Related post (Read this first!): Everything You’ve Ever Wanted To Know About British Airways Avios: Tips, Tricks, And Advice You Need To Know To Maximize Your Avios
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British Airways Avios are awesome for short-haul domestic flights which have no fuel surcharges. Flights that cross the Atlantic usually have fuel surcharges, but notable exceptions are flights on Air Berlin and Aer Lingus.
The Boston to Dublin and Boston to Shannon routes on Aer Lingus fall into the same zone as a flight from NYC to LA and therefore cost just 12.5K Avios each way in coach or 25K Avios each way in business class. Those are incredible bargains, especially as they aren’t slammed with heavy fuel surcharges.
The JFK to Dublin route on Aer Lingus is 20K Avios each way in coach or 40K Avios each way in business class.
You can also use 4.5K Avios to fly from JFK or LGA to Boston, saving 3K Avios each way on a coach ticket or 10.5K Avios each way on a business class ticket versus flying nonstop from JFK.
Of course you can also use Avios to get to Boston or NYC:
Click here to view 29 Direct Avios Flights From Boston
Click here to view 102 Direct Avios Flights From NYC
It’s precisely these flights that British Airways is attacking in their upcoming devaluation on 04/28. The Boston to Dublin route will increase to 37.5K Avios each way and the JFK to Dublin route will increase to 60K Avios each way. Coach rates aren’t changing next month and neither are short-haul business class rates on popular routes like NYC-Toronto.
Aer Lingus flights don’t show up on BA.com, however Aer Lingus does partner with United and the availability generally matches what most BA agents have access to. When calling BA to book travel on Aer Lingus be sure to have them waive the phone booking fee as you can’t book Aer Lingus flights online.
United charges 30K each way in coach and 70K each way in business, making this a great use of 12.5K or 25K Avios.
I searched for 4 seats on United.com from Boston to Dublin and from JFK to Dublin and availability was incredible. In order to force the United.com award calendar to only display Aer Lingus flights just check the “nonstop flights only” button.
Note that the “nonstop flights only” button only works if there is nonstop availability on the date that you are searching, so just search for any of the dates in blue or green in the calendar below and then scroll to an earlier or later month as needed.
Dates in blue means business class only, while dates in green mean that both coach and business is available.
Boston-Dublin 4 passenger nonstop award calendar:
JFK-Dublin 4 passenger nonstop award calendar:
Of course you can fly from Dublin to elsewhere in Europe or to Israel with Avios on the cheap as well. Just remember that the Aer Lingus options won’t show up on BA.com. In order to save on fuel surcharges for intra-Europe flights on carriers besides Aer Lingus and Air Berlin you have to have earned at least 1 Avios in the previous 12 months. A transfer of at least 1 Avios into your account will unlock those savings.
You can also use just 25,000 Singapore miles (transferable from all of the major currencies) to fly in business class between Europe and Israel. You’ll have to call Singapore to book, but you can search award space on United.com for that as well. A routing via Zurich will yield lie-flat business class between Zurich and Tel Aviv.
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37 Comments On "Excellent Business Class Availability To Europe On The Most Lucrative Transatlantic British Airways Avios Route"
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Dan, thanks for the HT!
Can I transfer united or Ink miles to Avios? Thanks
Only see business availability for all of april and may (BOS-DUB)
Whats the fee to cancel these tickets after 24hrs?
Is august 18 the first flight available?
How should one get from Dublin to Israel? I looked on United and they keep suggesting routes with 2 stopovers!
Is there a particular good stopover city I can use for a multi-city search and get it to just one stopover?
@Thingy: It’s amount of taxes or $55 until 24hrs before flight. What are taxes on these tickets?
@shmuli:
Ink transfer to Avios.
@jb:
The screenshots I took are still valid.
@jb:
No.
@Joe:
I’m seeing DUB-ZRK-TLV on United.com.
Book with Singapore miles.
@Thingy:
Going to DUB should be under $55, coming back should be more.
Whenever I call BA to book Aer Lingus tickets, they tell me its a maximum of 2 per flight. Is that not true?
@civppl:
I just called BA and they had space for the same 4 seats I saw on united.com
HUCA.
Booked. Thank you.
@James from BNA:
Awesome!
@Dan and @Joe, how many United miles will it be to continue the booking to TLV thru Zurich using Singapore?
Are there fuel surcharges on Aer Lingus? BA wants $114 in taxes & fees whereas United is showing only $50
@Al:
Make sure they waive the phone booking fee as it can’t be booked online.
Ask for a breakdown of the taxes as well.
Dan as always great post….Thank You.
Related question….what is the best way to use Avios to Israel? Air Berlin never seems to have business availability? I check on AA.com as you have recommended in the past. What has your experience been like with Iberia? What is the best way to search for Iberia rewards?
Thanks again
Even with booking fee waived they want $114.15. The BA agent, “Roy” at ext. 7063, refused to provide a breakdown. Government taxes is all he would say.
In the past (including when I was booking our Ireland trip for next month on the BOS-DUB route), United’s search didn’t actually match up with real availability… there was a lot of phantom availability. Best to confirm with Expert Flyer.
@Moshe:
Are you searching Air Berlin from NYC-TXL/DUS on AA.com?
Search Iberia availability on their own site.
@Al:
HUCA
@Jeffrey:
I called BA and tried several dates in August for 4 passengers and they were all available.
BA does charge a small YQ surcharge on Aer Lingus of $23.94. BA also charges International US Transportation tax of $17.70 each way whereas United doesn’t. That is why it’s $60 more thru BA than UA.
What happens if I cancel? Is it all refundable ?
@Dan Yes also MUC in addition to DUS and TXL….on AA only Award savers (light Green and light Blue) are available with Avios…correct? Never seems to be any first available? Any other ways to Israel without fuel surcharge….other then Air Berlin and Iberia? Excluding the post above? thanks again…You are the Man!
@Dan
What happens if I book the rewards ticket to Dublin from Boston before the devaluation – then AFTER the devaluation, change the flight to a different date? Will I be charged the difference in miles?
What about infants on Aer Lingus?
Anyone travelled in Business BOS-DUB with Aer Lingus? What is the Business Class like? What is the kosher food like?
Dan i have chase, citi aa, and us air miles. Do they convert
Dan what happens if you immediately make another booking before the miles are deducted for the Aer Lingus flights in excess of your available balance, will they cancel the Aer Lingus Flights?
Business class availability seems to end (according to United) in November of this year. Any idea as to when/how often Aer Lingus releases business award space?
@steve
Chase transfers to avios
FYI, I just booked 2 Business class tickets and tax was 228.30 for taxes. They waived the $25 service charge for phone booking per passenger. I thought the taxes were much lower? Still a great deal!
JFK-DUB 20
DUB -TLV 25
TOTAL 45
Why is this better than AA?
and taxes seem high
Are the $114 in per ticket for each way or round trip?
@CJ:
Round-trip.
I don’t see a non-stop flight from Boston to Cancun. Is it seasonal? When does it operate? Thx!
Looks like availability for Jun-Aug on Boston to Dublin (or Shannon) had been obliterated. Per United’s search. Wonder if it’s due to heavy bookings in advance of the Avios devaluation.
Wow, availability on this Boston to Dublin route (using Avios) has pretty much disappeared for the summer. That wasn’t the case two weeks ago.
When searching DUB-TLV, I don’t see Singapore as an option as an airline…period. Please advise