Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

Get 5,000 Avios as a sign-up bonus with the Aer Lingus credit card

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Whilst we don’t write about it much, Aer Lingus has its own Avios-earning credit card.

Our full review of the Aer Lingus Aer Credit Card, issued by Bank of Ireland, is here. It’s not very attractive – a terrible earning rate of 1 Avios per €4 spent and a €108 annual fee when you include the Government Stamp Duty.

On the upside, there are some decent soft benefits:

Aer Lingus Bank of Ireland credit card
  • two free Aer Lingus short haul tickets EVERY YEAR for spending €5,000 on the card (taxes apply)
  • two Fast Track & Priority Boarding passes every year
  • two lounge passes
  • worldwide multi-trip travel insurance including winter sports

I’m not going to analyse the value of these soft benefits in detail because our review does it well enough.

Bank of Ireland is currently offering a sign-up bonus on this card.

Until 28th February 2025, new cardholders who spend €1,000 by 9th May 2025 will receive a bonus of 5,000 Avios.

When you factor in the lounge passes and the two free short-haul flights, I think the card becomes reasonable value for the first year. Whilst UK residents may find the earning rate very weak, there isn’t a lot of competition in the Irish market. I’d be reconsidering my options after the first year, however.

You can find out more, and apply, on the Bank of Ireland website here.


best travel rewards credit cards

Want to earn more points from credit cards? – February 2025 update

If you are looking to apply for a new credit card, here are our top recommendations based on the current 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 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 card

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

Get 5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

You can see our full directory of all UK cards which earn airline or hotel points here. Here are the best of the other deals currently available.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

30,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

50,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large fee Read our full review

Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard

18,000 bonus points and 1.5 points for every £1 you spend Read our full review

Earning miles and points from small business cards

If you are a sole trader or run a small company, you may also want to check out these offers:

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

Capital on Tap Pro Visa

10,500 points (=10,500 Avios) plus good benefits Read our full review

Capital on Tap Visa

NO annual fee, NO FX fees and points worth 1 Avios per £1 Read our full review

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

For a non-American Express option, we also recommend the Barclaycard Select Cashback card for sole traders and small businesses. It is FREE and you receive 1% cashback when you spend at least £2,000 per month.

Barclaycard Select Cashback Business Credit Card

Get 1% cashback when you spend at least £2,000 per month* Read our full review

Comments (18)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Ian says:

    As a UK citizen and resident, is it easy to get a credit card in Europe or maybe the US?

    • marcolau says:

      Assuming you have UK AMEX card, with some efforts (establishing US address and banking presence) you could get the US counterpart as well.

    • Rob says:

      No

    • thewoat says:

      It’s certainly not “easy”… but I mean, it’s really only admin and stuff, so depends what you define as easy.

  • SG says:

    Anyone else expiring a delay in having Amex referral points posted to their account?
    Approved person card shipped,no sign of my referral points!

  • sohan says:

    This offering remains absolutely crap.

    It’s made all the more disappointing because of how good their leaked plans were a few months back, which never materialised.

    In Ireland the best way to get avios now is sign up for Revolut’s points pocket, which is becoming a cheap way of acquiring points instead of interest on savings.

    There is really no point going through the onerous and clunky application process for one year of slim benefits.

    Thanks Rob for covering this.

    • Earthman says:

      Revolut ultra is the only way to go in Éire
      1 avios per euro
      Both via Rev points
      E shops that deliver up to 20 avios per euro
      All the added benefits eg cancel for any reason travel insurance & more that pay for the annual sub

      • ADS says:

        Revolut do NOT have a banking license

        Revolut do NOT have phone support / email support / website / premises

        If the Revolut app stops working on your phone – you are locked out of your account with ZERO alternatives

        Sounds great, until you get locked out!

        • ADS says:

          correction – Revolut have a banking licence from the Central Bank of Lithuania – so EU customer deposits of up to €100,000 are protected

          although the lack of Revolut phone support / email support / website still means you get locked out if your phone app stops working

          • sohan says:

            you can access via website if phone stolen, in Ireland anyway. However yes some downsides to revolut

  • Dmm says:

    Insurance covers up to 80 yo which might make it more attractive depending on the small print

  • Graham Smith says:

    Fell at the first hurdle
    Not an Ireland resident??
    Graham Smith

  • Shamrock says:

    Parents have this card. Don’t expect to be able to book your reward flights easily. You have to contact them (not via phone) to check availability and when they decide to reply they will either say or no to availability. If you want to check a flight day later then the same process with delay. My parents are waiting over a month and have given up.

  • polly says:

    Have tried so hard to see the good for my siblings in Ireland. They love how flexible we are using avios. Really frustrating, even with the card. Such a poor earner all round. Yes agree, Revolut helps, but their system is very clunky…

  • Stuart says:

    This is a huge laughable offering. Just don’t go near it.

    Ireland is tough for loyalty. Like most things in ireland, it’s difficult.

    As a naturalised irish citizen of UK birth I am trying to piece it all together.

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

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