I have had an EI-LH itinerary ticketed. As per above posts, not all inventory is phantom.

However, there are two big caveats: 1) probably necessary to call to force it through, and it may not all go through since there is definitely some phantom inventory out there; 2) more importantly, CHECK whether EI INTERLINES with the other carrier. Since they are not Star, they do not have agreements with many of UA's partners. That means you will need to go out, clear customs and immigration, collect bags, and re-check. This is not mentioned anywhere in the booking confirmation and if your connection is short, can trip you up. And if this comes up at checkin, EI can't help at all since it's a ticket issued on UA stock.

EI does not interline with LH or SN. Airlines they DO interline baggage with:

MAY CHECK BAGGAGE TO: AA AC AF AS AY BA BE BR B6 CA CI CX DL EI EK EY GF HR IB JL KL KQ LY MH NZ QF QR SA SK SQ TG TK UA VS WF WS YO

EI will not interline baggage even if it is a through ticket? (single ticket)

No interline agreement means no interline baggage. Nothing to do with how it was ticketed, they literally never negotiated with any other carriers beyond those listed. It's not a grey area, it's 100% clear zero chance because it's not a "policy" it's as if those airlines completely don't exist to EI's systems.

The problem is that United *can* issue on a single ticket, even though EI wouldn't have been able to. And United doesn't know or care about EI's agreements, so they're perfectly happy to issue a single ticket that EI and partners can't fulfill.

wow that's crazy.
i dont think i have been on a through ticket where i cant check my bags through to final destination.
and that's with whatever combo of airlines OTA come up with.

I guess EI is on its own island

Seat Assignment on Are Lingus leg
 

I booked ORD-MCO-MAN through United with MCO-MAN on Are Lingus. Can I call Are Lingus and get a seat assignment for that leg?

UA can not make the seat assignment, you need to contact EI to see what their rules / fees are for this.
Award flight?

Yes, award flight

Use United Miles on Aer Lingus ex-DUB?
 

I'm going to Dublin in early April and I have an "emergency" that came up yesterday and I need to make a quick stop in Boston the day after I arrive in Dublin (yeah, I know, that makes no sense at all). Problem is I have a can't-miss activity in Dublin on April 6, but need to be in Boston for another can't-miss event on April 7 in the afternoon. United's connections via EWR/IAD won't work at all, but Aer Lingus flies non-stop DUB/BOS and gets me to Boston in plenty of time for the event I want to see. I was looking at rewards flights from BOS to DUB and United has all kinds of availability on Aer Lingus to Ireland, but I can't find any availability from Ireland. Is this just random with my dates, or is there something more to it? I also noticed that United lists economy rewards flights on Aer Lingus, but no premium cabin tickets. Is this also how this typically works?

Slightly related, I was trying to go to Isle of Man from Dublin but again, I found no aware availability with United miles even though Aer Lingus flies this route. Tickets were cheap enough that I didn't care, but I prefer to redeem United miles on flights that wouldn't earn me elite qualification, rather than on flights that could help me get it.

I know Aer Lingus isn't a * Alliance Partner, but they do have some sort of loose affiliation with United, so I'm just trying to see what I can reasonably expect to get.



--------

Slightly related, just how stupid is it to fly from California to Ireland, and then 24 hours later fly to Boston for 24-72 hours and then fly back to Ireland?

I can see award seats on EI 133 and 137 on 7 April on united.com (as well as through Expert Flyer and ba.com). Perhaps call in if you still can't see them?

So I feel pretty stupid, because I see it now, too. I swear it wasn't there when I checked earlier. I was on a plane using the app, so maybe that was the issue.

Still no business inventory, but I'm guessing EI doesn't open that up to United flyers?

I believe you can book business inventory with UA miles, but EI doesn't really open it up to anyone.

Phantom Award Space on Aer Lingus
 

I''ve been trying to book flights from Toronto to and from Southern Africa and am finding some award space in J come up with either the first or last leg through through Dublin on Aer Lingus. When I go to pay I get an error message. I've tried calling United and it seems as if the award space I'm seeing for Aer Lingus either to or from Toronto isn't available. United.com shows award space available in J for YYZ-DUB-YYZ for pretty much all of July but none of it appears to be bookable. Has anyone else had experience with phantom award space on Aer Lingus? The agent I spoke to seemed to think that Aer Lingus had designated these flights for awards space but hadn't opened them up yet. I'm not so sure about this explanation.

my guess is ... married segment problem. There has been a lot of EI award space recently and I was able to book it. How are you connecting onwards from DUB? Try LX over LH

A couple of years ago I tried to book EI seats with UA points. Same sort of issue as you - the UA agent had to message EI and ask them to actually release the inventory before it could be booked firm and ticketed. Could be the same problem - so ask UA to contact EI. The seats are there, but UA have to get EI to do a thing first.

Running into the same issue now - a flight connecting through Toronto to Dublin showing award availability in business, but when I go to book, I get an error on United's site. I've called United twice and they can't seem to book it either. They even claimed to have sent a message to Aer Lingus and received a message back that it is not available.

gspurr Did you finally have any luck? If so, what was the magic touch?