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Where can you fly on Aer Lingus with your BA Amex 2-4-1 voucher?

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One fascinating change to Avios last year was the opening up of Aer Lingus and Iberia for American Express 2-4-1 companion voucher redemptions.

The Aer Lingus option is especially interesting for anyone living outside London who is planning a trip to the US, since you may be able to use your 2-4-1 voucher and still depart from your local airport.

Full details of how it works are here. Note that Aer Lingus does not guarantee to open up a specific number of Avios seats per flight and availability, especially in Business Class to their core US destinations, can be thin.

where does aer lingus fly

We did two two in-depth Aer Lingus Business Class reviews last year, covering their two core long-haul aircraft types. These are:

The reviews talk you through the best business class seats, although the top pick is the ‘throne’ seat where you only get one seat to a row with a console on either side of you.

Even if you travelling with someone, as I was on my A321LR review trip, you may prefer two ‘throne’ seats if you can get them rather than sitting side by side.

If you are flying from Dublin or Shannon, you complete US Customs and Immigration in Ireland. My A321LR review looks at this here. It means that you land in the US as a domestic passenger and can be out of the terminal in minutes, with no risk of a lengthy queue at immigration.

Where does Aer Lingus fly long-haul?

I want to use this article to look at the Aer Lingus route network. It is NOT an article discussing the costs, in Avios and taxes, of Aer Lingus redemptions – we will do that another day.

Here is the current route network:

From Manchester:

  • Manchester – New York JFK
  • Manchester – Orlando
  • Manchester – Barbados (seasonally from November to April)

From Dublin:

  • Dublin – Boston
  • Dublin – Chicago
  • Dublin – Cleveland
  • Dublin – Denver (launches May 2024)
  • Dublin – Hartford
  • Dublin – Los Angeles
  • Dublin – Miami (seasonally from November to April)
  • Dublin – Minneapolis St Paul (launches April 2024)
  • Dublin – New York JFK
  • Dublin – Newark
  • Dublin – Orlando
  • Dublin – Philadelphia
  • Dublin – San Francisco
  • Dublin – Seattle
  • Dublin – Toronto
  • Dublin – Washington DC

From Shannon:

  • Shannon – Boston
  • Shannon – New York JFK

Flights tend to operate between 4-7 days per week on most routes, with the core US routes having multiple daily flights.

Aer Lingus A330

How do you connect to Aer Lingus flights from the UK?

Aer Lingus has an excellent range of connections to Dublin from across the UK.

If you are looking for Avios seats I would initially search for the long-haul flight on its own and then see what connections can be added later. You don’t want to risk not seeing long-haul availability simply because the most convenient short-haul connecting flight isn’t available.

You will make a substantial saving by booking your UK-Ireland flight on a separate ticket, as this avoids long haul Air Passenger Duty. The downside is that your baggage may not be checked through and Aer Lingus is not obliged to help you if you miss your connection.

Here is the Aer Lingus UK network to Dublin:

Operated by Aer Lingus mainline:

  • London Heathrow
  • London Gatwick

Operated by a mix of Aer Lingus mainline and Aer Lingus Regional:

  • Manchester
  • Birmingham

Operated by Aer Lingus Regional:

  • Aberdeen
  • Bristol
  • Edinburgh
  • Exeter
  • Glasgow
  • Isle of Man
  • Leeds Bradford
  • Liverpool
  • Newcastle
  • Newquay
  • Southampton

Aer Lingus Regional flights are operated under franchise by Emerald Airlines and use small turbo-prop aircraft. You can still earn and redeem Avios on these services.

‘Mainline’ short haul flights use BA-style Airbus jet aircraft. If you’re lucky you will get an A321LR with flat beds in Business Class, as these do short haul during the morning before heading back to the US in the afternoon.


How to earn Avios from UK credit cards

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:

Barclaycard Avios Plus card

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios card

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

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

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £12,000 Read our full review

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.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

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.

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

Get a 10,000 points bonus plus an extra 500 points for our readers Read our full review

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.

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

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

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and free for a year Read our full review

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

Comments (28)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Bill says:

    Had an avios.com redemption with Aer Lingus on a regional flight earlier. Self service bag tsg kiosk in Dublin didn’t recognise that checked bags were included so had to queue to see an agent at the check in desk

  • Margaret Boden OBE says:

    We booked an Aer Lingus flight with Avios! On attempting check in I discovered I couldn’t because the administration of BA or Aer Lingus added my husband’s title immediately after his forename and passport details were not recognised. E.g Henrysir Smyth! Aer Lingus who did take my call said it was BA’s fault, but BA weren’t taking calls. I had to cancel the flights because accommodation reservations were going to be forfeit and non refundable if I couldn’t fly. I got my Avios back, but BA charged me £70 because I cancelled and have to date refused to acknowledge their culpability and refund the money. I certainly wouldn’t risk future flights.

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

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