Get £200 off Aer Lingus business class flights from Manchester in the Black Friday Sale

This article has been sponsored by Aer Lingus

Aer Lingus UK has launched its Black Friday sale.

You can get £200 off business class transatlantic fares departing from Manchester.

You can also get £100 off economy transatlantic flights from Manchester.

Aer Lingus run three direct routes from Manchester to the U.S.:

• New York (daily, year round)
• Orlando (5x weekly, year round)
• Barbados (3x weekly, seasonal)

See here for Rhys’ positive review of the Aer Lingus Barbados flight in Business Class.

If your US flight shows it operating on an Airbus A321LR aircraft – a single aisle plane – you need Rob’s recent review of his Aer Lingus flight from Dublin to New York. The seat works well and the layout is good for solo travellers – especially if you can get a ‘throne’ seat – as well as couples and family groups.

The Black Friday deal has Economy prices starting from:

• New York – from £339pp return
• Barbados – from £369pp return
• Orlando – from £345pp return

Business class prices are not highlighted but I’ve found Manchester to New York for around £1,553pp return in the first week of February (the £200 discount is included in this price). You can’t argue with that in the current market.

The Black Friday offer runs until midnight on 29 November 2022, for travel between 1 January – 28 March 2023. Go to this page on the Aer Lingus website to find out more.

You can earn Avios from flying Aer Lingus

As a reminder, Aer Lingus flights earn Avios in AerClub (Aer Lingus’ loyalty programme) at the rate of 3 per €1 spent.  This is based on the cash price of your flight, excluding Government taxes. You can see a detailed guide on earning Avios with Aer Lingus in this article here.

For flights not paid for in €, you will earn:

• 4 Avios per £1
• 3 Avios per US$1
• 2 Avios per Canadian $1

Flights booked in other currencies will be converted to €.  You do not earn Avios on ancillary charges such as baggage or seat selection fees.

If you have AerClub status (not British Airways Executive Club status) you earn a tier bonus:

• 25% for Silver
• 50% for Platinum
• 75% for Concierge

Whilst you can earn Avios in British Airways Executive Club from Aer Lingus flights, the cheapest discounted tickets do not qualify and these sale fares are likely to fall into that category. You also cannot earn British Airways tier points from Aer Lingus.

The ability to earn Avios is a little extra boost to your ticket. You can see full details of the Aer Lingus Black Friday sale on this page on the Aer Lingus website.

PS. If you are not a regular Head for Points visitor, why not sign up for our FREE weekly or daily newsletters? They are full of the latest Avios, airline, hotel and credit card points news and will help you travel better. To join our 65,000 free subscribers, click the button below or visit this page of the site to find out more. Thank you.

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How to maximise your miles when paying for flights (April 2025)

Some UK credit cards offer special bonuses when used for buying flights. If you spend a lot on airline tickets, using one of these cards could sharply increase the credit card points you earn.

Booking flights on any airline?

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold earns double points (2 Membership Rewards points per £1) when used to buy flights directly from an airline website.

The card comes with a sign-up bonus of 20,000 Membership Rewards points. These would convert to 20,000 Avios or various other airline or hotel programmes. The standard earning rate is 1 point per £1.

You can apply here.

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.

Buying flights on British Airways?

The British Airways Premium Plus American Express card earns double Avios (3 Avios per £1) when used at ba.com.

The card comes with a sign-up bonus of 30,000 Avios. The standard earning rate is 1.5 Avios per £1.

You do not earn bonus Avios if you pay for BA flights on the free British Airways American Express card or either of the Barclaycard Avios Mastercards.

You can apply here.

Buying flights on Virgin Atlantic?

Both the free Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard and the annual fee Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard earn double Virgin Points when used at fly.virgin.com.

This means 1.5 Virgin Points per £1 on the free card and 3 Virgin Points per £1 on the paid card.

There is a sign-up bonus of 3,000 Virgin Points on the free card and 18,000 Virgin Points on the paid card.

You can apply for either of the cards here.