NEW: Avios flight bookings can now be made via the Aer Lingus site – and there’s a chart!

We reported a couple of weeks ago that the avios.com domain had been turned into a general information site for Avios and was no longer the place where Aer Lingus members could book reward flights using Avios.

We were promised that reward booking functionality would appear at aerlingus.com, and it is now live.

In summary, based on my first impressions:

• availability is NOT the same as you see via ba.com for Aer Lingus – the Aer Lingus website has seats that ba.com cannot see. I am told that this is an IT issue and that availability should soon match.

• long haul pricing seems to be identical across ba.com and aerlingus.com. However, short haul flights have substantially lower charges when booked at aerlingus.com.

• you can upgrade Economy long haul flights on Aer Lingus via AerClub, which cannot be done via ba.com

• on the downside, you can’t use a British Airways American Express 2-4-1 voucher on Aer Lingus via this new website – it can only be redeemed on Aer Lingus via ba.com

Where is the Aer Lingus booking portal?

It sits at rewards.aerlingus.com. Because this page is password protected I suggest starting here instead.

You need to log in using an Aer Lingus AerClub account. You can’t use a British Airways Executive Club account.

The booking site confirms in the description that Aer Lingus is releasing at least four Avios seats per flight. There is no mention of any Business Class commitment on long haul routes, and it is very clear from searching that there are no guaranteed seats.

The booking page looks like this, and can handle flights, hotels and car hire from the same front end:

It says, albeit cut from the image:

• standard Aer Lingus reward bookings still come with hold baggage and carry-on baggage included

• the cancellation fee for flights booked via rewards.aerlingus.com is €42.50 per person

A tip about searching for a one way flight

If you search for a one way flight and the date you put in is not available, you are kicked out of the entire booking process. This is a bad design fault.

To avoid this, search for a return flight even if you don’t need one. Make sure that the return date does have availability. You will then be shown ‘nothing available’ for the outbound if nothing is there, and can click forwards or backwards to see other dates rather than being thrown out.

How do you move Avios from British Airways Executive Club to Aer Lingus AerClub?

Via this page of ba.com.

Can I still use Avios for money off an Aer Lingus cash flight?

Yes. You do this via the normal Aer Lingus booking process for a cash flight. You don’t use this new reward booking site.

There is an explanation of how it works on this page of the Aer Lingus site.

What do Aer Lingus reward flights cost?

Prepare to be amazed. Aer Lingus has published a reward chart. BA and Iberia hid their reward charts years ago.

You can download it here (PDF).

Flights between the UK and Ireland are 4,000 or 4,500 Avios each way (Economy only) depending on date.

Here is the long haul pricing:

From Dublin (all) or Shannon (Boston, New York)

To: Boston, Chicago, Hartford, Minneapolis, Montreal, Newark, New York, Philadelphia, Toronto, Washington

• Economy (off peak): 13,000 Avios each way
• Economy (peak): 20,000 Avios each way
• Business (off peak): 50,000 Avios each way
• Business (peak): 60,000 Avios each way

To: Los Angeles, Miami, Orlando, San Francisco, Seattle

• Economy (off peak): 16,250 Avios each way
• Economy (peak): 25,000 Avios each way
• Business (off peak): 62,500 Avios each way
• Business (peak): 75,000 Avios each way

The Manchester services are not on the PDF but appear to match the Dublin pricing. Barbados falls into the more expensive category alongside Orlando etc.

You don’t need to use this many Avios. You will be offered a variety of ‘fewer Avios, more cash’ scenarios when booking. That said, the options above are the best value ones.

How much are the taxes and charges?

Very low, as you’d expect. Here’s an example in Business Class between Dublin and New York JFK return:

100,000 Avios + £243 is VERY attractive compared to the BA headline off-peak price from London Heathrow of 160,000 Avios + £350.

You need to factor in the cost of getting to/from Dublin of course. On the upside, you will clear US immigration and customs in Dublin, allowing you to walk straight out of the airport on arrival.

Don’t bother with any of the other options, which represent poor value given the extra cash required vs the small reduction in Avios needed.

Cleveland and Minneapolis-St Paul are the routes with most Business Class availability, apparently.

Can you upgrade Aer Lingus flights with Avios?

Yes you can. Welcome to the 1990’s:

If you currently have enough Avios in your AerClub account and want to upgrade your existing Aer Lingus economy booking, please contact AerClub at aerclubupgrade@aerlingus.com. We will check the availability on your dates of travel and confirm your upgrade by re-issuing a new ticket.

You can see the cost of Avios upgrades here.

Here are two interesting things:

• it seems that there are no fare class restrictions on upgrading – even if you have bought the cheapest Economy seat possible, you can still upgrade it to Business Class

• you can also upgrade the direct flights between Manchester and New York, Orlando and Barbados

Upgrades are quite expensive in terms of the Avios needed compared to the points needed for a ‘100% Avios’ reward. This is the downside of allowing all Economy tickets, however cheap, to be upgraded.

What other airlines can you book via this site?

British Airways and Iberia, in theory. In practice, only Aer Lingus flights are available so far, it seems.

Are tickets now issued by Aer Lingus?

Yes, it seems so. Under the old avios.com booking system, your ticket was issued by British Airways with a 125- ticket number, which meant that certain ‘Manage My Booking’ functionality was not available at aerlingus.com. These issues should now go away.

Let’s cut to the chase …..

Is there any reason to move my Avios to Aer Lingus to book flights instead of using ba.com?

Most of the time, No.

In fact, because you can use a British Airways American Express 2-4-1 companion voucher on Aer Lingus when you book at ba.com, there is a huge reason NOT to bother with the new Aer Lingus booking site.

One thing that you can’t do via ba.com is upgrade an Aer Lingus long haul Economy flight to Business Class. If you want to do this, you need to move your Avios.

If you are looking to redeem for short haul Aer Lingus flights, taxes and charges are lower when booked at aerlingus.com. We will return to this topic at a later date.

There is also some availability which I could see at aerlingus.com but not at ba.com. I am told that this is a temporary issue and that it will eventually match. The good news is that you can search at aerlingus.com with an empty AerClub account – you don’t need to move Avios across first.

I’m sure that more quirks will become apparent as we go along, but this is a good starting point.

Just, p-l-e-a-se, Aer Lingus, p-l-e-a-s-e open up two guaranteed Business Class seats per long haul flight. Availbility is far, far too tight at the moment and it takes the shine off the programme.

You can find out more on this page of aerlingus.com.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 12th May 2024, the Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa card is offering a bonus of 30,000 points, convertible into 30,000 Avios. You must have a Limited Company to apply. Click here to learn more and click here to apply.

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 generous bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These cards are open 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.