From 2025, Iberia Plus, Iberia’s loyalty programme, will become Iberia Club. Why the change?

We’ve been using the current Iberia Plus for many years and it was time to bring it up to date. We’re always thinking about the best ways to give more to our customers and reward them both for their loyalty and for everything they do in the Iberia Plus and Avios ecosystem with us. That’s our motivation. For several years, we’ve been improving the customer experience at the different points of contact: on board, with our menus, with the renovation of the fleet... This is one more point in the transformation of Iberia. It’s the turn of our frequent flyers and we’ve done something nice and big that benefits them.

The programme will incorporate a new Iberia Club level: Platino Prime. What benefits is this tier associated with?

In addition to maintaining Platino benefits, this is a more exclusive level with a two-year duration and more advantages. For instance, for every euro members spend on flights they will collect nine Avios, while a credit of up to 40,000 Avios will be included if the customer needs it to purchase a ticket. We’re also going to increase the number of upgrade coupons we offer to Platino Prime members, and we’re going to implement a new way to access them that’s more intuitive and digital and will be self-service. They’ll also be offered not only the on-board internet service free of charge, but also Premium Internet. And we’re working to offer additional priority boarding in the future, even before Group 1.

 

The improvements that Iberia Club offers will have an impact at all levels. For example, it will be easier to access Plata and Oro. How many flights will it take from 1 April to reach these categories?

We want to make it easier to get to both levels. In the case of Plata, we’ve reduced the necessary requirements from 25 to 20 flights, and we have updated the Elite Points that are required to become Plata, making them more in line with what a passenger can usually spend to reach this level. The same thing applies to Oro: we have lowered the number of flights required from 50 to 40, as well as the number of associated Elite Points. And even in Platino, which previously didn’t allow for the possibility of counting segments flown; it can now be reached with flights, specifically 90. 

In 2022, we changed how the programme’s Avios were collected and now the way of accumulating Elite Points has also been updated. How is this going to work and why has it been implemented?

Before, flying a domestic segment earned you 50 Elite Points regardless of whether you spent more money because you bought the flight at the last minute, for example. Now we’re trying to reward all the spending. Our intention is to offer more complete rates that will give even more Elite Points, even above the money spent. If you buy a seat, a suitcase or an upgrade, we will take into account the overall expense. And not just on our flights. If you use your card to refuel, for every 10 Avios you accumulate at Repsol, we’ll give you an Elite Point. If you use Iberia Cards and reach 40,000 Avios on Iberia Cards, you’ll also earn Elite Points. In order to level up, up to 30 per cent of your Elite Points can have been earned from things other than flying, and that’s a benefit we didn’t have before. 

What positive impact has the new way of collecting Avios already had?

We see that the accumulation of Avios is greater and is a more accurate reflection of the reality of our customers and their relationship with us. We think that’s positive. In the future, we want to give the option of spending Avios not only on flights, but also with partners inside and outside Spain.

As Director of Global Sales and Loyalty, do you have any tips for the more than six million Iberia Club programme members so they can get the most out of their Iberia Plus card?

They should use their Iberia Club at all times. We want people to start using their card as they would with any other day-to-day loyalty programme. Our idea is for it to be so easy to use and so accessible that you’ll have many options to be able to make your holiday plans more easily or to buy things with all those Avios you are accumulating.