Update 12/16/15: Avios devalued its Business Class award chart. The formerly 25,000-Avios awards now cost 37,500 Avios.
Aer Lingus will upgrade its Business Class seats to fully flat beds in 2015. Aer Lingus flights can be booked with United or British Airways miles.
Boston to Dublin in a fully flat bed will cost only 25,000 British Airways Avios each way!
The refurbishment of Aer Lingus’ A330s will be a big improvement of the angled lie flat seats that the airline currently features in Business Class.
The new beds will be in a staggered pattern that will offer aisle access to all Business Class passengers except those with a window seat in the first row.
In addition, Aer Lingus claims to be improving the food and service onboard.
Business Class will enjoy on-demand dining instead of a designated time, and passengers departing New York and Boston can even pre-dine at the airport lounge to maximize sleep on those very short flights.
Business Class passengers will get free on-board wifi, which is very rare. Most airlines make Business Class passengers pay for wifi.
- How big is the seat?
- Which US airline has the same Business Class seat?
- How can you book Aer Lingus Business Class?
- What is the award availability in Aer Lingus Business Class on the new beds?
The Bed
Starting in 2015, Aer Lingus will be refurbishing the Business Class on its A330s for longhaul flights, like those from Boston, New York-JFK, Chicago, and San Francisco to Dublin.
Unfortunately I can’t find an exact date for the new cabins. Nor can I find confirmation that Aer Lingus will be updating all three of its A330 cabin layouts. Lucky says the updates will begin in March 2015, and hopefully as that month approaches we’ll have a better indication of which flights will feature fully flat beds from the United States to Ireland.
These beds are the same type as JetBlue has put in its Mint Class, which I called the best business class in the United States, when I wrote about how to fly it cheaply with points here.
The bed will measure two meters (6’6″), and turndown service will be available.
Award Space
I searched award space on Aer Lingus’ routes from Chicago, Boston, and New York to Dublin for one passenger next April through July.
I searched on united.com. Any space seen here is bookable with United or British Airways miles.
Chicago to Dublin
Chicago to Dublin has excellent award space in Business Class next Spring and Summer, the green and blue days.
The 7hr25min flight takes off at 8 PM and lands at 9:25 AM the next day.
New York to Dublin
There are only eight days without award space in Business Class from New York to Dublin next Spring and Summer.
The 5hr45min route has two daily redeye flights.
Boston to Dublin
Boston to Dublin has Business Class award space on Aer Lingus almost every day next Spring and Summer.
There are two daily departures on the flight that is just over five hours.
How to Book Aer Lingus Award Space
Aer Lingus is not a member of any alliance, but it has one-off partnerships with United and British Airways.
United.com displays Aer Lingus award space. Any Aer Lingus space shown on united.com is bookable with United or British Airways miles.
United charges a flat 30k/70k miles each way in economy/business between the United States and Europe on Aer Lingus flights. You can pay these prices at united.com. These prices are the same whether you connect to the international gateway city on a United flight or connect from Dublin to somewhere else in Europe.
British Airways’ prices are based on the distance and cabin:
- Boston to Ireland: 12,500/25,000 Avios each way in economy/business
- Chicago to Ireland: 20,000/40,000 Avios each way in economy/business
- New York to Ireland: 20,000/40,000 miles each way in economy/business
- San Francisco to Ireland: 25,000/50,000 miles each way in economy/business
Flights beyond Ireland or to those international gateways add to the price because every flight on an Avios award adds to the total cost. British Airways doesn’t collect fuel surcharges on Aer Lingus awards.
To book Aer Lingus flights with British Airways Avios, find the award space on united.com and call 800-AIRWAYS to book it. Ask for the phone booking fee to be waived since Aer Lingus is not bookable on ba.com.
There are reports that British Airways’ access and United’s access to Aer Lingus award space differ. If a British Airways rep doesn’t see the award space you want, hang up and call back once. If the next agent sees the same space, there’s nothing to be done.
Get More Sleep on the Short Flights
When you fly with Aer Lingus from Dublin or Shannon to the United States, you’ll pre-clear United States border formalities in Ireland. That means when you arrive in the United States, you can get head straight to the curb.
When you fly out of Boston or New York, you can dine in the lounge before the flight and sleep the entire five hours on the plane.
Recap
Aer Lingus is revamping its Business Class product. Starting next year, you can get a flat bed on transatlantic flights.
While Aer Lingus is not a member of any alliance, it is a British Airways and United partner. British Airways charges only 25,000 miles each way in Business Class on Aer Lingus from the Boston to Ireland.
Hopefully as March 2015 approaches, the month when the new Business Class will begin to be installed, we’ll learn more about which flights will have flat beds.
Right now space is excellent in Aer Lingus Business Class for Spring and Summer 2015.
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Lucky from Onemileatatime is saying that United availability for Aer Lingus doesn’t correlate to what BA will see when calling in. Care to expand on this?
Added a note about this. I’ve never seen different availability, but there is another commenter saying he has experienced it.
“British Airways doesn’t collect fuel surcharges on United awards.”
??
British Airways doesn’t collect fuel surcharges on Aer Lingus awards.
Also corrected a typo in the next paragraph.
I have found many days where United shows availability on Aer Lingus but BA Avios redemption sags no. So I believe that you are mistaken. Especially harder finding 2 seats.
Thanks for the report.
My family of five (5) recently booked and flew economy from Dublin to JFK. United was showing four (4) seats available. I was planning on using BA Avios, and the flights did NOT show online on BA.com. I called BA, and they had up to nine (9) economy seats available on points, so I grabbed my five. Each ticket came with a little over $100 in taxes, fuel, and ticketing fees. Overall, got us home from Dublin reasonably well. (but my point is that as Scott indicated (and not grasped by some of the prior comments), if it shows on United.com, (and possibly even if it doesn’t), you need to call BA to book if using Avios.
Thanks for the report. It seems many people have had experience with BA and United having different access to Aer Lingus space.
Anyone know if they’ll roll this out on the BOS-SNN too? The leased Boeing 757s Aer Lingus is using these days for that route are a disgrace.
Can you add a paragraph on the best ways to secure the miles/points for booking this, please?
The best way to get BA miles is the BA card from Chase. 50k Avios after spending $2k in the first three months. $95 annual fee, not waived.
Also any card that earns Ultimate Rewards or Membership Rewards because those transfer 1:1 to Avios. My favorites are the Sapphire Preferred, Ink Plus, and any 50k+ offer on a Membership Rewards card.
@ABC: clearly he meant that BA doesn’t add surcharges on awards on Aer Lingus flights. He apparently didn’t proof-read his post.
[…] ← Fully Flat Business Class to Europe for 25,000 Miles […]
Is it easy to get from Dublin to London with points?
Yes, you can use 4,500 Avios each way on Aer Lingus or British Airways.
Sorry for the novice here but I went on BA.com and found flights from BOS -> DUB for business class. However there are 500 dollars in fee’s. I’m really confused on how you eliminate a lot of fee’s. You mean to tell me you can call United and book round trip business on AirLingus using BA miles even though it is United? All of that and reduce the fee’s? I could really use a bit more advisement here.
When you searched BOS-DUB on ba.com, your search returned BA flights, not Aer Lingus flights. As this article notes, you CANNOT search Aer Lingus flights on ba.com.
BA flights have fuel surcharges. Aer Lingus flights don’t.
As the article indicates, you call BA to book Aer Lingus flights with BA miles.
Scott – Using the MilesValue Booking Service I just booked 2 R/T Biz Class tickets thru BA Avios from NY/Dublin/NY and by transferring 115K Membership Rewards miles from Amex and getting the 40% discount offer Amex/BA is currently offering , good till January 31, 2015, it gave me 161K Avios miles. The cost was 80K Avios miles Biz Class R/T . But it only cost me 57.5k miles/person + $117.40 in taxes and fees per person. I got a great deal @57.5k miles. When booking the seats, the reservation agent told me that the upgrading of the new seat configuration is expected to be completed by 3/31/15.
Fantastic!
[…] Unfortunately, since Avios devalued last month, Business Class awards are now triple the economy price on those routes. This is especially unfortunate because Aer Lingus now has flat beds on some of its American routes. […]
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[…] Aer Lingus: Expert Flyer, yes starting in 2015 […]
[…] Eventually this flight will feature fully flat beds in Business Class too. […]
[…] flights with British Airways Avios start at 4,500 miles one way, and Boston to Ireland or thewest coast to Hawaii is only 12,500 miles one […]