New: use your Avios for low tax redemptions to Miami with Aer Lingus

Aer Lingus announced a new route from Dublin to Miami yesterday.  This offers a new way to spend your Avios points and a new way of getting to the US without paying heavy taxes and charges.

The Miami service will start on 1st September 2017 and operate three times per week.  It will use an Airbus A330 which will feature the impressive new Aer Lingus business class seating with a 1-2-1 layout that you can see below:

Extra flights have also been announced for Summer 2017 on three existing US routes:

Dublin to Los Angeles will move to a daily service

Dublin to Chicago will move to twice daily

Dublin to Orlando will move to four flights per week

Miami flights are already available for purchase at aerlingus.com.

Avios redemptions can only be made by telephone via British Airways Executive Club.  There is no way of checking availability in advance unfortunately – whilst United Airlines and Qantas both partner with Aer Lingus and do shown online reward availability, this is NOT the same as Aer Lingus makes available to BAEC members.

You should expect to pay around £75 return in taxes and charges for a Business Class Avios redemption.  This is based on ticketing from Dublin to Miami.  If you add a connecting flight from the UK to the same ticket then you will need to pay c £150 in long-haul Air Passenger Duty on top.

All Avios partner redemptions are charged at peak day pricing.  It will cost 150,000 Avios per person return for Business Class.  Economy Class would be 50,000 Avios points.

You will probably want to buy a separate connecting ticket to Dublin, although you should try to stick with Aer Lingus as they will be more inclined to help if your inbound flight is delayed.  The only way to make Aer Lingus be legally liable to get you to Miami if your connection is late is to have both flights on one ticket and therefore incur the APD.

You can learn more about redeeming Avios for Aer Lingus flights in this ‘Avios Redemption University’ article.

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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.