Aer Lingus has announced they’re adding nonstop flights from Minneapolis and Montreal to Dublin in August 2019. This is great news for folks living in or near these cities looking for cheap award flights to Ireland. Or for another option to fly to Europe for less!
This is because BOTH of these cities fall into Aer Lingus’ award chart sweet spot. And you might have access to Aer Lingus Avios points without even realizing it. I’ll explain!
Because Aer Lingus’ award chart is distance based, the price you pay for an award ticket is tied to the distance flown per segment. For flights between 3,001 and 4,000 miles, you’ll pay just 13,000 Avios points one-way in coach (26,000 Avios points round-trip)!
And British Airways uses Aer Lingus award chart prices for flights operated by Aer Lingus, even when using British Airways (not Aer Lingus!) Avios points for a ticket.
The flight distance from Montreal to Dublin is ~2,970 miles and between Minneapolis and Dublin, it’s ~3,728 miles.
What does that mean? That means it will only cost you 26,000 British Airways Avios points to fly round-trip from these cities to Dublin!
Even though Montreal to Dublin is technically under 3,000 miles, according to the Aer Lingus award chart, you’ll still be charged 13,000 Avios each way.
Update: Even though the Aer Lingus website shows Montreal listed as Zone 5 (13,000 Avios one-way to Dublin) , you can currently book it at Zone 4 prices (12,500 Avios one-way). It looks like Aer Lingus plans to add it (like Boston) to Zone 5 even though it is under 3,000 miles, but they just haven’t updated their systems. So you should be able to book at the discounted rate, for now. I wouldn’t expect this to last long.
Avios points are easy to earn because you can transfer points from flexible points programs, like American Express Membership Rewards, and Chase Ultimate Rewards to British Airways, Iberia, or Aer Lingus Avios points!
You can check out this guide on how to transfer Avios points between your Avios points earning accounts. And if you have other plans to use British Airways Avios points in the near future, don’t forget the 40% transfer bonus you’ll get when you transfer AMEX Membership Rewards points to British Airways Avios right now!
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I’d double check your numbers cos a bunch of other blogs like “head for points” are saying that Aer Lingus are playing ball with the Montreal route and pricing it with its proper distance. Meaning 10K Avios redemptions for a one way off peak economy award or 31,250 (ish) Avios for business class
This chart from the Aer Lingus website has Montreal listed in Zone 5, and oddly has Zone 4 empty:
https://www.aerlingus.com/media/pdfs/EI_routes_avios_amounts.pdf
That would be awesome! We’ll update it once we can confirm.