Can I earn Avios and British Airways tier points if I fly with Aer Lingus?

In this article we’ll look at whether you can earn Avios and British Airways tier points by flying with Aer Lingus and whether it’s worth it compared to flying British Airways.

It is possible to earn Avios on Aer Lingus and in fact, AerClub, Aer Lingus’ frequent flyer program also uses the Avios reward currency. This means that there are two ways of earning Avios with Aer Lingus.

Earn Avios in British Airways Executive Club

When you book or manage your flights with Aer Lingus, you can add your British Airways Executive Club number. Upon completion of your flights you will automatically be credited the correct Avios.

Because British Airways and Aer Lingus both belong to the same group of companies, International Airlines Group (IAG), their earning rates are almost identical.

Here is the full chart of earning rates, sourced from the British Airways website.  We are comparing the earnings when you take a flight on Aer Lingus compared to taking a flight on British Airways.

Economy lowest – 25% on both airlines

Economy flexible – 100% on both airlines

Premium Economy – Aer Lingus does not have a premium economy cabin. 100%-150% on British Airways

Business lowest – 150% both airlines

Business flexible – 250% on both airlines

First – Aer Lingus does not have first class – 250%-300% on British Airways

As you can see, all the classes have the same earning rates. However, because Aer Lingus does not fly premium economy or first class cabins, British Airways has several rates for intermediate and additional rates for these.

Despite their almost identical earning rates, Aer Lingus does not match the additional Avios tier bonus that British Airways runs for Executive Club Bronze, Silver and Gold card holders.  If you have British Airways elite status, you’ll be losing out on another 25%-100% in additional Avios, though you do get a minimum Avios award of 300 per flight.

Earn Avios via AerClub

Aer Lingus has its own Avios-based loyalty scheme called AerClub.  Nothing stops you from opening an AerClub account, crediting it with the Avios from your Aer Lingus flight and then using ‘Combine My Avios’ to move them to British Airways Executive Club.

Just to make life confusing, the earning model for AerClub is totally different.  It is not based on your class of travel, it is purely based on how much you spend.

The Aer Lingus website explains this is more detail.  You earn 3 Avios per €1 spent.  You may need to do the maths to see which of the two options here (AerClub or British Airways Executive Club) is more lucrative.

Can you earn British Airways tier points on Aer Lingus?

You will NOT earn British Airways Executive Club tier points when you fly with Aer Lingus as it is not a member of the oneworld alliance.

However, this is expected to change in 2022.  Aer Lingus will become a full member of the British Airways / American Airlines / Finnair / Iberia transatlantic joint venture, and as part of this would be obliged to offer tier points to BA flyers, at least on transatlantic routes and connections.  We will update this article when it happens.

(This article is part of our ‘BA Q&A’ series which explains how British Airways Executive Club works.  You can see all of our ‘BA Q&A’ articles here. )

(Head for Points is the UK’s biggest frequent flyer website with 2.4 million monthly page views.  Want to learn more about earning and spending Avios?  Click here to read our latest news stories and click here to join the mailing list for our weekly or daily email newsletters.)

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (January 2024)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital On Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.

There are also good bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These are available to sole traders as well as limited companies.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.