Bits: Aer Lingus launches Cancun, see Lynyrd Skynyrd with Accor, Lufthansa Allegris routes this winter

News in brief:

Aer Lingus launches flights to Cancún

Aer Lingus is launching its first flights to Mexico with a thrice-weekly service from Dublin to Cancún, starting in January 2026.

The new non-stop service will be operated by the airline’s A330-300 aircraft which we have previously reviewed here.

Flights will operate on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Here are the flight times:

• EI143 departs Dublin at 13:30 and arrives in Cancún at 19:20
• EI142 departs Cancún at 21:05 and arrives in Dublin at 11:20 the following morning.

Even if the thought of high-rise resorts in Cancún don’t thrill you, Cancún is a gateway to the entire Yucatán Peninsula and its Mayan archaeological sites. Just two hours south of Cancún is Tulum where we’ve reviewed the excellent Conrad Riviera Maya Tulum and Papaya Playa Project Tulum.

Tickets will be available for Avios. This article looks at the new Aer Lingus redemption booking platform at aerlingus.com.

Aer Lingus still has a published reward chart unlike British Airways. You can download it here (PDF).

I suspect Cancún will be in the same band as Los Angeles, Miami etc and cost:

• 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

…. plus taxes and charges.

Accor adds Lynyrd Skynyrd tickets for OVO Arena Wembley

Accor Live Limitless has added tickets for the upcoming Lynyrd Skynyrd concert at OVO Arena Wembley.

The cost is 10,000 Accor Live Limitless points for two tickets. The date is 19th July.

The tickets give you access to the exclusive ALL Terrace, which I explained here.

The two other redemptions still available are:

• Billy Idol – 24th June – 7,000 ALL points

• Lara Fabian – 3rd June – 9,000 ALL points

You can redeem your points for the ALL Terrace on the Accor website here.

Accor is the largest hotel group in the world outside the Americas, so there are no shortage of ibis, Novotel, Pullman, Mercure, Sofitel, Raffles etc hotels where you can earn. Our full overview of Accor Live Limitless is here if you want to find out more about how the scheme works.

There are no credit card partnerships, directly or indirectly. You CAN transfer Avios into Accor Live Limitless points via Qatar Airways Privilege Club but the rate isn’t great at 4.5 to 1 – read more here. It may work for you if there is an act you are very keen to see and tickets are otherwise unavailable.

Lufthansa Allegris routes this winter

The choppy rollout of Lufthansa’s new Allegris business and First Class is well discussed in aviation circles, although we haven’t covered it in detail on Head for Points.

In short, after officially launching in May 2024, Lufthansa had to operate some aircraft without its new First Class cabins due to supply chain delays, leaving an empty cabin at the front of the aircraft.

SWISS, meanwhile, has tarnished its environmental credentials by admitting that it needs to install a 1.5 ton weight at the back of its A330s to counter the heavy Allegris First cabins at the front.

Other oddities include the commitment to retrofit Allegris business class onto its Boeing 747-8 fleet, but only on the lower deck. The upper deck business class cabin will retain the old seats, so you will get two vastly different options on the same aircraft.

Nevertheless, the rollout is progressing with a focus on routes from Munich. For the Winter 2025/26 season, which runs from the end of October to the end of March, you’ll be able to experience the new Allegris cabins on these routes:

• Munich to New York JFK
• Munich to Newark
• Munich to Chicago
• Munich to Miami
• Munich to Shanghai
• Munich to Cape Town
• Munich to Tokyo
• Munich to Bengaluru (3x weekly only)

Unsurprisingly, Lufthansa says this is the “largest number of Allegris destinations operating simultaneously since its debut”. Funny how that works when you roll out a product!

Lufthansa will only have 10 A350-900s with Allegris cabins flying by winter, so it won’t be operating on every flight to, for example, New York. I assume it is on at least one flight daily.

Later this year Lufthansa will start rolling out Allegris from Frankfurt with the Boeing 787-9 and the aforementioned refurbishment of the Boeing 747-8 fleet.

The whole situation makes BA’s rollout of Club Suite look rather slick.