Aer Lingus (EI) Awards and Redemptions
Jul 29, 2019, 7:49 pm
#76
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: Seattle
Programs: AS
Posts: 2,293
We just booked AL international business for next spring.
2 seats HAM-LAX. There are at least 2 seats showing available everyday that week in June. Our final ticketing was 60,000 each and $250 total. Sure beats BA award pricing.
BA award flights for that week show Business /Mixed Cabin also for 60,000 miles. When you click on icon, Hamburg to London is in Business Class- (coach seats with middle left open) London to LAX was coach. Wow, not for those miles and fees!!
Our Routing is HAM/DUB in Y. All inter European flights are all economy. Agent gave us Exit Row seats for no fee. DUB-LAX in J- Was able to snag the 2 "throne" seats in Business Class. Seats 3K and 5K. (A320 metal)
Starting international segment in DUB seems also good because they have international Pre Customs in DUB and we will do it there. When we land at LAX, do not need to go through Customs again.
Keep trying...it is worth finding something that works.
You have to contact them for seat assignments. I did chat online and it worked brilliantly .
2 seats HAM-LAX. There are at least 2 seats showing available everyday that week in June. Our final ticketing was 60,000 each and $250 total. Sure beats BA award pricing.
BA award flights for that week show Business /Mixed Cabin also for 60,000 miles. When you click on icon, Hamburg to London is in Business Class- (coach seats with middle left open) London to LAX was coach. Wow, not for those miles and fees!!
Our Routing is HAM/DUB in Y. All inter European flights are all economy. Agent gave us Exit Row seats for no fee. DUB-LAX in J- Was able to snag the 2 "throne" seats in Business Class. Seats 3K and 5K. (A320 metal)
Starting international segment in DUB seems also good because they have international Pre Customs in DUB and we will do it there. When we land at LAX, do not need to go through Customs again.
Keep trying...it is worth finding something that works.
You have to contact them for seat assignments. I did chat online and it worked brilliantly .
Last edited by pcoll; Jul 29, 2019 at 7:55 pm
Jul 29, 2019, 9:38 pm
#77
Join Date: Sep 2005
Programs: Northwest, United
Posts: 3,256
Do you have the booking - including the DUB-LAX leg in business - confirmed? My understanding is that it requires the additional confirmation from AI before you really have a valid booking, and that typically takes 12-24 hours. So if you "just booked" and have not received that confirmation, you might want to proceed cautiously until you get it 100% confirmed. If you have, then tip 'o the hat to you and congrats.
Jul 30, 2019, 11:13 am
#78
Join Date: Feb 2013
Posts: 71
I'm wondering the same thing. I got the same message, called the desk and they said partners don't always update AS with the latest space. So I tried a bunch of different dates and times and go the same error message. It's very irritating when you see the flights available and yet none of them really are.The desk told me to try again in 24 hours, but I don't have much hope. I was hoping to book SEA to EDI and avoid the BA horrible surcharges.
Jul 30, 2019, 11:22 am
#79
Join Date: Sep 2005
Programs: Northwest, United
Posts: 3,256
I get the same error and called in and got the same response. The odd thing is that United also shows space (4 seats) on all of the same days so this doesn't seem like an Alaska issue. I haven't tried to book through United because I don't have enough miles for even 1 ticket, but Expert Flyer shows 0 seats for most of the dates.
Jul 30, 2019, 4:21 pm
#81
Join Date: Sep 2005
Programs: Northwest, United
Posts: 3,256
Looks good - and the fact that you can log in and manage your flight details on the Aer Lingus website is obviously a very good sign. Congrats to you on getting this. I hope it's a sign of a positive trend. ^
FWIW, I flew to Dublin and back in business on Aer Lingus recently and found it a very nice way to go. Those "throne" seats are great if you can snag 'em.
Thanks for sharing your experience.
FWIW, I flew to Dublin and back in business on Aer Lingus recently and found it a very nice way to go. Those "throne" seats are great if you can snag 'em.
Thanks for sharing your experience.
Jul 30, 2019, 6:50 pm
#83
Join Date: Sep 2005
Programs: Northwest, United
Posts: 3,256
Jul 31, 2019, 5:11 pm
#85
Join Date: Mar 2018
Programs: AS MVP Gold 75k, Hyatt Globalist, National Executive Elite
Posts: 272
Booked SFO-DUB-CDG in J for next April on AS. No problem at all. Could check the itinerary on EI website too. Just can’t select seats online(have to call in to get the sweet 3K)
Jul 31, 2019, 6:25 pm
#86
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: Seattle
Programs: AS
Posts: 2,293
Just in case calling is a pain.
Aug 14, 2019, 12:11 pm
#87
Join Date: Aug 2019
Posts: 4
I have manually checked 100+ days using Alaska's website to see if any 60k business class seats were available for a SEA-DUB flight next summer'ish. There isn't a single one still available. They are all set at 280k. All of the 60k seats appeared to just disappear over night about week ago.
Is there an issue between Aer Lingus and Alaska's reservation system, did a group of people go out and purchase every available 60k seat for months, or is something else going on?
Thanks
Is there an issue between Aer Lingus and Alaska's reservation system, did a group of people go out and purchase every available 60k seat for months, or is something else going on?
Thanks
Aug 14, 2019, 10:00 pm
#88
Join Date: May 2013
Location: SEA
Programs: AS MVP Gold 100K
Posts: 2,030
What it sounds like in some of the other threads is this was 99% phantom availability and the same thing was going on over at the UA site. Now all that is left is trips priced at $11,000 RT in miles. A new all time record for the worst value ever!
Aug 16, 2019, 4:55 pm
#89
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: Seattle
Programs: AS
Posts: 2,293
Kind of panicked when I read what has happened to AL Awards and 280,000 for one way redemption. Quickly checked our AS account and flight still shows in our account. ��, sweating this one as it may be cancelled at some point.
Nov 4, 2019, 8:31 am
#90
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Manhattan Beach, California
Programs: BMI Diamond Club Gold forever
Posts: 6,367
First, a comment... the IATA code for Aer Lingus is EI, not AL. Since nobody here seems thrilled when people inquire about Alaskan Air or other similar butcherings of the Seattle-based carrier, maybe it’s time to set the record straight on the proper abbreviation for Aer Lingus...
My question is whether others are having issues with EI awards breaking in DUB when they seemingly should allow a connection for the same cost. I see ATH-DUB available for 15k and DUB-SEA for 30k but if i pull up both together, the AS search tool shows a whopping 60k for these flights. I believe they should price at 30k, but at worst 45k, not at all sure why the tool shows 60k. Any similar experiences?
My question is whether others are having issues with EI awards breaking in DUB when they seemingly should allow a connection for the same cost. I see ATH-DUB available for 15k and DUB-SEA for 30k but if i pull up both together, the AS search tool shows a whopping 60k for these flights. I believe they should price at 30k, but at worst 45k, not at all sure why the tool shows 60k. Any similar experiences?