BOI/Aer Lingus Aer Card - experience

podgeandrodge

I have the Aer Card.  I have to say I am underwhelmed, but it is all my fault.

I believed the hype about the free travel insurance worth €157.79 for a family was included, but when there are 2 of you, you can get better cover elsewhere for half this price.  So without getting in touch with the underwriter (which I haven't bothered to do) and try and negotiate to pay extra to upgrade, this is of no use whatsover.

The 2 free flights to Europe.  Wow.  Taxes/Charges not included.  "So what", I said.  So I have requested 2 return flights to Malaga with Aer Lingus - online they are €114.98 return each.
Aer Credit Card have come back to me and confirmed that my free flights will be €91.18 each, a saving of just over €20 on each flight.  A long long way from free, but that's the deal.

Meanwhile I pay €7.99 a month (€96 per year) for the dubious privileges, but hey, at least I can build up Avios points.  Yep, got 18,000 now and got offered €40 off a flight.

At the very most I think I might break even on this.  It simply isn't worth the bother of the whole application imo.  And advertising free flights, even though it states taxes/charges excluded, clearly intends to sound a lot better than it really is.

If you're not AerClub Silver perhaps you will enjoy the couple of lounge access/fast tracks. But again, if you are, largely useless other than giving them away.

But there you go.  Just a view for anyone considering going through the whole process expecting that they will come out the other side feeling they've won.  Perhaps families with the travel insurance might feel they have scraped past the costs of paying for these "rewards".

Bank of Ireland: Aisling

podgeandrodge wrote: »

I have the Aer Card.  I have to say I am underwhelmed, but it is all my fault.

I believed the hype about the free travel insurance worth €157.79 for a family was included, but when there are 2 of you, you can get better cover elsewhere for half this price.  So without getting in touch with the underwriter (which I haven't bothered to do) and try and negotiate to pay extra to upgrade, this is of no use whatsover.

The 2 free flights to Europe.  Wow.  Taxes/Charges not included.  "So what", I said.  So I have requested 2 return flights to Malaga with Aer Lingus - online they are €114.98 return each.
Aer Credit Card have come back to me and confirmed that my free flights will be €91.18 each, a saving of just over €20 on each flight.  A long long way from free, but that's the deal.

Meanwhile I pay €7.99 a month (€96 per year) for the dubious privileges, but hey, at least I can build up Avios points.  Yep, got 18,000 now and got offered €40 off a flight.

At the very most I think I might break even on this.  It simply isn't worth the bother of the whole application imo.  And advertising free flights, even though it states taxes/charges excluded, clearly intends to sound a lot better than it really is.

If you're not AerClub Silver perhaps you will enjoy the couple of lounge access/fast tracks.  But again, if you are, largely useless other than giving them away.

But there you go.  Just a view for anyone considering going through the whole process expecting that they will come out the other side feeling they've won.  Perhaps families with the travel insurance might feel they have scraped past the costs of paying for these "rewards".

Hi podgeandrodge, 

Thanks for getting in touch with us here on Boards. 

We appreciate you taking the time to share your experience, all of our customers views and feedback are important to us. 

I will certainly share your feedback with our Credit Card Team. 

Thanks, 
Aisling. 

podgeandrodge

Thanks Aisling.  BTW, I'm currently trying to book those flights, having been given a reference number, and you have to ring Aer Lingus reservations to do it.  Holding on for a half hour.  Should be online.  The whole thing is a joke (mainly on the side of Aer Lingus). 


Oh, and you don't get AerClub Tier points for doing this booking either - which could be nearly worth the extra cash!
At this stage I'd nearly rather pay the few quid and do the booking online!

Bank of Ireland: Aisling

podgeandrodge wrote: »

Thanks Aisling.  BTW, I'm currently trying to book those flights, having been given a reference number, and you have to ring Aer Lingus reservations to do it.  Holding on for a half hour.  Should be online.  The whole thing is a joke (mainly on the side of Aer Lingus). 


Oh, and you don't get AerClub Tier points for doing this booking either - which could be nearly worth the extra cash!
At this stage I'd nearly rather pay the few quid and do the booking online!

You're very welcome. 

I do understand your frustrations with the service and I'm sorry to hear you are unhappy with them. 
 
Please be assured your comments have been noted and passed on. 

Thanks, Aisling. 

podgeandrodge

Hi
Just an update on the above feedback.  While it does not related specifically to BOI, it relates to the service and conditions relating to your arrangement with them.

Today, a few months later, I tried to add a bag to my booking - Aer Lingus website would not let me do so as it was not a "direct" booking (as I had to go through a laborious phone in process with 48 hour response before I could get a flight).

So I rang Aer Lingus and tried to book the bag.  

[font=verdana, geneva, lucida, "lucida grande", arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Aer Lingus "yes sir, €50 each way"[/font]
[font=verdana, geneva, lucida, "lucida grande", arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Me: "Oh, says €40 online"[/font]
[font=verdana, geneva, lucida, "lucida grande", arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Aer Lingus: "yes that's online, but if you phone up it costs €50[/font]
[font=verdana, geneva, lucida, "lucida grande", arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Me: "But I have to phone up, it's an Aer Credit Card booking and I can't manage the booking online".[/font]
[font=verdana, geneva, lucida, "lucida grande", arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Aer Lingus: "Let me talk to a supervisor"[/font]
[font=verdana, geneva, lucida, "lucida grande", arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Aer Lingus: "I've talked to my supervisor. You're already getting a great promotion so you have to pay the phone booking price of €50".[/font]
[font=verdana, geneva, lucida, "lucida grande", arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Me: "No thanks, I'll complain, I don't think I should have to pay an extra €10 because I'm "lucky" enough to have these flights and Aer Lingus systems won't let me book online.[/font]

I am putting this here because BOI will hopefully take this feedback and ensure that the overall service connected with their card is improved.  It simply is not worth the €7.99 a month to get a few Avios points and €20 of a couple of flights with all the hassle and, now, extra charges.

Bank of Ireland Reps

Hi There,

Thanks for getting back in touch with us here and for bringing this to our attention.

Please be assured we will pass this feedback on to our Credit Card Department.

Thanks, Aisling.

SB Morer

So, Bank of Ireland. I qualified for my ‘free’ flights, lounge passes and fast track in February. It’s looking like I won’t get to use any of them, or the ‘free’ travel insurance this year at all. Will you be extending expiry dates for these benefits into next year, or am I going to get anything at all for my €8 monthly fee?

reelkidmusic

This card has proven to be a terrible waste of money for me. I’ll definitely be changing back to a classic card at the end of the 12 month term. There is absolutely no benefit to having it.

Bank of Ireland: Jennifer

SB Morer wrote: »

So, Bank of Ireland. I qualified for my ‘free’ flights, lounge passes and fast track in February.  It’s looking like I won’t get to use any of them, or the ‘free’ travel insurance this year at all. Will you be extending expiry dates for these benefits into next year, or am I going to get anything at all for my €8 monthly fee?

Hi SB Morer,

Thanks for getting in touch with us here today. 

We have not yet been asked this, can you leave this with us and we can certainly find out from the relevant team. As soon as we have the information we will certainly come back to you here.

Thanks Jen 

SB Morer

Bank of Ireland: Jennifer wrote: »

Hi SB Morer,

Thanks for getting in touch with us here today. 

We have not yet been asked this, can you leave this with us and we can certainly find out from the relevant team. As soon as we have the information we will certainly come back to you here.

Thanks Jen 

Any update on this Jen? It’s been two weeks.

Bank of Ireland: Alison

Hi SB Morer

So sorry for the delay, we are going to link in again with the Team and come back to you as soon as we can.

Many thanks
Alison

Bank of Ireland: Alison

[font=Calibri","sans-serif]Hi SB Morer[/font]

[font=Calibri","sans-serif]Thanks for your patience with coming back to you.[/font]

[font=Calibri","sans-serif]We understand that during the COVID-19 national emergency customers will not be travelling however the proposition benefits continue to accrue.[/font]

[font=Calibri","sans-serif]Avios points continue to be earned on spend and the benefits that need to be booked / redeemed the flights for example are valid for 12 months from when they were made available and bookings can be made up to 11 months in advance of travel. The travel insurance policy cover continues to remain in place.[/font]

[font=Calibri","sans-serif]We hope the above information helps,[/font]

[font=Calibri","sans-serif]Many thanks[/font]
[font=Calibri","sans-serif]Alison[/font]

podgeandrodge

Bank of Ireland: Alison wrote: »

Hi SB Morer

Thanks for your patience with coming back to you.

We understand that during the COVID-19 national emergency customers will not be travelling however the proposition benefits continue to accrue.

Avios points continue to be earned on spend and the benefits that need to be booked / redeemed the flights for example are valid for 12 months from when they were made available and bookings can be made up to 11 months in advance of travel.  The travel insurance policy cover continues to remain in place.

We hope the above information helps,

Many thanks
Alison

Hi Alison

I have to say that the response from BOI to the valid question posed by SB Morer is simply not sufficient.  
The product offering to those of us paying BOI €7.99 per month includes the following benefits which are simply not available to us right now:

·         - Glide through security in a flash with 2 fast track and priority boarding passes
 
·         - Take a load off pre-flight and slip into holiday mode sooner with 2 lounge passes
 
·         - Jet away with 2 return flights to Europe. You pay taxes, fees and charges
 

·         - Travel happy with worldwide family multi-trip travel insurance

At the very least, it has to be accepted that not all of the "proposition benefits" are being provided by BOI in line with the service being paid for.  We are all aware of the public communications relating to Health Insurance, and other insurance companies that have acknowledged the situation and reverted payments to customers as an acknowledgement of the situation.

So, to be honest, the information provided by you does not help, and while I can't speak for SB Morer who raised the issue, the response frustrates me to the extent that I would like you to raise it as a customer complaint.  It's only a small amount of money perhaps, but at the very least the monthly charge should be paused until such time as all benefits can be used.

Thanks.

Bank of Ireland: Eve

Hi Podgeandrodge, thanks for getting in touch with us here on Boards.ie. 

We’re really sorry to hear that you feel this way. 

We do appreciate all customer feedback and will be sure to pass your feedback along to our product team. 

You can also log your dissatisfaction on this through our online complaints form. I’ve provided a link below to our complaints procedure, I hope that it helps. 

https://bit.ly/3c8dnr6 

If there is anything else that we can help you with please feel free to get in touch with us here. 

Thanks, Eve 

SB Morer

Bank of Ireland: Eve wrote: »

Hi Podgeandrodge, thanks for getting in touch with us here on Boards.ie. 

We’re really sorry to hear that you feel this way. 

We do appreciate all customer feedback and will be sure to pass your feedback along to our product team. 

You can also log your dissatisfaction on this through our online complaints form. I’ve provided a link below to our complaints procedure, I hope that it helps. 

https://bit.ly/3c8dnr6 

If there is anything else that we can help you with please feel free to get in touch with us here. 

Thanks, Eve 

Hi Eve, I really want to echo Podgeandrodge’s points here. BoI’s response to my query was underwhelming to say the least.

We entered into a contract in good faith in which we would receive Travel Insurance and Flight/Airport benefits in return for a monthly fee.

While we are still paying the fee, we are not in position to avail of any of the benefits. I appreciate you say that we have 12 months to benefit from the ‘free’ flights from date of qualification, but at least 6 months of this year are effectively written off for flying, and it could be more. Yet BoI or Aer Lingus are not recognising this in any way.

The same issue arises for a 12 month travel insurance policy which were paying for, when travel is not permitted for at least half of those months.

I really feel BoI and Aer Lingus need to recognise and address these issues. We are not receiving anything in return for our fixed fee, which has not been reduced or paused.

Regards

SB Morer

podgeandrodge

Bank of Ireland: Eve wrote: »

Hi Podgeandrodge, thanks for getting in touch with us here on Boards.ie. 

We’re really sorry to hear that you feel this way. 

We do appreciate all customer feedback and will be sure to pass your feedback along to our product team. 

You can also log your dissatisfaction on this through our online complaints form. I’ve provided a link below to our complaints procedure, I hope that it helps. 

https://bit.ly/3c8dnr6 

If there is anything else that we can help you with please feel free to get in touch with us here. 

Thanks, Eve 

Thanks Eve.  I have lodged the complaint thanks.  However, I think that BOI here on boards would be doing a service by getting a proper response from the BOI Credit Card area as to the reasoning behind not pausing the monthly charge when they cannot provide full benefits.  I intend to raise this with consumer authorities in the near future and believe that a statement from BOI would assist.  2 of your customers have raised this through the boards.ie channel so this is where the source of the original notification to BOI resides.  Thanks.

Bank of Ireland: Eve

Hi all, 

Thanks again for taking the time to share your views and comments here on the benefits to our Aer Card. 

We would like to assure you that we have forward these to our Credit Card Product Team. 

If there are any updates or changes on the above, we will certainly come back to let you know. 

You can also discuss this further with an Advisor by calling our Credit Card Team on 0818 200 412 and an Advisor would be able to discuss this with you further. 

If there’s anything else we can help with please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us here. 

Thanks, Eve 

SB Morer

Hi BOI

I see customer feedback has led to you and Aer Lingus stretching the expiry date of reward flights out by six months. However can you please explain why you didn’t apply this to all rewards this year and instead opted only for rewards issued after 01 March?
My reward was issued in February. I was planning to use it in May but obviously that didn’t happen. So I now need to use it before February of 2021, while someone who had an award issued a few days after mine has the whole summer of 2021 to use theirs?
You are penalising me for spending on my card and earning my reward faster. Please explain why.

Bank of Ireland Reps

SB Morer wrote: »

Bank of Ireland: Eve wrote: »

Hi Podgeandrodge, thanks for getting in touch with us here on Boards.ie. 

We’re really sorry to hear that you feel this way. 

We do appreciate all customer feedback and will be sure to pass your feedback along to our product team. 

You can also log your dissatisfaction on this through our online complaints form. I’ve provided a link below to our complaints procedure, I hope that it helps. 

https://bit.ly/3c8dnr6 

If there is anything else that we can help you with please feel free to get in touch with us here. 

Thanks, Eve 

Hi Eve, I really want to echo Podgeandrodge’s points here. BoI’s response to my query was underwhelming to say the least.

We entered into a contract in good faith in which we would receive Travel Insurance and Flight/Airport benefits in return for a monthly fee.

While we are still paying the fee, we are not in position to avail of any of the benefits. I appreciate you say that we have 12 months to benefit from the ‘free’ flights from date of qualification, but at least 6 months of this year are effectively written off for flying, and it could be more. Yet BoI or Aer Lingus are not recognising this in any way.

The same issue arises for a 12 month travel insurance policy which were paying for, when travel is not permitted for at least half of those months.

I really feel BoI and Aer Lingus need to recognise and address these issues. We are not receiving anything in return for our fixed fee, which has not been reduced or paused.

Regards

SB Morer

Hi SB Morer

Thanks for taking the time to send us your views and experience around the benefits and features of the Aer Card. 

Please be assured your comments are being forwarded to our Card Product Team. If there is any changes , we will certainly come back here and let you know. 

Many thanks
Alison

SB Morer

https://www.headforpoints.com/2020/07/23/review-bank-of-ireland-avios-credit-card-for-aer-lingus-aerclub/

Bank of Ireland Reps

Hi All, 

Just coming back to add in some detail on the rewards extension on the Aer Card. 

We've extended the validity of rewards issued between 1 March 2019 and 30th June 2020 and not already redeemed from 12 to 18 months. The new expiry date for your rewards will be reflected on your Aer Card travel rewards account.

@SB Morer, it looks like you will be in scope for this as it's relating back to March last year. If you have received a recent communication by email or letter from us please allow from the date received, 10 working days for the rewards account to update. 

We hope the info helps, 

Many thanks
Alison

podgeandrodge

Update from me, having made a formal complaint to BOI it hasn't been upheld as I am still "getting some of the benefits" or something to that effect.  As most know, this card is not really worth the monthly cost as the 'free flights' aren't really saving you much at all given you still pay taxes and 'charges'.  With a lot of spend (as I did) the Avios add up a bit, but their worth is not much in the long run, and the lounge access is already there for silver customers.

I cancelled my card this morning - a quick call to 1890 251 251 or 056-7757747 sorted it out in minutes.  I have moved to AIB platinum which offers cash back and will pay me instead of other way around!

SB Morer

Bank of Ireland Reps wrote: »

Hi All, 

Just coming back to add in some detail on the rewards extension on the Aer Card. 

We've extended the validity of rewards issued between 1 March 2019 and 30th June 2020 and not already redeemed from 12 to 18 months. The new expiry date for your rewards will be reflected on your Aer Card travel rewards account.

@SB Morer, it looks like you will be in scope for this as it's relating back to March last year. If you have received a recent communication by email or letter from us please allow from the date received, 10 working days for the rewards account to update. 

We hope the info helps, 

Many thanks
Alison

Hi BOI, In the message above you say the new expiry date for claiming my ‘free’ flights is reflected in my account. I can’t see where it is located? (See screenshot attached). Does the expiry date run from when I qualified for the flights or is it to do with my anniversary date in the top left corner? It’s all very unclear.

With the government advising that our borders will be closed until 2022 for leisure travel I don’t see how I’m going to avail of any of the travel rewards linked to my card. My travel insurance is worthless. I have to ask myself why I continue to pay a monthly fee for this card.

Bank of Ireland Reps

Hi SBMorer, 

Thanks for coming back to us on this. 

While we understand that customers may not be travelling at the moment the proposition benefits continue to accrue. It is important to note that all benefits associated with the card continue to persist.  Avios points can continue to be earned on spend and the benefits that need to be booked / redeemed the flights for example are valid for 12 months from when they were made available and bookings can be made for up to 11 months out. 

Aer Credit Card reward flights are covered under AerLingus’  ‘book with confidence’ policy and customers who make bookings have the flexibility to change the dates of their flight until 30 September 2021  

Could you send us a PM with your full name and contact number and we can arrange a call relating to check the free flights expiry dates with you please? 

Many thanks
Alison

SB Morer

Bank of Ireland Reps wrote: »

Hi SBMorer, 

Thanks for coming back to us on this. 

While we understand that customers may not be travelling at the moment the proposition benefits continue to accrue. It is important to note that all benefits associated with the card continue to persist.  Avios points can continue to be earned on spend and the benefits that need to be booked / redeemed the flights for example are valid for 12 months from when they were made available and bookings can be made for up to 11 months out. 

Aer Credit Card reward flights are covered under AerLingus’  ‘book with confidence’ policy and customers who make bookings have the flexibility to change the dates of their flight until 30 September 2021  

Could you send us a PM with your full name and contact number and we can arrange a call relating to check the free flights expiry dates with you please? 

Many thanks
Alison

Thanks Alison. I have sent a PM as requested. With all due respect to you, I cannot agree with your statements above.

I am supposed to be paying a monthly fee for travel insurance, ‘free’ flights, lounge passes, priority security passes, and a very low level of Avios in comparison to any other credit card in any other country.

With foreign travel being completely banned currently, and effectively banned for c.12 months now, I am unable to avail of the insurance, flights, lounge or security. They only reward I have received in the last 12 months for the fees paid is several hundred Avios which are worth a tiny fraction of the €95 I have paid for my card.

I find BOI’s continued response of ‘benefits continue to accrue’ to be disingenuous. Telling me I can book flights 11 months in advance is ridiculous. I have no idea what the situation will be regarding travel or vaccinations so how I’m earth can I figure out where to book flights to? Both BOI and Aer Lingus have provided no real assurances to their AerCard customers and offered no reduction or refund of fees, despite all but one of the ‘rewards’ linked to the fee being effectively suspended.

Bank of Ireland Reps

SB Morer wrote: »

Bank of Ireland Reps wrote: »

Hi SBMorer, 

Thanks for coming back to us on this. 

While we understand that customers may not be travelling at the moment the proposition benefits continue to accrue. It is important to note that all benefits associated with the card continue to persist.  Avios points can continue to be earned on spend and the benefits that need to be booked / redeemed the flights for example are valid for 12 months from when they were made available and bookings can be made for up to 11 months out. 

Aer Credit Card reward flights are covered under AerLingus’  ‘book with confidence’ policy and customers who make bookings have the flexibility to change the dates of their flight until 30 September 2021  

Could you send us a PM with your full name and contact number and we can arrange a call relating to check the free flights expiry dates with you please? 

Many thanks
Alison

Thanks Alison. I have sent a PM as requested. With all due respect to you, I cannot agree with your statements above.

I am supposed to be paying a monthly fee for travel insurance, ‘free’ flights, lounge passes, priority security passes, and a very low level of Avios in comparison to any other credit card in any other country.

With foreign travel being completely banned currently, and effectively banned for c.12 months now, I am unable to avail of the insurance, flights, lounge or security. They only reward I have received in the last 12 months for the fees paid is several hundred Avios which are worth a tiny fraction of the €95 I have paid for my card.

I find BOI’s continued response of ‘benefits continue to accrue’ to be disingenuous. Telling me I can book flights 11 months in advance is ridiculous. I have no idea what the situation will be regarding travel or vaccinations so how I’m earth can I figure out where to book flights to? Both BOI and Aer Lingus have provided no real assurances to their AerCard customers and offered no reduction or refund of fees, despite all but one of the ‘rewards’ linked to the fee being effectively suspended.

We do appreciate you coming back to us here. We appreciate your views and feedback on this and we will be sure to share this. As promised we have forwarded your details to the team and requested a call back for you.

Have a nice weekend.

Thanks Jen

SB Morer

A word of warning to anyone using their 'reward' flights - based on my recent experience you're better off cancelling your BOI/Aer Lingus card and just booking flights with Ryanair! I signed up for my card in January 2020 just before Covid hit, and so my first year's benefits were extended by six months into June of this year. I didn't want to lose the reward so made a booking in May - but was still unsure about vaccinations and ability to travel etc at the time, so I booked Rhodes for 2 of us for 11-25 September in the hope things would be ok by then.

In late July, Aer Lingus cancelled our outbound flight and offered a flight on 10 Sep (a day earlier instead). This would mean an extra night's accommodation, but I was ok paying for that if it still meant our (very overdue) holiday was going ahead! So I accepted the change and presumed it meant my trip was fully confirmed. On that basis I confirmed and paid for 15 nights' accommodation on 11 August.

The next day (12 August) Aer Lingus cancelled my flight home. They cancelled it outright, with no offer of an alternative. It would seem they are ending Rhodes flights on 10 September and knowingly allowed me to confirm an outbound flight with no way of getting me home. Thankfully Ryanair had availability for Rhodes-Dublin on 25 Sep and I had to book that at considerable expense.

As my trip was a reward flight they have given me two alternatives:

1. Cancel the outbound flight and 'as a gesture of goodwill' they will reinstate my 2 return reward flights
2. Take the outbound flight and lose the return leg reward.

They are essentially incentivising me to cancel outright! However, this doesn't suit me at all, as I've booked and paid for accommodation from the 10 September, and we are travelling with friends who are also booked on the Aer Lingus flight. Plus I don't want to pay a fortune for another Ryanair flight.

If I had booked the flights to Rhodes with Ryanair in the first place, I'd have gotten cheaper flights, wouldn't have had to pay for an extra day's accommodation and would have saved myself the bother of having to interact with an extremely unhelpful Aer Lingus who want to just cancel half my 'reward'.

I'm genuinely sorry I every signed up for this credit card.

SB Morer

I'm back here again with more frustrations, which I'm hoping Bank of Ireland might be able to pass on to Aer Lingus.

I'm attempting to redeem my 'free' flights for a break to the Canaries at the end of March. I submitted a request on 27 January and was told to expect a response in c.3 working days. I heard back on 02 February saying my requested flights weren't available.

I immediately submitted a new request, which I'm STILL waiting to hear back on, a full 8 days later. I attempted to contact AL via Twitter and I was given an 1890 number to ring - expect 1890 numbers don't exist any more and that number is invalid. I was also provided with an inaccurate email address, which was a poorly spelled attempt at the actual address that I submitted my request to 8 days ago.

Now here's the thing, you need to book flights at least 30 days in advance, but seeing at it takes more than a week to find out if you have the flights you want I'm rapidly running out of time to try to get flights for the end of March. There is no support once you have submitted a request - you are entirely at the mercy of whenever AL choose to get back to you, and no phone support is provided (unless there is a replacement for that 1890 number which is not advertised).

A proper online booking system is NEEDED for these flights

Bank of Ireland: Tara

Hi SB Morer,

Thanks for taking the time to share your experience with Aer Lingus and we are sorry to see this. Please be assured all customer feedback received here is shared with senior managers on a regular basis. We've had a look on Aer Lingus website and found contact details here which includes an option to submit a complaint.

We do hope this is resolved quickly for you.

Thanks

Tara

podgeandrodge

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118610068#Comment_118610068

SB Morer, I totally sympathise with you, but as I posted earlier (a year ago!), the whole thing is not worth the hassle, as you've explained yourself. Get rid of the card, the exasperation associated with it, and get a cashback card from AIB or BOI if they have one. Paying for the aer lingus card is throwing money in the bin.

As I said in August 2020, "I cancelled my card this morning - a quick call to 1890 251 251 or 056-7757747 sorted it out in minutes. I have moved to AIB platinum which offers cash back and will pay me instead of other way around!"

the continual statements by BOI, and Aer Lingus, that they are providing your feedback up the line are not worth the paper they are written on (with due respect to the people that have to tell people this). Up the line does not care.

SB Morer

Ok after all my previous complaining I felt it was only fair to come back with some positive feedback re my Aer Lingus/BOI Credit Card.

I had my 2021 and 2022 redemptions available for use so I've managed to book flights to Barcelona in March and to Mallorca in June using my reward flights.

Having paid the relevant taxes and charges I saved €264 on the Barcelona flights and €496 on the Mallorca flights at the time of booking (and actually the flight prices have increase since!). That's a saving of €760 this year, plus the travel insurance and lounge passes etc, for my €96 annual fee.

All in all I'm much happier now that I did hang on to my card, as I gave serious consideration to giving it up.

If they could really sort of the mess of the booking/redemptions process I'd be happy to recommend the card to others. But I couldn't do so currently as it's still quite a lot of hassle to go through the process of redeeming flights.