Avios is a well known points currency, used by a variety of frequent flyer programs, including British Airways Executive Club, Iberia Plus, Finnair Plus, Qatar Airways Privilege Club, and Aer Lingus AerClub.
The Avios currency gives you quite a bit of flexibility, since you can transfer the rewards between some of the participating loyalty schemes at no cost. It’s worth understanding the sweet spots of each program, so you can decide under what circumstances you should redeem rewards through a particular program, rather than transferring them to another “flavor” of Avios.
I’ve written in the past about the best uses of British Airways Executive Club Avios, the best uses of Iberia Plus Avios, and the best uses of Qatar Airways Privilege Club Avios.
Aer Lingus’ Aer Club frequent flyer program is probably the least talked about Avios rewards program, so in this post I wanted to take a brief look at redeeming Avios with this currency. Under what circumstances should you redeem Avios through Aer Lingus AerClub? Are Aer Lingus redemptions cheaper through AerClub than through other programs?
In this post:
How to earn Aer Lingus AerClub Avios
Even if you’re not an Aer Lingus frequent flyer, there are plenty of ways to rack up Aer Lingus AerClub Avios:
- In the United States, you can pick up the Aer Lingus Visa Signature® Card (review), which has a great welcome offer and valuable perks
- Aer Lingus AerClub partners with some major transferable points currencies, including Amex Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, and Chase Ultimate Rewards
- You can transfer Avios between the various currencies, so you can accrue these points through transfers from programs like British Airways Executive Club
Basics of redeeming Aer Lingus AerClub Avios
Let’s talk a bit about under what circumstances it makes sense to redeem Avios through the Aer Lingus AerClub program, rather than through other Avios currencies. To very broadly summarize the takeaway:
- If you want to redeem for travel on Aer Lingus, Aer Lingus AerClub and British Airways Executive Club typically have the same award pricing, though AerClub is sometimes cheaper
- For redemptions on all partner airlines, transfer rewards to one of the other Avios currencies (especially British Airways Executive Club) to maximize value
Before we look at redemption options, let me cover a few basics of Aer Lingus AerClub Avios:
- Aer Lingus AerClub Avios expire after 36 months of inactivity, so you need to earn or redeem Avios in that timeframe to keep them active
- Aer Lingus AerClub lets you change or cancel an award up to 24 hours before departure, for a fee of €42.50 per passenger per booking; within that timeframe, award tickets can’t be changed or canceled
- If you want to redeem Aer Lingus AerClub Avios online, you can do so at this link
Redeeming Aer Lingus AerClub Avios on Aer Lingus
The best use of Aer Lingus AerClub Avios is for award bookings on Aer Lingus. Aer Lingus AerClub has a zone based award chart for these bookings, with off-peak and peak pricing (depending on the day of the year, in line with other Avios programs). Below you can find the Aer Lingus AerClub award chart.
As is the case with other Avios currencies, Avios pricing is per segment. So you can expect to pay the following number of Avios for transatlantic flights on Aer Lingus to the United States (Aer Lingus operates some transatlantic flights out of Dublin, Manchester, and Shannon):
- Transatlantic flights to the Northeast and Midwest of the United States cost 13,000-20,000 Avios in economy, or 50,000-60,000 Avios in business class
- Transatlantic flights to the rest of the United States cost 16,250-25,000 Avios in economy, or 62,500-75,000 Avios in business class
The good news is that the surcharges on these awards are really mild, so this is a great Avios redemption option, especially compared to travel on British Airways.
So, if you want to redeem for travel on Aer Lingus, how does Aer Lingus AerClub and British Airways Executive Club award pricing compare?
Well, for most markets, you’ll find that pricing is virtually identical. For example, a one-way off-peak Aer Lingus business class award from Dublin to Philadelphia costs 50,000 Avios plus exactly $169.10 in taxes and fees with each program.
However, in some cases you’ll find that pricing is actually lower through Aer Lingus AerClub than through British Airways Executive Club. For example, take a one-way off-peak Aer Lingus business class award from San Francisco to Dublin. This costs 62,500 Avios plus $163.30 in taxes and fees through Aer Lingus AerClub.
Meanwhile the same award would cost 90,000 Avios plus $158.70 in taxes and fees through British Airways Executive Club. So while it’s a few dollars cheaper, you pay a lot more Avios.
Sometimes there are just quirks with the two programs that I don’t have an explanation for. For example, take a one-way peak Aer Lingus business class award from Boston to Shannon. This costs 60,001 Avios plus $141.30 in taxes and fees through Aer Lingus AerClub. I’m not sure where that extra Avios comes from, but…
Meanwhile the same award would cost 60,000 Avios plus $1,002.30 in taxes and fees through British Airways Executive Club. I’m not sure why the program decides to impose huge surcharges specifically on this route, but it does.
So as you can see, in just about all situations you’re either just as well off redeeming through Aer Lingus AerClub, or better off. So if you are going to redeem on Aer Lingus, it’s always worth doing a side-by-side comparison of pricing, and then you can move around Avios as needed.
Redeeming Aer Lingus AerClub Avios on partner airlines
If you want to redeem Avios on any airline other than Aer Lingus, you’re better off transferring your Aer Lingus AerClub Avios to another flavor of Avios. Generally speaking:
- British Airways Executive Club Avios are most useful for travel on British Airways, and for travel on most oneworld partner airlines
- Iberia Plus Avios are most useful if you want to redeem for travel on Iberia, as the award pricing and surcharges are as low as they get
- Qatar Airways Privilege Club Avios are useful for the unique airline partnerships that Qatar Airways has with non-oneworld airlines, like JetBlue, RwandAir, Virgin Australia, and more
Bottom line
Aer Lingus AerClub is a program that doesn’t get much attention, even though it partners with some major transferable points currencies. There’s no need to study this program in great detail. What you should understand, though, is that AerClub usually has the best award pricing for travel on Aer Lingus, at least among Avios currencies.
So if you’re thinking of redeeming Avios on Aer Lingus, it’s at least worth checking AerClub pricing, as it might be better than British Airways Executive Club pricing. For all other redemptions, you’re best off using another Avios currency, like British Airways Executive Club, Iberia Plus, or Qatar Airways Privilege Club.
What’s your take on the Aer Lingus AerClub program?
I apologize if this has been already asked and answered, but why I am able to book an award flight on AerLingus.com for CLE-DUB direct but NOT for CLE-DUB-CDG? I know the latter flight exists because I can pay for it, but I can't get any one-stop option to show up as an award flight? As I search further, I don't see any one-stop options available as award flights. Is this a limitation of AerClub:...
I apologize if this has been already asked and answered, but why I am able to book an award flight on AerLingus.com for CLE-DUB direct but NOT for CLE-DUB-CDG? I know the latter flight exists because I can pay for it, but I can't get any one-stop option to show up as an award flight? As I search further, I don't see any one-stop options available as award flights. Is this a limitation of AerClub: you can only book non-stop trans-Atlantic award flights and not one-stop options? If so, are there any workarounds? Thank you in advance.
I had to cancel an Aer Lingus booking and can’t transfer Avios back to BA. The login in page with Avios is broken. Any advice or links?
Does anyone know why Alaska MileagePlan has access to way more award availability on AerLingus than AerClub’s on program or BA? For example, in mid May the LAX-DUB direct flight is bookable using points virtually every day in economy using Alaska miles but the same availability does not show up on AerClubs own website or BA.
I know airlines frequently restrict partner award availability and make more awards available to members booking thru their own...
Does anyone know why Alaska MileagePlan has access to way more award availability on AerLingus than AerClub’s on program or BA? For example, in mid May the LAX-DUB direct flight is bookable using points virtually every day in economy using Alaska miles but the same availability does not show up on AerClubs own website or BA.
I know airlines frequently restrict partner award availability and make more awards available to members booking thru their own program but this is the first instance where I’ve consistently found the opposite to be true.
It's because they charge way more.
If Alaska will pay about 4x as much for the award it's no wonder they'll make more awards available.
Any person who is able to redeem for business class on Aer Lingus has clearly entered into a pact with the devil . . . and should be burnt at the stake.
So you are unable to book a connected award ticket from BOS to Edinburgh? From what I can see I have to book BOS to DUB and then DUB to Edinburgh. Am I missing something?
Daughter going to college in Scotland so trying to figure this out.
If the whole award is economy then it can work. But I have never been able to add an economy connecting segment to the UK on an aer lingus business transatlantic award. I suspect it's aer lingus not being able to handle mixed class awards well and for their connecting flights to the UK, most (all?) flights are only in economy.
I was able to book LIS-DUB-ORD with the long haul in business by calling. This was back in October and I just flew it yesterday. The short haul experience on EI is half a step above RyanAir, but the trans-Atlantic experience was outstanding.
@Ben there were some comments about this on your combining Avios post last week. It seems to be a universal issue. Ever since AerClub shifted from using Avios.com to AerLingus.com for redemptions a little over a week ago, there's been a struggle to combine Avios from BA to EI. The Avios.com sign-in section is gone. AerClub doesn't have a combine option on the EI site. When you try to combine on BA.com and sign in...
@Ben there were some comments about this on your combining Avios post last week. It seems to be a universal issue. Ever since AerClub shifted from using Avios.com to AerLingus.com for redemptions a little over a week ago, there's been a struggle to combine Avios from BA to EI. The Avios.com sign-in section is gone. AerClub doesn't have a combine option on the EI site. When you try to combine on BA.com and sign in it just continually reads "Combine my Avios is not available at the moment. Please try again later." I spoke to BA last week and they said there's no timeline for resolution of the issue.
Do you have any insiders that you can please contact? I have a lot more Avios in my BA Executive Club account that I'd prefer to transfer to EI for the lower surcharges on EI flights, but for now they're stuck.
+1 on this issue. I redeemed for an LAX-DUB flight last week and it was extremely frustrating. No way to use avios.com anymore, and they're no longer providing customer support (you used to be able to chat with an Avios agent on the website and they could push through). I kept getting the error mentioned above on the BA site, and agents at EI were not helpful. I ended up losing the flight I wanted,...
+1 on this issue. I redeemed for an LAX-DUB flight last week and it was extremely frustrating. No way to use avios.com anymore, and they're no longer providing customer support (you used to be able to chat with an Avios agent on the website and they could push through). I kept getting the error mentioned above on the BA site, and agents at EI were not helpful. I ended up losing the flight I wanted, but the next day the error message stopped and I was able to transfer on BA and use on a different flight.
@Darin Thanks! So you eventually got a transfer to happen? Any idea what worked in the end? I continue to get the error no matter what I've tried, including different browsers etc.
I have no idea what made it work. I did read about the information on both sides needing to be identical. It turns out the info on both sides was outdated, but with the same outdated info, so it should have worked. When it didn't, I changed both to my current information and it still didn't work until the next day. But maybe the changes just took a day to be matched? I have no...
I have no idea what made it work. I did read about the information on both sides needing to be identical. It turns out the info on both sides was outdated, but with the same outdated info, so it should have worked. When it didn't, I changed both to my current information and it still didn't work until the next day. But maybe the changes just took a day to be matched? I have no idea. With no customer service to speak of on either side, I guess it's just trial and error. Very frustrating.
I ran into this a month ago with Iberia to British, but after terrible IB customer service, I Googled it and got the answer last week. I fixed it and was able to transfer points.
EVERY field between the accounts must match. Not just name/loyalty numbers, but email, physical address, and phone numbers, too. Basically, there's a very specific query being used to match accounts between programs, and if any of these fields are off,...
I ran into this a month ago with Iberia to British, but after terrible IB customer service, I Googled it and got the answer last week. I fixed it and was able to transfer points.
EVERY field between the accounts must match. Not just name/loyalty numbers, but email, physical address, and phone numbers, too. Basically, there's a very specific query being used to match accounts between programs, and if any of these fields are off, it will not locate your account, and throw a very stupid non-descriptive error.
It turned out my BA account had my physical address entered (a required field), but IB account had physical address blank (not required on IB). I would also double-check that your phone numbers are entered in the correct order if you have multiple entered.
@Derek thanks for the input! I've had this issue before myself. I did double check and everything matches between my BA and EI accounts. I've made never had this issue prior to the transition from Avios.com to AerLingus.com last week and had previously made transfers from BA to EI without a problem. Unfortunately, it seems like more of a systemic issue in this case.