Excellent Manchester to New York and Orlando Avios availability in Aer Lingus business class

It’s now three years since Aer Lingus started its direct services from Manchester to New York, Orlando and Barbados.

Whilst very useful for Avios collectors in the north of England, these services have historically seen very little in terms of Business Class availability for redemptions.

This seems to be changing. And, of course, you can now use British Airways American Express 2-4-1 companion vouchers on Aer Lingus (and indeed Iberia).

The new Aer Lingus redemption booking site makes it far easier to flick through dates and see how much availability is there. All three routes are looking pretty good – unless the website is having teething trouble and throwing up false availability.

I searched for the next six months. Here are the number of days with outbound Avios availability in Business Class from Manchester to New York JFK:

• April 2024 – 13 days
• May 2024 – 21 days
• June 2024 – every day
• July 2024 – 29 days
• August 2024 – 29 days
• September 2024 – 28 days

I would expect inbound availability to be tighter because those are overnight flights. Some people will mix and match an Economy outbound for the day flight with a Business Class flat bed return.

This analysis was done via aerlingus.com. I can’t be certain that ba.com will see the same number of seats. This is only an issue if you want to use a British Airways American Express 2-4-1 companion voucher, since this requires you to book via ba.com.

(I explain how to book via aerlingus.com in this article from yesterday.)

I didn’t do the same exercise with Orlando but it also looks very open in Business Class. I did check August 2024 and there are 28 days with outbound Business Class availability, and usually three seats.

The Barbados service is still running until the end of May and then takes a break until the autumn. May is wide open with up to five Business Class seats available, albeit there are only three flights per week.

Remember that Aer Lingus does not guarantee to open up any Business Class seats on its flights. It does guarantee four seats in total, but these all appear to be in Economy. Seeing this much availability is a bit spooky to be honest.

How many Avios are needed?

This PDF shows the number of Avios required for Aer Lingus redemptions but the Manchester services are not listed.

However, this is the New York pricing from Manchester:

• Economy (off peak): 13,000 Avios each way
• Economy (peak): 20,000 Avios each way
• Business (off peak): 50,000 Avios each way
• Business (peak): 60,000 Avios each way

This is the Orlando and Barbados pricing from Manchester:

• Economy (off peak): 16,250 Avios each way
• Economy (peak): 25,000 Avios each way
• Business (off peak): 62,500 Avios each way
• Business (peak): 75,000 Avios each way

What are the taxes and charges?

Very reasonable, given that Air Passenger Duty can’t be avoided. This is what you pay between Manchester and New York in Business Class on an off-peak date:

With an Amex companion voucher, you’d be looking at 100,000 Avios + £895 for two people. Remember that you need to book via ba.com (the same taxes and charges apply) to use a companion voucher.

What is Aer Lingus like in Business Class?

Here are our latest Aer Lingus business class reviews:

• Review of Aer Lingus business class on the A330
• Review of Aer Lingus business class on the A321LR

I think that Manchester is now running exclusively with the A330 fleet, but check. It is the same seat regardless, the only difference is whether you have a single aisle or two aisle aircraft. It is the move to ‘all A330’ aircraft which has presumably allowed the increase in the number of Avios seats.

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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.