Chase Iberia Plus Visa Signature Review
Updated July 30, 2023.
The Facts
The Math
Amex SPG (1.25x), Amex EveryDay Preferred (1.5x), and Chase Freedom Unlimited (1.5x, when paired with a premium UR card such as Sapphire Preferred or Sapphire Reserve) all return higher value for general spending, because their points can all be transferred into Iberia Avios. Chase Sapphire Reserve also returns the same value for Iberia/British/Aer Lingus etc., with wider bonus categories (all travel and dining) and flexibility (Chase points can be transferred to other partners in addition to Avios or simply redeemed for travel at 1.5 cent per point). The annual $1,000 companion discount is sort of attractive if you make companion travel on Iberia metals at least once a year with cash; however, spending $30K per year on none-Iberia purchases means a loss of 7,500-15,000 Avios compared to the aforementioned cards. The bottom line is that Iberia Visa will be good to keep after the first year only for a limited number of customers.
The Conclusion
There are very few reasons to keep Chase Iberia Visa after Year 1, unless you can use the annual $1,000 companion discount and are able to put down $30K on the card each year.
The Facts
- Annual Fee: $95
- Signup Bonus: 75,000 points after you spend $5,000 within 3 months of new account opening. This bonus is not available if you currently have this card or have received a signup bonus for this card in the past 24 months. Historical best bonus of this card: (1) 100,000 points with $5K spending in 2021; (2) 100,000 points with $20K spending in 2018 & 2019 & 2020 & 2022; (3) up to 120,000 points within $30K spending in 2019; (4) 75,000 points with smaller spending requirement in 2018;
- Application Landing Page
- Rewards: 3x Iberia, British Airways, Aer Lingus, LEVEL and OpenSkies, and 1x everywhere else
- Best Use of Iberia Avios: Iberia Plus is the frequent flyer program of Iberia, a member of oneworld, one of the three global airline alliances. Avios is the frequent flyer currency of Iberia, British Airways, and Aer Lingus, and you may transfer Avios among three programs at 1:1 ratio. You can use Avios, on Iberia, British Airways, Aer Lingus, or their partner airlines. Unlike US domestic airlines, most foreign airlines add hefty fuel surcharges to award tickets, making redemption on economy cabins less valuable. Redemption on premium cabins may be desirable but you still have to take the fuel surcharges into your calculation. The alternative is to use Avios on American Airlines (AA) for economy or premium cabins, because AA does not have fuel surcharges.
- Iberia Benefit: (1) Annual $1,000 companion discount (when booking two tickets on the same trip for the cardmember and a companion on Iberia metals) after you spend at least $30,000 per calendar year. (2) Save 10% when using your card to book tickets through iberia.com/chase10.
- Other Benefits: Waived foreign transaction fees with an embedded EMV chip.
The Math
Amex SPG (1.25x), Amex EveryDay Preferred (1.5x), and Chase Freedom Unlimited (1.5x, when paired with a premium UR card such as Sapphire Preferred or Sapphire Reserve) all return higher value for general spending, because their points can all be transferred into Iberia Avios. Chase Sapphire Reserve also returns the same value for Iberia/British/Aer Lingus etc., with wider bonus categories (all travel and dining) and flexibility (Chase points can be transferred to other partners in addition to Avios or simply redeemed for travel at 1.5 cent per point). The annual $1,000 companion discount is sort of attractive if you make companion travel on Iberia metals at least once a year with cash; however, spending $30K per year on none-Iberia purchases means a loss of 7,500-15,000 Avios compared to the aforementioned cards. The bottom line is that Iberia Visa will be good to keep after the first year only for a limited number of customers.
The Conclusion
There are very few reasons to keep Chase Iberia Visa after Year 1, unless you can use the annual $1,000 companion discount and are able to put down $30K on the card each year.