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Aer Lingus is launching two new long-haul routes, bookable on Avios

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Aer Lingus has announced two new routes to North America.

It will fly direct from Dublin to Montreal and Minneapolis–Saint Paul from Summer 2019.

Full details are on the Aer Lingus website here.

Montreal is due to start on 8th August 2019 with an Airbus A321neo. Minneapolis–Saint Paul launches on 8th July 2019 and will be operated by a Boeing 757 aircraft.

Montreal is, I think, the first route to be confirmed with a new Airbus A321neo long-range version.  Aer Lingus has 12 of these aircraft on order for delivery between 2019 and 2022.

They are capable of flying non-stop to the US and Canadian eastern coasts.  What isn’t yet clear is how passengers, especially business passengers, will react to using a single-aisle aircraft normally found on short-haul routes.  The business class will be fully flat.

Both of these flights will be available for Avios redemption.  This HfP article explains the rather complex process for redeeming Avios on Aer Lingus.  You CAN still book via avios.com even though your avios.com account may have been closed – this HfP article explains how.

You can find out more on the website here.

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.

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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

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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 (119)

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

  • faithy says:
    13 Sep13 September 12:32

    OT
    I’m staying for a reward night at the WA Amsterdam.
    I have gold status. Is there late checkout? what time, and do I need to arrange prior?
    TY

  • MT says:
    13 Sep13 September 12:45

    A fairly basic Aer Lingus question that I should probably know the answer to! My wife is flying Aer Lingus from Bristol to Chicago (via Dublin). As she is a BAEC bronze member is it better crediting the flights to this or starting from scratch with AerClub? We’re very unlikely to use Aer Lingus regularly and I think their Silver status benefits don’t transfer over to other OneWorld Ruby level? I’m also assuming IB+ won’t compare favourably either on earning. Lastly, I don’t know if the BRS-DUB flight not having a business cabin makes much a difference either…

    • Rob says:
      13 Sep13 September 12:55

      AerClub gives points based on the € flight cost, BA uses miles flown. You need to look up the flight cost (then work out what Aer Lingus does and does not include in ‘flight cost’ eg taxes?) and do the maths.

      • MT says:
        13 Sep13 September 13:01

        Thanks and I’m right in thinking AerClub silver status gets you nothing with other IAG or OneWorld airlines?

        IB+ earning chart link is broken but am assuming that’s not going to be a runner anyway?

        • Alex W says:
          13 Sep13 September 22:12

          MT consider crediting both Aer Lingus and BA flights to Alaska. They have generous earning and burning rates.

  • John2 says:
    13 Sep13 September 14:05

    OT.
    From experience, do BA release any more reward club seats to europe. There is one seat on flight I want and I need another. Any other suggestions?

    • N says:
      13 Sep13 September 14:12

      The answer sits somewhere on the spectrum between ‘Yes’ and ‘No’.

      It’s the dark art of BA’s Revenue Management team that decides whether they’re released or not and, as far as my experience goes, you can consider it to be random. Depends on load, demand, how many seats they’re sold, how many seats they think they will sell, time of the year, etc.

      • Rob says:
        13 Sep13 September 14:37

        In my experience watching this, it is not common to release seats close-in. They will release far more than 2 (we always get 4 CE seats when we travel) but don’t expect much at short notice.

        Even long haul it seems to be going this way. I am booked on Lufthansa out of NYC tomorrow. For the last 3 weeks I have been checking for a single J or F seat out of New York on BA or AA direct to Heathrow and nothing has opened up, even though there are – what? – 15 flights per day? Lots of WTP appeared.

        • John2 says:
          13 Sep13 September 16:32

          Thanks. Would you suggest to by one RFS and one cash? Problem is they both say there is only one left

        • Alex W says:
          13 Sep13 September 22:15

          You can cancel for free within 24 hours of booking so no harm in testing it out.

  • ant says:
    13 Sep13 September 14:14

    OT: apologies but my mind has gone blank
    I need to do a large payment in USD and the company takes Amex. Am i correct that if i use my Lloyd Amex avios card there is no fx fee on USD transactions?
    For some reason i am thinking it is only Euro transactions that have no fx charge.

    Thanks

  • Optimus Prime says:
    13 Sep13 September 14:51

    OT – redeeming a Marriott Travel Package at Ritz Carlton Abama in Tenerife.

    I’m just gold via Amex Plat but we’ve been upgraded to a Junior Suite. Can’t complain!

  • Simon says:
    13 Sep13 September 15:28

    OT- my virgin money reward + card statement posted without the bonus 6000 promotion miles. Anybody else had this, or have a timeline of when to expect them? I signed up for this promotion via a link I received in the post, not via email. Simon

    • Jonathan says:
      13 Sep13 September 17:31

      They should come on your second, third and fourth statement assuming you met the qualifying criteria in the previous month.

    • Dan says:
      13 Sep13 September 17:57

      Mine have been arriving at the same time as the standard points each month.

      • Roberto says:
        13 Sep13 September 18:22

        Not had my 6000 bonus for spending £1000 with my first months bill.. comments have suggested it on the second.

        Did get the 15k sign up.

    • paulm says:
      13 Sep13 September 19:02

      Got 1st lot of bonus points on my statement today which was the 2nd month I reached the spend target so ties in with the idea that it is done a month in arrears.

  • Leo says:
    13 Sep13 September 15:30

    OT: Staying at Gatwick Hilton paid for with Iberia points. Any point adding my Hilton Honours number for charged to room spend? Could do with extending the life of my points stock.

    • Leo says:
      13 Sep13 September 15:57

      Well they upgraded me as an Amex Gold even on a 3rd party booking so worth it in any event. Impressed.

  • xcalx says:
    13 Sep13 September 15:58

    OT Has anyone cancelled an IB award booking which used the Iberia promo avios and did the avios go back into the account. I understand avios will be refunded to IB account if cancelled before 1 December. Is this correct, I can’t find the TCs from the original article the link takes me to the main Iberia page. Thanks.

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

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