New BoI/Aer Lingus credit card with travel benefits

Monthly fee : €8
Annual fee: €96

Main benefits:

1) If you spend €5,000 a year, you will qualify for two free return fares on Aer Lingus from Ireland to any European destination.
a) You pay taxes, fees and charges
b) Subject to seats being available for this scheme: "A minimum of two seats per flight will be available, except for Restricted Periods. Seat availability on the Aer Lingus website or through a booking agent does not guarantee a free return fare."

2) 2 Lounge passes per year in Dublin, Cork, Shannon or Belfast
I would prefer them in a foreign destination as I usually arrive on time for my flight out.

I would be annoyed if I paid €96 a year for this only to find that flights were not available on the flight I wanted.

How much are the airport taxes on a typical flight to London Heathrow?

Brendan
 
In fairness, it also includes worldwide multitrip travel insurance (including winter sports) for cardholder, spouse/partner plus children under 23 - that would typically cost more than the €96 annual chanrge.
 
Has anyone got this card yet?
I applied on day they came out, then uploaded requested documents on 03/02/19 and its still pending.

Their website claimed 24 hour approval amd card within a week.
 
orka said:
In fairness, it also includes worldwide multitrip travel insurance (including winter sports) for cardholder, spouse/partner plus children under 23 - that would typically cost more than the €96 annual chanrge.
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We pay almost exactly that €93 fir Laya European travel annual for family with winter sports .
 
This is great until you read the small print. In particular cover for pre existing conditions on the Travel Insurance.
The only place I can get travel cover without a huge loading is through my health insurance provider.
 
There's a particularly ominous clause in the travel insurance small print which precludes customers from making any medical claim if they are currently on a hospital waiting list or awaiting the results of medical tests. This seems to apply to claims for any kind of medical treatment abroad, not just to treatment for the condition for which they are currently on the waiting list. Since a large part of the Irish population is on a hospital waiting list and since they sometimes linger on these lists for years, this clause seems absurdly restrictive.
 
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DeeKie said:
Anyone use Avios points at all /a lot?
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Yes - but not with Aer Lingus. I avoid using Aer Lingus and use BA / Iberian / or other OneWorld full members. Aer Lingus is a partial member and uses the same Avios "points". But they don't take full part in terms of access to lounges or other OneWorld benefits.

As a general rule with airline points - short haul flights are the least efficient use of points given the various taxes and charges you have to pay anyway. I use points either for long haul or for upgrades on long haul.

Edit - I should clarify. I collect the points on a BA card. I could spend them on Aer Lingus flights - again focused on long haul
 
DeeKie said:
nyone use Avios points at all /a lot?
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I transfer any Aer Lingus earned Avios to my BA account and use them for hotels.
When I looked at using Avios on Aer Lingus for a short flight I found the "fees and taxes" added up to more than paying for the flight without Avios.
 
DeeKie said:
Anyone use Avios points at all /a lot?
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Just to add, when I booked a flight to Lisbon last week with Aer Lingus, before I actually paid, a pop up asked if I wanted to reduce the cost by €25 for 4000 Avios. So I did, and was pleased there was no special effort required on my part.
 
Gervan said:
Just to add, when I booked a flight to Lisbon last week with Aer Lingus, before I actually paid, a pop up asked if I wanted to reduce the cost by €25 for 4000 Avios. So I did, and was pleased there was no special effort required on my part.
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Open to correction, but the cash discount they offer you (like your example €25 for 4,000 points) may not be as good as booking a flight directly using Avios - e.g. a one way flight anywhere in Europe (excl. taxes) is something like 7,000. So, depending on the price of the flight, the cash option directly on Aer Lingus, while easy, may not be best choice.
 
excl. taxes

Podgerodge, last year I looked at the different options for a short haul flight, and paying with Avios plus fees and taxes was actually more expensive than just paying for the flight.
The system may have changed of course.
 
Gervan said:
excl. taxes

Podgerodge, last year I looked at the different options for a short haul flight, and paying with Avios plus fees and taxes was actually more expensive than just paying for the flight.
The system may have changed of course.
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+1

By far the best value for money is to use points to upgrade class on a long haul flight - pretty much true of all airline schemes but certainly with Aer Lingus.
 
However, long haul flights are few and far between for me. Short haul I use more frequently and am appreciating the pop=-up discounts. As when I have used used Avios (BA) for free hotels, 170 Avios seems to be worth about €1
 
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