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Iberia and Vueling announced the introduction of a combined Avios wallet. The new feature allows you to combine all your respective Avios in one place. After linking, you can use your Avios to book awards with either airline. So, why does this matter — and how do you link your accounts? Let's take a look.
What Is the Iberia-Vueling Combined Wallet?
At AwardWallet, we often mention how you can collect Avios in one program and then send them (for free) to another program that also utilizes the Avios currency. For example, this allows you to collect British Airways Avios and then instantly convert them to Iberia Plus Avios and book one of the best business class sweet spots to Europe.
And there are a lot of Avios-utilizing airlines. However, one airline in particular uses the currency but doesn't allow you to freely and easily transfer its Avios between other carriers: Vueling. But, effective immediately, you can combine your Vueling Club Avios with your Iberia Plus Avios and book awards with either airline.
This feature allows you to fly Vueling and redeem your Avios with Iberia, and the other way around. It's a value-add if you have Vueling Club Avios that you'd like to redeem for something other than Vueling flights.
How to link your Iberia and Vueling accounts
Linking your Iberia Plus account with your Vueling Club account is straightforward. The first step is to log into your Iberia account, go to the “My Iberia Plus” section, and click on “Link Accounts.”
From there, you will then be taken to the combined Avios Wallet. You'll then be prompted to enter your login credentials again.
At this point, the site requested that you set up secondary verification via SMS or an authenticator app. Once you have logged into the combined wallet, you will see the option to link your Vueling account.
Before you link your accounts, you will see a prompt to ensure that your details match. If they do not, you cannot link your accounts.
At this point, it is probably wise to log into your Vueling account separately and ensure every detail matches your Iberia account. Minor errors in middle name spelling, postal codes, or anything else can cause problems.
But once everything with your details checks out, log into your Vueling account, and you are all set. Your combined Avios wallet is now ready to use!
Can You Combine Iberia and Vueling Avios, Then Transfer To Other Airlines?
Unfortunately, the sad answer is that this is not a true single wallet but a virtual one. So, your Iberia Avios remain in your Iberia Account, and your Vueling Avios remain in your Vueling account. All this wallet does is let you see your combined balances and redeem them for flights with either airline.
One thing to note is that the combined wallet doesn't allow you to move your Avios around further. For instance, you can not use the combined wallet to then move your Vueling Avios to Iberia, and then move them onwards to British Airways, Qatar Qatar Airways, Finnair, or Aer Lingus. It's a limiting factor, but this wallet can still be beneficial if you'd like to use your Vueling Avios to make Iberia redemptions — or vice versa.
Our Take
The bottom line is that this is an excellent idea by IAG (the parent company of Avios-utilizing airlines), and if you are a frequent flyer with either Iberia or Vueling (or both), the combined wallet makes a lot of sense.
Hopefully, this will be a success, and IAG will use it as a springboard to have a combined Avios wallet for all the programs that share Avios as a currency. This would be far simpler than having to send your Avios between programs when it's time to book an award. A combined wallet for all the airlines would be an excellent tool for the various program members.
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