Aer Lingus, the Irish flag carrier, is introducing new membership benefits for AerClub members flying with American Airlines and British Airways.
The new benefits for AerClub (The Aer Lingus loyalty programme), dependent on tier status, will enjoy exclusive day-of-travel benefits when flying on any of the three airlines, offering a more seamless global travel experience.
Benefits are dependent on tier status and airline and include:
- Priority check-in: Allowing eligible members to save time at the airport.
- Priority boarding: For those who wish to board early and settle in comfortably.
- Fast-track security: Breeze through airport security with ease.
- Lounge access: Recharge before your transatlantic flight in our partner airline lounges (not applicable to Caribbean destinations)
- Additional baggage allowances: A big plus for those who don’t pack lightly!
AerClub members are also awarded Tier Credits and Avios for flights operated by American Airlines and British Airways. It’s membership has grown to 3 million members worldwide and 1 million within Ireland.
Implementation
AerClub members flying with American Airlines can experience the new benefits from today, while benefits with British Airways will be available from the 2nd of December. American Airlines has updated its site with the changes
AerClub status members will be notified directly about the new additional perks they can enjoy in the coming days. To avail of the new benefits, AerClub members will need to add their AerClub number when flying with our partner airlines.
American Airlines has already updated its offering for its passengers flying Aer Lingus, with the details listed at https://www.americanairlines.co.uk/i18n/travel-info/partner-airlines/aer-lingus.jsp. For simplicity, the table is reproduced below:
In Quotes
Susanne Carberry, Aer Lingus Chief Customer Officer, said:
“At Aer Lingus, we seek to make every journey count for our customers, particularly our valued AerClub members. We are delighted that we now have three million AerClub members globally who can avail of our programme’s exclusive benefits.
Our partnership with American Airlines and British Airways brings significant added value to the AerClub loyalty programme, allowing members to consistently enjoy an elevated experience on their global travels.”
Silvia Espinosa, Chief Customer Officer at IAG Loyalty, said:
“This move will provide an improved experience for our loyalty customers, who will now be able to benefit from a more seamless and consistent premium travel experience when flying with Aer Lingus, American Airlines and British Airways.”
Just join oneworld already
To say Aer Lingus is going about this in a roundabout way would be an understatement.
Aer Lingus is a member of a Joint Trans Atlantic Business venture, which partners with British Airways, American Airlines, LEVEL, Iberia and Finnair for transatlantic crossings. In addition, Aer Lingus is owned by IAG – owner of Iberia, British Airways and LEVEL.
Yet it’s only taken until this year for the airline to shake off ties with United Airlines.
And there’s a simple way to exploit the Irish hub and supercharge connection, with codeshares and everything that goes along with it – and yes, that would mean the airline would have to rejoin oneworld.
The carrier was a remember of oneworld between 2000 and 2007, when the airline restructured. But given that is more tightly integrated than ever, given it is owned IAG and its primary friends across the Atlantic are all oneworld or joint business venture members – and that business model has shifted again, with them funneling traffic at Dublin Airport either out to USA or over to Europe, the question becomes “why isn’t Aer Lingus a oneworld member”?
It certainly could take advantage of this…
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