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Aer Lingus AerClub launched in December 2016 as part of the Avios family with British Airways, Iberia, and additional airline partners.
Avios is complicated: while the points are the same, which program they sit in influences your award ticket availability, options, prices, and booking method. You can be booking the same flight with your Avios and get 4 different Avios prices and fees!
AerClub uses the avios.com website for all award ticket bookings. Compared to British Airways Executive Club, Qatar Airways Privilege Club, and Iberia Plus, even flight availability can differ. But complexity can mean opportunity if you take the time to learn!
The great recent news for U.S.-based travelers is that Aer Lingus AerClub, British Airways, and Iberia Plus are all Chase transfer partners. Rather than the complicated and error-prone “Combine My Avios” process, these direct transfers are simple and instant. You can also transfer to Qatar Airways from Citi ThankYou points.
We have previously highlighted the best ways to redeem British Airways Avios. Now let’s compare to AerClub Avios and see what values we can unearth!
If you spend $30,000 annually on the card, you can earn a companion certificate for economy class travel between the U.S. and Ireland.
Also, you will enjoy priority boarding for yourself and any authorized users on your account on Aer Lingus flights between the U.S. and Ireland.
Collecting Chase Ultimate Rewards points by using a Chase credit card is one of the best ways to earn AerClub Avios because Ultimate Rewards points are:
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The Chase Sapphire Preferred® card is one of the best travel rewards cards on the market. Its bonus categories include travel, dining, online grocery purchases, and streaming services, which gives you the opportunity to earn lots of bonus points on these purchases.
Additionally, it offers flexible point redemption options, no foreign transaction fees, and excellent travel insurance coverage including primary car rental insurance. With benefits like these, it’s easy to see why this card is an excellent choice for any traveler.
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If you’re looking for an all-around excellent travel rewards card, the Chase Sapphire Reserve® is one of the best options out there.
The card combines elite travel benefits and perks like airport lounge access, with excellent point earning and redemption options. Plus it offers top-notch travel insurance protections to keep you covered whether you’re at home or on the road.
Don’t forget the $300 annual travel credit which really helps to reduce the annual fee!
If you’re a business owner, see our list of the best Chase business credit cards.
One of the biggest sweet spots to use Aer Lingus Avios is for flights between North America’s East Coast and Ireland.
Most of the year is off-peak for Aer Lingus, except summer months and some dates around Christmas and New Year’s — many fewer peak dates than British Airways or Iberia. For an off-peak ticket, it’ll only cost you 13,000 Avios!
Here are some of Aer Lingus’s routes to/from North America’s East Coast:
Hot Tip: If you want to understand Aer Lingus’ route network in detail, check out our definitive guide to Aer Lingus’ direct routes from the United States.
Beyond the U.S. East Coast, other North America-Dublin routes top out at 16,250 Avios.
Even though the distance you fly can be up to 60% longer, you’ll just pay just a few thousand more Avios if you want to fly all the way to the West Coast!
Here are some great routes that fall into this pricing:
While not the bargain basement deal of economy, off-peak North America to Ireland business class goes for 50,000 Avios from the East Coast and 62,500 Avios elsewhere.
This is competitive with other frequent flyer programs. However, when you add onward connections to the U.K. and Europe, prices become less competitive.
Hot Tip: For more options, check out our detailed guide to using points and miles to fly to Ireland.
Avios awards are priced by distance per segment. A nonstop off-peak award from Boston (BOS) to Dublin (DUB) costs 13,000 Avios in economy. Adding a connection on Aer Lingus can add as little as 4,000 Avios to the total one-way price!
Aer Lingus flies to many popular Mediterranean destinations. Many of these will still cost less than the typical 30,000 miles from North America to Europe charged by most other airlines.
Explore the Aer Lingus route map here.
Ireland to U.K./Europe starts at just 4,000 Avios on off-peak dates and 4,500 Avios on peak dates. Always compare to cash tickets, though, because intra-Europe flights can be quite cheap — they might not even be much more than the award ticket taxes and surcharges.
Book a British Airways flight from London (LHR) for as little as 9,000 Avios and experience the British Airways Galleries Lounge before departure.
Just book a short-distance business class award flight on British Airways to gain Galleries access. You can also connect in London, as long as your onward flight from London is British Airways.
If you book an Aer Lingus flight, the airline has its own lounge — and because Aer Lingus is not a Oneworld member, you cannot use Oneworld elite status to access Oneworld airline lounges such as Galleries when traveling on Aer Lingus.
Aer Lingus Avios is different from traditional frequent flyer programs. By learning its quirks, you can determine when it’s advantageous to use Avios, and when you should consider an alternate program.
Traditional airline award charts are priced by geographic region. This yields the familiar 25,000-mile U.S. domestic round-trip award ticket.
In contrast, AerClub prices award flights on 3 criteria:
AerClub has 6 distance zones:
| Zone | Miles | Examples (Flying From Dublin) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0 to 650 | Aberdeen, Amsterdam, Birmingham, Bordeaux, Bristol, Brussels, Cardiff, Donegal, Doncaster, Dusseldorf, East Midlands, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Isle of Man, Jersey, Kerry, Leeds Bradford, London, Manchester, Nantes, Newcastle, Newquay, Paris, Rennes |
| 2 | 651 to 1,151 | Alghero, Alicante, Barcelona, Berlin, Bilbao, Bologna, Copenhagen, Faro, Frankfurt, Geneva, Hamburg, Lisbon, Lyon, Madrid, Marseille, Milan, Munich, Murcia, Nice, Palma, Perpignan, Pisa, Prague, Pula, Salzburg, Santiago de Compostela, Stuttgart, Toulouse, Venice, Verona, Vienna, Warsaw, Zurich |
| 3 | 1,152 to 2,000 | Agadir, Athens, Bourgas, Brindisi, Budapest, Catania, Corfu, Dubrovnik, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Izmir, Lanzarote, Malaga, Naples, Rome, Split, Tenerife |
| 4 | 2,001 to 3,000 | Rhodes |
| 5 | 3,001 to 4,000 | Boston, Chicago, Hartford, Minneapolis, Newark, New York, Philadelphia, Toronto, Washington |
| 6 | 4,001 to 5,500 | Los Angeles, Miami, Orlando, San Francisco, Seattle |
AerClub publishes its peak travel dates each year, and peak date award travel costs more Avios than off-peak. These are separate from British Airways and Iberia peak dates.
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. However, each program may charge different amounts of Avios and fees, so always compare.
In 2020, peak dates are:
In 2021, peak dates are:
Combining the 6 distance zones and peak dates, you get the following one-way award prices:
| Zone | Economy | Business | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Off-Peak | Peak | Off-Peak | Peak | |
| 1 | 4,000 | 4,500 | ||
| 2 | 6,500 | 7,500 | ||
| 3 | 8,500 | 10,000 | ||
| 4 | 10,000 | 12,500 | ||
| 5 | 13,000 | 20,000 | 50,000 | 60,000 |
| 6 | 16,250 | 25,000 | 62,500 | 75,000 |
Instead of the Aer Lingus website, you book Aer Lingus Avios tickets with the companion avios.com website.
With avios.com, you can book the following airlines:
Hot Tip: Aer Lingus is not a Oneworld alliance member, so you can’t directly book awards on airlines like American Airlines and Cathay Pacific. Instead, you can use the avios.com “Combine My Avios” feature to move your Avios to British Airways Executive Club or Iberia Plus to book Oneworld and other partner airlines.
You can book Aer Lingus flights with either Aer Lingus Avios or British Airways Avios. There are pros and cons to each approach.
| Aer Lingus Award Flights | Aer Lingus AerClub | British Airways Executive Club |
| Award availability | Different/better | Different/worse |
| Online booking | Yes | No (must call) |
| Taxes and surcharges | Higher | Lower |
| Short-haul saver award (lower surcharges) | No | Yes |
Aer Lingus AerClub is a niche program in the Avios family, and it has become a convenient way to access Ireland nonstop, as well as a competitive option for transatlantic travelers generally.
Direct point transfers from Chase Ultimate Rewards to AerClub make it easy to earn Avios. United Airlines flyers can also earn Aer Lingus Avios on United flights through their partnership.
AerClub award options are limited to only a few partner airlines. To really maximize value, make sure to learn about the British Airways Executive Club and Iberia Plus for the best uses of your Avios.
Aer Lingus is affiliated with British Airways, Iberia, and Vueling, which are collectively members of IAG. All share Avios as their points currency, though each airline has its own Avios earning and spending options.
Though Aer Lingus isn’t part of an airline alliance, you can earn AerClub Avios when flying Aer Lingus, British Airways, and United.
Aer Lingus Avios expire without earning or spending activity in 36 months. You must collect or spend Avios to extend, including transferring 1,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points to AerClub.
You can transfer Avios between Aer Lingus, British Airways, and Iberia using the avios.com website. You’ll need to register accounts in both the sending and receiving program.
Depending on your country of registration, you may not be allowed to use avios.com to combine points, and instead might have to use the britishairways.com “Combine My Avios” tool. This tool is subject to certain qualification requirements, such as both accounts needing to have been open for 90 days and have previous points activity.
Aer Lingus Avios do not have a fixed value. Depending on your use, you may see between 1 cent and 2 cents of value per Avios point. Check out our latest points and miles valuations to see our calculation.
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36 comments
Kenneth Blakely
September 04, 2018
This is good info on Aer Lingus …. except I’m having zero success finding award space on Aer Lingus. When I search on Avios.com for a route that I *know* AerLingus runs (IAD-DUB), the only award space is BA, which has stupid fees. Is there any way to look for *only* Aer Lingus space?
Toby Plumb
September 04, 2018
@Kenneth Blakely – we are seeing Aer Lingus availability on that route on sample searches such as late September. Unfortunately, the avios.com site does not have a filter to search by airline. You’ll have much more success with Off-Peak dates than Peak.
Kirsten
May 22, 2019
Can Avios points be used to upgrade a purchased economy ticket on Aer Lingus to business class?
Stephen Au
May 22, 2019
Hey Kirsten,
Yes, you can use Avios to upgrade. Remember that Avios is a currency that is shared by British Airways, Iberia, and Aer Lingus. They’re similar, but not the same.
Check out this link to better understand the upgrade process:
https://www.aerlingus.com/plan-and-book/plan/upgrade-yourself/
stephen
September 15, 2019
Not sure how that upgrade link is relevant to Avios?
Stephen Au
September 19, 2019
Stephen,
Great point!
Here’s the better link:
https://www.aerlingus.com/aerclub/using-aerclub/spending-avios/#/tab-2-upgrades-to-business-class
Patricia Buck
September 05, 2019
Hi,
I’m new to this. I’m looking at booking with Aer Lingus Avios and am trying to find information about whether or not I get options as far as class goes, e.g. saver, smart, flex on an Aer Lingus flight. I will need a checked bag for my transcontinental flight and wonder if it will be included? Any insight on this. TIA
Stephen Au
September 11, 2019
Hi Patricia,
It depends on your ticket class and the route you’re flying. We would recommend calling Aer Lingus at 1-800-474-7424 and find out directly from them.
Annie
September 13, 2019
I just signed up for Aer Lingus AerClub but cannot figure out how to find out about availability and number of points required. I think it is because I have 0 Avios in my account. Is there a way to check availability & points if you don’t have any points? I don’t want to transfer points from my credit card until I know what is required.
Michael McHugh
September 16, 2019
Hi Annie,
You’ll want to follow these steps to check availability:
1) Search Aer Lingus flights on United
2) Login to your Aer Lingus account at avios.com
3) Click “spend avios”
4) Under Reward Flights click “Book Now”
Kevin
October 07, 2019
Thanks for the tip, but still having trouble finding how many Avios points to book from NYC to Dublin during July (peak season) any advise would be welcomed.
Stephen Au
October 09, 2019
Kevin,
For economy tickets, expect to pay 20,000 Avios during peak season one-way. For business, expect to pay 60,000 Avios during peak season one-way. During off-peak, economy and business are 13,000 and 50,000 Avios, respectively for the New York City (JFK) – Dublin (DUB) route.
Curtis
September 29, 2019
I’m seeing around $300 in fees from LAX to DUB (along with the ~32,000 points for offpeak dates). Is that right? This is a flight on Aer Lingus.
Jarrod West
September 30, 2019
Hi Curtis,
That seems quite a bit high for an economy ticket. Mind sharing the dates you’re looking at?
Martin Osterdahl
October 07, 2019
$261 in fees PHL to DUB 1/29/20 – 2/5/20 economy.
Tim Sugrue
January 02, 2020
I’m seeing the same for 3/1/20-3/8/20
Evelyn Myers
January 01, 2020
Finding a reward flight in business is like seeing a unicorn on Aer Lingus. Absolutely nothing for the entire year including off peak dates. What is the point exactly of Avios?
Jarrod West
January 02, 2020
Hi Evelyn,
Have you tried searching for flights with their Avios partners British Airways or Iberia?
Pam
February 11, 2020
DC is less than 500 miles to Montreal but the AA calendar is showing 33K and higher miles instead of 15k (looked at May and June). Confused – suggestions appreciated. I am trying to use Avios points to fly from DC to Montreal (June 4-13) and the British Airways website comes up dry. How do I search?
Andrew Kunesh
February 11, 2020
Hey Pam, if the flight is pricing at 33K on American Airlines’ website there is no saver award space available. Unfortunately, this means you cannot book the flight using British Airways Avios. Instead, look for flights on American’s website that are marked as “MileSAAver” and are priced at 12.5K AA miles or less. These tickets are bookable for 9K Avios.
Guy
February 12, 2020
Has the fee/fuel surcharge structure changed? I’m seeing lots of off peak tickets in May for DC or JFK to either London or Dublin, but fees/surcharge range from ~$250 to $450 roundtrip.
Jarrod West
February 29, 2020
Hi Guy,
Yes, the fees/surcharges can change at times. What dates were you looking to travel? I can look into if there are better options for you.
pennyinAL
April 14, 2021
The website for Avios.com is no longer valid.
Jarrod West
April 14, 2021
Hi Penny,
The website appears to be working just fine for me. What issue are you having with it?
David
September 24, 2021
Thinking of an IAD-DUB trip in Fall 2022 on Aer Lingus using Chase URs. Signed in to my AerClub account but only seeing $$ tickets. Probably user error but how do I see award tickets? Any other Aer Lingus booking partners I should consider? Also, I have a bunch of Citi ThankYou points and United miles.
Stephen Au
October 11, 2021
Hi David,
You’ll need to log into your Aer Lingus Avios account here:
https://www.avios.com/ie/en/spend
Then, you’ll need to perform an award search there.
David
October 13, 2021
Thanks Stephen! They sure bury that screen. If I book 2 Economy seats with miles and then Business seats open up at a good rate, can I change to Business without incurring a change fee? Obviously would need to pay for the difference in miles and any added taxes.
Stephen Au
October 14, 2021
You should be able to change it. Please refer to this link —
https://www.aerlingus.com/support/changing-your-booking/
Leslie G
November 01, 2021
I have been trying to book two business class tickets SEA to DUB for September 2022 but can only find one business seat per flight. Any suggestions on how to find two business class seats?
Jarrod West
November 05, 2021
Hi Leslie,
Unfortunately, the best way to locate award space is just to keep looking as often as possible, and be as flexible as possible with the dates that you’ll travel.
Ryan
December 09, 2021
Using Avios by calling BA to book on Aer Lingus for lower taxes/fees is officially over. You should write an article on this. Historically, I have used 26,000 Avios RT Boston to Ireland and about $125 in taxes and fees by calling BA to book on Aer Lingus. I just called and got through twice (after several attempts — calling BA is the worst) and tried to book as usual through BA on Aer Lingus. For two tickets it was 52,000 Avios (normal) plus a whopping $750 in taxes and fees…(almost as much as just booking the flight outright). So I went over to my backup option of booking on Avios.com — which usually has higher taxes. This came out to 52,000 Avios (normal) plus $525 in fees (still so high). It seems the perk of using Avios from North America to Ireland is 100% over.
Rebekka
January 18, 2022
Thanks for this update! Was just about to call BA to do this (we’ve had to cancel our BOS–>SNN route for the last 2 years in a row) to set up our 2022 trip. I may still call and see what they say…just as another datapoint.
Takhliq Khan
January 28, 2022
Just got off the phone with BA. Was trying to book 4 tickets in economy to Dublin in June. Was quoted $1489.48 plus the miles. So looks like the this sweet spot is not very sweet anymore.
CF
March 15, 2022
This is absolutely the case now. Very disappointing.
DEBORAH BURTON
September 11, 2023
I just purchased 4 tickets for Ireland on Aer Lingus. I am thinking of joining the Aer Lingus rewards program. Can I use these tickets to earn Avios if they have already been purchased? We fly early October.
Keri Stooksbury
September 12, 2023
Hi Deborah – You can definintely at your AerClub number to your reservation before you fly, so I’d go ahead and join now. You may also want to see if you might find those Avios more useful credited to another program you may use more frequently. Enjoy your travel and thanks for reading!
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