Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

Aer Lingus relaunches Philadelphia flights with more US routes to come

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Aer Lingus is continuing to rebuild its long-haul network from Dublin with the (re)launch of flights to Philadelphia last week.

The airline has a lot more planned for the Summer 2022 season including:

  • Chicago gaining five additional weekly flights from last week
  • Los Angeles flights restarting from 12th May
  • Washington DC gaining an additional daily flight from 9th June
  • Seattle flights restarting from 7th July
  • Miami flights restarting from October – date TBC
Aer Lingus A330

You can currently connect to Aer Lingus US flights in Dublin via connections from Birmingham, Manchester, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Newcastle, Heathrow and Gatwick.

This will be boosted by new connections from:

  • Bristol – 15th April
  • Leeds Bradford – 15th April
  • Exeter – 29th April
  • Newquay – 29th April

A key benefit of flying to the United States from Dublin or Shannon is US Immigration Pre-clearance. All formalities are dealt with before you leave Ireland, allowing you to land on a domestic stand in the US and walk straight out of the airport.

You can earn and spend Avios on Aer Lingus flights but you cannot yet earn British Airways Executive Club tier points. This situation will change as soon as Aer Lingus joins the BA / AA / Iberia / Finnair transatlantic joint venture.

We will be reviewing the new Aer Lingus A321LR single-aisle service to New York in July.

Tomorrow, we will publishing a review of Aer Lingus business class from Manchester Airport as Rhys heads to Barbados for a few days R&R work.


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.

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.

Comments (22)

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

  • John says:

    Anybody know if Amex Plat still hands a one-class lounge upgrade? i.e. Senator lounge on business ticket without status? Is LHR T2 included?

    • Rob says:

      Yes – but you can check if you Google Amex Global Lounge Directory. This assumes the T2 SEN lounge is open.

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

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