pav

Would those complaining people not be the majority of EI members?
Like airline like FFP.

ROKNA

Aer Lingus have handled the transition really badly, badly timed communication which was vague and unhelpful

Reality is GC was a mess, there was not difference between Gold, Prestige and Elite really unless you flew TA (and lets face it if you are Elite you are in J so makes little difference). Points rarely credited automatically and unless you knew the inside information about how things worked in Dublin seat allocation wasn't part of the deal either.

It was revenue based, you got zero for anything in the bottom 5 fare buckets, you could get 0 points on a 70 euro ticket, 150 on 75 euro and 150 on 500 euro on EU flights. So not exactly a good way of doing business.


So what we have
Status on Nov 29 is based on 12 months travel mid Oct 15 to mid Oct 16
On 29 Nov you get your status based on that 12 months which will be valid until your normal GC expiry date
You get tier points for the X months in the past (so you get the last 6 months if you have 6 left, 4 if 8 etc)

So tomorrow if you log in and see year to date of 301 or 601 then you are sorted at your current level and should renew for 12 more months beyond your existing GC date

irishguy28

You are just being coy - right?

Points were awarded solely on the basis of distance. And in Economy Class, there were only 3 bands - these being UK/Europe/North America. In business, there was just one band (OK, there were also additional bonus points of differing values awarded depending on the distance of the flight, but these bonus points had no tier advancement capability).

In future, the number of Avios will be determined by the cost of the ticket. The number of tier credits will also be more finely differentiated.

Dambus

Has this been confirmed? There doesn't appear to be anything in the comms I have seen in-line with this approach?

[Edited - example deleted - misread calander...]

FionaClaire

Sorry if this has been asked before. I have 4000 Gold Circle Points but am green tier (as the points were earned in previous years when I flew more). I am now a green member of Aer Club with no tier credits. Do I just loose all those 4000 points? Can I spend them today before the transfer over? Anything apart from a flight I could use them on?
I can't get through to Aer Lingus to check. Thanks!

Dambus

Sorry - was just being sarcastic. When both the IT and an EI PR rep go on at length about a fictional mileage based FF programme it makes me sigh.

irishguy28

When the club launches (tomorrow) you should see that your old balance has been converted into a new balance of Avios and Tier Credits. How many, exactly, I don't know.

But I may be wrong.

FionaClaire

Thanks a lot Irish Guy.
I got through to them and yes it looks like I will loose the points - I guess I couldn't spend them at the moment anyway but was hoping to get status back and use them. I will get a standard bonus of 250 Welcome Avios and some tier credits.

irishguy28

That's the one huge plus about the new scheme - even if you don't have status, you will be able to use your Avios balance.

And there are far more ways to earn Avios than there were ways to earn GC points.

Danash

In Ireland Avios are not as popular as you think. In the UK lots of supermarkets and other retailer use them but even Tesco in Ireland don't offer them like they do in the UK.

Apart from BA flights I would be hard pressed to find and use an Avios distributor in my world.

irishguy28

I know.

But that is likely to change once Avios becomes the currency of Aer Lingus' programme.

And even if nothing changes regarding Irish supermarkets, what I wrote is true. Avios collected on flights operated by Meridiana, Flybe, Vueling, Iberia, and any oneworld member airline will, from tomorrow, be fully transferable into an Aer Club account and can be used in any way allowed by Aer Club.

(The same is true for Gold Circle members...their new Avios balance can be transferred out to any other Avios programme, and therefore spent on any oneworld airline)

Tomorrow will be the first time in several years that I can actually make a redemption on Aer Lingus from within Aer Lingus' own programme, and the first time ever (thanks to my existing Avios balances in other programmes) that I will actually have a (potential) balance within Aer Lingus' own programme to actually make any sort of meaningful redemption possible.

BrianDromey

I believe that one of the largest, if not the largest, grocer in the RoI is about to become an AerClub partner.
Any UK based Tesco Account earns Clubcard points in Tesco Ireland Stores, as you don't need the physical vouchers to convert into Avios (in a roundabout way) Tesco Ireland is also an Avios partner.

ROKNA

Third largest...

Super Valu appeared as a partner in the investor material but no word yet (second largest)

Dambus

Let's see what the redemptions rules/rates are. If awards/upgrades are aligned with BA Avios costs then I foresee another IT article about former GC members looking at Avios balances in the low 5 digits with nothing to spend them on!

I don't think I ever managed to get above 15,000 GC points (upgrade awards) and I will move to AerClub with <20,000 Avios. Suspect many on here will have BA Exec Club balances many multiples greater than this.

Small silver lining is that AerClub seems to be moving to same re-qualification model as BA - i.e. status is valid for the rest of the membership year and all of the following year.

ROKNA

Tis official now https://www.avios.com/ie/en_ie/colle...m=CAAGCarousel