Avios Ireland: You can no longer earn Avios points from the free Bank of Ireland personal credit card
Links on Head for Points may pay us an affiliate commission. A list of partners is here.
As a reminder, our occasional AerClub / Avios Ireland coverage only appears on the HFP website. We do not email these articles to our subscribers unless it is an offer available to UK readers.
Aer Lingus recently launched its first Irish co-branded credit card with Bank of Ireland. We covered it in detail here. The general response from our Irish readers was underwhelming given the stonking €7.99 monthly fee for holding the card.
There was an alternative if you didn’t want to pay €7.99 per month. This was it:
If you had the standard Bank of Ireland personal credit card, you could also leverage this to earn a handful of Avios points on your day to day spending. This is because the Bank of Ireland personal credit card let you earn SuperValu Real Rewards points.
You received:
1 Real Rewards point for every €1 you spent in SuperValu on your credit card
1 Real Rewards point for every €10 you spent elsewhere
With the 1:1 conversion of SuperValu points into Avios, this wasn’t a great return – 1 Avios point per €10 spent. The card was free, apart from Irish stamp duty, so it was better than nothing. For many people it was certainly better than paying €7.99 per month for the official AerClub credit card.
Unfortunately, Bank of Ireland and SuperValu are ending their relationship.
From 1st April, you will no longer earn Real Rewards points when you spend on a Bank of Ireland personal credit card. This closes off the only alternative credit card route to earning Avios in Ireland.
If you have this card, you are going to have to decide whether to give up collecting Avios from credit card spend or bite the bullet and pay the €7.99 for the ‘official’ Aer Lingus card – although unless your spend is high I doubt it will be worth it.
Want to earn more points from credit cards? – January 2021 update
If you are looking to apply for a new credit or charge card, here are our January 2021 recommendations based on the current sign-up bonus.
You can see our full directory of all UK cards which earn airline or hotel points here.

British Airways American Express
5,000 Avios for signing up, no annual fee and a companion voucher for spending £20,000 Read our full review

British Airways American Express Premium Plus
25,000 Avios and the UK’s most valuable credit card perk – the 2-4-1 companion voucher Read our full review

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold
Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & two airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express
30,000 points and an unbeatable set of travel benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard
15,000 points bonus and the most generous non-Amex for day to day spending Read our full review
Earning miles and points from small business cards
If you are a sole trader or run a small company, you may also want to check out these:

American Express Business Gold
20,000 points sign-up bonus and free for a year Read our full review

American Express Business Platinum
40,000 points sign-up bonus and a long list of travel benefits Read our full review

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express
Earn both Avios and BA On Business points with your business spending Read our full review

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa
The most generous Avios Visa or Mastercard for a limited company Read our full review
Disclaimer: Head for Points is a journalistic website. Nothing here should be construed as financial advice, and it is your own responsibility to ensure that any product is right for your circumstances. Recommendations are based primarily on the ability to earn miles and points and do not consider interest rates, service levels or any impact on your credit history. By recommending credit cards on this site, I am – technically – acting as a credit broker. Robert Burgess, trading as Head for Points, is regulated and authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a credit broker.
Comments (9)