Aer Lingus Visa Signature Card Evaluation: An Neglected Card

Hyperlink: Apply now for the Aer Lingus Visa Signature® Card
On this submit I wished to take a detailed take a look at the Aer Lingus Visa Signature® Card, which is among the lesser-known Chase playing cards. It’s a card that many individuals haven’t had earlier than, and in addition one which probably provides numerous worth, so I feel it’s price being conscious of. Let’s discuss all the pieces you have to learn about Aer Lingus’ US bank card.
Aer Lingus Credit score Card Fundamentals For April 2024
For those who’re acquainted with the British Airways Visa Signature® Card (evaluate) or Iberia Visa Signature® Card (evaluate), then some elements of the Aer Lingus Card could sound acquainted.
The playing cards have numerous similarities. The most important variations are that the playing cards every supply perks for journey on that exact airline, and the playing cards additionally accrue completely different Avios currencies.
Earn 75,000 Aer Lingus Plus Avios
The Aer Lingus Visa Card at the moment provides a welcome bonus of 75,000 Avios after spending $5,000 inside the first three months. On high of that, with the present supply you may earn 5x Avios on as much as $10,000 of spending at gasoline stations, grocery shops, and eating purchases, for the primary 12 months.
That is an improved supply — beforehand the cardboard supplied the 75,000 bonus Avios, however not the 5x Avios in choose classes, the worth of which might add up. Personally, I worth Avios at ~1.3 cents every, so to me 75,000 Avios are price ~$975, and that doesn’t issue within the 5x Avios you may earn.
Aer Lingus Card $95 Annual Payment
The Aer Lingus Card has a $95 annual charge. This isn’t waived for the primary 12 months, and there’s no further charge so as to add approved customers.
Aer Lingus Card Eligibility
The welcome bonus on the Aer Lingus Card isn’t obtainable to those that at the moment have the cardboard, or those that have obtained a brand new cardmember bonus on the cardboard prior to now 24 months. Nonetheless, you might be eligible for this card in the event you’ve had the British Airways Visa Card or Iberia Visa Signature Card, so it is a nice complement.
It’s additionally price being conscious of Chase’s different basic insurance policies on card approvals.
Incomes Avios With The Aer Lingus Credit score Card
The Aer Lingus Card has no international transaction charges and provides contactless fee, however does the rewards construction really warrant placing spending on the cardboard? Usually I’d say no, however it does rely, as I’ll get into under.
5x Avios Per Greenback Spent On Gasoline, Grocery Shops, & Eating
As part of the present welcome supply on this card, you may earn 5x Avios on as much as $10,000 in spending on gasoline, grocery shops, and eating purchases, for first 12 months. That is probably an incredible alternative to rack up Avios.
3x Avios Per Greenback Spent On Flights
When paying with the Aer Lingus Card, you’ll earn 3x Avios per greenback spent on purchases with Aer Lingus, British Airways, Iberia, and LEVEL.
2x Avios Per Greenback Spent On Motels
When paying with the Aer Lingus Card, you’ll earn 2x Avios per greenback spent on lodge lodging when paid on to the lodge. This is applicable throughout all lodge teams. That’s higher than nothing, however there are higher bank cards for lodge purchases.
1x Avios Per Greenback Spent On Different Purchases
For on a regular basis spending, the Aer Lingus Card provides 1x Avios per greenback spent, which isn’t a lot to get enthusiastic about, as there are higher bank cards for on a regular basis spending. The exception is in the event you’re making an attempt to achieve $30,000 of spending, for causes I’ll get into under.

No Overseas Transaction Charges
The Aer Lingus Card has no international transaction charges, so it’s probably an incredible card to make use of for purchases overseas.
Contactless Fee
The Aer Lingus Card options contactless pay expertise. This implies you may pay utilizing your card with out even swiping it everytime you see the contactless pay image (within the age of coronavirus, that is one thing folks could worth greater than prior to now.
Aer Lingus Credit score Card Buy Safety
The Aer Lingus Card provides some strong buy safety, as do many Visa Signature merchandise. As at all times, ensure you examine your cardmember settlement for the entire particulars, since there are phrases & situations. What must you count on?
Secondary Automobile Rental Protection
The Aer Lingus Card provides auto rental collision injury waiver protection. Decline the rental firm’s collision insurance coverage and cost the complete rental price to your card.
Protection is offered for theft and collision injury for many vehicles within the US and overseas. Do notice that within the US the protection is secondary to your private insurance coverage, although.

Buy & Prolonged Guarantee Safety
The Aer Lingus Card provides some helpful safety:
- Buy safety on new purchases for 120 days in opposition to injury or theft, as much as $500 per declare and $50,000 per account
- Prolonged guarantee safety, extending US producer’s guarantee by a further 12 months, on eligible warranties of three years or much less
Baggage Delay & Misplaced Baggage Reimbursement
The Aer Lingus Card provides baggage safety:
- Baggage delay insurance coverage reimburses you as much as $100 per day for 3 days for important purchases when your bag is delayed by over six hours
- Misplaced baggage reimbursement reimburses you for as much as $3,000 per passenger whenever you or your fast members of the family’ checked or carry-on luggage are broken or misplaced by an airline
Aer Lingus Credit score Card Advantages
Along with the wonderful welcome bonus, the primary cause I’d contemplate the Aer Lingus Card is due to the nice perks that it provides. There are two foremost perks — one you get only for having the cardboard, and the opposite you get by spending $30,000 on the cardboard. Right here’s how these advantages work.
Precedence Boarding On Aer Lingus Flights
Only for having the Aer Lingus Card you obtain precedence boarding on Aer Lingus flights to and from the USA:
- That is obtainable to each the first cardmember and approved customers
- To be eligible, cardmembers should present their legitimate Aer Lingus Visa on the gate previous to boarding
- That is solely legitimate for journey on Aer Lingus flights, and never for journey on accomplice airways
If precedence boarding is one thing that you just worth, this perk is properly price being conscious of.
Earn An Aer Lingus Economic system Companion Ticket
There’s one main incentive to spend cash on this card — the Aer Lingus Card provides an financial system companion ticket whenever you spend $30,000 on the cardboard in a calendar 12 months.
How does this companion ticket voucher work?
- You earn the companion ticket primarily based on spending $30,000 in a calendar 12 months (eligible spending should submit to the billing cycle earlier than December 31)
- Whenever you e book a paid financial system ticket on Aer Lingus, you may take a companion with you at no additional price
- No taxes and charges apply for the companion ticket
- The companion ticket will come within the type of a voucher that will likely be emailed to an eligible member inside 4 to 6 weeks of finishing eligible spending
- To redeem the voucher, you have to e-mail [email protected], and also you’ll obtain a response inside 72 hours
- The first cardmember have to be one of many vacationers
- Journey must be accomplished inside 12 months of the date of challenge, and the voucher needs to be redeemed for a ticket no less than 30 days upfront
- This isn’t legitimate for journey on any accomplice airways
Whereas that is higher than nothing, personally I wouldn’t get too enthusiastic about this:
- There’s fairly a chance price to placing spending on an Aer Lingus Card, and spending $30,000 for an financial system companion voucher is so much
- Whereas the price of tickets does fluctuate, usually transatlantic flights may be had for $500 or so, and subsequently the worth isn’t that massive
- That being mentioned, in the event you fly Aer Lingus transatlantic in financial system with any frequency, this might nonetheless be price it

How To Redeem Aer Lingus Avios
Whereas lots of people may be acquainted with the British Airways Govt Membership program, not as many individuals are in all probability acquainted with the Aer Lingus AerClub program. So let’s check out what you may count on by way of redemption alternatives.
Redeeming AerClub Avios On Aer Lingus
Aer Lingus AerClub Avios are particularly invaluable for redemptions on Aer Lingus, the place this system usually provides the perfect redemption charges. Aer Lingus has roughly distance primarily based award pricing, with each peak and off-peak award prices.
As is the case with different Avios currencies, Avios pricing is per section. So you may count on to pay the next variety of Avios for transatlantic flights on Aer Lingus to the USA (Aer Lingus operates some transatlantic flights out of Dublin, Manchester, and Shannon):
- Transatlantic flights to the Northeast and Midwest of the USA price 13,000-20,000 Avios in financial system, or 50,000-60,000 Avios in enterprise class
- Transatlantic flights to the remainder of the USA price 16,250-25,000 Avios in financial system, or 62,500-75,000 Avios in enterprise class
The excellent news is that the surcharges on these awards are actually gentle, so it is a nice Avios redemption possibility, particularly in comparison with journey on British Airways.

Switch Aer Lingus Avios To British Airways Avios
Whereas there are some good makes use of of AerClub Avios for journey on Aer Lingus, in the event you’re on the lookout for different redemptions, the excellent news is that you may switch these Avios for free of charge.
You may switch Avios between Aer Lingus, British Airways, Iberia, and Qatar Airways. It is a nice method to leverage the candy spots of every program, whether or not it’s British Airways Govt Membership or Iberia Plus.
So when contemplating which card to use for, don’t fear concerning the actual “taste” of Avios being earned, since you might have fairly a little bit of flexibility.
Is The Aer Lingus Credit score Card Price It?
The Aer Lingus Card has an outstanding welcome bonus, so it is a card that many individuals ought to contemplate, as we’ve by no means seen a bonus this good on the cardboard.
The bonus after finishing minimal spending might be sufficient for a roundtrip transatlantic Aer Lingus enterprise class ticket, which is an distinctive worth.
Personally, this isn’t a card I’d use for on a regular basis spending, since you may earn Avios by way of transferrable factors currencies, specifically with American Categorical and Chase playing cards.
For some folks there could also be worth past the sign-up bonus as properly:
- For those who fly Aer Lingus with any frequency, the precedence boarding perk might be worthwhile
- Some individuals who fly Aer Lingus could discover it worthwhile to spend $30,000 on the cardboard for an financial system companion ticket, although personally, that’s not how I’d direct my bank card spending
Evaluating The Aer Lingus & British Airways Visa
There’s overlap between the Aer Lingus Visa Card and the British Airways Visa Card, so which is best? The playing cards have so much in frequent:
- You might be eligible for each of those playing cards, so you may choose up one in the event you’ve had the opposite (or simply get them each in the event you’ve had neither)
- They’ve the identical annual charges, and spending bonus classes
- They’ve the identical welcome bonuses (inside their respective Avios currencies)
- You may switch Avios between Aer Lingus and British Airways, so for all sensible functions the factors currencies are the identical
Then there are just a few variations:
- The Aer Lingus Card provides precedence boarding, whereas the British Airways Card provides a ten% low cost on British Airways flights, in addition to an award surcharge rebate; in equity, Aer Lingus has a lot decrease surcharges than British Airways, however I’d nonetheless say the British Airways Card wins right here
- The Aer Lingus Card provides a companion voucher for a paid financial system ticket after spending $30,000, whereas the British Airways Card provides a companion award ticket legitimate for any class of service after spending $30,000
Personally, I feel the British Airways Card is extra well-rounded, however anybody who has allegiance to Aer Lingus could desire the perks supplied by the co-branded card.
See right here for a full comparability of playing cards incomes Avios.

Backside Line
The Aer Lingus Credit score Card is among the lesser-known Chase bank cards, although it’s one price contemplating. The cardboard has a pleasant welcome bonus of 75,000 Avios plus the power to earn 5x Avios on some spending. You’re eligible for the Aer Lingus Card even in the event you’ve had the co-branded bank cards of British Airways and Iberia (despite the fact that all of them earn Avios).
Some will discover the long-term advantages of this card to be worthwhile — the Aer Lingus Card provides precedence boarding on Aer Lingus flights, and in the event you spend $30,000 on the cardboard in a 12 months you get a companion voucher for a paid ticket in financial system.
Aer Lingus Avios are very helpful for transatlantic enterprise class journey on Aer Lingus, given the strong onboard product, low award prices, and affordable charges. For those who’re on the lookout for redemptions past that, you may switch Avios to both British Airways or Iberia.
If you wish to be taught extra concerning the Aer Lingus Visa Signature Card or wish to apply, observe this hyperlink.