Mar 27, 2018, 3:17 pm
Last edit by: PABE
Alaska Airlines and Aer Lingus announce partnership
https://newsroom.alaskaair.com/2018-...ghts-to-Europe
Award Chart:
If not listed in the wiki, it's not available. Don't hold your breath given recent history of new AS partners (AY, SQ).
Partner Page:
https://www.alaskaair.com/content/mi...ers/aer-lingus
EI Flights begin crediting on or after 5/18.
Note that EI flights won't post until late July. AS will not honor requests for missing miles before August 1.
US, North American gateways with EI and AS service, plus EI Europe hubs:
(work in progress, bold is an AS hub/focus city)
USA cities with EI and AS service
BOS
LAX
SFO
ORD
JFK
EWR
MCO
PHL
IAD
SEA (begins in May)
Other North America destinations (served by EI, not served by AS):
YYZ
BDL
MIA
EI European hubs
DUB
BHD
ORK
Elite Benefits
Details to be posted at some point.... none listed as of yet.
https://newsroom.alaskaair.com/2018-...ghts-to-Europe
Award Chart:
If not listed in the wiki, it's not available. Don't hold your breath given recent history of new AS partners (AY, SQ).
Partner Page:
https://www.alaskaair.com/content/mi...ers/aer-lingus
EI Flights begin crediting on or after 5/18.
Note that EI flights won't post until late July. AS will not honor requests for missing miles before August 1.
US, North American gateways with EI and AS service, plus EI Europe hubs:
(work in progress, bold is an AS hub/focus city)
USA cities with EI and AS service
BOS
LAX
SFO
ORD
JFK
EWR
MCO
PHL
IAD
SEA (begins in May)
Other North America destinations (served by EI, not served by AS):
YYZ
BDL
MIA
EI European hubs
DUB
BHD
ORK
Elite Benefits
Details to be posted at some point.... none listed as of yet.
AS Partners With Aer Lingus (EI) (April 2018).
Mar 27, 2018, 3:14 pm
#31
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: US West Coast
Programs: Alaska 100K, Hyatt Gl, Marriott Ti/LTP
Posts: 353
Mar 27, 2018, 3:15 pm
#32
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Near SEA
Programs: UA MM, AS MVPG75K, Marriott Lifetime Gold
Posts: 7,969
Press release came out about an hour ago
https://newsroom.alaskaair.com/2018-...ghts-to-Europe
https://newsroom.alaskaair.com/2018-...ghts-to-Europe
Mar 27, 2018, 3:48 pm
#33
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: MCI
Programs: AA Gold 1MM, AS MVP, UA Silver, WN A-List, Marriott LT Titanium, HH Diamond
Posts: 52,570
EI has a few more North American gateway cities than the four listed above. Chicago, NYC, Toronto, and I think IAD. Plus probably a few more I've never personally searched for awards on. Some may be seasonal and some may not be easy 1-stop connections with AS metal.
Mar 27, 2018, 4:25 pm
#34
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Near SEA
Programs: UA MM, AS MVPG75K, Marriott Lifetime Gold
Posts: 7,969
BOS, ORD, BDL, LAX, MIA, JFK, EWR, MCO, PHL (started yesterday), SFO, IAD, YYZ... that's pretty strong, I think
Mar 27, 2018, 4:48 pm
#35
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: BOS/ORH
Programs: AS 75K
Posts: 18,323
Thanks to @eponymous_coward for adding to the wiki
Mar 27, 2018, 5:58 pm
#36
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: SFO
Programs: AS, UA, WN, IHG Diamond Elite, Hyatt Globalist, Hilton Gold, CET 7*
Posts: 3,299
(and yes, I'm well aware that biz availability has been challenging in the past, but sometimes there's a window in these new relationships where that's not the norm...)
Mar 28, 2018, 1:31 am
#37
Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: New York, New York
Programs: AA Gold, Alaska MVP; Free Agent Super Duper Diamond Treasure Chest ;)
Posts: 4,682
Agreed! Looking forward to seeing the earn/redeem chart when it's released. Hopefully it's a good Biz redemption for stopover/open jaw Euro trips with a break in DUB.
(and yes, I'm well aware that biz availability has been challenging in the past, but sometimes there's a window in these new relationships where that's not the norm...)
(and yes, I'm well aware that biz availability has been challenging in the past, but sometimes there's a window in these new relationships where that's not the norm...)
Mar 28, 2018, 2:52 am
#38
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: SEA
Programs: AS G100K, DL PM, IHG Gold, HHonors Diamond
Posts: 843
Good news!! Something that MP members desperately needed these days. I just hope the award tickets don't come with huge fuel surcharges like BA does, which is another IAG airline.
Mar 28, 2018, 7:20 am
#39
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: Seattle, WA
Programs: Alaska 100K - MM, defender of shoes on the carpeted bulkhead 4ever, AA LT PLT, Hyatt Glob, HH Dia
Posts: 7,446
Any know, what the YQ works out to on EI flights booked on the BA site using avios? As a SEA flyer who is not always looking to book premium awards, I am starting to balance the futility of redeeming a small number of miles with a huge yq v. just buying a coach ticket for trips we take to and from the UK and France. The appeal to an award is that it is refundable (save the partner fee) if we can't travel for one reason or another, but sometimes it just kills me to pay 200 bucks just to redeem miles for a middle seat on FI or BA because they are more direct than flying AA to or from those places.
Mar 28, 2018, 7:58 am
#40
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: BOS/ORH
Programs: AS 75K
Posts: 18,323
Any know, what the YQ works out to on EI flights booked on the BA site using avios? As a SEA flyer who is not always looking to book premium awards, I am starting to balance the futility of redeeming a small number of miles with a huge yq v. just buying a coach ticket for trips we take to and from the UK and France. The appeal to an award is that it is refundable (save the partner fee) if we can't travel for one reason or another, but sometimes it just kills me to pay 200 bucks just to redeem miles for a middle seat on FI or BA because they are more direct than flying AA to or from those places.
Mar 28, 2018, 7:59 am
#41
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: MCI
Programs: AA Gold 1MM, AS MVP, UA Silver, WN A-List, Marriott LT Titanium, HH Diamond
Posts: 52,570
My experience using Avios to redeem EI (most recent trip was 2 summers ago...no sure if any of this has changed). I have no real way of guessing whether EI will have a flat regional chart with AS (like they do with UA) or a distance-based one like they do with Avios.
- YQ was there, but it was small. $20-30 per ticket as of 2 summers ago. Don't know if this has materially changed, but for at least a few years it's been a common use of Avios for people wanting to fly TATL. Airberlin was the other way to go...ugh...
- The award chart was distance-based, creating incentive for some people to find their way to BOS before boarding EI metal. It just so happened that BOS-DUB was barely short enough to be 12,500 miles one-way, whereas most (all?) of the rest of the EI cities in the U.S. were 20,000 miles one-way. I was quite happy to pay 20k one-way ORD-DUB, so I never bothered with positioning flights to BOS.
- Award chart was year-round. Yes, 25k R/T to Europe in the summer from Boston, 40k R/T from other cities. That's pretty strong. As mentioned above, redeeming 5 coach seats together in Y in the middle of the summer for 200k Avios was not too hard to do. (With Avios - no guarantee this will be true with a non-alliance partner airline's miles.)
- J award were 2x the Y award.
- Award availability *beyond* DUB was much tighter. In fact, I never found award seats to the Continent. (Again, searching 5 together...it's possible and maybe even likely that solo travelers have better luck.) However, the entire EI short-haul business model is ULCC. We flew to Nice for something like 250 euros for 5 of us plus 3 large checked bags. No doubt Ryanair has forced their hand here. So as you start your AwardNexus or ExpertFlyer searches, find your US-DUB awards first and be prepared to accept a paid seat beyond there. In the distance-based award model, this might be what you want to do anyway...a 4500-Avios award for a 40 Euro seat isn't really worth it to begin with.
- EI's IT lags the rest of the world by 10 years. Well, maybe they only lag AS by a couple years...
Don't expect a ton from the app or website. I do remember phoning them to talk to a human about seat assignments, and they gave them to us in advance on the long-hauls only. We were unable to OLCI on Avios awards - had to do airport check-in.
- EI's airport staff and inflight staff were shockingly pleasant and courteous, even to complete non-status passengers traveling on award tickets. I almost wanted to say DYKWIA? You're supposed to be mean to us!!
Seriously, it was timewarpy back to an earlier era how nice they were...
- Long-haul inflight product was typical for TATL Y. Not worse than anyone else's. Can't comment on J.
- YQ was there, but it was small. $20-30 per ticket as of 2 summers ago. Don't know if this has materially changed, but for at least a few years it's been a common use of Avios for people wanting to fly TATL. Airberlin was the other way to go...ugh...
- The award chart was distance-based, creating incentive for some people to find their way to BOS before boarding EI metal. It just so happened that BOS-DUB was barely short enough to be 12,500 miles one-way, whereas most (all?) of the rest of the EI cities in the U.S. were 20,000 miles one-way. I was quite happy to pay 20k one-way ORD-DUB, so I never bothered with positioning flights to BOS.
- Award chart was year-round. Yes, 25k R/T to Europe in the summer from Boston, 40k R/T from other cities. That's pretty strong. As mentioned above, redeeming 5 coach seats together in Y in the middle of the summer for 200k Avios was not too hard to do. (With Avios - no guarantee this will be true with a non-alliance partner airline's miles.)
- J award were 2x the Y award.
- Award availability *beyond* DUB was much tighter. In fact, I never found award seats to the Continent. (Again, searching 5 together...it's possible and maybe even likely that solo travelers have better luck.) However, the entire EI short-haul business model is ULCC. We flew to Nice for something like 250 euros for 5 of us plus 3 large checked bags. No doubt Ryanair has forced their hand here. So as you start your AwardNexus or ExpertFlyer searches, find your US-DUB awards first and be prepared to accept a paid seat beyond there. In the distance-based award model, this might be what you want to do anyway...a 4500-Avios award for a 40 Euro seat isn't really worth it to begin with.
- EI's IT lags the rest of the world by 10 years. Well, maybe they only lag AS by a couple years...
Don't expect a ton from the app or website. I do remember phoning them to talk to a human about seat assignments, and they gave them to us in advance on the long-hauls only. We were unable to OLCI on Avios awards - had to do airport check-in.- EI's airport staff and inflight staff were shockingly pleasant and courteous, even to complete non-status passengers traveling on award tickets. I almost wanted to say DYKWIA? You're supposed to be mean to us!!
Seriously, it was timewarpy back to an earlier era how nice they were...- Long-haul inflight product was typical for TATL Y. Not worse than anyone else's. Can't comment on J.
Mar 28, 2018, 11:46 pm
#43
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: The Internet
Programs: Alaska Mileage Plan
Posts: 714
Mileage Plus absorbs fuel surcharges so I wouldn't read anything into that. The upside is that Aer Lingus fuel surcharges are very low; it's about $30. If these are passed along in Mileage Plan it would be a rounding error.
Mar 29, 2018, 9:52 am
#44
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: MCI
Programs: AA Gold 1MM, AS MVP, UA Silver, WN A-List, Marriott LT Titanium, HH Diamond
Posts: 52,570
The encouraging thing there is that we're looking at an EI flight displaying a J award seat to a partner. While 70k is about 3 times what I'd pay for a J seat on this particular route (it's 25k Avios if you can get it), the very fact that it's shown to a partner is potentially encouraging for those who might want to use AS miles in the future. It means the award actually exists!!!
("So you're saying there's a chance....")
Apr 7, 2018, 10:24 am
#45
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: SEA
Programs: free agent
Posts: 330
Yeah, if UA is going to charge me 30k for that BOS-DUB segment that costs 12.5k Avios, the least they can do is pick up the thirty bucks for the extra 17,500 miles!!
The encouraging thing there is that we're looking at an EI flight displaying a J award seat to a partner. While 70k is about 3 times what I'd pay for a J seat on this particular route (it's 25k Avios if you can get it), the very fact that it's shown to a partner is potentially encouraging for those who might want to use AS miles in the future. It means the award actually exists!!! ("So you're saying there's a chance....")
The encouraging thing there is that we're looking at an EI flight displaying a J award seat to a partner. While 70k is about 3 times what I'd pay for a J seat on this particular route (it's 25k Avios if you can get it), the very fact that it's shown to a partner is potentially encouraging for those who might want to use AS miles in the future. It means the award actually exists!!!
("So you're saying there's a chance....")