Aer Lingus introduces US immigration pre-clearance at Dublin for ALL flights

Aer Lingus redemptions to the United States are very popular amongst Head for Points readers.  There are two reasons for this.

The first is that they charge SUBSTANTIALLY less tax than British Airways when redeeming Avios.

The second is that, if you fly to Boston, the flight is under 3,000 miles which means it falls into the cheaper Avios pricing zone!  A business class return from Dublin to Boston is just 50,000 Avios rather than 80,000 from London.

You can learn more about Aer Lingus redemptions in this Avios Redemption University post of mine here.

A further benefit of Aer Lingus is US customs and immigration pre-clearance.  US immigration can be a painfully slow process, often taking well over an hour.  Dublin has its own branch of US immigration, however, which allows you to clear your formalities before leaving Ireland.  On arriving in the US, you are treated as a domestic arrival and can walk straight out of the airport!

The following has now been posted on the Aer Lingus website:

From 27 October 2013 all flights to the US will pre-clear US Customs and Immigration in Terminal 2 (Dublin) or Shannon airport before departure.

At the moment, these Dublin flights do NOT have US preclearance:

EI 125 – Dublin to Chicago

EI 137 – Dublin to Boston

EI 139 – Dublin to Boston

The following Dublin flights already have US preclearance and will continue to have it:

EI 105 – Dublin to New York

EI 109 – Dublin to New York

EI 121 – Dublin to Orlando

EI 123 – Dublin to Chicago

The Shannon flights which retain preclearance are:

EI 111 – Shannon to New York

EI 135 – Shannon to Boston

All in all, this in another good reason to keep Aer Lingus in mind when planning redemptions.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2025)

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:

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

Get 5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

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

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

30,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £15,000 Read our full review

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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 30,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

80,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large fee Read our full review

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, and the standard card is FREE. Capital on Tap cards also have no FX fees.

Capital on Tap Visa

NO annual fee, NO FX fees and points worth 1 Avios per £1 Read our full review

Capital on Tap Pro Visa

10,500 points (=10,500 Avios) plus good benefits Read our full review

There is also a British Airways American Express card for small businesses:

British Airways American Express Accelerating Business

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

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.

American Express Business Platinum

50,000 points when you sign-up and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and FREE for a year Read our full review

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