Bits: all Aer Lingus UK flights now BA codeshares, Qatar’s business class sale ends today

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News in brief:

All Aer Lingus UK flights to become BA codeshares

From 11th November, all Aer Lingus UK routes will become British Airways codeshare services.

BA was already codesharing on most Aer Lingus services from Heathrow and Gatwick. This new arrangement will add the following:

Heathrow to Belfast City
Gatwick to Knock
Dublin to Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool

This will mean:

These flights will be bookable on ba.com under a BA flight number
You will earn Avios and tier points when flying under the BA flight number
Aer Lingus services which could previously only be booked as part of a connection to a BA long-haul flight will become bookable on a standalone basis

Last chance to book a Qatar Airways sale flight from £695

I know that I have been banging on about the great Qatar Airways sale fares this week, but I make no apologies for reminding you that these deals end today. If you are planning to book, remember that the fares will probably disappear at midnight in the city of departure and not midnight UK time.

My two articles on the sale are here and here. These articles list the best fares from each departure city.

When you have business class fares as low as £695 to the Middle East, £860 to Bangkok or Singapore, £818 to The Maldives and £1,500 to Australia, you should take a close look.

Add in the facts that Qatar Airways has exceptionally high levels of service, has excellent seating on their A380 / 787 / A350 aircraft and earns you Avios and BA tier points when you fly and you have a great package.

How to earn Avios points from UK credit cards

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (December 2021)

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

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

British Airways BA Amex American Express card

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up, no annual fee and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending ….. Read our full review

British Airways BA Premium Plus American Express Amex credit card

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the UK’s most valuable credit card perk – the 2-4-1 companion voucher Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points, such as:

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

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

The Platinum Card from American Express

30,000 points and an unbeatable set of travel 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

The most generous Avios Visa or Mastercard for a limited company 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

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

(Want to earn more Avios? Click here to visit our home page for our latest articles on earning and spending your Avios points and click here to see how to earn more Avios this month from offers and promotions.)

Category

Aer Lingus and AerClub, British Airways and Avios, Qatar Airways and Privilege Club

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.

vindaloo says:

6 Nov6 November 07:51

Sorry, more questions about Aer Lingus flights booked as BA code shares (with my guesses for answers):

– Available for Avios redemption? (Yes)
– RFS? (No)
– Amex 2-for-1? (No)
– Lounge access for BA status pax? (Yes)
AndyS says:

6 Nov6 November 07:58

Any word on AL flights from other regional airports e.g cardiff to dublin?
AndyM says:

6 Nov6 November 08:31

These dont seem to be live on ba.com, so assume will be from the 11th November
Cheshire Pete says:

6 Nov6 November 09:07

After cancelling our flight to Atlanta from Manchester on a 2 for 1 And rebooking a DUB to MIA in the Club Sale I’ve then booked our return leg from Dub to Mandhester with Aer Lingus . I’ve not done the Manchester to Dublin yet. In Euris the Man to Dub was fairly cheap anyway 19.99 Eur on way but then I added luggage up to 40kg across 2 cases for another 55 Euros. On second thoughts I should have held off the baggage as You can that price in advance before departure anyhow. After the IAG take over is complete they are becoming a full member of One World so I wasn’t sure if Ud wasted upgrading my baggage. This is for the Easter period next year. I will book our outward to Dublin actually as its still only £19.99 but hold off the baggage until it becomes more clear if I get my status benefits from BA Gold nearer the time. Not sure it’s worth using avios when the base fare is so low. But would I be guaranteed my baggage benefits if I did?
- Polly says:
  
  6 Nov6 November 10:20
  
  Pete, we actually bought our positioning flights as they were around that price too. As we become BA silver next week, we too are hoping our bags can be free as silver holders. Main thing is to buy the next price up from HBO, as that allows you your two bags as silver. We might still take hand baggage only as we are only going for 6 days. Lucky you getting gold by then. We will never be G. But silver is just fine, thanks.
  
  Yes you should get baggage benefits by then. I double checked this with my OH CPH booking to see if he could have two bags for free and no charge came up. I was on a HBO fare, he on avios, but could take both our 23 kg bags on his booking. So,it does work.
James Alexander says:

6 Nov6 November 09:24

Re; Aer Lingus, I’ve just booked a fantastically cheap roundtrip (saving over £1k!) flight with BA from Dublin to NYC. oddly enough the DUB/LHR legs are on Aer Lingus. I start my journey in Glasgow on separate Aer Lingus ticket. I’m BAEC GOLD and had to pay lots money to book a bag on the complex Aer Lingus site for the GLA/DUB/GLA part.
Will this new arrangement help me with either connectivity, getting that bag money back or even some or Avios points? Appreciate any insight.
- Polly says:
  
  6 Nov6 November 10:03
  
  James, as you are officially starting your flight in Dub, Ex EU, as we are, you cannot risk connecting those tickets from GLA. Then you would be departing from the UK. They may agree to route your bags through, but as the bags are coming back to LHR, it may not wing it. Main reason we are all positioning is to save these £1000s. We too are going to NYC, but won’t risk the bags thing. Motto of this site is, keep those flights separate!
  - Polly says:
    
    6 Nov6 November 10:04
    
    Plus yes you will get both avios and TPs, we do now when we put our BAEC no in the booking.
    - James Alexander says:
      
      6 Nov6 November 19:27
      
      @ Polly…. Thanks so much. Appreciate your swift and kind reply. Happy safe flying.
Adrian says:

6 Nov6 November 09:45

The Aer Lingus news is great news for me. Being 30mins from BHX it makes positioning to DUB easy, having just discovered ex-eu, I have 1 trip in Jan via LHR and return, then a 2hr drive home, my June TP run can now start and end in Brum, with a BA qualifying flight, lovely….well as lovely as Brum gets!

The other advantage for me is that next year I will be 1 flight short of gold (enough TP, but as most of the TP run is on AA with no codeshare) this will make it easy to just take a day trip to get my extra flight.
Cheshire Pete says:

6 Nov6 November 10:48

Well as an add on to my comment above, now looking at my Man to Dub flight next March, On BA it is now book able for £104 . On Aer Lingus it is still £19.99 or £42.98 with baggage and seat selection. So think I am going to lock in my outward to Dublin at the Aer Lingus price thanks!

Avios redemption still doesn’t show the direct route, only 2 hops via London.
Daniel says:

6 Nov6 November 10:58

These new Qatar deals just annoy me as I bought tickets to BKK in last July/August sale and I paid approx 100 euro more from AMS, still a good price, but current sale 950 GBP per person in Business is absolutely great!