Lots of Aer Lingus business class Avios seats to the US have appeared – with low taxes

US award notification site Thrifty Traveller has posted about the appearance of a lot of Aer Lingus business class reward availability to the United States from Dublin.

As you can now use ‘new style’ American Express 2-4-1 companion vouchers on Aer Lingus, and you can use those vouchers for a flight departing outside the UK, this is a good low tax redemption option.

I will eat humble pie for being rude about the lack of Aer Lingus business class reward availability in recent articles!

As there is no easy way of showing availability across the weeks (you can use United Airlines but this isn’t always a perfect match with what ba.com offers) I randomly took the 10th of the month between Dublin and Boston:

10th March – yes, there are seats in Business Class:

10th April – yes, there are seats in Business Class:

10th May – yes, there are seats in Business Class:

You get the idea! There appear to be up to two business class seats available per flight.

Availability is also meant to be better than usual to New York JFK and Toronto. You may get lucky on other routes too.

What are the taxes and charges from Dublin?

Here you go:

It’s 100,0000 Avios + £298.30 for one person from Dublin. Using a 2-4-1 companion voucher would make it 100,000 Avios + just under £600 for a couple. You need to add the cost of getting to and from Dublin of course.

IMPORTANT: If you are NOT using a 2-4-1 voucher then do not book on ba.com. Use the avios.com portal instead, where taxes will be £50 per person lower. This article explains how to move your Avios to avios.com.

Remember that you clear US customs and immigration in Dublin, as I explained in this article. You land at a domestic gate in the US and walk straight out of the airport.

We desperately need SeatSpy to add coverage for Aer Lingus and Iberia to allow us to maximise the value of our American Express 2-4-1 companion vouchers by easily showing when Aer Lingus has reward seats.

Our latest review of Aer Lingus A330 business class is here. Our latest review of Aer Lingus ‘single aisle’ A321LR business class is here. The seats are the same on both aircraft – it is just the layout which differs.

You can see a full list of Aer Lingus routes to the United States in this article.

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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:

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

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.

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.

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.

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.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.