Another British Airways visa for Ireland or go for Aer Lingus visa?
Jun 20, 2018, 5:43 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: RDU
Posts: 1,464
Another British Airways visa for Ireland or go for Aer Lingus visa?
Currently I have around 400K BA Avios and am considering an economy class trip from MCO to Ireland. Would it be better to get another British Airways card (50K Avios for a 3K spend) or go for the newish Chase Aer Lingus card? Both offer Avios currency, but:
1) Can I transfer Aer Lingus into BA Avios points or vice-versa?
2) Do I have access to the same award travel seats on Aer Lingus using BA Avios vs. using Aer Lingus Avios?
3) How much do the taxes and surcharges differ for BA Avios flights to Ireland vs. Aer Lingus Avios flights to Ireland?
1) Can I transfer Aer Lingus into BA Avios points or vice-versa?
2) Do I have access to the same award travel seats on Aer Lingus using BA Avios vs. using Aer Lingus Avios?
3) How much do the taxes and surcharges differ for BA Avios flights to Ireland vs. Aer Lingus Avios flights to Ireland?
Last edited by moretimeoffguy; Jun 20, 2018 at 5:49 pm
Jun 20, 2018, 5:54 pm
#2
Join Date: May 2007
Programs: BA Blue, EI Silver, Honours Gold, Marriott Gold
Posts: 1,209
You can freely transfer Avios in the Aer Lingus programme to the BA Exec Club through Avios.com, as long as your email and name details match.
Aer Lingus and BA use the same Avios bands. However, availability on EI is hard to track and the fees are eye-watering, similar to BAs. You may find a cash fare better value.
Aer Lingus and BA use the same Avios bands. However, availability on EI is hard to track and the fees are eye-watering, similar to BAs. You may find a cash fare better value.
Jun 21, 2018, 6:37 am
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: RDU
Posts: 1,464
You can freely transfer Avios in the Aer Lingus programme to the BA Exec Club through Avios.com, as long as your email and name details match.
Aer Lingus and BA use the same Avios bands. However, availability on EI is hard to track and the fees are eye-watering, similar to BAs. You may find a cash fare better value.
Aer Lingus and BA use the same Avios bands. However, availability on EI is hard to track and the fees are eye-watering, similar to BAs. You may find a cash fare better value.
Last edited by moretimeoffguy; Jun 21, 2018 at 7:17 am
Jun 21, 2018, 7:54 pm
#4
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: RDU
Posts: 1,464
Jun 22, 2018, 1:51 am
#5
Join Date: Nov 2017
Posts: 687
As Brian said BA Avios and EI Avios are completely interchangeable and makes no difference what account they fall into. In terms of what credit card to use, go with the one that gives more Avios and/or associated benefits (or get both if you can and double up on rewards if you can hit the spend targets). In terms of flying to Ireland, yes using Avios on BA booking site or avios.com can be expensive with the fees but you definitely save money compared to cash ticket long haul. In general I believe it is cheaper to use EI compared to BA as their fees are lower. It gets quite complex IMO on the best way to use avios for EI redemptions, I think the best way is to use BA booking service and ring them on the phone to get the lowest fees for EI avios redemptions. Sitting on 400K avios I'd suggest getting business class seats as your avios give way more value that way but it is very difficult to nab 2 business class seats on EI award bookings.
Jun 22, 2018, 7:18 am
#6
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: RDU
Posts: 1,464
As Brian said BA Avios and EI Avios are completely interchangeable and makes no difference what account they fall into. In terms of what credit card to use, go with the one that gives more Avios and/or associated benefits (or get both if you can and double up on rewards if you can hit the spend targets). In terms of flying to Ireland, yes using Avios on BA booking site or avios.com can be expensive with the fees but you definitely save money compared to cash ticket long haul. In general I believe it is cheaper to use EI compared to BA as their fees are lower. It gets quite complex IMO on the best way to use avios for EI redemptions, I think the best way is to use BA booking service and ring them on the phone to get the lowest fees for EI avios redemptions. Sitting on 400K avios I'd suggest getting business class seats as your avios give way more value that way but it is very difficult to nab 2 business class seats on EI award bookings.
Jun 22, 2018, 7:26 am
#7
Join Date: Nov 2017
Posts: 687
Thanks MC. May be looking at up to four seats, as I may be taking my in-laws along with me. Alternatively I have 600K AA miles. I've only ever used AA miles for RDU > HNL Hawaii trips. Since AA and BA are in the same alliance, I imagine things would be as bad or worse cost-of-booking / availability-wise. Anyone know any different?
Jun 22, 2018, 9:37 am
#8
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: RDU
Posts: 1,464
If you use your AA miles and account and book an AA operated flight the fees will be MUCH lower. But there is no direct AA flight from MCO to DUB so guess its a case of balancing having to connect but getting low fee award flight and higher fees but direct. Obviously its worth doing your homework on this trying to find what fits you best and saves you most money. I find nothing is ever simple and straight forward with miles bookings. Good luck with it, and if you do find yourself in DUB I hope you and your family enjoy it!
Jun 24, 2018, 9:48 am
#10
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: RDU
Posts: 1,464
I'm not having any luck finding award travel availability using BA's search engine. Is there a better way, perhaps via Aer Lingus or Iberia's sites?
Jun 24, 2018, 10:06 am
#11
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: RDU
Posts: 1,464
I'd like to search availability on Avios.com to see if that's better. However:
1) My BA membership number isn't recognized on the Avios.com login
2) There seems to be no way to generate an Avios.com specific login
Please advise.
1) My BA membership number isn't recognized on the Avios.com login
2) There seems to be no way to generate an Avios.com specific login
Please advise.
Jun 25, 2018, 4:05 pm
#13
Moderator: British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: TPA/ABZ
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold. GGL/CCR.
Posts: 13,248
[EDIT: here's the link] https://viewfromthewing.boardingarea...-airways-visa/
Last edited by golfmad; Jun 25, 2018 at 4:14 pm Reason: Included the link to the article today about the return of the 100k signup bonus
Jun 29, 2018, 8:40 am
#14
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: RDU
Posts: 1,464
I think you've timed that well. I think I read somewhere today that the Chase BA card is now back to 100k points signup bonus rather than 50k!
[EDIT: here's the link] https://viewfromthewing.boardingarea...-airways-visa/
[EDIT: here's the link] https://viewfromthewing.boardingarea...-airways-visa/
Jul 3, 2018, 5:33 pm
#15
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: RDU
Posts: 1,464
Excellent, thanks. It's now been 4 days and my BA hasn't shown up in my Chase account. Typically, in cases where I'm not auto-approved, the card shows up in my account 2-3 days after applying. Thinking I got rejected and should apply for another non-Chase card. Should I let things sit a few more days? Was hoping to get approved, call to have the card expedited, and use it to pay rent to help meet the minimum required spend.