An Opportunity to Buy Avios Miles at 1.25 Eurocent per Mile Until July 9, 2017

An Opportunity to Buy Avios Miles at 1.25 Eurocent per Mile Until July 9, 2017

Today, I was searching for some information on the ongoing British Airways’ 50% bonus on purchased miles. As I was doing so, I stumbled upon a Groupon Spain deal that offers Iberia Avios for even better value.

Knowing that Iberia Avios miles can be easily transferred into British Airways Avios which are useful for me, I bought one package of 20,000 miles, and I am considering buying a bit more before the offer expires.

Keep reading to learn more about the offer, if it is worth it for you, how I plan to spend mine, and how to purchase the miles…

Groupon Spain Deal on Iberia Avios

The offer I am talking about is a Groupon Spain deal that Iberia seems to publish every now and then. This time, the offer is valid until 7AM (Spanish time) on July 9, 2017.

The miles are offered in packages ranging from 2,000 to 34,000 miles at the following prices:

Avios Miles Groupon CPM

At the moment, the 2,000 mile package is sold out, however, all the others are available. The only thing to keep in mind is that each individual’s purchases are limited to one 2,000 mile package, three 34,000 mile packages, and five of all the others.

So the fact that the cheapest package is sold out is not such a big deal anyways…

IberiaPluStore Bonus Miles

I found this offer presented on some blogs as 1.11 cents per mile combined with a 10 miles per EUR spent (until the end of June) on Groupon through IberiaPluStore.

IberiaPluStore Offer

However, the conditions seem to explicitly state that this offer is excluded from the bonus shopping miles:

* We do not offer the 2,000 , 4,000 , 8,000 , 12,000 or 20,000 Avios that you might buy through any “Avios en Iberia Plus” promotions.
* We do not accept missing transaction claims or questions about the 2,000 , 4,000 , 8,000 , 12,000 or 20,000 Avios that you might buy through “Avios en Iberia Plus” promotions.

While I think the packages above are the ones from the previous offer (as they don’t include the 34,000 one), it’s likely the bonus miles will not be credited. Still, there is no harm in going through the portal just in case they decide to credit the bonus miles.

In fact, some hours after I bought mine, I received an email from the portal. It mentions the miles “earned” with the Groupon ES purchase, and says “bear in mind the approval can take up to 40 days from the day the purchase was made.” So let’s see if I get the 2,490 bonus miles (249 EUR x 10 miles per EUR spent) in the end…

IberiaPluStore Miles Pending

How Can You Use Iberia Avios Miles and How Do I Plan to Use Them?

When booking awards using Iberia Avios, you have two options – booking directly with Iberia or transferring to British Airways and booking through British Airways.

Since the miles transfer at a 1:1 ratio, but the award charts and rules are different, the preferable way will depend on a case by case basis. I won’t go into the details here, but Million Mile Secrets wrote a great overview of the differences between the two programs here.

Iberia British Airways

Personally, I plan to transfer the miles to British Airways (you can do this once your Iberia account becomes at least 90 days old) and use them for Japanese domestic flights. BA Avios miles can be redeemed for most of one-way JAL domestic flights at 4,500 miles.

Given that they can be redeemed on the day of the flight unlike ANA or JAL miles, they are great for unexpected (spotting) trips to Sapporo and other places within Japan.

British Airways Executive Club Reward JAL

If you need some more inspiration about what are of the good uses of Avios, check this article on Upgraded Points.

How to Take Advantage of This Offer?

Step 1: Create an Iberia mileage account here, if you don’t have one.

Step 2: Go to Groupon ES through the IberiaPluStore. You will have to log-in to your Iberia Plus account after you click on the “Shop Now” button. Then, you will be redirected to the Spanish Groupon website.

Note: This is the part that might or might not get you extra 10 miles per EUR spent.

Redirect to Groupon ES

Step 3: Search for “Avios” since you will land on Groupon’s top page rather than the deal page.

FYI, this is where the process turns into Spanish – but is still fairly straightforward…

Groupon ES Avios Deal

Step 4: Click “Compra,” choose your package and purchase it by clicking “Compra” again. You will have to either create a Groupon ES account here, or just log-in using your Facebook account (much simpler).

Login to Groupon ES Account

Also, while I had no issues paying with my American Express card, others have reported issues with using credit cards. In that case, use PayPal.

Avios Groupon Payment

Step 5: Get your coupon codes. After your purchase finishes successfully, you will receive an e-mail confirmation. Click on the “Mis Groupones” link in the orange box and you will be taken back to Groupon ES website where you will see your purchased coupons.

Confirmation Email

Click on “Ver tu Groupon” next to your newly purchased coupon and it will open a PDF with the coupon details. In the top left corner it will have two pieces of information – Código de seguridad and Código de cupón – which you will need in the next step.

Coupon Avios Groupon

Step 6: Redeem your coupon on this page.

In the first step, you will have to fill in the two codes from the step above and the email address you used with Groupon when purchasing the coupon, and click “Validar Cupon.”

Use Iberia Avios Groupon

In the second step, you will have to fill in your Iberia Plus number.

The third step is just the final confirmation.

Step 7: Wait and check your Iberia Plus account every now and then. It will take a couple of weeks until the miles post.

Is the Groupon ES Iberia Avios Deal Worth Taking Advantage of?

It depends on where you live and what your intended use of the miles would be. However, chances are that if you are in Japan like me (not so likely) or in Europe (more likely), there might be cases where this offer will be advantageous for you. Avios might be especially useful to you if you are looking at taking a short flight between expensive city pairs served by One World.

But, of course, before making any purchasing decision, consult both the award charts of Iberia Plus and British Airways Executive Club, as well as availability. You can get a rough idea of what the availability is like on British Airways’ website if you have an Executive Club account.

Do you plan to take advantage of this offer? If so, how do you plan to spend the miles?

Also, if you have any question, let me know in the comments.

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