Iberia Visa Signature Credit Card Review — Maximize “Avios”

Award travel enthusiasts know Iberia as a Spanish airline that’s owned by the same parent company as British Airways, Aer Lingus and LEVEL airlines. Unsurprisingly, it uses the same loyalty program as all those other carriers. The currency is known as ”Avios.” 

That’s all well and good, but you don’t really care about Iberia’s corporate org chart. You care about whether it’s worth signing up for the airline’s loyalty program, and whether you should pay $95 a year to boost your Avios-earning potential.

In short, the answer is “yes.” But the details matter.

What Is the Iberia Visa Signature Card?

The Iberia Visa Signature Card is an airline credit card that offers a sign-up bonus, no foreign transaction fees, and a few additional benefits of note.

First up, an excellent sign-up bonus: Earn 75,000 Avios after spending $5,000 on purchases within the first three months of account opening.

From day one, this card earns 3x points on Iberia, Aer Lingus, British Airways and LEVEL purchases, 2x points on hotel accommodations purchased directly with the hotel, and 1x point on all other purchases.

Other cardmember benefits include a 10% discount when you use your Iberia Visa Signature card to book your flight on iberia.com/Chase10. You’ll also earn a discount voucher of $1,000 to use toward two tickets on the same flight for each year you make purchases of $30,000 on your card.

Additional card benefits include baggage delay insurance, lost luggage reimbursement, purchase protection and extended warranty coverage. 

There’s a $95 annual fee for this card, which is not waived for the first year. There’s no foreign transaction fees. 

What Sets the Iberia Visa Signature Card Apart?

This card has several features that help it distinguish itself from other airline credit cards.

• Excellent point sign-up bonus. New account holders can look forward to a pretty impressive sign-up bonus: Earn 75,000 Avios after spending $5,000 on purchases within the first three months of account opening. Those bonus points can be used for Iberia flights. 
• Exclusive 10% discount. Use your Iberia Visa Signature card to book your flight on iberia.com/Chase10 and you’ll receive a 10% discount on the total flight cost. This discount isn’t available anywhere else.
• $1,000 discount voucher. Earn a discount voucher of $1,000 to use toward two tickets on the same flight for each year you make purchases of $30,000 on your card. That’s steep, but doable if you use this as your primary credit card.

Key Features of the Iberia Visa Signature Card

The Iberia Visa Signature Card has a sign-up bonus and no foreign transaction fee.

Sign-Up Bonus

Earn 75,000 Avios after spending $5,000 on purchases within the first three months of account opening.

Fair warning: This offer is only available if you have not received a new cardmember bonus for this card within the last 24 months.

Earning Rewards

This card earns 3x points on Iberia, Aer Lingus, British Airways and LEVEL purchases, 2x points on hotel accommodations purchased directly with the hotel, and 1x point on all other purchases.

Redeeming Rewards

You can redeem your miles for award flights operated by Iberia and its partners. Iberia is a member of the Oneworld airline alliance, which includes:

• American Airlines
• Alaska Airlines
• British Airways
• Cathay Pacific
• Finnair
• Japan Airlines
• Malaysia Airlines
• Qantas
• Qatar Airlines
• Royal Jordanian
• SriLankan Airlines
• Fiji Airways
• Royal Air Maroc
• Oman Air
• Iberia 

Avios do expire, so be sure to pay attention to your points. You must collect, spend, share, or purchase Avois points at least every 36 months. 

Important Fees

This card changes a balance transfer fee $5 or 5% of the amount of each transfer, whichever is greater. There is a late payment fee of up to $40.

This card has a $95 annual fee. There are no foreign transaction fees for this card.

Exclusive 10% Discount

You get an exclusive 10% discount when you use your Iberia Visa Signature card to book your flight on iberia.com/Chase10. This offer isn’t available to anyone else in the Iberia loyalty program.

Annual Discount Voucher ($1,000)

Spend $30,000 or more in a calendar year to earn a discount voucher worth $1,000 toward two tickets on the same flight. You only get one per year, but it’s still a great deal if you make at least one Iberia flight annually.

Additional Benefits

Other notable benefits include baggage delay insurance, lost luggage reimbursement, purchase protection, and extended warranty coverage. Some restrictions apply, so make sure you read the fine print before attempting to take advantage of any of these perks.

Credit Required

This card requires good or better credit to qualify. If your FICO score is much below 700, or your personal credit history is limited, then you’ll likely have trouble being approved. 

Pros & Cons

The Iberia Visa Signature Card offers significant advantages when it comes to earning discounts on Iberia flights, and using rewards on partner carriers. 

Pros

From an incredibly generous discount voucher to ongoing opportunities to cut the cost of transatlantic travel, this card has some clear value-adds for frequent Iberia flyers.

• Earn a $1,000 voucher for two tickets. Each year that you use your card to make over $30,000 in purchase, you’ll earn a Airfare Discount Voucher good towards $1,000 off two tickets for the same flight. 
• Receive 10% off your airfare. Unlike the Airfare Discount Voucher, this benefit can be used over and over again, for up to nine tickets on a single flight. 
• Use rewards for partners. Iberia Avios points can be redeemed for flights on its OneWorld Alliance partners including American, Alaska, British Airways, Japan Airline and others. So this isn’t just a card for people who mainly fly on Iberia. 

Cons

There are a few downsides to this card, including bonuses for spending and costs for redeeming rewards. 

• It’s hard to earn the $1,000 voucher. Not everyone will be able to use their card to spend $30,000 in a calendar year to earn this voucher, especially if you apply for the card mid-year. 
• Fuel surcharges. British Airways imposes outrageous fuel surcharges on its flights, which can restrict the value of Avios points. And even Iberia charges significant fuel surcharges when you redeem their points, so you’ll never receive a “free” flight. 
• Weak bonus categories for spending. There are now many airline credit cards that offer double or triple points for many common purchases, but this card only offers double points for hotels only. 

How the Iberia Visa Signature Card Stacks Up

The card’s closest competitor is probably the British Airways Visa Signature credit card, which are essentially part of the same rewards program. Here’s how the two cards compare:

	Iberia Visa Signature Card	British Airways Visa Signature® card
Annual Fee	$95	$95
Rewards Rate	Up to 3x points	Up to 3x points
0% Intro APR	None	None
Foreign Transaction Fee	None	None
Credit Needed	Good or better	Good or better

As you can see, these two cards are very similar. The Iberia Visa Signature card noses ahead on account of its discount voucher and ongoing 10% discount opportunities, but your choice will probably come down to your airline preference and your most frequent destinations in Europe.

Final Word

Iberia Airlines isn’t a household name, but it has a very competitive rewards program and a strong credit card to go along with it. If you think that you can use the 10% discount offer and earn the $1,000 airfare discount voucher, then this card deserves a close look.