The International Airline Group (IAG) is a diversified aviation company. Iberia and British Airways are positioned as full-service carriers, Vueling / LEVEL as low-cost airlines … and then there’s Aer Lingus somewhere in between. The Irish airline participates, e.g. in the joint venture with Finnair & American, but is not a member of the Oneworld alliance.
The position within the frequent flyer program was therefore somewhat peculiar. While Avios (= award miles) could be earned even with EI flight numbers, not much more was possible. This has now changed. Since April 1, 2024, the British Airways Executive Club now also credits Tier Points for flights with Aer Lingus. This is particularly significant for business flights.
A few days ago, the website for earning Avios & Tier Points was revised in this regard. Now it says about Aer Lingus:
Collect Tier Points? Yes – effective from 1 April 2024 (discount economy (World Traveller) flights may earn fewer Tier Points depending on the fare purchased).
Collecting Avios and Tier Points on flights – BA.com
Tier Points were previously only available when booked under a BA flight number. An alternative was and remains to credit at the Alaska Mileage Plan.
Information on the BA website is still contradictory
Unfortunately, it is currently not clear how many Avios and Tier Points you’ll actually get. The information on the BA website is currently quite contradictory. According to the following table, 25% of the distance should be credited as Avios, even in booking class A (the cheapest within Europe):
However, when entering a sample connection into the mileage calculator, it looks different. Booking class A is no longer mentioned, and R is assigned to economy class instead of business class:
However, none of this adds up. The distance from Berlin to Dublin is 816 miles one way. So, the calculator spits out 50% Avios for classes L, S, R, and W. In addition, R is assigned to economy class there, not business class.
Therefore, we currently also do not know whether you’ll get Tier Points for flights in booking class A or not. If so, it wouldn’t be unattractive. A round trip to Ireland regularly costs around €70.
In principle, the crediting of Tier Points should follow the usual scheme:
- Economy class:
- Distance up to 1,999 miles: 5 to 20 Tier Points
- Distance > 2,000 miles: 20 to 70 Tier Points
- Business class:
- Distance up to 1,999 miles: 40 Tier Points
- Distance > 2,000 miles: 140 Tier Points
Conclusion
There have been several good offers from Aer Lingus lately. Recently, e.g., it was possible to fly to the USA and back in business class for €1,059. These offers are likely to become even more attractive in the future, as they bring a frequent flyer status much closer. This would result in 300 Tier Points for a round trip (with a feeder flight in economy).
However, there are still uncertainties regarding the actual crediting of Avios and Tier Points. Hopefully, these can be resolved soon.
Translated by Ditmar
Cover Picture: Foto von John McArthur auf Unsplash