Aer Lingus applies to join the BA, AA, Iberia and Finnair transatlantic joint venture

Aer Lingus submitted its legal application this week for anti-trust immunity to allow it to join the transatlantic joint venture led by IAG.

This would allow you to earn British Airways Executive Club tier points on Aer Lingus flights to the US.  You can already earn Avios, but not tier points.

At present, British Airways, American Airlines, Iberia and Finnair operate their flights to and from North America as one company.  All of the money, irrespective of which airline is flown, goes into a pot and is then distributed to the four airlines under a complex formula.

Aer Lingus has now applied to join this joint venture.  This does not automatically mean that Aer Lingus will also join the oneworld alliance.  Interestingly, the application states that Aer Lingus can continue its current codeshares with JetBlue and United and in theory can add further deals on top.

There will be some changes.  Whilst you currently earn Avios flying with Aer Lingus, British Airways does not currently offer tier points in the Executive Club unless it is on a BA codeshare.  This would change if the joint venture is approved.

The full legal submission is here (link removed as document removed).  Don’t expect this to be approved rapidly, however.

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 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 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.)