A brand-new long-haul route is one of those rare moments when reward seats are easy to find rather than fought over. Iberia has just opened exactly that. On 13 June, Iberia Airlines launched its first ever nonstop service between Toronto and Madrid, and the reward seats are already loaded, with economy starting at 16,000 Avios one way off-peak and a lie-flat business seat across the Atlantic from 40,500 Avios.
For Avios collectors, a route like this is worth paying attention to. Airlines tend to release generous award space on new services while they build up demand, so the window soon after launch is often the best time to grab a seat.
This is a genuinely fresh Iberia Avios redemption opportunity, and it makes Avios flights to Canada much easier to come by. Here is what has changed, what it costs in Avios, and how to put yourself in front of the best seats before everyone else catches on.
What Iberia has launched
The new service connects Toronto Pearson (YYZ) with Iberia's Madrid hub (MAD), and it runs five times a week through the summer season on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Toronto becomes Iberia's 49th destination and its only point in Canada, so this is the airline's single direct doorway between the two countries.
Iberia is flying the route with its new Airbus A321XLR, a long-range single-aisle aircraft fitted with 182 seats: 14 lie-flat business seats and 168 in economy. The flight is blocked at roughly eight hours forty-five minutes eastbound and around nine hours westbound, covering close to 3,800 miles each way. Across the first summer season, Iberia expects to offer around 37,000 seats between the two cities, according to the airline's official launch announcement. That is a meaningful chunk of fresh inventory, and a healthy share of it is bookable with Avios.
New route, fresh reward seats
Every additional flight creates new chances to earn and redeem, but a launch route is special for three reasons.
- Fresh reward inventory. Airlines often seed a new route with more generous award availability than an established one, because empty seats help nobody. Early on, you are competing with fewer people for those reward seats.
- A direct line into Madrid. Madrid is one of the most useful gateways in the whole Avios world, with onward connections across Spain, the rest of Europe, North Africa and Latin America on Iberia and its Oneworld partners. You could redeem from Toronto to Madrid and carry on to Lisbon, Rome or Marrakech on a single ticket.
- Strong value per Avios. Iberia prices awards by distance, so a clean nonstop can cost fewer Avios than a connecting itinerary routed through London, especially in business. Booking through Iberia also tends to carry lower carrier charges than the equivalent British Airways redemption, which means less cash on top of your Avios.
So, is Iberia a good use of Avios? On a route like this the answer is a clear yes: a nonstop transatlantic hop, a low entry price in economy, and one of the better-value lie-flat business redemptions going. If you are still building your knowledge, our guide to what a reward flight actually is is a good place to start before you book.
British AirwaysBritish Airways
IberiaWhat the new route costs in Avios
- Passenger1
Reward pricing for the new Iberia Avios redemption is already live, and it sits in line with Iberia's published distance band for transatlantic routes of this length.
The figures below are one-way saver prices seen at launch, so treat them as a guide rather than a guarantee: award prices move, and taxes, fees and charges are always payable in cash on top of the Avios.
| Cabin | Avios (one way, off-peak) | Avios (return, off-peak) | Approx cash, taxes and fees | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Economy | From 16,000 (19,500 peak) | From 32,000 (39,000 peak) | From about £85 one way | The lowest-Avios way across the Atlantic on this route |
| Business (lie-flat) | From 40,500 (more peak) | From 81,000 (more peak) | From about £110 one way | A flat bed over the Atlantic for a sensible Avios outlay |
A few things to keep in mind. Iberia splits the calendar into off-peak and peak dates, so flexibility with your dates pays off. For UK readers, note that the taxes we have seen were charged in US dollars on a Toronto departure, so the pounds above are a converted example, not a quoted UK fare: around £85 in economy and £110 in business one way, and roughly double for a return. Treat them as a guide, because the exact taxes depend on where your trip starts and will differ for a UK or Madrid departure. To check the real numbers for your dates, run the trip through our Avios Calculator, then ask yourself again: is Iberia a good use of Avios? On these figures, it usually is.
IberiaIf a lie-flat seat for 40,500 Avios has caught your eye, our overview of flying British Airways business class gives you a feel for the long-haul business experience, while the Iberia economy versus premium economy guide sets out what the cheaper cabins are actually like on the day.
Madrid: a gateway, not just a destination
Plenty of collectors will book Toronto to Madrid as a trip in its own right, and Madrid rewards a long weekend, one of our favourite weekend escapes using Avios. The real prize, though, is what sits beyond it. Of all the new Iberia Avios routes to appear lately, this one opens up the widest onward network: Iberia's hub feeds a dense web of short-haul routes across Spain and Europe, plus an unusually strong Latin American network that few other European carriers can match. If you are short of ideas, our roundup of an Avios destination for every month is a useful shortlist.
Because Avios reward seats can be ticketed through to a final destination, Madrid turns a single transatlantic redemption into the first leg of something bigger. Land in Madrid and continue to Seville or Bilbao, hop over to Lisbon or Rome, or push south to Marrakech, all on the one Avios booking. When your plan involves a connection beyond Madrid, our Flight-by-Flight Search lets you check reward space on each leg separately. If you want ideas for stretching a balance further, our piece on making the most of your Avios is full of them, and flying for less with Avios covers the basics of getting real value from every redemption.
The clever angle for UK collectors
Here is the part that makes this route interesting even if you never plan to set foot in Canada. For UK-based collectors, a new Madrid to Toronto link is another way to reach North America without routing through Heathrow and the higher taxes that often come with a UK long-haul departure.
Position yourself to Madrid first, then fly the long leg on Iberia, and you can sometimes cut the cash component of an Avios redemption noticeably, because UK Air Passenger Duty and the headline long-haul charges no longer apply to your transatlantic flight in the same way. It takes planning and an extra connection, so it will not suit every trip, but for the right itinerary the saving is real. Treat it as a tool in the box rather than a rule, and always compare the all-in cost before you book.
Which airlines use Avios, and how to move yours
Avios is not tied to a single airline, and that flexibility is exactly why this route is so easy to take advantage of. The same Avios can be moved between several programmes, so you can book wherever the price is best. To redeem on this Iberia service you simply need an Iberia Club account; for British Airways reward flights you would use The British Airways Club, known as BA Club.
You can transfer Avios between BA Club, Iberia Club, Aer Lingus AerClub and Qatar Airways Privilege Club, among others. So if you have ever wondered which airlines use Avios in Canada, this nonstop is the clearest answer yet: the practical answer to which airlines use Avios in Canada is Iberia for this route, with the wider Oneworlda network reachable beyond Madrid. Whichever programme you book through, join it first and have your membership number to hand, because you cannot complete a reward booking without it.
Earning is the easy part. Beyond flying, Avios stack up through everyday spending on the right credit cards, through shopping portals, and through transfers from flexible bank and hotel currencies, all of which you can then point at whichever Avios programme offers the best deal. Our beginner's guide to BA Club walks through how the programme works, and if you book the trip in cash instead you can still credit the flights to an Avios programme and earn on the journey.
How to actually find the Iberia Reward seats
Iberia
New reward inventory is only useful if you can see it, and award space on a fresh route can come and go in waves as the airline loads and adjusts seats. Refreshing the Iberia website by hand is a thankless task. This is where Reward Flight Finder earns its keep.
Use Reward Flight Finder to search Avios reward seats on the new Toronto to Madrid route in seconds, across the dates you care about. It is already one of the most rewarding Iberia Avios routes to track, and you can browse all Iberia reward flights in one place. When nothing is showing for your preferred days, set an Availability Alert and we will watch the route for you, then email you the moment a seat opens up. Once a seat shows, you book the reward directly with Iberia at iberia.com. For a fuller walk-through of the smartest way to track down space, read our guide to finding BA and partner reward seats in 2026.
Your one actionable takeaway: set an Availability Alert on Toronto to Madrid today, while the route is new and award space is at its most generous. The collectors who move early on a launch route are the ones who fly in the seat they actually wanted.
