How to book low cost flights on Avios points to Montreal with Aer Lingus

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We told you last week that Aer Lingus is launching Montreal and Minneapolis for Summer 2019.

What I didn’t spot at the time is that Aer Lingus is NOT fudging Avios pricing to Montreal.

This is what I mean. Dublin to Boston is 2,993 miles. This was a generally agreed fact at Aer Lingus when it was a British Airways Executive Club partner.

However, when Aer Lingus launched its Avios programme 18 months ago, Boston mysteriously moved. Aer Lingus suddenly decided that it was over 3,000 miles from Dublin. This meant that the cost of an Avios redemption in Business Class on a peak date jumped from 75,000 Avios to 120,000 Avios.

Aer Lingus new livery

Dublin to Montreal is 2,973 miles. And, for once, Aer Lingus is not disputing this fact.

Montreal, which starts on 9th August 2019, is correctly pricing up in the cheaper Avios Zone 4. This means that an Economy redemption using Avios is just 10,000 Avios each way off-peak and 12,500 Avios each way peak. Taxes will vary depending on whether you book on avios.com (£188 return) or with BA via the telephone (should be under £100).

A Business Class redemption to Montreal will be just 31,250 Avios each-way off-peak and 37,500 Avios each-way peak. That said, Aer Lingus only usually makes one Business Class seat available and even that isn’t yet showing for Montreal. You can book Economy redemptions however.

You can read more about the new Montreal and Minneapolis routes on the Aer Lingus site here.

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

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

marcw says:

20 Sep20 September 10:31

Has anyone a clue what’s going on with Norwegien Long Haul prices? Seems a bit weirg…
- Lev441 says:
  
  20 Sep20 September 10:53
  
  Someone mentioned that they were pulling a couple of routes earlier than planned so prices are sky high.
Dwadda says:

20 Sep20 September 10:33

Gosh, there’s almost always biz or PE availability to NYC, I take it for granted with what.. a dozen flights a day. I don’t understand this.
Jody says:

20 Sep20 September 11:00

OT can I use my Amex companion voucher to fly in to one airport and home from another? Looking to do a USA west coast driving holiday at some point in the next 2 years, so would be really useful to be able to do that.
- Rob says:
  
  20 Sep20 September 11:06
  
  Yes but you need to call to book.
- Mark2 says:
  
  20 Sep20 September 11:24
  
  there are rules about the length of the gap, so landing at JFK and returning from LAX might be a problem as well as a very long drive!
  - Genghis says:
    
    20 Sep20 September 11:29
    
    The “jaw” must be shorter than the two BA legs.
    LHR-JFK = 3,451 miles
    LHR-LAX = 5,456 miles
    JFK-LAX = 2,475 miles, therefore permitted routing.
    
    Taking it to extremes, LHR-SFO, TYO-LHR is also permitted.
    - Ahop says:
      
      20 Sep20 September 12:17
      
      Is that the largest open-jaw you are aware of Genghis? Any others that come close?
    - Genghis says:
      
      20 Sep20 September 13:06
      
      LHR-SCL, SYD-LHR also permitted I believe
    - BJ says:
      
      20 Sep20 September 16:05
      
      Thanks for that, I thought it all had to be within one zone so my new lesson for today.
rhazle says:

20 Sep20 September 11:10

Re: IHG credit card overseas spend being double points. I emailed Creation as a Euro airline ticket with exch fee only had regular points not double points. The customer service rep called and explained that overseas spend which was incurred via an internet transaction did not count. That said she said they were reviewing this but as a goodwill guesture they added the double points back on my next statement.
- Genghis says:
  
  20 Sep20 September 11:17
  
  The terms do say “4 points are allocated per £1 (one pound) spent on all other Purchases outside the UK”. I find it strange that it’s not based on actual currency used and therefore 3% fee charged.
- Liz says:
  
  20 Sep20 September 13:32
  
  I was told online overseas transactions only get 2pts.
Lev441 says:

20 Sep20 September 11:20

O/T – currently on route to Buenos Aires on BA and I’m impressed with the wifi speeds. Good job BA.
- Query says:
  
  20 Sep20 September 15:07
  
  which planes now have wi-fi? and cost if playing J/F?
  - Rob says:
    
    20 Sep20 September 15:10
    
    It is totally random at the moment. If you need it, fly someone else.
    - Stu N says:
      
      20 Sep20 September 23:31
      
      A friend on a flight to PVG had WiFi recently. Slightly surprisingly kept working in Russian and Chinese airspace.
- fivebobbill says:
  
  20 Sep20 September 17:09
  
  Just off Iberia MAD – LHR yesterday and they give you a code for 4MB wi-fi data free in Biz, so tried it out.
  Glad I didn’t pay, kept disconnecting and speed was abysmal… I was in row 1.
  - Rob says:
    
    20 Sep20 September 18:06
    
    AA last week was the first time I have ever had decent WiFi.
Jovanna says:

20 Sep20 September 11:34

Do the IHG points count towards status?
- Rob says:
  
  20 Sep20 September 11:41
  
  No.
Alex W says:

20 Sep20 September 12:04

Reminds me of the guy at the summer party who was proudly telling me he’d used his Avios to get to Australia in economy ????‍♂️
r* says:

20 Sep20 September 12:11

How long after making an avios booking (via avios.com) does it take to be able to pick a WTP seat?

Currently I just have a link to ‘seating’ (which then says seats are only available at checkin) rather than ‘choose a seat’ link that appears on a BAEC redemption?
- Lev441 says:
  
  20 Sep20 September 12:41
  
  Unless you have status, it’s at 24 hours before the flight…
  - Stu N says:
    
    20 Sep20 September 13:01
    
    You can usually book seats as soon as the booking is ticketed. You can check this in the App. Look for the “ticket number” field when you go into the flight – table below the seat choice button, would usually start “125”. If you try to do it before it’s ticketed, it usually falls down somewhere in the process.
    
    You’ll have to pay for seats unless you’re BAEC Silver or Gold. BAEC Bronze can choose free of charge 7 days out (exactly 7 days from the time of the flight).