Does Aer Lingus Offer Paid Upgrades at the Airport
 

I'm on an Avios coach ticket on Saturday. I was not eligible to bid for upgrades on my US -> IRL flight. There's a ton of availability on EF (J9, C7, I3) with about a dozen seats unassigned still. Do they offer the ability to pay to upgrade to biz at check in at the airport in a situation like this, or do I have a shot at getting a halfway decent quote if I call the airline (I'm guessing no on the latter since I have an Avios travel agency ticket)

They have been known to offer paid upgrades ex-USA in the past. However, when i was on an Avios ticket they were unable to process the upgrade. From memory LAX-DUB was around $800 which i was happy to pay

Please report back. As the previous poster says, the fact that you are on an Avios ticket means that I don't think they will be able to.

But here's another question: if there is such great availability, why have you not called Avios back and upgraded to J (or cancelled the Y and booked a new J ticket) using Avios?

Only revenue tickets can be upgraded with cash and this can be done online or by phone, at the airport its up to the agent (and if they understand how to do it). The ticket change fee is waived in all cases

Avios can only be upgraded with Avios

Given the loads EI normally have to 19 unsold in J is highly unusual so I would take the data with a pinch of salt

Not available, I tried. Never showed as available at EF

There's varying availability on the flights from ORD to DUB. I'm on one with good availability on Saturday.

The only time I have managed to upgrade is that the airport and then its ex-USA. This was pre Avios days.

I did ask about upgraded ex-DUB but was told that I would have to pay full fare. No deals to be had!!

They quoted me full fare at the airport. Flight still shows J8. Coach it is.

Slightly off-topic, but do you know if J is showing good availability at T-24 whether EI entertain Avios upgrades of revenue Y tix without there being explicit U-class availability? I'm looking for 3 upgrades SEA-DUB in December and of course currently the flight shows U0. Tomorrow is also thee last day to xfer Chase UR points to Avios with a 30% bonus, so that would see me free and clear for the 3 tix. But I don't want to do the Avios conversion if the likelihood of getting upgrades is slim to none...