Boston and Dublin Were Just Moved Seven Miles Farther Apart
Update 12/10/16: The original post mistakenly stated that you were able to book at British Airways off-peak rates for Aer Lingus flights. While this wasn't formerly possible, you can now redeem Avios for Aer Lingus flights using the off peak rates.
The distance between Boston (BOS) and Dublin (DUB) just grew by a few miles. No, there wasn't a great earthquake that made the Atlantic wider. With a stroke of a pen, British Airways just stretched the distance between the airports by at least seven miles.
While the Bureau of Transportation Statistics still lists the official distance between the airports at 2,993 miles — which Great Circle Mapper agrees with — British Airways and Aer Lingus are now treating the flight as being over 3,000 miles for award booking purposes. So, the Avios award cost for booking these flights just jumped.
Backing up, one of the long-time sweet spots of the British Airways award chart are Aer Lingus flights between Boston and Dublin or Shannon (SNN). These transatlantic economy flights used to cost just 12,500 BA Avios each way in economy or 37,500 BA Avios each way in business. This means that you could fly round-trip from US to Europe for just 25,000 Avios. With this change, that sweet spot just got a lot less sweet:
| Avios (one-way) | Old Price | New Price | Increase | Approximate Value Lost* |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Economy Off-Peak | 12,500 | 13,000 | 500 | $8 |
Economy Peak | 12,500 | 20,000 | 7,500 | $113 |
Business Off-Peak | 37,500 | 50,000 | 12,500 | $188 |
Business Peak | 37,500 | 60,000 | 22,500 | $338 |
*Based on the latest TPG valuation of British Airways Avios
This British Airways Avios repricing comes as Aer Lingus is launching its new AerClub Avios program, the AerClub. The mileage bands are identical to British Airways, though there's a small, but important note at the bottom of the chart: "Please note the exceptions of Shannon/Dublin to Boston which are based on Zone 5".
Since AerClub is a brand-new program, it's intriguing that Aer Lingus chose to call out this exception, rather than just setting mileage band 4 slightly narrower (i.e., 2001-2980 miles).
If you're still interested in booking these flights, remember that British Airways' website doesn't show availability. You'll have to check award availability on the United website and then call British Airways (1-800-247-9297) to make the booking.
Bottom Line
It's a major bummer that British Airways decided to further devalue these cheap transatlantic award flights on Aer Lingus. With that said, you can still fly transatlantic for just 26,000 Avios (plus about $139) for Off Peak dates and 40,000 Avios for standard dates. While this sweet spot is a lot less sweet, there's still value to be had booking these flights if you're based near Boston. However, positioning to BOS for this award redemption is going to make a lot less sense.
H/T: Rapid Travel Chai
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Why We Chose It
The Capital One Venture X Business Card has all the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card has to offer and more. It offers an incredible welcome bonus and requires an equally impressive spend to qualify. In addition, the card comes with premium travel perks like annual travel credit. (Partner offer)Pros
- The Capital One Venture X business card has a very lucrative welcome offer.
- In addition, the card comes with many premium travel perks such as an annual $300 credit for bookings through Capital One Business Travel.
- Business owners are also able to add employee cards for free.
Cons
- The card requires significant spending to earn the welcome offer.
- Another drawback is that the annual travel credit can only be used on bookings made through Capital One Business Travel.
- LIMITED-TIME OFFER: Earn up to 400K bonus miles: 200K miles when you spend $30K in the first 3 months, and an additional 200k miles when you spend $150k in the first 6 months
- Earn unlimited 2X miles on every purchase, everywhere—with no limits or category restrictions
- Earn 10X miles on hotels and rental cars and 5X miles on flights and vacation rentals booked through Capital One Business Travel
- With no preset spending limit, enjoy big purchasing power that adapts so you can spend more and earn more rewards
- Empower your teams to make business purchases while earning rewards on their transactions, with free employee and virtual cards. Plus, automatically sync your transaction data with your accounting software and pay your vendors with ease
- Redeem your miles on flights, hotels and more. Plus, transfer your miles to any of the 15+ travel loyalty programs
- Every year, you'll get 10,000 bonus miles after your account anniversary date. Plus, receive an annual $300 credit for bookings made through Capital One Business Travel
- Receive up to a $120 credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck®. Enjoy access to 1,300+ airport lounges worldwide, including Capital One Lounge locations and Priority Pass™ lounges, after enrollment
- Enjoy a $100 experience credit and other premium benefits with every hotel and vacation rental booked from the Premier Collection
- This is a pay-in-full card, so your balance is due in full every month