Aerlingus AerClub/Avios

That would explain it yes. Probably going to wind up using them for Heathrow at this rate just for the sake of using them

From Dublin, maybe, but from Shannon the 2 return fares are €80 for taxes and charges. Flights are coming in at 51 out and 71 back each, so about a third of the price using the freebies…

Still not great admittedly but it beats letting them go to waste at least

Not bad in fairness

you’ll be able to buy a 1 way flight to London for free

A return ticket if you transfer 9000

You can use the avios to cover the taxes and charges ie the full price

Caveat is that you’ll only have access to certain flights,so you’ll need to be flexible as to when you want to go

in terms of value,you can find avios seats to places even the day before you fly or on the same day when the cost of a cash fare is very high

Your avios is very valuable in that scenario

The best way to look at avios is as a holiday savings bank

Is the travel insurance with the credit card enough for a few days in the USA or should I take out a separate policy? I can't find a policy number anywhere on it, just a generic brochure of cover so I'm wondering what I'd do in the event of a claim.

No it doesn’t count towards tier points unfortunately

But as a holiday bank that is basically free when you’ve enough avios it’s great

Well you get the 2 return ‘free’ flights but only subject to availability and you have to pay your taxes and charges yourself

The avios given per spend isn’t great but neither is Revolut unless you pay for ultra in which case you’ll get 1.5 avios per euro spend on their credit card

Ultra comes with a lot of extras for your payment that you can factor into your calculations like free lounge access,free fast track ,70% of what you paid back if you cancel your trip for any reason plus full travel insurance for the trip,each trip you book with your Rev card

The list is on there site but it suits me in my situation

Aer credit card is poor in my case in comparison

Oh thanks i wasn't aware that it had to be paid with that card, my husband booked the trip with his own (not aerclub) credit card so I'll have to take out a single trip policy but good to know for future reference

Does it definitely have to be paid by the card for the insurance? I was told it didn't.

Just be aware the travel insurance does not cover pre existing medical conditions. So it’s useless for me

The bonus flights really are a bit of a joke. I put in for them about two weeks ago, then a few days later my application was rejected because I inputted a flight number incorrectly.

I then redid them on Monday night and have only received confirmation today that my request is being processed and that I can expect to hear in 3-5 days.

From a user point of view, you have to manually enter departure and destination, dates, and flight numbers, it is incredibly cumbersome and their handling times are atrocious.

No checked luggage included, you need to pay for that, preferably at time of booking or otherwise before check-in as it gets a good bit dearer at check in.

I've never actually bothered to check this before when redeeming for flights, but is advance seat selection included on avios rewards redemption flights? I know it'll be a call in to do it if so, so figure better to ask here first.

I know its not included on the credit card flights.

No seat selection when booking a reward flight using avois points. You have to pay for the seats. It's a bit of a joke really. I have double the tier points needed to hit concierge again in April. I emailed the concierge line and asked them to add seats for a reward flight booking for me, my wife and my kid. They said no, I have to ring some number and pay for them. You'd think they would just add them out of goodwill with the amount of money I spend every year with them.