If you’re looking to use points and miles to fly on airlines like Qatar, Aer Lingus, Iberia, or even American or JetBlue, you’ll want to become familiar with Avios.
Avios is the points and miles currency used by … well, a lot of airlines today: Aer Lingus, British Airways, Iberia, Qatar Airways, and even Finnair. And while most airlines don't allow you to transfer miles to another carrier, these Avios partners are an awesome exception. As of Wednesday, there's another option: You can now combine Avios between British Airways and Finnair!
That opens an avenue to transfer points from cards like the *chase sapphire preferred*, the *amex gold*, or the *venture x* to book flights through any of these airlines. And the ability to then transfer miles between airlines opens another door to book certain flights for fewer points or lower fees by sending them to the right place.
It means you can have the first crack at booking Qatar Qsuites before the award space disappears, save hundreds in fees for a nonstop flight to Ireland, and potentially save a ton of points if there are any transfer bonuses to any airline that uses Avios.
While transferring Avios between airlines is mostly straightforward, each program has its own quirks. Here's how to do it.
Overview of Transferring Avios Between Airlines
In a perfect world, there would be one central location to transfer Avios between all of these airlines. In the Avios world, that's not the case.
Here's a chart that gives an overview of how and where you can transfer Avios between specific airlines.
| To / From | Aer Lingus | British Airways | Iberia | Qatar Airways | Finnair |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aer Lingus | N/A | BA website | Transfer to BA, then to Iberia | Transfer to BA, then to Qatar | Transfer to BA, then to Finnair |
| British Airways | BA website | N/A | BA website | BA or Qatar website | BA website |
| Iberia | Transfer to BA, then to Aer Lingus | BA website | N/A | Transfer to BA, then to Qatar | Transfer to BA, then to Finnair |
| Qatar Airways | Transfer to BA, then to Aer Lingus | BA or Qatar website | Transfer to BA, then to Iberia | N/A | Transfer to BA, then to Finnair |
| Finnair | Transfer to BA, then to Aer Lingus | BA website | Transfer to BA, then to Iberia | Transfer to BA, then Qatar | N/A |
So how do you get any of these miles in the first place? You don't necessarily need to fly these airlines. Instead, you can transfer credit card points directly to certain airlines.
The following banks and rewards programs are partners with airlines that use Avios as their miles currency – Aer Lingus, British Airways, Finnair, Iberia, and Qatar.
- Amex Membership Rewards: You can transfer Amex points instantly to all of these airlines except Finnair.
- Chase Ultimate Rewards: Transfer Chase points instantly to Aer Lingus, British Airways, or Iberia.
- Capital One Venture Miles: It's possible to transfer Capital One points to British Airways and Finnair. The good news is it's an instant transfer.
- Citi ThankYou Points: Citi points can be transferred to Qatar Airways – it usually takes 24 to 48 hours.
- Bilt Rewards: Transfer Bilt points instantly to Aer Lingus, British Airways, or Iberia.
- Wells Fargo Points: A new option to transfer points instantly to Aer Lingus, British Airways, or Iberia.
Read more: The Master List of Credit Card Transfer Partners
All roads go through British Airways … because the BA Executive Club program has the most transfer partners. In some cases, you'll need to first transfer to British Airways, then transfer from BA to another airline partner. Luckily, all of these transfers are instant.
One important note is that you can only transfer to or from Iberia if your Iberia Plus account is at least 90 days old. Other Avios airlines don't have this same restriction, but we still recommend opening frequent flyer accounts right away so you are ready to book when a deal strikes.
Follow the links below to open free frequent flyer accounts with all of these airlines if you haven't done so already. When creating accounts, make sure your name and address match exactly to avoid any issues when transferring Avios between the different airlines. This includes middle names or middle initials and email addresses.
- Sign up for a free Aer Lingus AerClub account
- Join the British Airways Executive Club for free
- Open a free Iberia Plus account
- Register for a free Qatar Airways Privilege Club account
- And finally, sign up for Finnair Plus
Now that you've got accounts set up and know how you can transfer your credit card points to these airlines, let's have a look at how to transfer Avios between these airlines and a few specific cases of why you'd want to do so.
How to Transfer Avios Between British Airways & Qatar
This is the easiest Avios transfer there is. Essentially, once you have Avios in either your British Airways or Qatar account, you can pool them together to book with either program.
To get started, you'll need to sign up for a free account with Qatar. If you don't already have a British Airways account, you'll also need to sign up for a British Airways Executive Club account so you can link the two.
By linking your accounts, you'll open up more transfer opportunities. While Amex Membership Rewards transfer to both programs, Bilt Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards, Capital One Venture miles, and newcomer Wells Fargo points only transfer instantly to British Airways. And if you have Citi ThankYou points, you can transfer those to Qatar Airways.
It's incredibly easy to link your British Airways and Qatar Airways accounts. After registering with Qatar, you'll get a prompt to link your British Airways Executive Club account.
Simply follow the prompts to link the accounts. It will bring you to a sign-in screen to provide your login details with British Airways and you'll receive a few one-time password codes to your phone or email for verification.
If you already have existing accounts with both programs and are trying to link your accounts, you can do so either at this link on Qatar's website or here on British Airways. I find it easier to combine British Airways and Qatar Avios on the British Airways site.
After clicking “Log in now,” you'll need to go through a few steps to verify your identity. I'd suggest clicking “Try another method” and then choosing to receive an SMS text message or email with a one-time passcode.
Once your accounts are linked and you're logged in to both, you'll be able to instantly move Avios between British Airways and Qatar. Just type in how many you'd like to transfer and click “Combine my Avios.” You can also toggle which direction you'd like to send them.
Here's what it'll look like if you're doing this on Qatar's website. You'll have the same functionality here to transfer Avios in either direction after logging in to both accounts and verifying your identity with one-time passcodes.
The most common reason you'd want to transfer Avios from British Airways to Qatar is to be able to take advantage of British Airways' extra transfer partners (or transfer bonuses) to book Qatar's Qsuites to far-off destinations like the Maldives (MLE), Cape Town (CPT) … or all the way to Bangkok (BKK).
Read our full review of Qatar Qsuites – the best business class in the world!
While you can easily book nonstop Qatar flights to Doha (DOH) through British Airways' website, not all connecting itineraries will show up there. This means you'll want to search and book directly on Qatar's website if you want to fly Qsuites beyond Doha.
If you have your British Airways and Qatar accounts linked, you can just pool your points together and book the flights you want on Qatar's website.
Related Reading: The #1 Trick to Booking Qatar Qsuites Right Now
How to Transfer Avios Between British Airways & Iberia
If you need to transfer Avios between British Airways and Iberia, the easiest way to do so is on British Airways' website. But there's one major restriction…
Your Iberia Plus account must have been open for at least 90 days to transfer Avios to or from the Iberia Plus program. This means if you're just opening a new Iberia account, you won't be able to transfer Avios for a few months. We always recommend opening frequent flyer accounts right away so you are ready to book when a deal strikes. Go here and sign up now!
If you're trying to navigate to the transfer page from British Airways' homepage, click “My Account” in the upper-left of the page after logging in to your account.
On the following page, click “Executive Club” and then select “Combine my Avios” from the dropdown.
Alternatively, you can just follow this direct link and log in to your account. It should bring you directly to where you need to be. Once here, just click “Combine my Avios” in the Iberia section.
You may get an error message at this point. If that happens, you can try again later or contact an agent via online chat or a phone call (800-452-1201) to complete the transfer.
If all goes well, you should land on the transfer tool page. You may also be able to use this link to go directly to this page after logging in. Select “Iberia Plus” from the dropdown menu, enter your Iberia credentials, and then click “Log in & continue.”
Then, simply follow the steps to transfer your points in the direction of your choice.
To be honest, there aren't too many cases where it makes sense to transfer Avios between British Airways and Iberia. Since the rates and taxes & fees to book Iberia flights are now the same whether you book with British Airways or Iberia, you're probably better off just booking with British Airways for simplicity.
However, Iberia's website will sometimes show better availability for its own flights than British Airways does so you may have more dates to choose from when booking with Iberia.
Read our full review of Iberia business class – one of the cheapest ways to fly lie-flat to Europe.
Iberia also has some airline partners that British Airways does not, such as Avianca, that you may be able to book flights on using Iberia Avios – though it could require several calls. But the sweet spot is the fact that you'll pay much lower fees if you book American Airlines business class to Spain using Iberia Avios compared to booking the same AA flights with British Airways.
For example, this one-way American Airlines business class flight from New York (JFK) to Barcelona (BCN) costs 62,000 British Airways Avios plus a ridiculous $986 in fees one-way when booking with British Airways.
But you can book the exact same American Airlines flight through Iberia for 62,000 Avios plus just $48 in fees one-way. That's a monumental savings in fees.
However, there is a major caveat to booking partner airline flights with Iberia Avios. Your ticket cannot be changed or canceled at all if you book an American Airlines flight (or most other partner airlines) using Iberia's program.
Iberia's policy states that changes and cancellations are only allowed on flights operated by British Airways, Iberia, or a couple of small regional partners in Europe. If you want to book another partner airline with Iberia Avios, make sure your plans are firm. If you can't take the flight you booked initially, you'll just need to eat the cost.
Otherwise, you may want to book those flights with another program that has a better change/cancellation policy. In the case of booking American Airlines business class to Europe, consider booking with Qatar Avios if you don't have AA miles. Qatar's fees of around $200 each way are considerably better than what you'd pay to book AA flights with British Airways Avios – and you can change or cancel your flight for a $25 fee when booking with Qatar.
How to Transfer Avios Between Aer Lingus & British Airways
For better or worse, the process of sending Avios between Aer Lingus and British Airways is pretty much identical to Iberia.
First, you'll need to set up an AerClub account on aerlingus.com. But whether you want to send Avios from British Airways to Aer Lingus or vice versa, you'll need to head back to BA.com and log into your Executive Club account.
Once you're logged in on the British Airways homepage, click “My Account” in the upper-left of the page.
On the following page, click “Executive Club” and then select “Combine my Avios” from the dropdown.
Alternatively, you can just follow this direct link and log in to your account. It should bring you directly to where you need to be. Once here, just click “Combine my Avios” in the Iberia Plus and AerClub section.
You may get an error message at this point. If that happens, you can try again later or contact an agent via online chat or a phone call (855-585-8624) to complete the transfer.
If all goes well, you should land on the transfer tool page. You may also be able to use this link to go directly to this page after logging in. But this time, instead of selecting “Iberia Plus” from the dropdown menu, pick “Avios Partners” and then enter your Aer Lingus credentials. Then click “Log in & continue.”
Then, simply follow the steps to transfer your points in the direction of your choice.
If you follow these simple steps and book through Aer Lingus instead of British Airways Avios, you can avoid paying the extremely high fees that British Airways charges to book some Aer Lingus flights between the U.S. and Ireland, particularly flights to Shannon. For example, this Aer Lingus business class flight from New York (JFK) to Shannon (SNN).
If you were to book this flight on the British Airways website, it would cost 50,000 British Airways Avios plus over $1,000 in fees one-way. No thanks!
Instead, you can transfer Avios from British Airways to Aer Lingus and book the same flight through Aer Lingus for just 50,000 Aer Lingus Avios plus only $140 in fees.
That's $850 in savings by simply transferring miles from one airline to another. The fact that you have more transfer opportunities (and more frequent transfer bonuses) with British Airways compared to Aer Lingus makes this an incredibly lucrative option if you're looking to book Aer Lingus flights.
Read our full review of Aer Lingus business class – the best way to fly nonstop to Ireland.
How to Transfer Between British Airways & Finnair
Finnair is the newest addition to the stable of airlines using Avios, and it's a great one. Better yet, combining Avios between Finnair and British Airways is incredibly easy.
Just note: You can only transfer Finnair Avios to British Airways. As of publication, there's no way to directly transfer Avios between Finnair and other airlines like Aer Lingus, Qatar, or Iberia – or vice versa. Again, all roads go through British Airways.
If you haven't already, you'll first need to sign up for accounts with each loyalty program – Finnair Plus and British Airways Executive Club. When creating accounts, make sure your name and address match exactly to avoid any issues when transferring Avios between the different airlines. This includes middle names or middle initials and email addresses. Keep the login information for each frequent flyer account handy as you'll need it for the next step.
Next, you'll need to link your accounts to transfer Avios between the two programs. It's easiest to do this through the British Airways site. Select “Convert Avios” and navigate to “Finnair Plus.”
If your accounts are not linked, you should see an option on the next page to link them. Plug in your Finnair plus account information and set up two-factor authentication, which is required to link accounts and share Avios.
From there, you'll be able to move Avios between accounts. Simply type in how many Avios you want to transfer and hit “convert.” There's no minimum number of Avios you need to transfer between the airlines.
The site is a bit finicky, though. It can take several tries before successfully moving Avios from a British Airways account to a Finnair account, and vice versa. Once it works, however, the transfer should be nearly instantaneous.
This ability allows you to take advantage of some unique sweet spots in the Finnair Avios program. My favorite is booking Cathay Pacific business class nonstop to Hong Kong (HKG) from anywhere in North America for just 75,000 Finnair Avios each way, including all the way from New York (JFK).
Booking this same flight through British Airways' website would cost a whopping 108,250 British Airways Avios. Ouch!
That's a savings of over 33,000 points just by transferring your Avios from British Airways to Finnair.
How to Transfer Avios Between Qatar Airways & Aer Lingus, Iberia, or Finnair
Looking to use Citi ThankYou points to book an Aer Lingus, Finnair, or Iberia flight directly with those programs? It's a little complex, but it's possible.
Since Qatar is the only Citi transfer partner that uses Avios, you'll need to first transfer Citi points to Qatar and then move those Avios from Qatar to the other airline programs.
In these cases, you'd need to follow the steps above to first transfer Avios from Qatar to British Airways, then follow the next steps to transfer from British Airways to Aer Lingus, Finnair, or Iberia. This also works in reverse if you want to transfer Avios from these airlines to Qatar. There isn't currently a way to do this directly.
Bottom Line
No matter which type of transferrable credit card points you're earning, you can use them to book flights with any of the Avios programs because you can transfer Avios between Aer Lingus, British Airways, Iberia, Qatar, and now Finnair.
It's mostly straightforward to make these transfers happen if you know where to go and understand the quirks involved – even though some of them take multiple steps. By following these steps to transfer Avios between these airlines, you can take advantage of all the different sweet spots each program offers.