Is Aer Lingus blocking Avios redemption flights within 60 days of departure?

Strange things are happening with Aer Lingus Avios redemptions, and not in a good way.

It appears that Aer Lingus is now blocking Avios redemptions made within 60 days of the date of travel.

This isn’t good news, clearly.

EDIT: Our article sparked Aer Lingus to make a change – the cut-off is now 6 days. Click here to read more.

There had been some posting on the, admittedly fairly quiet, Aer Lingus board on Flyertalk about issues finding Avios reward seats.

One poster then received the following reply after raising the question directly:

Avios redemption seats booked through www.avios.com are available to purchase on routes with Aer Lingus outside of 60 days.

This appears to be correct. It also impacts Avios availability via British Airways, as well as via the avios.com platform.

Here’s what I found last night. On 7th January (this search was done last night, 8th November), there is a lot of Aer Lingus availability between Heathrow and Dublin:

However, jump back 24 hours to 6th January, inside the 60 day window, and there is nothing. Not a single seat on any of the many flights. There’s nothing for any other January day either. All you see is BA flights:

The key will be what happens today (Thursday to you reading this). If the 60 day rule is correct, all of those seats showing for 7th January should disappear during Thursday, but 8th January should still be there.

If this is a new Aer Lingus policy, it’s obviously not one I like.

It also makes little sense. We are now in the quiet winter season, and it is a logical time to dump MORE Avios seats onto the market. Overall cash demand is low, and the cash demand that is there is at low fares, so selling seats for Avios isn’t necessarily a bad alternative.

For clarity …. you can still redeem Avios for Aer Lingus flights using ‘Part Pay With Avios’. This is where you can get roughly 0.5p per Avios to reduce the cost of a cash flight booked on aerlingus.com. These redemptions are poor value for your Avios though, especially in premium cabins.

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.