It’s usually a bad idea to transfer points between airline and hotel programs, as most often, you lose value in the transfer. One notable exception is the Marriott Bonvoy airline transfer program. Another exception: transferring Avios at a 1:1 ratio between Aer Lingus AerClub, British Airways Executive Club, Iberia Plus and now the Qatar Privilege Club.

All four of these airline loyalty programs use the “Avios” name for their mileage currencies, but each has a different chart for determining the number of Avios for a flight. So, it can be useful to transfer Avios between programs to book flights where you’ll get the most value, pool all of your points in one program or top off one account.

Here’s how to transfer Avios between Aer Lingus, British Airways, Iberia and Qatar — and why.

Why you should care about Avios programs

Avios programs offer some of the best airline mileage sweet spots around.

For example, you can book award flights on American Airlines for as few as 7,500 Avios one-way through British Airways or 11,000 Avios round-trip through Iberia (which offers only round-trip award bookings on American).

Choose the right Avios program, and you can take off on an award flight to Hawaii for 13,000 Avios each way. Or fly from the U.S. to Ireland for 13,000 Avios each way, then continue on to other parts of Europe for as little as 4,000 Avios each way. And perhaps no sweet spot is sweeter than flying to Spain in business class for just 34,000 Avios each way.

Now that Qatar has joined the Avios program, you can book Qatar's Qsuite business class to Doha for just 70,000 Avios each way, India for 80,000 Avios each way or the Maldives for 85,000 Avios each way.

Those sweet spots are scattered throughout Aer Lingus', British Airways', Iberia’s and Qatar Airways' award charts. As each airline utilizes its own award pricing system, award rates vary. Because you can transfer Avios between programs, you can choose the program that will get you the best deal on the flight you want.

How to earn Avios

It’s easy to get Avios even if you don’t fly any of these airlines regularly. Each program offers a points-earning credit card for U.S.-based travelers. Or you can transfer points to Avios from Chase Ultimate Rewards®, American Express Membership Rewards, Citi ThankYou Points, Capital One Miles or Marriott Bonvoy.

Credit cards

The easiest way to rack up Avios is through the Avios-earning credit cards. Many of the Avios-earning programs’ credit cards offers a welcome bonus.

Aer Lingus Visa Signature® Card: Earn 75,000 Avios after you spend $5,000 on purchases within the first three months of account opening.

British Airways Visa Signature® Card: Earn 75,000 Avios after you spend $5,000 on purchases within the first three months of account opening.

Iberia Visa Signature® Card: Earn 75,000 Avios after you spend $5,000 on purchases within the first three months of account opening.

If you can get enough value to justify three annual fees, there’s no limitation to keep you from getting all three cards.

Each card offers unique benefits. For example, British Airways Visa Signature® Card holders save 10% on certain British Airways flights. Similarly, Iberia Visa Signature® Card holders get a 10% discount when flying on Iberia flights purchased on iberia.com/Chase10.

Plus, each card offers a unique benefit for spending $30,000 on the card in a calendar year: an economy companion ticket from the Aer Lingus card, a $1,000 discount voucher from the Iberia card, and a “Travel Together Ticket” from the British Airways card (a voucher redeemable for a companion ticket when the cardmember flies on a British Airways award ticket).

Transfer partners of Avios

You can get Avios by transferring points at a 1:1 ratio from American Express Membership Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards®, Citi ThankYou Points or Capital One Miles. Or you can transfer Marriott Bonvoy points to any of the four Avios programs at a 3:1 ratio. Plus, you’ll get 5,000 bonus Avios for every 60,000 Bonvoy points you transfer. Terms apply.

No matter which Avios program you transfer points to, you can then transfer Avios between programs to get the best deal on an award flight.

How to transfer Avios between programs

The process to transfer Avios between Aer Lingus, British Airways, Iberia and Qatar depends on the program.

Before you start, make sure that all your Avios accounts have the most up-to-date information. Transfers may fail if your name, date of birth, email address or mailing address don’t match. Also, note that Avios can’t be transferred to or from Iberia within 90 days of joining the Iberia Plus program.

Transferring Avios to/from Aer Lingus

The easiest way to transfer Avios to or from Aer Lingus AerClub is to use Avios.com. You can also use Avios.com to transfer Avios between British Airways and Iberia. But to do so, you’ll need to transfer Avios to Aer Lingus first and then back out to your destination program.

To get started, use your Aer Lingus AerClub login information to log in to Avios.com. Go to the Combine My Avios page, then select whether you want to transfer Avios to or from British Airways or Iberia. At this time, Avios.com doesn't allow transfers to/from the Qatar Privilege Club program. However, you can move your Qatar Avios to British Airways first (as detailed below) and then use Avios.com to move those Avios to Aer Lingus.

Next, log in to your British Airways Executive Club or Iberia Plus account. Once logged in, scroll down and select which direction you want to transfer Avios. Enter the number of Avios you want to transfer. Then, click “Review my transfer.”

On the next page, you’ll get a chance to review the transfer details. Click “Confirm transfer” to officially transfer Avios from one account to another.

After a few moments, your Avios will be transferred. Avios.com will provide a reference number and send a confirmation to the email address listed in both accounts.

The account balance at the top right corner of the page may not immediately reflect the transfer. But you should see this number updated once you browse to another page.

Transferring Avios to/from British Airways

To use your British Airways account to transfer Avios, start by logging in to your Executive Club account and going to the Combine Avios Points page. Scroll down and click “Combine my Avios” in either the Iberia Plus or Qatar Airways Privilege Club section to begin the process.

For transfers to AerLingus or Iberia, select your target program from the drop-down list. For Aer Lingus AerClub, choose “Avios Partners.”

Enter your Iberia Plus or Aer Lingus AerClub login information, then scroll down and select which direction you want to transfer the Avios. Enter the number of Avios you want to transfer. Then, click “Review my transfer.”

On the final page, you’ll have the opportunity to review the amount and direction of the transfer before clicking “Confirm transfer.”

It will take a few moments for your Avios to transfer. Once complete, British Airways will show a confirmation page with your new balances and send a confirmation to the email address listed in both accounts.

Transfers to/from Qatar Privilege Club work a bit differently. When you click the link to "Combine My Avios," British Airways will direct you to a dedicated landing page for the British Airways-Qatar partnership.

Once you log into both accounts and complete two-factor authentication, you'll be prompted to link your Qatar Privilege Club and British Airways Executive Club accounts. Upon linking your accounts, you can "combine" Avios between your accounts in either direction.

Transferring Avios to/from Iberia

To transfer Avios from or to Iberia, log in to your Iberia Plus account, go to the Iberia Combine My Avios page and click “Combine my Avios” to get started.

Next, choose which program you want to transfer Avios to or from. Select “Avios Partners” for Aer Lingus AerClub. Note that you can't transfer Avios to/from Qatar Privilege Club through this process at this time. You'll need to use the British Airways Executive Club as an intermediate to transfer Avios from the Qatar program to Iberia or Aer Lingus.

Enter your British Airways Executive Club or Aer Lingus AerClub login information, then select which direction you want to transfer the Avios. Enter the number of Avios you want to transfer, then click “Review my transfer.”

On the final page, you’ll have the opportunity to review the amount and direction of the transfer before clicking “Confirm transfer.”

Once the transfer is complete, Iberia will show a confirmation page with your new balances. You’ll also get a confirmation by email to the email address listed on each account.

The bottom line

Aer Lingus AerClub, British Airways Executive Club, Iberia Plus and Qatar Privilege Club each offer excellent sweet spots where your Avios points get you extra value on award flights.

It’s easy to earn Avios through credit cards and transferable-point programs. You can transfer Avios between airline programs, letting you take advantage of the unique sweet spots in each one’s award chart. So now that you know how to transfer Avios, do some comparison shopping for award flights to see where your Avios can take you.