Iberia Plus is now named Club Iberia Plus and will officially launch on April 1st. I do hope the branding agency sent a bill commensurate with the value add of the four letters and a space.

The new loyalty program joins a growing list of global airline programs basing elite status on money spent through flying the airline and partners and on non-flying partner behavior. It’s not how far you fly in a year, but how much you spend with the airline and partners on the ground and in the air.

For this year, they’ve also left in the ability to reach some elite status tiers based on the number of flights you take, and those thresholds have actually been reduced.

The new Club Iberia Plus will mean some elite status tiers will be easier to reach and new higher tiers have also been introduced to sweeten the deal for those who regularly go beyond current top tier. Here’s the info and dates to know.

Club Iberia Plus: Launching April 1st

In line with the new British Airways Club, Club Iberia Plus will launch on April 1st, 2025. This means flights taken from this date will count under the new system, which is based on spend rather than distance.

Spend is not a perfect indicator of loyalty, but it’s one of the best proxies – and makes it easier for airline teams to justify spending more on benefits and services. Flights on Iberia, or with Iberia flight numbers will be measured by spend, in addition to flights on British Airways and American Airlines.

Iberia’s elite status levels will be similar to the recent launch from the British Airways Club, reflecting the apples to apples equivalent in local currency, €3500, €7500, €20,000, which for Iberia is in Euros. As always, these changes only impact people who actually move up the ranks of the program, or intend to.

There’s Two Big Changes.

First, Iberia is allowing people to hit elite tiers based on segments flown in this first year of the new program. Plata, the first level of elite status will be achievable from 20 segments rather than the previous 25 — aka easier to achieve and Oro will be at 40 rather than the 50. Platino will be accessible via segments for the first time, with 90 segments. The new tier won’t be accessible on segments.

All segments must be Iberia coded, which means they’ll need an Iberia flight number to count. For practical purposes, that means they’ll need to be booked through Iberia, or through an agent with specific instructions to book onto Iberia flight numbers only.

New ‘Platino Prime’ VIP Tier, New Perks

One change with the new Club Iberia Plus, which is kind of cool, is that a new elite tier has been added above the previous top tier, Platino, called Platino Prime.

Platino will become a one year status, unlocked with €20,000, but Platino Prime will become a two year status, unlocked with €30,000 of spend and will include double the upgrade vouchers and other perks, like exclusive points redemption access.

You can check out the new program, here.

Personally, I’m excited to see a European program offering more upgrade certificates. This has been a big driver of status in the US and US programs have made it easier in recent years to use these upgrade certificates, even expanding their validity to partner airlines.

Bonuses Built Long Term

Iberia is launching this new Club Iberia Plus program with bonuses built in and from leaks online, it looks like they’ll stay as an always on part of the program, rather than a promotion.

Basically, people will be rewarded with extra elite points towards their status for basically all non-basic economy flying. So in reality, the actual spending required to hit these tiers will be less than the sticker amount, and the higher the cabin you book, the further away from sticker price you get.

In the example above, under €10,000 of additional spending will unlock two upgrade vouchers which could be worth significantly more. Iberia’s primary markets include South America, so there’s been extra focus in the program to bonus activity to South America.

GSTP Take: Inevitable And Differentiated

No points for figuring that Iberia would eventually go revenue based. Compared to the loopholes that existed with the British Airways Club, Iberia was actually a much more buttoned up program, with fewer people able to squeak their way to lofty tiers without bringing much of any value to the program.

Speaking to Iberia loyalists in South America and Europe today, these changes aren’t at all surprising. For many, status is actually easier now. South America remains a hotly contested market and with the bonusing, Iberia has made it clear it’s not planning to cede any ground.

I like that the lower tier of elite status is now more achievable and that the higher tiers have more to push for. I’m always a fan of having a level of perks beyond “intro” tier that reach a wide cohort of people, but it’s not easy to achieve.

Iberia clearly found that they had a lot of people spending well beyond what it would take for Platino, so introducing this new tier makes sense, much like American Airlines introduced Platinum Pro to compliment Executive Platinum.

Any long time Iberia status holders? Share your comments below.