, Gran Canaria, Madrid, Munich, Oporto, Palma de Mallorca, Seville, Tenerife North, Tenerife South, Valencia, Vigo
• Complimentary 10-kilogram cabin bag as well as an underseat bag on Vueling
• Priority boarding on Vueling
• Option to change to an earlier or later flight on the same day (you’ll only have to pay the fare difference, if any)

Obviously, the Vueling Club elite status program isn’t as extensive as those offered by larger frequent flyer programs. Vueling Club Premium status doesn’t come with any airport lounge access, free upgrades or reciprocal benefits with partner airlines. However, Vueling Club Premium does come with some decent perks for those who fly with Vueling often, such as double Avios earnings, a free cabin bag and the option to change to earlier or later flights same-day.

How to Earn Vueling Club Avios

The most obvious way to earn Avios through the Vueling Club program is to book flights on Vueling. There are also several ways to earn Avios without ever stepping on a plane, including signing up for Vueling co-branded credit cards, booking stays with Vueling’s hotel partners, renting cars, shopping online, dining out and more.

So, in the following sections, we’ll take a look at all of the different ways to collect Avios through the Vueling Club program to help you get closer to your next reward flight.

Flying with Vueling

The first way to earn Avios through the Vueling Club program is to book flights on Vueling. The amount of Avios you earn on flights with either airline is based on the price you paid for your ticket (excluding airport fees). Here’s how many Avios you’ll earn in each Vueling fare class:

• 2 Avios per 1 euro spent in Basic and Fly Light fares
• 4 Avios per 1 euro spent in Optima, Family, Timeflex, Fly and Fly Grande fares

For instance, if you booked a Vueling-operated flight with an Optima fare for 200 euros (excluding taxes and fees), you’d earn 800 Avios (200 euros x 4 = 800 Avios).

However, it should be noted that you may be able to earn more Avios on many Vueling flights by booking them through Iberia Plus rather than Vueling Club. This is because Iberia Plus awards Avios on Vueling flights based on distance rather than the cost of your airfare. So, in particular, flights that are longer in distance but have low fare costs may be better booked through Iberia Plus.

Here is the Avios earnings chart for Vueling flights purchased through the Iberia Plus program:

For instance, if you were to book a Vueling-operated flight in Basic Economy for 50 euros, you’d earn 100 Avios on that flight (50 euros x 2 = 100 Avios). However, if you were to book the same flight through the Iberia Plus program, you’d earn at least 125 Avios (because the minimum number of Avios you can earn for a Basic Vueling flight is 125). In this case, you’d be better off booking this flight through Iberia Plus than with Vueling Club.

Due to the fact that Vueling is a low-cost airline and Avios earnings through the Vueling Club program are based on the cost of your flight, you’ll almost always earn more Avios by booking your Vueling flights through Iberia Plus than through Vueling Club. While this isn’t always the case, if you want to save yourself the hassle of comparing Iberia Plus earnings to Vueling Club earnings every time you want to book a Vueling flight, you’re probably better off just booking all of your Vueling flights through Iberia Plus.

Booking Hotel Stays

Like many other frequent flyer programs, the Vueling Club program has partnerships with several hotel chains and third-party hotel booking engines that allow you to earn Avios for booking eligible stays.

The following table includes all of Vueling’s hotel partners and the number of Avios that you could earn for booking with each one:

Both Marriott Bonvoy and Melia Rewards have their own rewards programs and, by choosing to earn Avios for your stay with either of these hotel chains, you’ll be forfeiting the opportunity to earn that hotel’s native rewards currency. Both of these hotel chains also have partnerships with many other frequent flyer programs. So, you may want to consider earning with a different airline rewards program for your hotel stay before you choose to earn Avios through Vueling Club.

Likewise, both Airbnb and Booking.com partner with several other frequent flyer programs. So, before you decide to credit your stays to Vueling Club, you may want to look at their lists of airline partners.

Rental Cars, Rideshare and Gas

You can also earn Avios through Vueling Club on ground transportation by renting cars through Vueling Cars, using the rideshare app Cabify and filling your gas tank (as well as making other eligible purchases) at Repsol fuel stations.

You can collect 9 Avios for every 15 euros spent on rental cars and airport transfers through Vueling Cars. To do so, you can visit the Vueling Cars website and choose whether you want to rent a car or book an airport transfer. Then, you can search for your car rental and enter your Vueling Club account details on the checkout page, and the Avios will be automatically credited to your account.

Vueling Club members can earn 2 Avios for every 2 euros spent through Cabify, a rideshare app that’s currently available in Spain, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru and Uruguay. You’ll also receive a gift of 400 Avios when you complete your first ride. To earn Avios this way, simply enter your Vueling Club credentials in the Cabify app (My account > My info > Loyalty program) and book rides as you normally would.

You can also earn Avios through Vueling Club when you purchase fuel, car-washing services or merchandise at Repsol gas stations. You’ll earn up to 3 Avios per liter of fuel when you pay with the Waylet app (and have your Vueling Club account connected to the app), and you’ll earn 1 Avios per liter of fuel when you pay with cash or card (and you show your Vueling Club card QR code before paying). You’ll also earn 1 Avios per 1 euro spent in the store. Finally, you can earn 400 bonus Avios when you download the Waylet app, connect your Vueling Club account and make your first purchase through the app.

Buying Merchandise Online or In-Store

Vueling Club members can rack up Avios by purchasing merchandise through the Vueling Club eStore or with the Bicester Collection.

The Vueling Club eStore allows you to earn Avios for shopping with more than 100 brands, including popular names like The Body Shop, Calvin Klein, Nike, Oakley and many more. However, the Vueling Club eStore is only available to Spanish residents. If you do live in Spain, you can visit the Vueling Club eStore website and sign in to your Vueling Club account. Then, you can earn Avios every time you make a purchase.

Each merchant has its own Avios earnings rate. However, you can earn up to 70 Avios per 1 euro spent (with NordVPN) when shopping through the Vueling Club eStore.

You can also earn 5 Avios for every 4 euros spent (up to a maximum of 30,000 euros spent per year) when shopping in-person with The Bicester Collection, a portfolio of luxury shopping villages that can be found around Europe and Asia in London, Dublin, Paris, Brussels, Antwerp, Cologne, Frankfurt, Munich, Milan, Bologna, Barcelona, Madrid, Shanghai and Suzhou.

To earn Avios with The Bicester Collection, just visit any of the shopping villages in Europe (purchases at The Bicester Collection villages in Asia are not eligible to earn Avios) and present the following information to a representative at the Village Concierge Service:

• Your purchase tickets
• Your Vueling Club membership number
• The name of the person who made the purchases (must be the same as the Vueling Club member)
• The last four digits of the credit card with which the purchases were made

You can also submit this information via email to The Bicester Collection once you leave the village to have the Avios you’ve earned credited to your account.

Spending on a Vueling Co-Branded Credit Card

One of the best ways to earn Avios through the Vueling Club program is to sign up for a Vueling co-branded credit card. Unfortunately, these credit cards are only available to Spanish residents. Vueling currently offers two co-branded credit cards, both of which are issued by CaixaBank: the Vueling Visa credit card and the Vueling Visa UP! credit card.

With both of these credit cards, you’ll earn Avios when you make everyday purchases, and you’ll earn even more Avios when you purchase airfare from Vueling. The following table includes the features of each card so that you can easily compare them:

Other Partners

Finally, Vueling has several other partners with which you can rack up Avios. These partners include airport lounge operators, magazines, utilities suppliers, dining programs and more. The following table includes Vueling’s other partners and how many Avios you can earn with each one:

As you can see, there are many ways that you can collect Avios—from taking surveys to booking travel experiences to subscribing to magazines. These methods are great ways to supplement the Avios you earn from flying.

How to Redeem Vueling Club Avios

Now that we’ve covered all of the different ways to boost your Avios balance through the Vueling Club program, let’s take a look at the different ways that you can spend those Avios. Unlike many other frequent flyer programs that give you many different redemption options (such as hotel stays, car rentals, merchandise and more), the Vueling Club program keeps things simple and only allows members to redeem Avios for flights booked through Vueling’s website as well as extras purchased on those flights.

However, only flights operated by Vueling and Iberia can be booked through the Vueling website, meaning that your redemption options are effectively limited to these two airlines through the Vueling Club program.

However, as previously mentioned, the beauty of the Avios currency is that it can be freely transferred to any of the other airline rewards programs that use Avios (which include Aer Lingus AerClub, British Airways Executive Club, Finnair Plus, Iberia Plus, Qatar Airways Privilege Club and several other small airlines). In general, transferring your Avios to one of these other programs, all of which have many more redemption options than the Vueling Club program, is the best thing to do with your Avios.

Nevertheless, in the following sections, we’re going to take an indepth look at the different ways that you can redeem Avios through the Vueling Club program and which of these redemption methods offer the most value per Avios.

Flying with Vueling and Iberia (and Flight Extras)

Essentially, the only way to redeem Avios through the Vueling Club program is to use them to offset the cost of flights and flight extras. To do this, sign into your Vueling Club and search for flights as you normally would through the Vueling website. Currently, only flights operated by Vueling and Iberia are marketed through the Vueling website. So, Avios can only be redeemed for Vueling and Iberia flights through the Vueling Club program.

Once you find a Vueling or Iberia flight that you want to book, you can proceed to select any flight extras that you may want to add. These flight extras include the following:

• Seating selections
• Extra luggage
• Travel protection
• Trip cancellation protection
• VIP lounge access
• Special luggage (such as sports equipment or musical instruments)
• Pets

When you get to the checkout page, you’ll be given the option to use Avios to pay for either a portion or the entirety of your airfare and extras.

Unfortunately, when redeeming your Avios this way, you’ll get a fixed value per Avios, which means that there’s no way to find outsized-value redemptions through the Vueling Club program. To make matters worse, the flat value that you’ll get per Avios through the Vueling Club program is about 0.5 cent per Avios, which is extremely poor.

For this reason, if you have a balance of Avios in the Vueling Club program, we’d highly recommend transferring those Avios to either Iberia Plus or British Airways Executive Club instead of redeeming them through the Vueling Club program.

Transfer Avios to Other Frequent Flyer Programs

If you have Avios in the Vueling Club program, the best thing to do is to transfer those Avios to one of the other programs that use this currency. Through the Vueling Club program, you’ll always get a flat redemption value of about 0.5 cent per Avios, which is very poor. However, by transferring these Avios to one of the other programs that use this currency, you can find outsized-value redemptions that offer several cents per Avios.

Also, if you want to redeem your Avios for flights operated by Vueling, you’re much better off doing so through the Iberia Plus program than through the Vueling Club program. Iberia Plus publishes a fixed distance-based award chart for Vueling-operated flights, which you can see here:

When redeeming Avios for Vueling flights through Iberia Plus, you’ll almost always get at least 1 cent per Avios (and sometimes even more). So, if you currently have Avios in your Vueling Club account, and you want to redeem them for a Vueling-operated flight, you’re better off transferring your Avios to Iberia Plus first and then redeeming for Vueling flights.

Through the Vueling Club program, you can transfer Avios directly to either British Airways Executive Club or Iberia Plus. To do so, you can go to the customer service live chat feature on the Vueling Club website and select the “Combine Avios” option.

However, to combine your Avios this way, you need to make sure that your Vueling Club account information matches either your Iberia Plus or British Airways Executive Club information (whichever program you intend to transfer your Avios to). If your information is different, it could cause complications.

TOnce you’ve moved your Avios from Vueling Club to either British Airways Executive Club or Iberia Plus, you can then transfer them freely to any of the other programs that use the Avios currency (which include Aer Lingus AerClub, Finnair Plus, Qatar Airways Privilege Club and several smaller airlines). If you want to know more about how to transfer Avios between these programs, feel free to check out our How to Combine Avios article.

British Airways Executive Club is probably the Avios program with the most universal appeal, especially for U.S.-based travelers. However, each of the other Avios-using programs has its own advantages, and being familiar with the sweet spots in each program can help you maximize the value of your Avios.

The Bottom Line

All in all, the Vueling Club program doesn’t have much to offer for most points and miles enthusiasts. When flying, Vueling Club members can only earn Avios on Vueling-operated flights and, oftentimes, you can earn more Avios on Vueling flights by crediting them to Iberia Plus rather than Vueling Club (because Iberia Plus awards Avios based on distance while Vueling Club awards Avios based on the cost of airfare).

Since Iberia Plus almost always awards more Avios on Vueling flights than Vueling Club does, there’s very little reason to sign up for the Vueling Club program. However, if you frequently fly with Vueling, you may want to credit your Vueling flights to Vueling Club in order to earn Premium elite status, which does come with some solid perks, such as a 50% discount on any one Vueling flight per year and the ability to earn double Avios on every Vueling flight.

In general, working toward Vueling Club Premium status is pretty much the only good reason to credit your Vueling flights to Vueling Club rather than Iberia Plus. Vueling Club also only allows you to redeem your Avios for flights on Vueling and Iberia (as well as flight extras) at a flat rate of about 0.5 cent per Avios, which is terrible.

So, if you already have a balance of Avios in your Vueling Club account or you plan on crediting future flights to Vueling Club in order to earn Premium status, you should definitely not redeem those Avios through the Vueling Club program. Instead, you can transfer them to either British Airways Executive Club or Iberia Plus. Then, from those programs, you can also transfer Avios to Aer Lingus AerClub, Finnair Plus and Qatar Airways Privilege Club. All of these programs offer far better redemption value than the Vueling Club program.

In summary, if you fly with Vueling often and you want to earn Premium elite status, then it may be worth crediting flights to the Vueling Club program. Otherwise, you’re better off focusing on another Avios-earning program such as British Airways Executive Club or Iberia Plus.