I primarily focus on economy flights, but sometimes an opportunity presents itself to fly in business class for not that much more in miles outlay. Today is such a day. My in-laws are thinking about going to Ireland next summer, so as a designated travel agent in the family, I did some investigating. The reason I looked specifically at Boston-Dublin flights , is because my sister-in-law has a pile of British Airways Avios points, obtained with my help.
This particular combination runs 25000 miles roundtrip in economy and 50000 miles in business class on Aer Lingus, using Avios . And the best part is: there are currently no fuel surcharges on this airline. Usually, business class seats are hard to snag, but I found plentiful availability on this route by searching United.com, who is also a partner (you can’t search British Airways for Aer Lingus flights). Economy award seats were wide open as well.
United.com and British Airways availability for Aer Lingus awards don’t always match up, but at least you will get a rough idea. My in-laws will need to get from Florida to Boston on their own dime, but flights are not super expensive. This is one time, I would recommend to splurge on business class if possible, at least one way from Boston to Dublin, since it’s usually a red-eye flight. When I called British Airways, they confirmed availability for 2 seats in business class on quite a few flights in May and June. We are still looking at the dates presently, but this is a great deal for sure. You will have to call British Airways to check on your chosen time of travel. Hurry, this may not last!
Update: We were able to get award tickets for 3 people in June for Boston-Dublin roundtrip flights. I got 2 seats outbound in business class, but my sister-in-law decided to just get economy tickets on the way back and save the miles, even though business class was available for only 12500 miles per person extra. I know,sigh…
I was also able to get 25 dollar per person booking fee waived by asking nicely. So, the grand total was 100000 miles for all 3 roundtrip tickets, including 2 one-ways in business class, plus 124 dollars per person in fees . Who says, Avios are worthless?
Author: Leana
Leana is the founder of Miles For Family. She enjoys beach vacations and visiting her family in Europe. Originally from Belarus, Leana resides in central Florida with her husband and two children.
[…] years ago I’ve encouraged my in-laws to splurge on upfront seats for their Boston-Dublin flight. The cost was an extra 12,500 Avios compared to economy redemption (it’s more now), so it made […]