American Airlines and Aer Lingus Elites Now Get Reciprocal Elite Perks

Updated: November 21, 2024, 12:35am CST

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Aer Lingus and American Airlines are expanding their connectivity with more elite benefits being offered reciprocally. This comes despite the fact that Aer Lingus still isn’t wearing the Oneworld badge. Team Oneworld or not, we plan on making the most of our expanded benefits, and you should too.

Let’s take a look at what perks elite members will soon be enjoying.

Key Details

While you’ve already been able to book codeshare flights with Aer Lingus and American Airlines, as well as earn miles when flying with either airline, new benefits include reciprocal perks for those with elite status.

Starting today, those with elite status on either airline can enjoy the benefits of their status — and they’re fairly generous. For those with American AAdvantage elite status, here’s what you’ll get at each status level:

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Benefits	Gold	Platinum	Platinum Pro	Executive Platinum
Priority check-in	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Fast-track security	–	Yes	Yes	Yes
Priority boarding	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Lounge access (with 1 guest)	–	Yes	Yes	Yes
Free checked bag	–	1 (in economy class only)	1	1
Extra bonus miles	40%	60%	80%	120%

Anyone who’s familiar with elite status in Oneworld can see that this mimics much of what you’ll normally find.

Those who have Emerald and Sapphire status can generally expect to get free checked bags, lounge access, and priority boarding when flying with Oneworld airlines, so this is more of a move to equalize benefits across airlines than anything else.

Note that the same benefits are true for those with Aer Lingus status flying American Airlines, which is especially interesting as it seems to give Admirals Club lounge access to Aer Lingus elites, even when flying domestically within the United States.

Admirals Club ORD Concourse HK entrance — Aer Lingus elite members will now have access to Admirals Clubs. Image Credit: Katie Seemann

Finally, you’ll want to be aware that the bonus miles you earn are based on the ticket price, rather than the distance flown, which means that the more expensive your ticket, the more miles you’ll earn. This is in line with American’s own earning system, but it isn’t especially common with partner airlines.

Hot Tip:

Check out our guide to earning American Airlines miles to better understand exactly how many miles you’ll earn on your flights.

Final Thoughts

Aer Lingus and American Airlines are expanding their connectivity to include mutual elite benefits, and that’s fantastic for a more streamlined international travel experience. While it still seems strange that Aer Lingus remains outside of Oneworld — given its close ties to British Airways and American Airlines — we’re glad to see the airlines make things a little more equal.