How to use British Airways Avios points for travel on Aer Lingus (and avoid fuel surcharges)

How to use British Airways Avios points for travel on Aer Lingus (and avoid fuel surcharges)

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Reader Mac left the following comment on the “Ask Lucky” page of the blog a couple of days ago:

Hey coins, just reviewed the Avios chart & noticed that they partner w/ EI and flights from BOS-DUB/SNN would only be 25k in Y or 50k in J – which appear to be a fantastic value.

Just checked the full year out and didn’t find a single J seat on using both the UA website or EF. Is there a secret to EI J availability? Also any idea what BA would charge in YQ this redemption even in Y would 25k would be a heck of a deal.

I had always known Aer Lingus was a British Airways partner, though never really thought of exploring the options they might open up. After all, Aer Lingus isn’t exactly a “premium” airline, and at the same time I had assumed they imposed fuel surcharges on award tickets. I was immediately intrigued when I did a “dummy” booking, and noticed the fuel surcharges for a roundtrip ticket were only $27, compared to British Airways’ fuel surcharges for Boston to London, which are $438!


Aer Lingus ‘ $27 in fuel surcharges


British Airways’ $438 in fuel surcharges

So I’m sure you guys can see why redeeming British Airways Avios points for coach travel on British Airways is an awful value. You’d still be stuck paying all of the taxes and fees. The only thing you wouldn’t pay by using Avios points is the $73 each way base fare.

As it turns out Aer Lingus may just be the very best option for transatlantic award travel using British Airways Avios points, since you can fly roundtrip from the US to Europe for a total of 25,000 Avios points plus $146.28 in taxes and fees.

So to walk you through the process, first I had a look at Aer Lingus’ route network. Their destinations in the US are Boston, Chicago, and New York. They serve both Dublin and Shannon out of Boston and New York, while they serve only Dublin out of Chicago.


Aer Lingus route network to US

So based on the distances of the flights, the roundtrip cost in Avios would be as follows:

Boston to Dublin/Shannon

Economy: 25,000 Avios points
Business: 50,000 Avios points

Chicago/New York to Dublin/Shannon

Economy: 40,000 Avios points
Business: 80,000 Avios points

So then I started to look at availability. There are two easy ways to search for availability:

Option 1: ExpertFlyer

When you log into your ExpertFlyer account just click on “Awards & Upgrades” and then enter the information for your preferred route/dates.


ExpertFlyer search page

You can search for up to seven days at once, and search both coach and business at the same time.

After searching for just about all routes for all dates, I’ve determined that Aer Lingus has excellent coach award availability and awful business class award availability. Let me take it a step further. Almost every flight I searched had at least nine coach award seats available, while I didn’t see a single business class award seat.


At least nine coach award seats available

Option 2: Qantas search tool

If you don’t have an ExpertFlyer membership you can also use Qantas’ website by signing up for their frequent flyer program.


Qantas award search page

Searching with them should return similar results:


Coach award availability

Once I found the space I called British Airways and made sure all of this wasn’t too good to be true (I wouldn’t put it past British Airways to slap on a $500 fuel surcharge of their own). Sure enough, the availability they saw matched the availability I found online, and the total cost for a Boston to Dublin roundtrip ticket was 25,000 Avios points plus $146.28 in taxes and fees ($121.28 of which was taxes, and $25 of which was a ticketing fee).

While Aer Lingus coach probably isn’t the best product in the world, it’s the only option I’ve found for using Avios points for transatlantic travel without paying massive fuel surcharges. I’d jump on this in a heartbeat if only I could find some business class award space, as I have a bunch of Avios points I need to use.

Most intriguing for me is that I’ve actually always wanted to visit Ireland, so I may end up doing one of these redemptions even in coach. If anyone finds any business class award space on Aer Lingus, please let me know!

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  1. Conor Guest

    Looks like this loophole no longer exists. I had a similar experience to "Iain" above when trying to book SAN >> DUB. Very unfortunate. Hey PointsGuy, are you aware of any way of avoiding the high fuel surcharge?

  2. Iain Guest

    I just tried booking 4 x coach seats for Bos-Dub-GLA on an Aer Lingus award flight with AVIOS and BA wanted to charge me the usual exorbitant fees - $270 / person plus taxes of $1100

    I guess the savings are no longer available?

  3. ScottD Guest

    I'm having nothing but struggles trying to find a flight online thru Qantas or BA that says it is using Aer Lingus as the carrier. Do I need to look at Aer Lingus' website and see what's available and then call BA and try to book via phone? I really want to book soon for the summer and would love some insight on best approach. Thanks for your help, if applicable :) .

    1. lucky OMAAT

      @ ScottD -- To see the Aer Lingus award availability that BA has access to you need to call BA. Other airlines have access to a different sub-set of their space.

  4. Limborock Guest

    Very strange ..... I've talked to BA numerous times over the last couple of days, and they have NO Avios redemption availability on Air Lingus - even though ExpertFlyer said they had.

    1. lucky OMAAT

      @ Limborock -- The Aer Lingus availability on ExpertFlyer doesn't correlate with what's bookable through British Airways, unfortunately.

  5. YC Guest

    Hi - My girlfriend and I have 80000 avios pts and wanted to fly from SFO to DUB rt (SFO is a new route for Aer Lingus). Is that enough to book for the holidays? Thanks in advance!

    1. lucky OMAAT

      @ YC -- Pending availability, San Francisco to Dublin would cost 50,000 Avios per person roundtrip in economy class.

  6. Ant Guest

    Hi - sorry for the dumb question...from what site would I make a booking using Avios on Aer Lingus?

    Thank you!

    1. lucky OMAAT

      @ Ant -- You have to call British Airways Executive Club to make an Avios booking on Aer Lingus.

  7. Chad Guest

    False alarm...just figured it out. Turns out it is very, very tough to find any award flights during summer BOS-DUB. Just need some advice on how to maybe navigate the new site to find more options. I am clicking on each date, looking for direct flights and then going back to modify search and then put in new dates. Repeat process.

    I think that is b/c the systems has been updated.

  8. Chad Guest

    I have been searching the new Qantas site and am unable to really find any dates in June or July. The new flexible dates system is tough to use. Anyone have advice on how to use the new Qantas system?

  9. lucky OMAAT

    @ Jennifer -- You sure could, though keep in mind British Airways has a distance based award chart, so you pay on a per segment basis. One way Chicago to Dublin costs you 20,000 Avios in coach or 40,000 Avios in business class. Then it would be 4,500 Avios in coach from Dublin to London.

  10. Jennifer Guest

    Lucky, if I were to want to go ORD-LHR in business using Aer Lingus, would I be able to do that using Avios too? I know we would have to connect in Dublin but that's fine. Any idea of how many Avios this would cost? Thanks.

  11. Keith Guest

    Seems to be loads of Business Class availability, despite it showing up as zero on EF and elsewhere.

    Just booked return tickets in November, and my first choice dates were easily available straight away. 50k points + $157 tax.

  12. lucky OMAAT

    @ Crystal -- That's because the calculator only shows pricing for partners that can be booked online. In this case they're pricing Boston to Dublin via London, which is 20,000 Avios plus 4,500 Avios. If you book by phone on Aer Lingus the rates would be as described above.

  13. Crystal Guest

    I'm confused- when I looked up BOS-DUB on the avios calculator, it said 24,500 pts PER WAY. Where are you finding that it's 25,000 avios ROUND TRIP?? Is this an outdated post and avios have gone up by double since then?? 25,000 avios is an awesome deal for round trip, but not so awesome for a one way trip.

  14. sri Guest

    Best option to travel to chicago to italy and back using british airways avios points.
    Have 250 000 points for 4 adults + 2 kids. Delta 60K, american airlines 60K, what is our option for next June-july 2012

  15. ivk5 Guest

    Just booked my DUB-BOS for 12.5K avios + $87 taxes/fees. I've been watching my date for a while hoping business would open up, finally gave up and booked economy. It's still T9 for both flights on 17 Aug, if anyone else wants to join me :D

    @lucky - thanks for publicizing this.

  16. lucky OMAAT

    @ Jon H -- I booked one recently for a client. I recommend hanging up and calling again.

  17. Jon H Guest

    I just tried calling BAEC several times. They said they couldn't book non-stop redemptions with EI, only redemptions via LHR with a BA code and inevitably (I assume) BA fuel surcharges. Any recent success at redeeming non-stop?

  18. Neha Guest

    Thanks for the post. Question, using Qantas, how do you figure out how much avios points and fees the flight will be? The site only shows the amount of qantas points that it will cost.

  19. Jo_F Guest

    So....how is it that on the EI website BOS-DUB-BOS is around $100 in taxes, but if I try to book DUB-BOS-DUB the taxes jump to 210 euro (about $250)? The BOS-DUB leg taxes are $20 when booked alone, but 83 euro ($100) when booked as part of a return trip from DUB. Is there a way around this or are we Irish just getting ripped off again?

  20. Asen Guest

    The result of this discovery is that it is extremely difficult to get award seats on EI now :( even in economy

  21. Eoin Kilkenny Guest

    One other minor benefit is that you can clear US immigration and customs in DUB or SNN making it generally quicker and more pleasent experience than doing it at the end of a long flight in the US. Makes connecting much easier as you time flights better. Is this the only country that has this?

    EI makes connecting in DUB pretty easy and they fly to most major destinations in Europe. New terminal in DUB...

    One other minor benefit is that you can clear US immigration and customs in DUB or SNN making it generally quicker and more pleasent experience than doing it at the end of a long flight in the US. Makes connecting much easier as you time flights better. Is this the only country that has this?

    EI makes connecting in DUB pretty easy and they fly to most major destinations in Europe. New terminal in DUB is nice too. Don't know on award travel how long you can spend in Ireland before taking your connecting flight but the airport in a 20 min cab ride to the city centre if you want to take a look around.

    EoinK

  22. Jerry Guest

    EI business class now widely available. Just called BA to book one during Thanksgiving. BOS-DUB, 25K Avios one-way, $55 tax+fee

  23. Ian New Member

    found biz class space on EI from BOS-DUB and JFK-DUB on May 25 using united.com...haven't verified with any other tools however.

  24. ORD-TGU New Member

    This kind of post is in essence what makes your blog outshine way past other bloggers. Not only is it quality detailed reporting, you actually take the time to go on expert flyer, ITA, Qantas and also call the airline.

    There has been a thread on FT about this specific topic for a while, I have been stalking this redemption, had some questions and no one had written anywhere near the amount of useful...

    This kind of post is in essence what makes your blog outshine way past other bloggers. Not only is it quality detailed reporting, you actually take the time to go on expert flyer, ITA, Qantas and also call the airline.

    There has been a thread on FT about this specific topic for a while, I have been stalking this redemption, had some questions and no one had written anywhere near the amount of useful info that you have done.

    Keep on the great work; I don’t mind sending CC referrals your way. Ignore the few sorrowful people who criticize or send negative vibes

  25. lucky OMAAT

    @ Matthew -- Hmmm, the space shows on United's website, but not on Qantas' website or ExpertFlyer. I suspect it's "phantom" availability. Great find either way!

  26. hobo13 Guest

    It's a little amusing to see all the experts come out of the woodwork saying they knew all about this little loophole. Thanks for posting it Lucky!

  27. Lee Guest

    Since I speculated on this issue yesterday, I thought I would pass along a post from FlyerTalk that seems to confirm the 50K business redemption from Boston to Dublin/Shannon: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/17944446-post15.html. Doesn't cure the problem of availability, which is also mentioned in that thread, but it's good to know that a 50K redemption for business from Boston is possible although perhaps not so easy to book.

  28. gpapadop Guest

    Ben, take this to the next level!

    What are our options from DUB to other Europe destinations? With miles or not? We know your feelings (well deserved) about Ryan Air (am I going to be banned from typing Ryan Air now:-) )but maybe we can use them to fly somewhere else in Europe if the price is right? Do they fly out of DUB or some off the wall run down airport? Can we get...

    Ben, take this to the next level!

    What are our options from DUB to other Europe destinations? With miles or not? We know your feelings (well deserved) about Ryan Air (am I going to be banned from typing Ryan Air now:-) )but maybe we can use them to fly somewhere else in Europe if the price is right? Do they fly out of DUB or some off the wall run down airport? Can we get to ATH or IST from DUB?

    And you have earned my next credit card referral app dude! Original valuable content, that is what is about. I forgive your plastering us with them affiliate links lately too...this post made up for it:-)

  29. amitdelia Guest

    @frank: go watch the travel channel or go back to your poor wife you call a nagster and try not to use profanity -- it's not really welcomed within the community. 99% of us will not travel as much as Lucky but through his blog we are able to capitalize it when we do. The time to make the "trip reports" I'm sure is pretty daunting but I'm sure he will try to accomadate you since you're a paid subscriber and all.

    Whatever happened to the word "please."

  30. Bacc Guest

    Using miles is a great way to travel. Thanks for the great info Bos-Dub. If you want to travel to the rest of Europe cheaply, consider Ryanair. It isn't miles but it's often dirt cheap. I love my miles but I'll use Ryanair and Easyjet in Europe and AirAsia for short flights in Asia. You have to limit your baggage but that's a small price to pay.

  31. Katherine Guest

    I had figured this out last November and couldn't wait for the change to Avios. I called on the first day and confirmed that the 25,000 miles was correct. In January, I booked 8 people BOS-DUB and 2 people BOS-SHN. I found positioning flights for $190 and 8 of us will add on DUB-EDI for $125.

    Our ai price per ticket is $451 + 25,000 miles. We will be making a tour of the Raddisson's...

    I had figured this out last November and couldn't wait for the change to Avios. I called on the first day and confirmed that the 25,000 miles was correct. In January, I booked 8 people BOS-DUB and 2 people BOS-SHN. I found positioning flights for $190 and 8 of us will add on DUB-EDI for $125.

    Our ai price per ticket is $451 + 25,000 miles. We will be making a tour of the Raddisson's in Irealand and will be able to spend 2 weeks there.

    We debated about flying out MCO-DUB and returning to BOS, but MCO is limited and we decided that saving the points will help with our next trip.

    One note - I was playing around with availability of flight from DUB to any other place in Europe and I never found availability. Could be because it is the summer when we are going.

    Now, I might need to get a couple people over to Europe next year using this method - please don't book all of the award tickets!

  32. Frank Guest

    Because however obnoxious I and others may find you, we may never have the travel opportunities you have today. Many of us work for a living and have to come home to a nagging wife and crying babies. It has its rewards, sure, but it is nice to see a firsthand account of traveling the world. Notice that the first two comments that you quoted involve my recommending you appreciate more the opportunities you have, not having had them myself.

  33. Gene Diamond

    @Lucky and his "buddy" Frank -- OMG ROFL

  34. lucky OMAAT

    @ Frank -- Your last three comments on my trip report are as follows:

    “You complain far too much for a 25-year-old or however young you are. These “rude” attendants are twice your age and you are complaining that you have to ask them for a refill while you lay in bed en route to exotic destinations. Stop and smell the roses, fellow.”

    “Those of you who are criticizing me: I read the blog because...

    @ Frank -- Your last three comments on my trip report are as follows:

    “You complain far too much for a 25-year-old or however young you are. These “rude” attendants are twice your age and you are complaining that you have to ask them for a refill while you lay in bed en route to exotic destinations. Stop and smell the roses, fellow.”

    “Those of you who are criticizing me: I read the blog because I enjoy seeing pictures and descriptions of Lucky’s travels. It is true that I may be slightly “jealous” seeing as how I have worked the vast majority of my life – first in the military and then in consulting. Yet, I have never had such opportunities. This makes me critical of Lucky’s attitude towards his travels.”

    “Lucky, none of us want to hear about your genital area. If you want to take jaunts across the planet with another male and stay in the same bed and do some hanky-panky that is none of our business. Just don’t turn a travel blog into a porno.”

    You want to read the rest of it why again?

  35. Frank Guest

    Are you going to continue your fucking trip report soon?

  36. James Guest

    Something to point out to New Yorkers: You actually save a few miles on this route by connecting through BOS rather than taking the direct JFK-DUB/SNN flight. JFK-BOS is 9,000 r/t; BOS-DUB/SNN is 25,000 r/t, totaling 34,000. JFK-DUB/SNN direct is 40,000 r/t. Another one of those head scratchers! It's a shame that the only short-haul route AA operates to BOS is ex-JFK, so no luck for the rest of us in the Northeast/Mid-Atlantic.

  37. lucky OMAAT

    @ atxtravel -- Unfortunately to the best of my knowledge they've never had a chart for Aer Lingus redemptions.

    @ ikonos -- I don't believe that's the case. Instead I think it's because back in the day they could advertise based on the base fares as opposed to all-in fares. Fuel surcharges used to be reasonable and actually be what the name suggests -- a surcharge for when the price of oil skyrocketed. Now it's...

    @ atxtravel -- Unfortunately to the best of my knowledge they've never had a chart for Aer Lingus redemptions.

    @ ikonos -- I don't believe that's the case. Instead I think it's because back in the day they could advertise based on the base fares as opposed to all-in fares. Fuel surcharges used to be reasonable and actually be what the name suggests -- a surcharge for when the price of oil skyrocketed. Now it's no longer a "surcharge" but rather breaking down the various components of a fare. Of course it's gotten totally out of hand.

  38. ikonos Guest

    @lucky could it be the case that airlines have to pay taxes on base fare but not on fuel surcharges? Could that explain low base fares and high surcharges?

  39. atxtravel Guest

    Mac, thanks for update. I never saw a link anywhere to your google docs, but I know what chart you're talking about.

    I thought maybe there's ab official AerLingus avios redemption chart somewhere on BAs website.

  40. Zach @ The Travel Abstract Guest

    Great post. I was saving this for my Guide to Avios Series finale.

    I guess I should have known somebody else would have figured this out.

    Great way to avoid the inflated taxes/fees but like you said BA product is a step above, so you get what you pay for.

  41. lucky OMAAT

    @ Rich -- They've always had fuel surcharges, though they're worse than ever before. I assume it has more to do with the cost of fuel and the fact that they can get away with it, since US consumers are only a small percentage of their customer base.

  42. Rich Gold

    Are fuel charges really just fees to help mitigate the cost of all those free miles people in the US get from credit card offers? Did they really have these high fees prior to the large credit card offers?

    Thanks

  43. Mac New Member

    @ATXTRAVEL

    I've got an Avios chart in my google docs that I created. Its similar to the one Iberia publishes.

  44. atxtravel Guest

    @lucky
    Thanks, I'm familiar with the general workings of the calculator, but since Aer Lingus isn't a partner, the calculator doesn't work for Boston - Dublin flights.

    I was referring to the quote: "...just reviewed the Avios chart & noticed that they partner w/ EI and flights from BOS-DUB/SNN would only be 25k in Y or 50k in J..."

    How did that poster see the required miles in the first place? Did I miss...

    @lucky
    Thanks, I'm familiar with the general workings of the calculator, but since Aer Lingus isn't a partner, the calculator doesn't work for Boston - Dublin flights.

    I was referring to the quote: "...just reviewed the Avios chart & noticed that they partner w/ EI and flights from BOS-DUB/SNN would only be 25k in Y or 50k in J..."

    How did that poster see the required miles in the first place? Did I miss something or he's deducing based on distance and cost of OneWorld awards.

  45. ikonos Guest

    eponymous - I can actually pay 25K delta miles to fly to ANC. Avios would cost 20K but I should save them for HI trips and burn Delta when possible.

  46. lucky OMAAT

    @ ikonos -- Unfortunately if you don't want to pay fuel surcharges there aren't any options for transatlantic travel out of Seattle. Otherwise you can use the Avios points for travel to South America or the Caribbean without paying fuel surcharges.

  47. eponymous_coward Guest

    ikonos: AS flights to Alaska in coach. SEA-JNU is 909 miles (so 7500 Avios).

  48. ikonos Guest

    good post lucky. Are there any better values for Avios from SEA other than AS flights to HI?

  49. lucky OMAAT

    @ Lee -- Ultimately it seems to be a moot point given that they virtually never release business class award space, but I'd be willing to bet just about anything that they consider this to be a business class product. The only products they consider first class are those that are marketed and coded as first class, and this is neither as far as I can tell.

  50. Lee Guest

    The economy redemption from Boston looks to be a great value, owing to the good fortune of Boston being 2993 miles from Dublin, just inside the 3000-mile cutoff for redemptions going from 12.5K to 20K Avios.

    I'm not certain of the business class redemption, however. As it does on domestic flights, BA may consider something one airline calls "business class" as first class for redemption purposes, potentially making the Avios required 75K from Boston and...

    The economy redemption from Boston looks to be a great value, owing to the good fortune of Boston being 2993 miles from Dublin, just inside the 3000-mile cutoff for redemptions going from 12.5K to 20K Avios.

    I'm not certain of the business class redemption, however. As it does on domestic flights, BA may consider something one airline calls "business class" as first class for redemption purposes, potentially making the Avios required 75K from Boston and 120K out of New York and Chicago. Aer Lingus flies a two-class plane (business class is a relatively competitive product, by the way), so that's the reason for my concern. Outside of a direct conversation with a BA rep, you might be able to confirm this in ExpertFlyer by checking for first-class redemptions on Aer Lingus--it might help explain why you couldn't find any business class redemptions, as well.

    Hope I'm wrong. I'd love the 50K redemption to be true as that would fit in well for a trip I have planned to Ireland in the summer of 2013!

  51. lucky OMAAT

    @ atxtravel -- BA doesn't have an award chart but instead only has a mileage calculator that displays how much awards are for a given route. However, it has to be a OneWorld airline for the website to display the cost. In this instance, awards of under 6,000 miles roundtrip price out at 25,000 Avios points.

  52. atxtravel Guest

    Where is this award chart on BA's website that shows the redemption rate for AerLingus? If anyone has a link please post. Thanks.

  53. lucky OMAAT

    @ hobo13 -- Yeah, definitely not as good as transatlantic availability, sadly.

  54. lucky OMAAT

    @ Erik -- In addition to what Mac said, it's worth keeping in mind that when paying with Avios you actually pay triple points for domestic flights in first class, and not double points. It's ridiculous, but since the flights are coded as first class they charge the first class price (3x) and not business class price (2x).

    That being said, it can end up being cheaper if the domestic flights are in coach. The...

    @ Erik -- In addition to what Mac said, it's worth keeping in mind that when paying with Avios you actually pay triple points for domestic flights in first class, and not double points. It's ridiculous, but since the flights are coded as first class they charge the first class price (3x) and not business class price (2x).

    That being said, it can end up being cheaper if the domestic flights are in coach. The only reason to avoid it would be for the extra connections involved.

  55. lucky OMAAT

    @ michael -- Ultimately you'll want to compare the seatmap for the flight you're looking at on SeatGuru to make sure the seating configuration matches the new one. For what it's worth, all 767s and 747s have the new first class, while about half of the 777s do. So if you can stick to a 767 or 747 you'd be best off.

    For British Airways new first, unfortunately there's no guarantee as to which product...

    @ michael -- Ultimately you'll want to compare the seatmap for the flight you're looking at on SeatGuru to make sure the seating configuration matches the new one. For what it's worth, all 767s and 747s have the new first class, while about half of the 777s do. So if you can stick to a 767 or 747 you'd be best off.

    For British Airways new first, unfortunately there's no guarantee as to which product it will be, since they rotate them fairly randomly. That being said, a majority of their fleet is now reconfigured, so you have a great chance.

    A one-way ticket from LAX to SFO would cost 4,500 Avios, so I'd say it's a decent use of points. Ultimately there are better uses (like shorthaul markets where tickets are routinely $200+ one-way), but two cents per point is a respectable redemption for sure.

    Let me know if you have any other questions!

  56. Mac New Member

    Sorry - wrong #s in last comment!

    @ Eric iwould be the same 40k/80k from Chicago for either EI non-stop or the one-stop to BOS on AA. Good news is at least it gives more availability options for the same price.

  57. hobo13 Guest

    Seems like intra-Europe availability on EI is worse than TATL..... weird. Or is it just the dates / cities I'm looking at?

  58. fosij Guest

    @Erik
    That's one way.
    Lucky means 40k/80k RT.

  59. Mac New Member

    @ Erik you could do this:

    Chicago
    ORD-BOS (coach 7,500) – (business 15,000)
    BOS-DUB (coach 25,000) – (business 50,000)
    Total = Coach – 32,000 or Business – 65,000

  60. BothofUs2 Guest

    Tremendous post, thank you for the great info! Especially helpful for me and the family as we try to go TATL every couple years to visit family in Germany. Now we have to find a cheap and practical way to travel Dublin-mainland Europe.

  61. Erik Guest

    Great find! You mention that it would cost 40,000 coach or 80,000 biz to fly from Chicago or New York, but wouldn't it make more sense to book this:

    Chicago

    ORD-JFK (coach 7,500) - (business 15,000)
    JFK-BOS (coach 4,500) - (business 9,000)
    BOS-DUB (coach 25,000) - (business 50,000)
    Total = Coach - 37,000 or Business - 74,000

    or

    New York

    JFK-BOS (coach 4,500) - (business 9,000)
    BOS-DUB (coach 25,000) - (business...

    Great find! You mention that it would cost 40,000 coach or 80,000 biz to fly from Chicago or New York, but wouldn't it make more sense to book this:

    Chicago

    ORD-JFK (coach 7,500) - (business 15,000)
    JFK-BOS (coach 4,500) - (business 9,000)
    BOS-DUB (coach 25,000) - (business 50,000)
    Total = Coach - 37,000 or Business - 74,000

    or

    New York

    JFK-BOS (coach 4,500) - (business 9,000)
    BOS-DUB (coach 25,000) - (business 50,000)
    Total = Coach 29,500 or Business 59,000

    Am I missing something?

  62. michael Guest

    This is the BEST post of the year, so far. Great info, Lucky.

    Two more questions 1) re: United NEW FIRST. How do you know you are actually flying on NEW FIRST? Is there a site with info? Same question about BA "new" first; and 2) Since LAX-SFO fares are routinely $90 with taxes one way, are Avios a good use of redemption on AA?

  63. lucky OMAAT

    @ Gene -- Apprently I'm a total dud. Whoops, good catch.

  64. Gene Diamond

    @Ben -- I found tons of EI coach availability from JFK/ORD/BOS to DUB/SNN using united.com.

  65. Mac New Member

    FYI there's also an MCO-DUB route.

  66. lucky OMAAT

    @ Mac -- Don't get greedy. Diet Coke with lime and hit nuts, and we'll call it even. ;)

    Just kidding, dinner is on me anytime.

    @ James -- Now they only fly Washington to Madrid on the United code share.

  67. lucky OMAAT

    @ Everett -- You could use United miles for Washington to Madrid, though it would be billed at United's award rates of 30,000 miles in coach or 50,000 miles in business, each way.

  68. The Deal Mommy Guest

    @Everett: yes, but since it's codeshare with united it would probably price out at United's 60/100k RT.

  69. Mac New Member

    Wow - Coins 37 comments and counting looks like you owe me a steak dinner the next time you're in the Bay Area!

    Glad people found some value out of Avios w/o having to fork out massive $ for YQ.

    Seriously Lucky - House of Prime Rib courtesy of Chase~!

  70. James Guest

    Lucky, doesn't Aer Lingus fly out of Dulles as well? I flew IAD - SNN with them a couple years back. I

  71. Everett Guest

    @Del @Lucky so then is the IAD --> Madrid flight available with United points? So instead of Avios, I could use 25k (or w/e it is) United miles through Aer Lingus to book the flight? As both BA and UA are Chase UR partners, I'm sitting on 90k UR points, so I could go either way. Am I reading this right?

  72. lucky OMAAT

    @ Gene -- Keep in mind that united.com only shows award space for the Washington to Madrid route, for which you can't redeem Avios points.

  73. Gene Diamond

    @Del -- Thanks for the reminder that united.com can search for EI space. I just searched the next 11 months on each EI route, and found zero business class seats. Boo!

  74. LarryInNYC Guest

    Definitely one of the most interesting and rewarding posts I've read in a while. Thanks for the ideas.

  75. Del Guest

    Ah I see, thanks for the FYI plenty of space using UA miles though doubtful that would be a good use of them.

  76. Gene Diamond

    @Ben -- Yes, but you have to pay additional Avios for connecting flights other than UK "domestic flights". They get you one way or the other...

    Hopefully, the bmi acquisition will result in some new BA connecting domestic flights to Scotland!

  77. lucky OMAAT

    @ jo140142 -- Unfortunately they can't be searched or booked on ba.com. They have to be booked over the phone. Sorry.

    @ Asen -- Thanks!

  78. Asen Guest

    Wow.. this is a great post. One of the most helpful ones in a long time!

  79. jo140142 Guest

    awesome find, lucky! can you find these reward tickets on the british airways website in order to avoid phone ticketing fees? can you also do avios + cash bookings for these to even lower the amount of avios required?

  80. lucky OMAAT

    @ Del -- While it is a joint venture and they have a profit sharing agreement, the space doesn't come up for me through ExpertFlyer or the Qantas tool. So while Aer Lingus members may be able to book it, BA members can't.

  81. Del Guest

    I thought it was just a code share?

  82. lucky OMAAT

    @ Gene -- The key is to avoid terminating in countries that charge high air transport taxes, like the UK, Germany, and France. Flying anywhere else should knock off anywhere from $100-300 in taxes/fees.

  83. lucky OMAAT

    @ Maury -- Correct, it can't be booked on ba.com.

  84. Gene Diamond

    @Ben -- That's better than nothing, and Barcelona is on my list of places to go! It seems that changing airports between LHR and LGW/LCY when connecting in London can knock off a couple hundred bucks in taxes & fees. It seems to work on stopovers, too, so it would not be a big inconvenience.

  85. Maury Guest

    Now let me get this straight. This can only be done over the phoe with BA, right?

  86. lucky OMAAT

    @ Del @ The Deal Mommy -- Unfortunately that flight is marketed by United, and therefore you can't redeem British Airways miles for it.

  87. Del Guest

    @ Everett They fly to Spain from Washington Dulles (IAD)

  88. Del Guest

    Try IAD-MAD its a route I spose most people dont think about when they think EI. There is usually good amount of C class available May 16th for example.

    I know its not Ireland but least it gets you over the pond!

  89. lucky OMAAT

    @ michael -- If the points are indeed burning a whole in your pocket (meaning you don't mind spending them all at once), I'd probably spend them on United's new first class out of LA or SF. Then you can have two stopovers in Europe in addition to your destination. While you might have to pay fuel surcharges for the short flights, they're minimal compared to the cost of fuel surcharges for a transatlantic flight....

    @ michael -- If the points are indeed burning a whole in your pocket (meaning you don't mind spending them all at once), I'd probably spend them on United's new first class out of LA or SF. Then you can have two stopovers in Europe in addition to your destination. While you might have to pay fuel surcharges for the short flights, they're minimal compared to the cost of fuel surcharges for a transatlantic flight. So I might do something like LAX-LHR(stopover)-MUC(destination)-BRU(stopover)-ORD-LAX. Of course you can replace those cities with any that you'd like, and it should still work. But given the fuel surcharges that would otherwise be imposed, I'd say that's the best value.

  90. michael Guest

    Lucky, if you have 125K Aeroplane miles burning a hole in your pocket, and you want to go to europe from LA, what's the best seat/plane for use, including stopovers, if, say you want to enjoy London or Berlin or Munich on your way to Paris?

  91. lucky OMAAT

    @ Everett -- They only fly nonstop from the US to Ireland, though they have connecting flights to the rest of Europe. Out of SFO it's probably tough to turn this into a great deal, unless you can find a cheap revenue ticket to Boston, and then from there you could get to Ireland for 25,000 Avios points, or to the rest of the mainland for another ~15,000 points roundtrip. That's still only ~40,000 Avios...

    @ Everett -- They only fly nonstop from the US to Ireland, though they have connecting flights to the rest of Europe. Out of SFO it's probably tough to turn this into a great deal, unless you can find a cheap revenue ticket to Boston, and then from there you could get to Ireland for 25,000 Avios points, or to the rest of the mainland for another ~15,000 points roundtrip. That's still only ~40,000 Avios points roundtrip between Boston and just about anywhere in Europe, with virtually no fuel surcharges.

  92. lucky OMAAT

    @ Ann -- Qantas would charge a different number of points, so you would go by the number of points BA requires (which are outlined above). As far as the fuel surcharges go on Aer Lingus, as you can see above, they're minimal. You could make a "dummy" revenue booking and see what the fees are above the base fare, and that's also what BA should charge.

    BA only charges you a phone ticketing fee...

    @ Ann -- Qantas would charge a different number of points, so you would go by the number of points BA requires (which are outlined above). As far as the fuel surcharges go on Aer Lingus, as you can see above, they're minimal. You could make a "dummy" revenue booking and see what the fees are above the base fare, and that's also what BA should charge.

    BA only charges you a phone ticketing fee if you make the reservation over the phone. If you don't make a reservation by phone, they don't charge you.

  93. Everett Guest

    This is tremendous news! I'm sittin on a bunch of Avios points from Amex and paired with the super cheap domestic US flights British Airways is starting to move up as my most valuable points. Does Aer Lingus fly from the US to anywhere else but Ireland? Or to get into the actual mainland like Italy or Germany and back would I need to drop another 9k Avios? And I'm based in Frisco, so what...

    This is tremendous news! I'm sittin on a bunch of Avios points from Amex and paired with the super cheap domestic US flights British Airways is starting to move up as my most valuable points. Does Aer Lingus fly from the US to anywhere else but Ireland? Or to get into the actual mainland like Italy or Germany and back would I need to drop another 9k Avios? And I'm based in Frisco, so what do you think is my cheapest option in points to get to Boston (more Avios?) Too bad we didn't know this a month ago. I coulda seemed like such a baller flying to Ireland for a weekend just to party for St. Paddys day.

  94. Ann Guest

    I am a complete novice at this- sorry if this is obvious; but do we go by the Qantas points calculated on the Qantas site to determine the number of Avios points we would be using, or would we go by BA's points? Is there a way to determine fuel costs/fees other than by calling? If we call do they charge a fee even if we don't book a flight? Thanks for all of the help, I enjoy your blog!

  95. lucky OMAAT

    @ Gene -- Substantially less? No. But I see Boston to Barcelona via London both ways for $954.92 in taxes/fees. Does that count? :D

  96. Gene Diamond

    Nice post, Ben. Too bad about no business class. :-(

    Are there ANY routes from US where you can use the Chase BOGO for business or first class, and pay taxes & fees less than $1k per person?

  97. lucky OMAAT

    @ RJ -- That's the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me. Thanks. :D

    @ Star Unimpressed -- To avoid fuel surcharges you'll want to stick to United/US Airways for transatlantic travel using Aeroplan miles. And while neither are my favorite airlines, they do have a majority of their fleet equipped with fully flat bed products, so aren't a half bad option.

  98. Star Unimpressed Guest

    Any updated suggestions on the best transatlantic product for use with Aeroplan points, in terms of minimizing fuel charges? United?

  99. lucky OMAAT

    @ Tim -- Sorry, it was in fact 40K/80K. Combo of bad copy/paste job and typo on my part.

  100. RJ Guest

    Lucky, this is the best post i've seen all year! Nice investigative work.

    And unlike the rest of the bloggers out there, trying to write about BA's AVIOS usage possibilities in hope that they get a referral from the BA affiliate links, you stick to the basics of providing value for your readers.

    I thank you! This is great!

  101. Tim Guest

    When I use the Avios calculator on the BA website, it says that a ONE-WAY flight ORD-DUB is 20,000 Avios, so wouldn't that be 40,000 Avios roundtrip, not 20,000? Still a good deal, though, obviously.

  102. lucky OMAAT

    @ Alex -- Crap, typo on my part. Sorry!

  103. Jimmy Guest

    Wow, 25k for a round-trip sounds too good to be true! Thanks, Ben!

  104. Alex Guest

    Isn't ORD-DUB 40k/80k avios roundtrip since it's in the 3000-4000 mile one way distance band?

  105. lucky OMAAT

    @ Tim -- Happy to hear you find it helpful. Under British Airways' new program they charge for awards on a per segment basis. So you could add on a segment from Cleveland to Chicago, though it would cost an additional 4,500 miles per direction for coach.

    Let me know if you have any other questions!

  106. singtx Guest

    Great read! Thanks for the tip.

  107. Tim Guest

    This is such a helpful post!

    Can an AA segment be added onto an award reservation on Are Lingus to get to one of their gateway cities (i.e. CLE-ORD)?

  108. lucky OMAAT

    @ James -- If you're in Boston it sure could!

  109. James Guest

    So this means my Chase Sapphire signup could take me and my wife to Europe? Nice work Mac and Lucky!

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Conor Guest

Looks like this loophole no longer exists. I had a similar experience to "Iain" above when trying to book SAN >> DUB. Very unfortunate. Hey PointsGuy, are you aware of any way of avoiding the high fuel surcharge?

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Iain Guest

I just tried booking 4 x coach seats for Bos-Dub-GLA on an Aer Lingus award flight with AVIOS and BA wanted to charge me the usual exorbitant fees - $270 / person plus taxes of $1100 I guess the savings are no longer available?

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lucky OMAAT

@ ScottD -- To see the Aer Lingus award availability that BA has access to you need to call BA. Other airlines have access to a different sub-set of their space.

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