Aer Lingus introduces US immigration pre-clearance at Dublin for ALL flights
Links on Head for Points may support the site by paying a commission. See here for all partner links.
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.
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.
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 Mastercard
Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review
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.
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.
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.
Phillip 
Rob 
Tom 
Roger 
Zoe 
Brendan 
Ed E 
Enda 
Simon 
will 
kipto 
Comments (25)