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Aer Lingus launches a new partnership with Alaska Airlines

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Aer Lingus starts flights to Seattle in May.  Seattle is the home base of Alaska Airlines, and the two companies have announced a new partnership agreement to provide feed to each others flights.

This will include reciprocal frequent flyer arrangements.

In reality, this makes little difference for Avios collectors.  You can already redeem Avios for flights on Alaska Airlines via British Airways Executive Club as this HFP article explains, albeit you must call.  We may see Alaska services being bookable online via avios.com.

Aer Lingus Alaska Airlines joint venture

The downside is that Alaska Airlines frequent flyers will be in competition with you to snap up Aer Lingus reward seats, but this is unlikely to impact routes outside the US West Coast corridor.

It is unclear how, if at all, this will impact the Aer Lingus partnership with United.  It is a little weird that you can earn Avios by crediting a Star Alliance flight on United to Aer Lingus ….

PS.  If you read my article earlier in the week about why I didn’t think Avios would be devalued sharply, Alaska is one reason why.  If you credit a cheap Club World sale ticket to Alaska Mileage Plan you earn 150% of miles flown so over 16,000 miles for a return to LA.  A fully revenue based Avios scheme earning 4 Avios per £1 would earn you just 6,000 Avios if you paid £1,500 for your ticket, even less if taxes were excluded.  Mass defection to schemes like Mileage Plan is the last thing BA wants.


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:

Nectar American Express

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

American Express Platinum card Amex

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 card

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.)