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Aer Lingus releases details of new lie-flat seats for your Avios redemptions

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I reported back in April that the Aer Lingus CEO had told the media that the airline was planning to introduce lie-flat seating.  There was no further information given apart from a hint that San Francisco would be the first route to get the new seats – a logical choice given the distance.

Aer Lingus has now launched a website highlighting the new seat.

There is even a video:

It looks pretty darn good especially the solo seats by the windows in certain rows.  The bed is 6 foot 5 inches which should keep most people happy, and all seats face forward.  Your feet slot under the seat in front when the seat is in bed mode which allows the airline to maximise the number of seats.

Note, too, that business class passengers will receive free in-air wifi!  BA becomes less attractive by the minute ….

Aer Lingus is, of course, a British Airways redemption partner.  Dublin to Boston is possibly the best Avios redemption you can do, coming in at just 50,000 Avios return in business class or 25,000 Avios return in economy.

Taxes and surcharges are generally around £75 return, saving almost £500 per person on a comparable BA Club World redemption – although you need to get yourself to Dublin of course.

You will also clear US immigration in Dublin, allowing you to land as a domestic passenger and walk straight out of the airport – potentially saving you an hour queuing in Passport Control.

Full details of how and where to redeem on Aer Lingus can be found in this Avios Redemption University article.  You cannot book online and you cannot even search for availability online – the Qantas website shows some Aer Lingus reward seats but that does not match what BA can access.

The airline has historically made two business class seats available per flight for redemption.  Given that the new business class cabins looks large – the video implies that the current 24-seat business class cabin will be expanded to 32 seats – I am hopeful that this situation will not change.

The only downside from this news is that the launch date has slipped from 2014 to March 2015 – but it looks worth the wait.

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.

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.

Category

Aer Lingus and AerClub

Comments (41)

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

  • Mikeact says:
    12 Aug12 August 11:12

    Can anybody remind me of what major cities fall into which mileage bands for onward travel in N America , as I’m trying to work out the ‘best’ Avios way to, say, Vancouver or Seattle from the UK and/or Dublin. ? Thanks.

  • Sam says:
    12 Aug12 August 13:36

    Never seen the TopDeals before – but never flown Air Berlin. Some great deals there.

    But 150 miles per hotel review looks like it could be a goldmine at https://secure.holidaycheck.com/hotelrate.php?hc_cid=HCCOM_B2B_AB_airberlin&tsource=AB_HBAUF – it would be easy to just copy those i’ve done on Trip Advisor and pick up a quick flight to AUH/NYC.

    Anyone?

    • John says:
      12 Aug12 August 15:22

      You can earn max 1500 a month from the hotel reviews but if you credit hotel stays plus signing up bonuses (1000 for jo9ing sixt mailing list recently) can really add up. But, yeah, theoretically single transatlantic or Mid East trip per year with minimal taxes although I find multiple inter-europe hops connecting to BA best use.

      Nice efficient airline as well.

  • Mr Bridge says:
    12 Aug12 August 17:41

    hi Robfles,
    thanks for the inspiration, I have just booked my holiday to bermuda for next year.

    It was worth the 48min wait on baec.
    fly dublin to boston 1 way 2 people in business class 50k avios +£106.54 taxes
    used my marco polo club (which for some odd reason the extended by 6 months) to book the seats 1a+1c.
    for the return booked bda-lgw in ist class ( thanks to tims calculator) 120k avios and total £352
    logged into finair and change ff no to book the seats for free with marco polo!

    just got to arrange to get to dublin, and then boston to bda( any ideas!)

    would never had been able to any of this if HFP didn’t exist! will be topping up on amazon gift vouchers for your tip…hope you saw i bought a tv last month!

    J

    • Rob says:
      12 Aug12 August 17:57

      American flies JFK to Bermuda cheaply, and BOS to JFK (or take the train). You can also route via Philadelphia. Decent redemption as no tax.

    • Brendan says:
      12 Aug12 August 19:14

      I didn’t think you would be able to use CX Gold to select seats on an EI flight considering they aren’t a oneworld carrier?!

      • tony says:
        12 Aug12 August 20:58

        Yes, this doesn’t make sense. Aer Lingus offer free seating assignments in J to all and BA F would be a free seating assignment, too…

      • Mr Bridge says:
        12 Aug12 August 22:06

        was told can book seats, then i asked about cx, he putin me number and then could select seats. yes i think i changed via finair was not needed!

    • Scott says:
      12 Aug12 August 22:12

      My Marco Polo hold card has been extended by 6 months as well. Also very interesting that they’re offering reduced thresholds for Amex Platinum holders than ‘normal’ Marco Polo members (although I ditched my Platinum card in March so don’t even hold it anymore)

  • Lady London says:
    12 Aug12 August 20:01

    This makes a big difference. Think I’ll be taking my first EI flight for many years soon.

  • Farringdon says:
    12 Aug12 August 20:16

    DUB-MIA would also mean immigration pre-clearance in DUB, wouldn’t it? That seems like a huge advantage.

  • Jammers says:
    12 Aug12 August 21:37

    Taxes on rtns on AA back to MIA from the Caribbean seem to be higher though, for most Caribbean islands they charge GBP12 for the outbound but GBP70ish for a return.

  • Kipto says:
    13 Aug13 August 06:38

    I flew from Dub to Sfo last week with Aer Lingus and was speaking with an off duty Aer Lingus pilot who told me that Aer Lingus are looking at flying from Dublin to Las Vegas next year.

    • S says:
      13 Aug13 August 09:02

      That would be very interesting. Due it being a very popular route, it is usually excluded from any ‘offers’ that BA or Virgin have. It would also be a decent Business Avios redemption as well 🙂

  • Kipto says:
    13 Aug13 August 06:48

    I flew from Dublin to San Francisco last week with Aer Lingus . The flight took off at 2.30pm and three hours into the flight the lights in the cabin were turned off and we were asked to pull the window blinds down so that we could ‘take the opportunity to rest” . I could understand it if was late evening or later but 5.30pm !!! . I refused to drop my blind and don’t like to be told when I should be “resting” ! The lights weren’t turned on again for another 6 hours . I have not experienced anything like that before.

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