MilesBuzz! - Iberia Plus vs American AAdvantage..please help

hi there,

i'm executive platinum with aa and i have just moved to barcelona from new york. i'm considering switching programs to iberia plus.

does anyone on here know if it would be worthwhile for me to switch, and how often iberia does courtesy upgrades on long haul flights? i would have emerald status with them.

also, is it easy to upgrade with miles and what are my options? i do not care about short inter european flights. upgrades on long haul are very important to me.

and lastlty, if iberias program is bad, what other programs do you suggest i use for my travels.

i fly about 150k miles a year all over.


thanks in advance for your advice.

Where will you be traveling long-haul? Back to the US? If so, your best best would be to stick with American for the 8 EXP VIP upgrades. You can also credit all your ibera flights back to AA.

Iberias program (as with most other non-US programs) only allows upgrades from the highest fares (full fare coach)

IB+ is honestly a horrible program...you only earn full miles on high fares, upgrades are virtually impossible, and even if you do their long-haul service is good but not great. In addition it is not really marketed as a benefit for frequent flyers (Spanair does a much better job in this regard though their domestic flights are among the most cramped and uncomfortable I have ever flown).

Where will you be flying, mostly? Domestic, Intra-Europe, and long-haul? Do you have to stay with OW?

thanks for the info.

no i do not have to stay with one world. i fly mostly to north america, south america, and a few times a year to asia. and all inside europe and spain.

lufthansa might be a good idea actually. but from what i heard, they charge allot of miles for upgrades, and they don't have anything equivalent to aa's vip coupons....what is a good european program? or do they simply not come close to the US programs?

thanks for the info.

no i do not have to stay with one world. i fly mostly to north america, south america, and a few times a year to asia. and all inside europe and spain.

lufthansa might be a good idea actually. but from what i heard, they charge allot of miles for upgrades, and they don't have anything equivalent to aa's vip coupons....what is a good european program? or do they simply not come close to the US programs?

Well, Lefthansa isn't bad. Their long-haul is pretty good now, and award levels for upgrades and flights are competitive with everyone else. They also give you 2 e-vouchers which are good for 1 upgrade on 1 transpac, for example. Not like a pile of VIPOWs.

I am in the process of moving my flying over to them after 7 years with NW/KL. Intra-europe they are inconvenient but you can get a flight on Spanair just about anywhere and you'll get credit on LH.

I say Lufthansa is your best bet. You can only earn miles on high fares on iberia the same as BA.
you could also consider Skyteam, since you could fly to n. America on any of the following: Delta, Continental and NW , apart from AF and KLM .