Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

Good Aer Lingus sale deals – UK to USA in Business Class for £1,400

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Aer Lingus has launched a raft of aggressive sales prices which may be worth a look.

Remember that British Airways Executive Club Gold and Silver members get lounge access at Heathrow with Aer Lingus, and that flights earn a – very small – number of Avios.  No tier points though.

UK to the USA in Business Class for £1,398 does not seem too bad, especially as you can usually clear US security in Ireland and thus avoid the immigration queue in the States.

UK departure points are Heathrow, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol, Bristol, Cardiff, Glasgow, Isle of Man, Edinburgh and Bournemouth.  Available destinations are New York, Boston, Chicago and Orlando.

Full details can be found here.  It is worth noting the long validity period – 19th August to 31st March 2014 – although you must book by July 22nd.  Economy tickets on the same routes from the UK are from £275.

Aer Lingus has also launched a ‘fly free’ promotion on short-haul routes, for flights between August and October.  Given the scale of their taxes and charges, you will certainly not be ‘flying for free’ at the end of the day, but the deals are probably OK.


How to earn Avios from UK credit cards

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:

Barclaycard Avios Plus 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 card

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

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

25,000 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.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a 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, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa

Huge 30,000 points bonus until 12th May 2024 Read our full review

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.

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

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

40,000 points sign-up bonus 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.

Comments (10)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Martin says:

    Do all flights clear US Immigration in Dublin? If so, this looks to be a good deal.

    • sandgrounder says:

      No. All New York flights do, the rest are a mixed bag.

      • Martin says:

        Thanks sand grounder. I have seen the ‘this way to US Immigration’ sign at Dublin airport, and always wanted to use it!

  • Andrew says:

    Don’t forget that the prices are one way, so really not THAT good a deal…

    • Tony says:

      Not the Business Class fare to the US which are round trip. Also, if you check the fares on Travelocity or Lastminute.com you can sometimes find the J class to the US significantly cheaper than on the EI website.

      I’ve also been able to book these fares without a Saturday night stay – despite what the T&Cs say on the EI website.

  • The Lady says:

    Aer Lingus’ Business Class longhaul seats are more like Premium Economy seats. When you add in the hassle factor and cost of getting to Dublin to start your journey and the fact that BA often has Business Class sale fares to New York direct for around the same prices, including full avios earning potential, you’d have to be very keen indeed to try Aer Lingus to make this your preferred routing, even at a discount.

    • Sir Stamford says:

      All your points are valid except for “cost of getting to Dublin to start your journey”.

      This is not an ex-EU fare. It is a UK to USA (via Dublin) all inclusive fare i.e. the cost of your return flight to/from Dublin from your UK departure point is included.

      Extra hassle/time – yes potentially but additional cost getting to Dublin – no.

      Sir Stamford

      • Alan says:

        Plus for those leaving from outwith London no extra hassle either as we’d just have to connect in London anyway for BA 😉

    • Tony says:

      Show me a premium economy seat that is lie flat and has 60″ pitch…..

      EI J class is streets ahead of premium economy. What’s more the food drink & service is way better than anything BA serve up in business these days.

  • Zoe says:

    Using Aer Lingus Business class Avios redemption flights the week after next. Managed to get 4 on the same flight Dublin to Boston and back in the school holidays. My teenage daughters haven’t travelled business before and are very excited. DH and I have recently done BA Clubworld so I’ll let you know what we think when we get back. We are flying from Southampton so have an overnight in Dublin each way to allow for delays.

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

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