I used the number 18002479297 and the hold times were not bad. Booking aer lingus business class awards with british airways avios. Is new aer lingus business class to europe a good deal. Pay with avios to get money off the cost of any aer lingus flight when you book through. Strangely, despite sharing a currency, each program has its own loyalty program with different award charts and rules. My entire phone call to british airways to book this seat took six minutes.
Best ways to redeem british airways avios comparecards. How to book inexpensive aer lingus award flights to ireland. This doesnt preclude a loyal british airways avios collector from benefiting from aer lingus, as the irish flag carrier also uses avios as its frequent flyer mileage currency whats more, you can freely transfer avios between your british airways. Avios is the name of the point currency shared by multiple foreign airline frequent flyer programs. Aer lingus flights do not show up on british airways flights, so what i did was search for my flight using uniteds website, and then call british airways to book my seats. When you book or manage your flights with aer lingus, you can add your british airways executive club number. New aer lingus routes create british airways avios points. It isnt like bmi who were bought and absorbed by ba. Alongside british airways flights, we list many codeshare services on operated by our oneworld partners as well as aer lingus, airbaltic, bangkok airways, china eastern, fiji airways, loganair, vistara and vueling airlines. The avios you spend on reward flights with aer lingus depend on. You have to call in to use avios to book on aer lingus you cant book it online, and when youre given a confirmation number, thats the british airways confirmation number, so its no good when trying to pick seats on aer lingus. Points earned in any of those three programs or transferred from transferable points programs can be moved to the other programs.
Flying aerlingus using british airways avios rick steves. Aer lingus seat pitch measurements will vary depending on aircraft type. The avios and tier points that you earn depends on both the airline flight number that is on your ticket and the partnership agreement in place with that partner. Fly from the usa to ireland, britain and europe with us as well as find hotels and more. Aer lingus is a partner of united, but recently stopped showing award availability. British airways executive club to book aer lingus flights. British airways uses a distancebased award chart and some sweet spots include boston bos to dublin dub in offpeak business class for 31,250 avios one way. Since aer lingus is a british airways partner, you can use british airways avios to book award flights. The best place to search for the aer lingus saver level must be saver or you cannot use ba avios economy award seats between boston and dublin is actually oddly on. You can use british airways avios for flights on one world alliance airlines and british airways partners. How to book aer lingus award tickets with british airways avios. The food is comparable to most other airlines, average but its included in the cost, as are soft drinks.
With the possibility of obtaining significantly reduced taxes, the lure of using avios points on aer lingus is a popular redemption option for many british airways executive club members. British airways gives executive club members plenty of ways to collect avios aside from booking flights. Yet, europe seems to be the most common destination that americans would like to visit. Definitive guide to aer lingus direct routes from the u. Regardless of whether you use aer lingus avios, british airways avios, or iberia avios to book aer lingus flights, these peak dates always apply to aer lingus flights.
I assume the solution to select ei seats booked via ba on avios is still to. British airways avios is the program with which canadians would be bestpositioned to redeem miles for aer lingus, since avios are relatively easy to come by here in canada. How to use avios to book aer lingus flights for low fees. This is a very reasonable complaint seeing as there are full fare tickets that earn miles for that price in off peak times.
Aer lingus would remain a separate airline under the iag holding structure in the same way as british airways, iberia and vueling are. Partners and alliances information british airways. To actually book you will have to call british airways, which can be a bit of a nightmare due to insanely long hold times. As aer lingus are a partner of ba, does anyone know if avios points can be used to book aer lingus flights to other european countries. Aer lingus launches montreal route new avios sweet spot. It appears now that i cannot choose seat or use avioscash to upgrade. Is redeeming british airways avios on aer lingus still a good deal. Ironically, redeeming avios to fly british airways instead of a partner can accrue some of the highest fuel surcharges. I called british airways to use ba avios to book an aer lingus award. Now they have fully flat seats, with a majority of seating featuring direct aisle access. Search for flights with aer lingus or our aerclub airline partners british airways and iberia book your reward flight using your avios, plus taxes, fees and charges payable in cash feel like adding a seat, bag or priority boarding to your reward flight booking. Avios are awarded based on what you paid for the aer lingus flight, excluding government taxes and any ancillaries like bags or seats. British airways executive club doesnt display aer lingus availability online, for reasons one may never understand.
You can use british airways avios to book travel on aer lingus, though youll need to call them to actually book the ticket. Although aer lingus is now owned by iag the parent company of british airways and iberia the airline is not as yet part of the oneworld alliancebut you can redeem avios on aer lingus nonetheless. Ife screens are small, but there are plenty of choices. I personally have had the best luck calling earlier in the day the call center opens at 7. Theyre quite new, have seat back on demand ife and pretty comfy. Aer lingus booking w avios how to upgradeseat select. Suddenly everyone was redeeming their avios for flights from boston to dublin on aer lingus, be it in economy or business class. Any other currencies will be rewarded based on the euro value 1 3 avios. And thats where an incredible sweet spot for the new route can be found. The biggest downside of using british airways avios points are the fuel surcharges that get passed on when redeeming avios for flights.
You can only collect avios once per flight, regardless of the number of seats purchased. The good news is, you dont have to fly on british airways aircraft with your avios. But if you can book before the april 28, 2015, points increase, youll get a better value booking aer lingus with british airways avios points. Travel miles 101 and cardratings may receive a commission from card issuers. However, whether intentionally planned or not, there is no ability for executive club members to book an avios aer lingus redemption flight directly through the website. I picked up 2 seats myself last week as part of our planned fall trip to europe more on that shortly. Next rep at aer lingus specifically said their management had instructed them not to book. So for folks in chicago and new york, its a question of flying 1way on united airlines business class for 57,500 points or 1. Collecting avios and tier points on flights british airways. My experience booking aer lingus business class with.
We work closely with our partners to ensure you receive a level of service that closely matches our own. How to pick your aer lingus seats on an avios booking. How to pick your aer lingus seats on an avios booking points with. Booking aer lingus with british airways avios travel. You can also spend your avios on reward flights on. How many avios are required for aer lingus award redemptions. Our economy class seats on all airbus aircraft have a pitch range of of 32 inches and a width of 1718 inches. Aer lingus aerclub picking seats when booked with avios is.
And it turns out, british airways is indeed using the new aer lingus award chart prices for flights operated by aer lingus, even when using british airways not aer lingus. I wrote a report about my experience flying from boston to dublin and back it has been several years since this redemption value was widely talked about, so i figured it would be fun to revisit this, a couple of british airways executive club devaluations later. My experience redeeming avios for aer lingus business. Because british airways and aer lingus both belong to the same group of companies, international airlines.
I called avios who said they were never able to book seats. However, each program may charge different amounts of avios and fees, so always compare. For details of the entertainment on offer and the latest onboard features check out this aer lingus webpage. Aer lingus operates flights to many north american cities, all of which can be booked using british airways avios if there is award availability. How to book aer lingus flights using british airways miles. Avoid fuel surcharges when using british airways avios. Updateafter yesterdays post maximizing british airways aviosfly aer lingus to europe and avoid fuel surcharges, one of my relatives wanted to know more about using british airways avios to fly aer lingus from boston to dublin, i did another search on united. Aer lingus is a sister company to british airways since it was bought by iag, bas parent.
I was immediately intrigued when i did a dummy booking, and noticed the fuel. Almost every flight i searched had at least nine coach award seats available. Picking seats when booked with avios flyertalk forums. Booking aer lingus with british airways avios travel miles 101. Avios is the shared currency of the iag, and aer lingus almost certainly will adopt this for its own flyer programme with transfers possible between. How to book aer lingus award tickets with british airways. British airways is one of the few airlines in the world where i hope to get their outsourced call center.
My experience redeeming avios for aer lingus business class. Quick noteafter yesterdays post maximizing british airways aviosfly aer lingus to europe and avoid fuel surcharges, one of my relatives wanted to know more about using british airways avios to fly aer lingus from boston to dublin, i did another search on united. Aer lingus business class availability still available. It may be worth having an aer club account if you plan to redeem on aer lingus so that you can see the availability even if you plan to book by phone with ba. If youre new to british airways avios, the mileage currency of the british airways executive club frequent flyer program, you may be looking for tips on how to maximize your miles for free flights, or even how to search and book avios award flights.
How to transfer avios between aer lingus, ba, and iberia. As i mentioned in last weeks article about aer lingus, you almost certainly want to book your aer. Avios will only be awarded to the member who has travelled on the flight in the relevant sector and not to any third party. Booking aer lingus flights with british airways avios. I tried to select seats online through the british airways website, but that. So i found the flight i wanted, and then phoned up british airways executive club.
May 29, 2018 by dominik zmuda 10 comments travel miles 101 has partnered with cardratings for our coverage of credit card products. Figured id got a rep who got it wrong and called aer lingus back. I booked with aerclub avios for flights in february and when i called aer lingus they said to contact avios to book the seats. British airways only offers offpeak avios award for flights on british airways or iberia. How to use british airways avios points for travel on aer lingus and. Maximizing british airways aviosaer lingus business class. Using avios points on aer lingus british airways avios.
I had always known aer lingus was a british airways partner, though never. Upon completion of your flights you will automatically be credited the correct avios. There currently isnt a published british airways avios award chart, but they do have peak and offpeak redemptions for british airways award flights. Its best to book british airways avios flights on british and iberia avios flights on. A beginners guide to using british airways avios the. British airways avios offpeak pricing is a pleasant surprise. British airways has an distancebased award chart and since boston to ireland snuck in just under the 3,000 mile mark it was a great redemption. This varies by location, and in dc they share the presumably better british airways lounge. Is redeeming british airways avios on aer lingus still a.
Aer lingus offers a very nice business class with direct aisle access, so this is a win. Tickets between these cities and dublin used to cost 20,000 british airways avios points oneway in coach except for boston throughout the year. Following substantial investment, it has an impressive longhaul operation focused exclusively on the united states and canada. You can also book through aer club by moving avios from into an aer club account. Since they are partners, its often possible to book the same flights with any one of these programs, but your cost will vary both in. The more avios you have, the further you can fly, with return reward flights starting from 8,000 avios offpeak. Aer lingus aerclub aer lingus booking w avios how to upgradeseat select. For example, the british airways flight ba219 also operates under the american airlines code aa6170. Maximizing british airways aviosfly aer lingus to europe.
Seats are 242, with no more than 36 seats in the cabin. Aer lingus will fly to miami from 2017 good for avios. Their offpeak redemptions can deliver great value on your ba avios points, especially given you can find offpeak pricing for nearly 8 months of the year on flights operated by ba. Aer lingus is a sister company to british airways since it was bought by iag, bas parent company, a few years ago. And lo and behold, aer lingus business class is showing up at the saver award level. Aerclub members can get 3 avios for every 1 spent on flights booked with aer lingus. It is owned by the same parent company as british airways iag but yet is not a oneworld member. Aer lingus, british airways, and iberia share a common rewards currency. It used to be the case that aer lingus seats could only be booked with avios via a telephone call to british airways executive club, with no way. As i mentioned in last weeks article about aer lingus, you almost certainly want to book your aer lingus flight using.
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