irishguy28

The Irish Times' Cantillon has finally noticed this card...

mccartje

A few places starting to give it some coverage. "Using the credit card to pay in places like SuperValu and Kildare Village will count as spending with Aer Lingus, meaning customers will get 1 Avios for every €1 spent." This line stuck out for me on a 98fm article. Kildare village with card linking is already there for direct avios earning but not SV. I imagine this is simply a mix up between the current supervalu offer for linking your credit card, which BOI said would not apply to the Aer Card.

ROKNA

This is a classic example of the poor handling of the Aer Club roll out.

The offering should be Credit Card + Fee + Silver privileges (i.e. check in and boarding)

EI shot themselves in the foot by giving everyone lounge access at Silver which is a crazy as no airline would do the same so bar the single annual upgrade there is no actual benefit to being Platinum unless you fly through SFO which is the only lounge Silvers are not welcome at.

Cost wise its not far off what the charges in the US are, 100 USD (but you do get second bag free etc)

DELLAS

EI have a lot of loyalty on the shorthaul routes many who do not even use TATL. That was the logic behind lounge/priority boarding for Silvers. I think they got it right to be honest. With no OW membership the perks are still quite basic but when EI do join OW I expect the Silver perks to be reduced. In the mean time they need to offer those who mostly fly DUB-LHR/FRA/BRU/CDG etc something to keep them loyal. Anyone can buy these services anyway so it is not much of a unique perk.

j3p0uk

Has anyone experience in getting the card and actually using it?

cosmo74

has anyone had any success in booking their 2 free flights?

ferg01

Yes, every year without fail (all from DUB). This year however was the first year where I didn�t get my first or second preference. I flew ex Cork so that might have limited availability too. Flexibility is key to success I suspect. Who knows what rules they apply as loads (hopefully) increase.

j3p0uk

You are luckier than me then. I�ve had the card since 2019 and not once been able to take a flight. Huge issues with everything to do with the card.

I had a flight booked, which was cancelled, and they took the free flight away. Close to expiry of my free flights, I asked for a booking and they didn�t reply to emails for so long (over 10 business days) that the flights expired, and they took them away.

I booked some flights yet to come, and noticed the taxes, fees and charges were �40 higher than if booked on the website. They add the phone booking fee (despite not booking over the phone and having no other way to book).

One year I had to spend �5500 to get flights because a refund hit the card after the anniversary date of spend that occurred before it.

I was wondering if I am being particularly unlucky or if they are just appallingly bad at customer service.

j3p0uk

I would basically say the card is an absolute con and utterly not worth it.

Kgmm77

After having previous reward bookings cancelled because of the pandemic I've finally managed to book two Aer Club Mastercard reward seats. A bit like Avios seats, it isn�t entirely clear what service class they book into. On the app, it says saver (so the new 10kg checked bag and no carry on) but on the confirmation email it says 10kg carry on. As usual there were no seat reservations for free, they carried the full price you would pay on a Saver booking. My case may have been further complicated as RevMan kindly opened up seats for me as my preferred dates had already been used for a reward booking.

So I�ve no idea what the baggage rules applying actually are.

Edit: in reference to the posts above, I�ve actually found some value, with revenue fares (even Smart) over �400 return per person for the route in question (ACE, not my usual choice of destination, but the pandemic does strange things to people�!). But I agree it can be hard to find value and after 2.5 years of having the card, BOI are definitely getting more out of me than vice versa.

Kgmm77

Thought I�d update this to thread to confirm I�m none the wiser on baggage arrangements for the Aer Club MasterCard reward bookings. Having flown the outbound, I added a 20kg checked bag for one passenger (paying telephone booking rates, even though you can�t add online ). But upon check in, the other passenger (with no extra bag added) boarding pass had a cabin bag included, I.e. not a Saver fare

Im now trying to burn the last 2 seats, which EI didn�t extend the validity of and am waiting 10 days for a response (SLA is 3). Particularly annoying given we were legally prohibited from travelling for so long and EI had no route network to speak of during that period, yet BOI still happily collect the card fee every month. What an utter sham of a product.

IRISHFLYER1

Anyone actually get one of these?

I have a Business credit card where I spend over €7,000 a month, so 20,000 Avios earned per year might be worth it?

FlightDetective

If I was spending that amount of cash on a credit card, I'd absolutely get the Aer Credit Card. 20,000 Avios is nothing to be sneezed at, and the fact they can be transferred to BA etc makes them very useful.

I don't have the card though, as my spending vs the monthly fee etc doesn't stack up for me. With your spend, I'd get it immediately... unless you somehow have a UK address, whereby any of the BA Amex cards would give you both welcome bonuses and more Avios on the spend!

Kgmm77

As above, I�ve had it since it launched and I�m on the fence about it. As a former BA frequent flyer with >10 years of Amex Avios and 2-4-1 accumulation the Aer Club card benefits are truly pitiful. But there isn�t anything better out there for Irish residents (AFAIK anyway). I put a fair amount of spend through it but I suspect I get more Avios from the online store or shopping in Kildare Village. I�ve managed to get a bit of value on the two free flights, but it takes planning, the booking system is clunky and because of the significant blackout periods it�s best used for those perennial higher cost destinations with year round daily service (FAO, AGP, ACE etc.).

Kier

I have got some value from the card. Had it since launch in 2019. Consistently get about 500 discount on the "free" flights every year after taxes and charges have been paid. Booking system is clunky though. I have silver status, so where the fast track and lounge access comes in handy is when I travel with my wife, she can come with me, which Silver doesnt allow by itself. I had to cancel a trip to the US for covid in 2020, no issues getting a relatively large refund out of the travel insurance. Avios earning rate is poor but I use the card a bit so it does add up to something by the end of the year. All in all, it definitely pays for itself.