Work trips coming up to DUB
 

Hi BA ff'ers

I have some weekly commutes coming up to/from DUB, so I was wondering what sort of advice you can give me in terms of best routes to collect points.

I know BA and Aer Lingus may be my best options - both Heathrow and City airports are good for me, although I think City may be slightly better for me in terms of time to get to it.

I am currently about to lose even my Bronze status with BA so I'm not sure what I can expect from them in terms of upgrades and so on. Any advice on this would be appreciated.

Also, do I have any options for collecting Star Alliance points? I have some stashed away with A3, although not much.

Appreciate your help - many thanks.

You would need to be doing many weeks of commutes to make much impact status and mileage wise, so I agree with cornishsimon, just do whatever is most convenient and forget the rest.

If you are bronze-about-to-become-blue status I wouldn't be expecting anything in terms of upgrades. Chances somewhere close to non existent.

Thanks for the replies. Yes, work is paying.

I should at least earn some points (though not a lot) for BA and Aer Lingus, right?

Don't think you'll get TP on Aer Lingus - have a look at the BA earning avios tool - https://www.britishairways.com/trave...club/_gf/en_gb

Yes on BA flights ... on Aer Lingus nothing unless it's a fairly expensive ticket and even then only a few Avios, no Tier Points ... On the upside though Aer Lingus have a more frequent service and in my experience at least better punctuality on DUB-LHR

Crediting to BAEC you'll generally earn more Avios through BA (either on their metal or codeshare numbers on EI). EI prime numbers on EI metal earn a massive 75 Avios per segment for all bar the very highest Y fare buckets.

You won't earn any TPs on EI metal, EI coded flights. You'll earn a few on BA, but probably no more than 10 per segment in Y.

As others have said, you'll be a long while reaching anything meaningful, so unless this is ongoing for a number of weeks - sufficient to get enough flights to make Silver status, which would obviously bring lounge access - take the most convenient option for you and don't worry too much about earning.

There are no Star Alliance options between London and Dublin. DUB has Star airlines, but those are all flying into their own hubs in Europe and the US.

If booked under the EI flight number I think you get some derisory amount of avios.

If booked under the BA codeshare (and these can be booked as standalone BA codeshares - you don't have to be connecting to/from a BA flight) you get avios and TPs.

Thanks - it's been a while since I flew that route. I did LHR-DUB with Aer Lingus and agree they were the more punctual airline of the two.

Thanks!
So the 'massive' 75 avios is just miles, not Tier Points?

Thanks for clarifying the Star Alliance bit as well. Looks like it's BA or EI then. Do CityFlyer flights earn any BA points?

So would these BA flights be from LCY or LHR?

Either. BA Cityflyer counts the same as regular BA for earning purposes

Have a look at BA Flight Pass too

Only way to earn or burn Star Alliance miles is to fly via a *A hub which turns a 1-hour flight into two 1.5-hour flights+connecting time, not something you want on a weekly commute!

BA flies from both, but LCY is only 3 or so a day. If the timing works I'd take LCY over LHR any day.

Thanks guys - appreciate your time!

Agree with what others have said - take BA if you want Avios and Tier Points (TP to build status, potentially). You won't earn very many TPs for these short flights in economy, but you may get the odd cheap upgrade offer (paying a discounted cash premium) which can earn you some extra TPs a bit quicker to qualify for status.

I would pick between LHR and LCY primarily based on convenience and flight timings. Without any BA status and flying economy, you will probably have a better and faster airport experience at LCY than LHR: security is fast even without fast-track, and there are short check-in times and no lounge for any passengers on BA in any event so it's an airport not to spend much time in. By contrast, LHR with no status means potentially longer security, and a longer wait overall without any lounge access. With BA Silver or Gold status, the balance shifts towards LHR since you will get expedited security and some decent lounges to hang around in - though on a weekly commute you will probably get down to a fine art of not having any spare time to waste in a lounge!

If you are interested in building BA status, there are often opportunities to buy much cheaper long-haul business class and first class airfares on BA if you can start your trip in Dublin (amongst other places) and connect through London - savings can be very significant. Worth remembering if you are planning a holiday - if you can arrange to start your holiday direct from work in Dublin (you may even get a single ticket which allows you to break the trip overnight in London) you may find that long-haul business class for holidays becomes a bit more affordable - and you could build to BA Silver or Gold status a lot faster. That's a whole other topic though.

Enjoy...