In this post I wanted to review the Iberia Visa Signature® Card, which is one of Chase 's less known travel rewards credit cards. I realized that I've never formally reviewed this card before, so that seems long overdue.
This card has only been in the US market for a couple of years. Since it's a card that many people haven't had before, I do think it should at least be on your radar, assuming you're eligible.
Let's talk about everything you need to know about this card.
If you're familiar with the British Airways Visa Signature® Card ( review), then some aspects of the Iberia Visa Card may sound familiar. The cards have a lot of overlapping benefits, with a key difference being that each card offers perks on the respective airline. Furthermore, while both cards earn Avios, one card earns British Airways Avios, while the other earns Iberia Avios.
The Iberia Visa Card offers a bonus of up to 100,000 Iberia Avios. That bonus is tiered, as follows:
Personally I value Avios at ~1.3 cents each, so to me 100,000 Avios are worth ~$1,300.
Those 100,000 Avios don't include the points you usually earn for spending, so that means:
Assuming you spend enough on credit cards to reach the $20,000 of spending, I think it's absolutely worth it.
The Iberia Visa Card has a $95 annual fee. This is not waived for the first year, and there's no additional fee to add authorized users.
The welcome bonus on the Iberia Visa Card isn't available to those who currently have the card, or those who have received a new cardmember bonus on the card in the past 24 months.
However, you are eligible for this card if you've had the British Airways Visa Card, so this is a great complement.
All Chase cards are also subjected to the 5/24 rule, whereby you likely won't be approved if you've opened five or more new card accounts in the past 24 months. It's also worth being aware of Chase's other general policies on card approvals.
The Iberia Visa Card has no foreign transaction fees and offers contactless payment, but does the rewards structure actually warrant putting spending on the card? Generally I'd say no, but it does depend, as I'll get into below.
When paying with the Iberia Card you can earn 3x Avios per dollar spent on purchases with Aer Lingus, British Airways, Iberia, and LEVEL. This is a fairly good return on that spending, but there are other great credit cards for airfare purchases.
When paying with the Iberia Card you earn 2x Avios per dollar spent on hotel accommodations. This applies across all hotel groups. That's better than nothing, but there are better credit cards for hotel purchases.
For everyday spending the Iberia Card offers 1x Avios per dollar spent, which isn't much to get excited about, as there are better credit cards for everyday spending. The exception is if you're trying to reach $30,000 of spending, for reasons I'll get into below.
Redeem Avios for travel in Cathay Pacific business class
The Iberia Card has no foreign transaction fees, so it's potentially a great card to use for purchases abroad.
The Iberia Card features contactless pay technology. This means you can pay using your card without even swiping it whenever you see the contactless pay symbol (in the age of coronavirus, this is an especially valuable feature).
The Iberia Visa Card offers some solid purchase protection, as do many Visa Signature products. As always, make sure you check your cardmember agreement for all of the details, since there are terms & conditions.
What should you expect?
The Iberia Card offers auto rental collision damage waiver coverage. Decline the rental company's collision insurance and charge the entire rental cost to your card.
Coverage is provided for theft and collision damage for most cars in the US and abroad. Do note that in the US the coverage is secondary to your personal insurance, though.
The Iberia Card offers some useful protection:
The Iberia Card offers baggage protection:
In addition to the excellent welcome bonus, the main reason I would consider the Iberia Visa Card is because of the great perks that it offers. There are two main perks - one you get just for having the card, and the other you get by spending $30,000 on the card.
Here's how those benefits work.
One of the best benefits of the Iberia Card is that it offers a 10% discount on Iberia flights. To take advantage of this, just book through iberia.com/chase10, and use your card to pay.
As far as the terms of this offer go:
If you fly Iberia Airways with any frequency, this could cover the annual fee over and over.
There's one major incentive to spend money on this card - the Iberia Card offers a $1,000 flight discount voucher when you spend $30,000 on the card in a calendar year.
How does this discount voucher work?
If you fly Iberia with any frequency, this could absolutely be worth it:
While a lot of people might be familiar with the British Airways Executive Club program, not as many people are probably familiar with the Iberia Plus program. What are the best uses of Iberia Plus Avios?
While there are some good uses of Iberia Avios, you can also transfer Avios between British Airways and Iberia, assuming you've had both accounts open for at least 90 days, and the accounts have some activity.
In other words, all the Avios you earn with this credit card could potentially be transferred to British Airways, which opens up a lot of great redemption opportunities.
Aside from the opportunities available through British Airways Executive Club, there are also some benefits to booking directly through Iberia Plus:
See this post for more on redeeming Iberia Plus Avios.
Redeem Avios for travel on American Airlines
The Iberia Visa Card has a great sign-up bonus, so this is a card that many people should consider. This can be worth it regardless of if you're a big spender who can easily knock out the $20,000+ worth of spending, or if you just plan on qualifying for the 50,000 Avios after spending $3,000.
Personally, this isn't a card I would use for everyday spending, since you can earn Iberia Plus Avios at a better rate with other American Express or Chase cards.
That being said, there's potentially value to be had beyond the sign-up bonus:
There's a lot of overlap between the Iberia Visa Card and the British Airways Visa Card, so which is better? The cards have a lot in common:
Then there are a few differences:
If you want to earn Iberia Plus Avios, I'd recommend getting a card that earns either Amex Membership Rewards or Chase Ultimate Rewards points:
With that in mind, which cards should you consider? Here are some of my favorites:
The Iberia Credit Card may not have been on your radar, but it probably should be. The card has a great sign-up bonus, for small and big spenders alike. You're eligible for the Iberia Card even if you've had the British Airways Card before.
On top of that, the card can be worth holding onto long term if you fly Iberia with any frequency - the 10% discount on Iberia tickets is an awesome perk, and it can be worth spending $30,000 on the card per year to receive a $1,000 Iberia flight discount voucher.
While there are lots of great uses of Iberia Plus Avios, when it comes to earning them I'd personally prefer to do so through Amex or Chase, given the greater flexibility that offers. That assumes you're not spending towards the $30,000 requirement to earn the flight discount voucher.
If you want to learn more about the Iberia Visa Signature Card or apply, follow this link.