The small country of Ireland may not spring to mind when thinking of major gateways between the United States and Europe — but it should. Ireland’s flagship carrier, Aer Lingus, flies to a surprising number of destinations (over 100 routes!), with service to over a dozen U.S. cities.
Admittedly, Aer Lingus AerClub doesn’t make our top 10 list for the world’s best airline rewards programs. However, it uses the same points currency (called “Avios”) as one of our absolute favorite programs, the British Airways Club. We’ll touch more on that later, but just know that this makes Aer Lingus Avios extremely valuable.
Aer Lingus offers an excellent business class seat between the U.S. and a handful of destinations in Ireland and the U.K. Fortunately for you, they’re easy (and sometimes dirt cheap) to book with rewards.
Here’s what you need to know about how to book Aer Lingus business class for less.
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What to know about flying Aer Lingus business class
The majority of Aer Lingus planes offer some form of business class. Within Europe, business class often consists of a bulkhead coach seat with a blocked-out middle seat. But when you’re traveling between Ireland and the U.S., you’ll have fancy lie-flat seats.
When booking Aer Lingus business class from the U.S., you’ll fly one of the following aircraft:
- A330-305
- A330-302
- A330-202
- A330-200
- A321-NEO/XLR
Some of these planes are wide-body and some are narrow-body. That’s important, as it affects seat configuration (we’ll cover that in a bit).
The best routes to fly in business class on Aer Lingus
Aer Lingus flies directly to the U.S. from Dublin (DUB) and Shannon (SNN). It even operates a handful of nonstop flights from Manchester (MAN). Pretty neat!
Take a look at the map below. These are the routes for which you can book Aer Lingus business class (though, again, some will be a simple bulkhead coach seat with the middle blocked off).
Some of the best routes to book Aer Lingus business class are:
- San Francisco (SFO) to Dublin (DUB)
- New York (JFK) to Shannon (SNN)
- Chicago (ORD) to Dublin (DUB)
- Miami (MIA) to Dublin (DUB)
These routes are popular for unique reasons — whether you want an extra-long flight to enjoy your fancy seat, access to impressive lounges (which you’ll get only when flying business class), wide-body aircraft with a better seat configuration, etc.
What to expect when flying Aer Lingus business class
The main appeal when booking Aer Lingus business class is, of course, the spacious lie-flat seats — otherworldly when compared to standard economy seats. But your experience outside the plane will be improved, too.
Check-in and security clearance
Aer Lingus business class comes with fast track security, meaning you’ll have a dedicated security lane that usually goes notably faster than the standard security lanes. Depending on how busy the airport is, this minor perk could save you quite a lot of time.
You’ll also benefit from Group 1 priority boarding, giving you a chance to settle into your seat before nearly everyone else.
Luggage allowance
When flying business class, Aer Lingus affords you a whopping three checked bags weighing a total of 150 lbs. This is considerably more than the single 50-lb bag you’ll get when booking either “Smart” or “Flex” economy fares (Saver economy fares across the Atlantic don’t even get that).
Lounge access
When you fly Aer Lingus business class, you’ll gain entry into Aer Lingus lounges — as well as lounges operated by partners including British Airways, United Airlines, Turkish Airlines, American Airlines, and more.
For example, you can enter the British Airways Lounge in Washington Dulles (IAD). This lounge is only for Oneworld business and first class passengers and those with Oneworld Sapphire or Emerald elite status. It’s a stunning mezzanine lounge with lots of windows overlooking the terminal (so you can gaze down at all the people who don’t have business class lounge access).
Business class lounges are often comfortable spaces with decent food and free alcohol. You’ll typically find plenty of comfortable seats with lots of electrical outlets. Some even have shower suites.
Seats
Aer Lingus offers comfy and quality business class seats. Regardless of long-haul aircraft, you’ll get 22 inches of width and a 6.5-foot-long flatbed seat. You’ll also typically receive a pitch between 46 and 47 inches.
My recent seat was comfortable, though there were some mechanical gaffes. Trying to adjust segments of the seat felt touch-and-go; I had to press the buttons multiple times before they engaged. There was also a massage button that turned out to be mostly decoration.
The real issue is this: All of Aer Lingus’ aircraft feature seats that don’t have direct aisle access. For example, the Airbus A330-305 cabin has a 2-2-2 layout — in other words, the window seats will need to climb over their sleeping seatmate to reach the lavatory (I watched this play out plenty during a recent trip).
Other A330 aircraft are configured 1-2-1 or 2-2-1, while the narrow-body A321neo planes are 2-2 and 1-1. For the potential headache of no aisle access, the standalone seats are excellent with privacy that’s only bested by airlines that offer business class seats with sliding doors.
Food and drink
The menu aboard Aer Lingus flights will naturally vary depending on your route. In my experience, it’s all been great. For evening flights, Aer Lingus even makes it a point to offer melatonin-rich foods to help you sleep better. Genius.
Though simple, one of my family’s best treats aboard our recent flight from Washington Dulles (IAD) was a box of savory “Drinks Biscuits” with a unique balsamic dipping ramekin.
For flights from the U.S., you’ll find items like smoked salmon, seared and braised Guinness short ribs, and roasted chicken breast. The alcohol is free-flowing, of course — and there are plenty of cocktails and wines to choose from (though, frustratingly, no Guinness).
Service, amenities, and in-flight entertainment
The Irish are famous for their hospitality, and Aer Lingus carries the tradition. Flight attendants are mostly proactive in anticipating your needs (like a refill on your cocktail).
In-flight entertainment is generally good, but the selection can vary dramatically by flight. Aer Lingus offers 90 hours of TV shows, new-release movies, and an enormous amount of music. While most screens are a generous 16 inches, screens on the new Airbus A321XLR are 18 inches.
How much it costs to fly Aer Lingus business class
The cash rates for an Aer Lingus business class seat often cost more than $3,000 each way. Unless you’ve got so much money that you aren’t sure how to get rid of it, you’re probably not reaching into your pocket for that.
One option to avoid financial ruin is redeeming flexible credit card rewards (such as Chase Ultimate Rewards points) through your issuer’s online travel portal. Depending on the card you hold, you’ll get between 1 and 1.5 cents per point when booking this way. For a $3,000 round-trip business class fare, you’re looking at 200,000-300,000 points. That’s a steep price, making this a mediocre redemption for your hard-earned points.
Instead, you can book an award flight by using Avios (Aer Lingus’ rewards program). Aer Lingus prices its awards based on factors such as the date you fly and the distance of each leg of your trip. When you fly from select East Coast cities, such as Chicago (ORD), New York (JFK), and Boston (BOS), you’ll pay between 50,000 and 60,001 Avios each way in business class. Meanwhile, flights from the West Coast cost up to 75,000 Avios.
You can also expect to pay between $140 and $180 in taxes and fees. That’s high enough to be annoying, but still very reasonable for a business class ticket.
You’ll often get a better deal when booking through partner airlines — namely, Alaska Airlines. Both the award prices and the taxes and fees are routinely much lower than booking directly through Aer Lingus. You’ll often pay just $19 in fees when traveling from the U.S. (we’ll examine that more in a bit).
How much it costs to upgrade to business class on Aer Lingus
It’s possible to upgrade eligible economy flights to business class with cash by submitting a bid. Aer Lingus will send you an email inviting you to upgrade your flight, if you’re eligible. You will receive a notification if your bid is accepted — making it a more risky option than using Avios points to confirm an upgrade.
Booking an upgrade with Avios depends on your route and dates, but it will cost between 37,000 and 55,000 points. For example
- Upgrading your flight between New York and Manchester will cost 37,000 points during off-peak dates and 44,750 points during peak dates.
- Upgrading your flight between Los Angeles and Dublin will cost 46,250 points during off-peak dates and 55,000 points during peak dates.
Just note that you can’t upgrade flights you booked with Avios.
How to save on Aer Lingus business class tickets
Sales
Standard with any airline, Aer Lingus sometimes runs sales that can save you money on business class seats. Even so, expect to pay thousands of dollars for a flight. Alternatively, it may be possible to book a super-cheap economy seat that you can then upgrade with Avios.
Speaking of which…
Upgrades
Both cash and points upgrades are almost certain to save you considerably over buying Aer Lingus business class seats outright. But again, your problems are:
- Your cash bid may not be high enough to secure a fancy seat.
- You can’t upgrade award flights with Avios.
All to say, you’re going to be spending money one way or another when you go the upgrade route.
Travel rewards
This should be your go-to strategy when saving on Aer Lingus business class tickets. As mentioned above, you can book Aer Lingus business class for less than $200 out of pocket each way when using travel rewards; or as low as $19 when using certain partner rewards programs.
Point.me will help you to quickly find these types of deals on and around your desired travel dates.
How to book Aer Lingus business class with points
Hopefully, you’re persuaded to go the award travel path instead of ponying up thousands for a one-way ticket. Here are the best ways to redeem your points for an Aer Lingus business class seat.
How to book Aer Lingus business class using your credit card portal
While not the optimum choice, “buying” your flights through a credit card travel portal is a straightforward process. Depending on the rewards card you’ve got, bank points are worth between 1 and 1.5 cents each toward airfare. That means you’ll need hundreds of thousands of points to book a business class seat. For example, an Aer Lingus seat that costs $3,200 will cost you:
- 208,000 points through Amex Travel if you hold The Business Platinum Card® from American Express
- 213,334 points through Chase Travel if you hold the Chase Sapphire Reserve®
- 320,000 miles through Capital One Travel if you hold the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
- 320,000 points through Citi Travel if you hold the Citi Strata Premier℠ Card
Booking a Saver-level award flight will never be this expensive. That’s why it’s generally a bad idea to reserve business class seats through a credit card travel portal.
Which credit card points transfer to Aer Lingus AerClub?
You can convert rewards into Aer Lingus Avios points directly from the following programs:
- American Express Membership Rewards points
- Bilt Rewards
- Chase Ultimate Rewards points
- Wells Fargo Rewards
But here’s the thing: Aer Lingus uses the same rewards currency as several other airlines, including British Airways, Iberia, Qatar Airways, and Finnair. You can convert any of these rewards into Aer Lingus points by first transferring them to British Airways and then to Aer Lingus.
This trick means that, by extension, you can also convert Capital One miles (through Finnair) and Citi ThankYou points (through Qatar Airways) into Aer Lingus Avios.
How to book Aer Lingus business class using Avios
To book business class award flights through Aer Lingus, head to the Aer Lingus site and log into your account. Then click the “Book a Reward Flight” link in the drop-down menu under the AerClub tab at the top of the screen.
This will take you to the Aer Lingus award booking platform. Enter your origin and destination, and dates. Then click “Search Flights.”
Aer Lingus will show you all results for your query — between 50,000 and 75,000 points depending on your route. As an example, here’s a flight from Boston (BOS) to Dublin (DUB) in early July 2025. You’ll pay 60,001 points and $142 in fees.
If you don’t currently have enough Avios to book the flight, head to your credit card portal to transfer the points you need. We’ll show you how to do this when using point.me to find and reserve your flights.
Transfers are typically instant, though the conversion could take a couple of days to reflect in your Aer Lingus account.
What other loyalty programs can you use to book Aer Lingus business class?
You can book Aer Lingus business class through the following partner loyalty programs:
- Alaska Mileage Plan
- The British Airways Club
- Club Iberia Plus
- United MileagePlus
Again, it’s often beneficial to book through a partner, as you can sometimes find lower award prices or taxes (or both).
How to save on Aer Lingus business class with points
If an award flight is available through Aer Lingus, it’s probably also available through a partner airline. Prices are similar to Aer Lingus when booking through Avios-earning airlines, such as British Airways.
But as previously discussed, booking through Alaska Airlines is the travel hack. That aforementioned flight between Boston and Dublin in early July costs just 45,000 miles and $19 in fees when booked through Alaska Airlines. That’s a saving of 16,001 miles and $124.
If you don’t have Alaska miles, you can also book Aer Lingus business class through United Airlines to save on taxes and fees — though the price in miles is usually much higher.
Take a look at the below flight from Dublin (DUB) to Cleveland (CLE). Booking this seat through Aer Lingus costs 60,000 points and around $180. But you’ll pay 93,000 miles and $45 through United Airlines. If you’re hypersensitive to spending cash, this could be a way to go.
Tips for finding business class award availability on Aer Lingus
When looking for Aer Lingus business class seats, keep your search to those U.S. hubs Aer Lingus serves (since award flights from smaller airports that connect to an Aer Lingus destination may be more difficult to find). Major hubs include:
- Boston (BOS)
- Miami (MIA)
- Orlando (MCO)
- Washington, DC (IAD)
- New York (JFK)
- Cleveland (CLE)
- Chicago (ORD)
- Los Angeles (LAX)
- San Francisco (SFO)
Should you book Aer Lingus business class?
Aer Lingus business class is a joy to fly, and you should absolutely book it if you’re looking for a comfortable way to get across the Atlantic. It’s not exactly a bucket list seat in the same way that, say, Qatar Qsuite is. But the service is warm, the food is great, and the lie-flat seat is comfortable and spacious. You can book it for as little as 45,000 miles, after all.
Just beware of the less-than-ideal seat configuration with some rows that restrict aisle access for some seats. You may be forced to climb over a sleeping passenger to reach the lavatory — or the one being climbed over.
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