Iberia Visa Card Review: OK for Iberia, but Not the Ticket for Earning Avios

A healthy sign-up bonus

The card comes with a solid sign-up bonus, which the issuer phrases this way: Earn 85,000 Avios after you spend $5,000 on purchases within the first three months of account opening.

10% off Iberia flights

Getting 10% off all your Iberia flights can be pretty valuable assuming you fly the airline often. Spending $2,500 on flights a year would reap a cool $250 discount that more than covers the annual fee.

Note some restrictions: The discount doesn’t apply to taxes, fees and carrier charges or to excess baggage fees or seat assignment fees. And the discounts are good for round trips on Iberia only, not partner airlines, and must be booked at the qualifying Iberia website: iberia.com/Chase10.

Travel and consumer protections

These protections are nothing special, especially among travel credit cards that charge an annual fee, but it’s nice to have them.

• Baggage delay insurance. Reimburses you for essential purchases like toiletries and clothing for baggage delays over six hours, up to $100 a day for three days.

• Lost luggage reimbursement. If you or your immediate family members' checked or carry-on bags are damaged or lost, you're covered up to $3,000 per passenger.

• Purchase protection. Covers new purchases for 120 days against damage or theft up to $500 per claim and $50,000 per account.

• Extended warranty. Extends a U.S. manufacturer's warranty by an additional year, on eligible warranties of three years or less.

No foreign transaction fees

Lack of flexibility

For international travel, redemption options abound on this card: Iberia is a member of the Oneworld airline alliance, and you can redeem points with other Oneworld airlines, as well as with a few additional partner airlines. But for domestic trips, you’re limited to American Airlines and Alaska Airlines. Looking for more options within the U.S.? The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card could be a stronger choice.

With the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, you can trade in points at a 1:1 value for Avios, for the times you really want to redeem with Iberia. But you'll also have the option of transferring your points to several other hotels and airlines. Because transfer partners include members of all three major airline alliances — SkyTeam, Star Alliance and Oneworld — as well as U.S.-based airlines, like Southwest, JetBlue and United Airlines, this card offers an abundance of redemption opportunities and charges an annual fee of $95.

» MORE: Airline and hotel transfer partners: Chase Ultimate Rewards vs. American Express Membership Rewards

Rewards can expire

Avios expire if you don't collect, spend, share or purchase any for 36 consecutive months. That could be a rude surprise later, especially for those who want to earn the sign-up bonus and run.

Plenty of cards offer rewards that don't expire. Consider the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card, which gets you miles that remain active as long as your account is open. With these miles, which can be redeemed either through statement credits against travel purchases or through Capital One’s rewards program, you can book any seat you want on any airline. That flexibility means you might find it a lot easier to use often.

This card also comes with several transfer partners, including some in the Oneworld alliance, including British Airways. The card charges an annual fee of $95.

Limitations on the discount voucher

Getting a $1,000 discount on future flights can be a valuable award. But it might be difficult for some cardholders to use because of all the rules and restrictions.

• You must make $30,000 in purchases in a single calendar year. And some purchases don’t count, such as cash-like transactions (travelers checks, foreign currency, money orders, for example.) Also excluded: the card’s annual fee and gambling, including lottery tickets.

• You must buy two tickets. The discount voucher comes as a code that you apply for a discount of $1,000 when purchasing two tickets for the same flight in the same class of travel. The companion must travel with you on the outbound and inbound flights and be booked at the same time for both directions.

• Vouchers apply to flights operated by Iberia only. It’s no good for code-share flights or alliance airlines.

• Expires in 12 months.

• Taxes and fees apply to the full value of the ticket.

And for many people, the discount voucher is inferior to partner airlines that offer similar credit cards that also earn Avios. But with them, spending $30,000 gets you a companion pass.

• British Airways Visa Signature® Card: Every calendar year you make $30,000 in purchases on your card, you'll earn a Travel Together Ticket good for two years.

• Aer Lingus Visa Signature® Card: Every calendar year you make purchases of $30,000 on your card, you'll receive a Commercial Companion Ticket good for 12 months.

» MORE: NerdWallet's top credit cards with companion tickets

No airport perks