Aer Lingus launches flights to two new US cities, bookable with Avios
Links on Head for Points may support the site by paying a commission. See here for all partner links.
Aer Lingus has announced a brand new route to the United States as well as re-launching a second.
Both routes will commence operations next summer and are from Dublin.
Flights to Denver, Colorado will begin on 17th May 2024. This is a new route for Aer Lingus and will operate four times a week – Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday – under the following schedule:
- EI59 departs Dublin at 4:15pm and arrives in Denver at 7pm
- EI60 departs Denver at 8:45pm and arrives in Dublin at 12:30pm the following day
Aer Lingus will also resume flights to Minneapolis – St Paul. The route will resume on 29th April 2024 starting as a four-weekly service before increasing to daily from October 2024. Initially flights will be operated on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays:
- EI89 departs Dublin at 2:20pm and arrives in Minneapolis at 4:55pm
- EI88 departs Minneapolis at 6:45pm and arrives in Dublin at 8:25am the following morning.
Both routes will initially be served with wide-body Airbus A330s, although Minneapolis will be down-gauged to a single-aisle Airbus A321XLR once additional aircraft arrive in Winter 2024. Rob and I have reviewed both aircraft:
Whilst Aer Lingus doesn’t give any guarantees over Avios availability, and it is often very hard to find premium seats on prime US routes such as New York, there is often more availability to secondary cities.
You can check times and pricing on the Aer Lingus website here.
Spoiler alert!
Amusingly, just a few hours after the Aer Lingus announcement, Delta Air Lines announced that it was also starting Dublin to Minneapolis-Saint Paul flights.
It will start on 9th May – eight days after Aer Lingus – and will operate five flights per week. This flight will be bookable with Virgin Points although Delta is well known for making virtually no Business Class availability to partners.
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.
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 Mastercard
Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review
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.
Littlefish 
Dom 
Saltrams 
Comments (30)