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Aer Lingus applies to join the BA, AA, Iberia and Finnair transatlantic joint venture

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Aer Lingus submitted its legal application this week for anti-trust immunity to allow it to join the transatlantic joint venture led by IAG.

This would allow you to earn British Airways Executive Club tier points on Aer Lingus flights to the US.  You can already earn Avios, but not tier points.

At present, British Airways, American Airlines, Iberia and Finnair operate their flights to and from North America as one company.  All of the money, irrespective of which airline is flown, goes into a pot and is then distributed to the four airlines under a complex formula.

Aer Lingus applies to join the transatlantic joint venture

Aer Lingus has now applied to join this joint venture.  This does not automatically mean that Aer Lingus will also join the oneworld alliance.  Interestingly, the application states that Aer Lingus can continue its current codeshares with JetBlue and United and in theory can add further deals on top.

There will be some changes.  Whilst you currently earn Avios flying with Aer Lingus, British Airways does not currently offer tier points in the Executive Club unless it is on a BA codeshare.  This would change if the joint venture is approved.

The full legal submission is here (link removed as document removed).  Don’t expect this to be approved rapidly, however.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2025)

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

Get 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

30,000 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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 30,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

80,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large 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, and the standard card is FREE. Capital on Tap cards also have no FX fees.

Capital on Tap Visa

NO annual fee, NO FX fees and points worth 1 Avios per £1 Read our full review

Capital on Tap Pro Visa

10,500 points (=10,500 Avios) plus good benefits Read our full review

There is also a British Airways American Express card for small businesses:

British Airways American Express Accelerating Business

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

50,000 points when you sign-up 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, British Airways and Avios

Comments (75)

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

  • Andrew says:
    23 Dec23 December 07:12

    The IHG Open Table offer has been around for a year or so. I did it when it first launched and the 500 bonus points posted quickly.

  • Harry says:
    23 Dec23 December 07:35

    I still reckon it’s better to use OpenTable directly especially if you look out for 1,000 point tables.

    • Matt says:
      23 Dec23 December 08:08

      What points can you earn booking directly?

      • Crafty says:
        23 Dec23 December 09:29

        Adds up to restaurant discounts

      • flyforfun says:
        23 Dec23 December 11:14

        2000 Points (20 normal visits) gives you a dining reward of a £10 to £20 voucher depending on the restaurant. Some restaurants have 1000 point visits, but these tend to be pricey ones. Did Rowleys in Piccadilly on a whim and was very disappointed.Not worth the price we paid, but I suppose it worked out cheaper than going to 10 restaurants to get 1000 points that way.

        • Lumma says:
          23 Dec23 December 15:45

          For the bonus points, restaurants pay OpenTable more money for these bookings, to try and get more business that way. If anyone is interested in how it works, it tends to be something like 25p per person for bookings made through the restaurant’s own website, £2 per person if booked directing through OpenTable and then £5 plus for the bonus point bookings or special featured deals (3 courses for £30 and the like)

          Obviously if you’re Gordon Ramsay or similar you’ll likely pay less than the above.

  • EwanG says:
    23 Dec23 December 08:10

    Just to add that the OpenTable points are elite qualifying for IHG status.

  • Alan says:
    23 Dec23 December 09:04

    Interesting, I was wondering if there was going to be a lounge in the new bit of the airport that was opening up! Looks like it could mean Aspire is no-go for PP over the next month though, as it is they often have to turn people away and assuming they start getting all the airline premium cabin pax from No 1 for the short term (which would seem a definite possibility) I can’t see them coping with many more people!

  • Andrew says:
    23 Dec23 December 09:34

    On the topics of Lounges, is there a comprehensive list of LHR T5 lounges (ideally with reviews) and access requirements?

    • Matt says:
      23 Dec23 December 11:29

      Third party wise it’s Plaza or Aspire. Unless you pay outright, Plaza you need Amex Plat or DragonPass and Aspire you need PP or Lounge Club I believe. I haven’t used either but every single third party lounge I’ve been to I’ve always thought they’re crap compared to airline lounges IMHO. People say Plaza is better than Galleries though.

      • Alan says:
        23 Dec23 December 11:37

        Aspire in T5 is dreadful – rammed full with hardly a seat and pretty uninspiring food options. Plaza is excellent, TBH I prefer it to Galleries Club North as I find it quieter and with hot food options all day.
        Often use it when departing for a domestic flight as they’re normally from gates A1-5 anyway, so right next to it.

      • Andrew (@andrewseftel) says:
        23 Dec23 December 20:32

        I’d say Plaza has better food, Galleries has better booze.

  • jc says:
    23 Dec23 December 09:43

    O/T: PSA – I didn’t have the £200 off £600 Amex Travel offer showing in my Amex (Platinum) offers last week when lots of people did, but looked this morning and I now do. So it’s worth re-checking

    • Alan says:
      23 Dec23 December 09:58

      Result! Now to check your additional card (and if you don’t have one apply for it :D) – I’ve found about half my offers appear on the additional card, including this one.

    • Doug M says:
      23 Dec23 December 10:00

      Maybe someone knows better but my guess is if uptake slows they make it available to more people. But it maybe more complex, or less controlled. I got an email from Amex about offers, two of which I wanted. Logged in, not there. Phoned up and agent claimed they’d been fully subscribed which is why I couldn’t see them. Said what was point of email which I’d received a few minutes before login, normal BS from someone that really didn’t know much about the subject. Two days later both offers, amongst others, appeared in my account.

    • Fiona says:
      23 Dec23 December 10:15

      I just checked amex and found a new offer. £25 back on £100 spend at Bloomingdales. Strangely you do have to pay in “Great British pounds.”

      • RussellH says:
        23 Dec23 December 17:43

        Got that too!
        It also talks about being aware of the exchange rate, so I would guess that paying in GBP refers to us paying Amex?
        A singularly useless offer for many of us, I would guess.

        The one I like is my 10% off at Morrissons througout the month. Must have used it 6 or 7 times by now…

        • Alan says:
          23 Dec23 December 18:04

          Ditto for Morrisons, best Amex offer ever – on course to pay my Plat fee for the year! Love how it was on all transactions rather than just one (and that I’ve found a store that has a self checkout that doesn’t use scales – makes gift card purchases way easier!)

        • Polly says:
          23 Dec23 December 19:35

          Plus sale and return at majestic, 100, 25 back, not bad this time of year…

  • Degsy says:
    23 Dec23 December 09:49

    Help please! I have managed to book 4 CW tickets for our family to Bangkok in August on the dates we need but we would like to go on to Danang Vietnam and Koh Samui can anyone let me know if we can book onward flights with Avios and if so how we find the flights as I can’t find them through BA or is it best to pay cash? Any help much appreciated.
    Thanks to this site for achieving this in the first place.

    • Fiona says:
      23 Dec23 December 10:06

      Degsy I wouldn’t waste miles on these flights, particularly Vietnam , where there are more flight options. Flights are very cheap.
      Bangkok Airways can also give incredible flight/ hotel packages.

      • Leo says:
        23 Dec23 December 10:23

        +1 on cash. I don’t know what avios options you’d have in any event.

      • Graeme says:
        23 Dec23 December 11:02

        Sign up to the Bangkok Airways loyalty club and they give you 5kg more luggage for free.

    • Rob mc says:
      23 Dec23 December 10:13

      For Koh Samui it’s cheaper to fly to Surat Thani and get the ferry over.. actually quite a good way to travel and didn’t take that long.

    • Memesweeper says:
      24 Dec24 December 17:37

      If you can, routing via HKG gives better Avios connection options into Vietnam.

  • Sam says:
    23 Dec23 December 10:19

    O/T, comparing a weekend European break on Amex Travel against BA holidays, the price is coming out at least £100 more on Amex Travel than BA holidays. I have the spend £200 get £50 Amex travel offer but even with that Amex travel is expensive compared against BA holidays. Is that normal as in Amex Travel is on the pricier side?

    • TM says:
      23 Dec23 December 20:54

      Amex Travel will always have extra fees, but shouldn’t be that expensive. Find out which bit of the trip is adding on the most. Typically I might pay £10 extra for a hotel booking £100+ or £10 per flight booking.

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

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