Fun redemption math problem (it's not fun, please help)

[u/Writerly13]

Hello, so I have about 30k Avios points myself, and about 70k points in the household BA Avios account. However, I'd like to redeem 2 Iberia flights for my spouse and me, and I need to combine both totals. The flights exist on both Iberia and BA websites, but of course BA charges double the amount in fees.

I'd like to book with Iberia, but it's proving difficult; it doesn't look like it'll let me pull from my household Avios. Can anyone advise?

[u/PointmeSam]

If both of you have IB Club accounts, you should create a Family Account and invite the other to pool your existing Avios balances into one shared balance that can be redeemed directly on Iberia.com. I do freelance point.me concierge work and I’d avoid trying to force BA Household Avios directly into IB. Instead, move each person’s transferable Avios into their own Iberia account, then pool them through Iberia Family. Your main problem is that a brand-new Iberia account will hit waiting restrictions for BA-IB transfers, so with your spouse’s account age is your current bottleneck. On a side note, I much prefer to deal with BA instead of IB for any changes down the road so please do check if similar awards are available to redeem on BA.

[u/Writerly13 → u/PointmeSam]

Thanks! What are the downsides of dealing with changes later through IB instead of BA?

[u/PointmeSam → u/Writerly13]

BA is generally easier to deal with if plans change: better phone support, clearer handling of Avios refunds/rebooking, and fewer reports of glitches (though it has its share of them). Iberia can handle its own awards BUT changes sometimes become more cumbersome especially on partner itineraries or if something goes wrong with ticketing.

[u/WillVH52]

You’ll need to transfer the points to Iberia which will be the difficult part unless you have an existing account. They seem to have an equivalent of the BA household account (Iberia Family) as of this year which will aid with booking the reward flight.

[u/Writerly13 → u/WillVH52]

My spouse's Iberia account is about a week old, so it looks like she can't transfer her points (the 70k) from her BA to her Iberia Plus account. I think this is the part that is impossible to get around, right?

[u/red821673 → u/Writerly13]

I think the account needs to be at least 30 days before you can transfer Avios between BA to Iberia.

[u/WillVH52 → u/Writerly13]

Yeah there seems to be some kind of waiting period to combat fraud/points being stolen via newly registered accounts.

[u/MickyB2828]

For your spouse's Avios - I was going to suggest trying Qatar or Finnair, but I believe they also need accounts to be open for 30 days before you can transfer from BA.

For your Avios - have you earned a few thousand in the last 30 days? If so, you might consider boosting those 3x so you have enough to afford one ticket. You could then buy yours through IB and your spouse's through BA.