Can I use Iberia airport lounges with a British Airways Silver or Gold card?

In this article I want to look at whether you can get into Iberia airport lounges with a British Airways Gold or Silver status card.

Lounge access is one of the perks that many people aspire too when the travel. Nothing beats escaping the crowds of a busy terminal and settling down with some free wine or champagne before a long flight.

Your entitlement to lounge access already depends on what status you hold, even with British Airways’ own lounges. As I have noted before, British Airways Bronze status does not confer access to the British Airways Galleries lounges; only Silver card holders and above are eligible for entry.

Executive Club Silver status is the equivalent to oneworld Sapphire tier, allowing you to access the oneworld equivalent business class lounges, for example. This includes Iberia business class lounges such as the Iberia Velazquez lounge in Madrid.

(Here is my review of the recently refurbished flagship Velazquez Iberia lounge in Madrid.)

British Airways Gold and Silver card holders, being equivalent to oneworld Emerald, can also access Iberia’s business class lounges along with a guest. However, since Iberia does not have a first class cabin, it does not provide exclusive first class lounges. You may be better off trying to find another oneworld carrier that operates a First Class lounge in your departure airport if that is the case.

You can check out the global network of lounges which you can enter with your British Airways status on the oneworld alliance website here.

(This article is part of our ‘BA Q&A’ series which explains how British Airways Executive Club works.  You can see all of our ‘BA Q&A’ articles here. )

(Head for Points is the UK’s biggest frequent flyer website with 2.4 million monthly page views.  Want to learn more about earning and spending Avios?  Click here to read our latest news stories and click here to join the mailing list for our weekly or daily email newsletters.)

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (January 2024)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital On Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.

There are also good bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These are available to sole traders as well as limited companies.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.