Hi all

I've just started a new role that will have me in the uk every week, so at least 1 return flight to LHR weekly and sometimes (at least once s month) 2 flights s week. So roughly 60-70 return flights per annum. From time to time there will be the odd trip to Europe or the US.

Question is is should I sign up to BA exec or AerClub.. well I've signed up for both, but which should I use? Do the benefits flow up and down between them, lounges upgrades etc or is one dominant?

thanks in advance for the benefit of your experience!

 

Will you always be taking BA operated flights, purchased as BA marketed on BA tracker stock? Any domestic connecting flights? You don't give your home airport, but I'm assuming it's in the USA, perhaps NYC but this isn't clear. Or will you have a choice of fairlines?

Also, will you be ticketed in business class? Premium economy (WT+ on BA)? Coach?

 

As AerClub benefits do not yet touch the oneworld network, whereas it looks like you certainly will, earning status in the Executive Club will bring tangible benefits such as lounge access in Europe and the United States. Note though, Aer Lingus flights do not earn EC Tier Points unless you use BA codeshares.

It is possible to transfer Avios points from the EC and AerClub and vice versa via an Avios Travel Rewards membership so that is something you could look into.

 

Welcome to FlyerTalk Hick. My guess would be that you're based in Ireland. Am I right?

 

Hello,

On the assumption you are in Ireland and a high probability flying out of Dublin Airport I will come to the following conclusion.

My view would be 100% Aer Club for the following reasons.

* Based on your flying schedule you will hit Concierge Top Tier (And this at some stage will no doubt be OneWorld Emerald),
* Once you hit Aer Club Silver after 10 weeks or so you will have lounge and fast track, in BA you would have to wait for 30+ weeks.
* I think Concierge Benefits of 4 transatlantic upgrades and a companion ticket are very generous if you ever travel for leisure to the USA.
* Aer Lingus will have direct flights to most EU major cities from Dublin.

 

Assuming you are based in Dublin:

If you rarely or never fly long haul then I would suggest BA, even more so if your travel policy allows for Business Class. The OW elite benefits and RFS redemptions are valuable.

If you do fly trans Atlantic on a regular basis (from DUB) then go with Aer Club - the 4 upgrades, companion ticket, relatively frequent op-ups and great C experience on EI makes life very pleasant. However, don't plan on earning or using a lot of Avios until EI sort out their IT...

I (currently) fall in the second category and my kids now think all airplanes are flying hotels. I also do enough general travel beyond N.Amer to hit BA Gold (still have a soft spot for BA, God's knows why).

In the good old days the answer to your question would have been BMI and Diamond Club!

 

Folks thanks for the replies and sorry for the tardy response, noirifications went to junk mail.

At any rate yes home airport is Dublin, office that I travel to is mostly just outside of LHR but will be bouncing round the UK a bit and the odd time to mainland Europe. Occasionally will be in the states but maybe 2-3 times a year at most.

Right now now I have 271 pts to go to get to silver in aer club, with a few flights to filter through yet (lord it's slow)

I only signed up for BA exec this weekend. So is it really that long before you get any benefits? (30 weeks)

Key short term things for me is to try and may the whole travel experience as smooth as possible so fast track, priority boarding and ideally lounge access (purely for the lack of bedlam) are the focus. All the other nice things will be a bonus when they arrive.

 

Any idea when EI will officially join OW?

 

Aer Club is useless....at least until Aer Lingus rejoins oneworld, which looks like it will take another year or more.

Only flights on Aer Lingus count for making status; and even when you do get status, you will only get lounge access with Aer Lingus.

However, if your work travel only allows you to fly Aer Lingus, then Aer Club is the only FFP that makes sense.

If you travel BA (and, more generally, other oneworld airlines), then you should use your BA Executive Club account. If you get to Silver or Gold with BA, you would then be able to use the Aer Lingus lounges when travelling between Dublin and London on Aer Lingus flights.

 

Really? What are the details on that? I've been going out of my way to stay on BA for Dublin trips specifically so I had lounge access etc...

 

It's been around for years. If you are Gold or Silver and travelling from Heathrow to Ireland on Aer Lingus you can use the Gold Circle lounge in LHR T2 and ditto Dublin/SNN/ORK lounges. No guesting. Details in the Aer Lingus forum. None of these lounges are as good as Galleries Club in T5, in my view, but the EI DUB lounge is a bit better than BA's DAA lounge. When the upgrading work for DAA is completed (in the next few weeks) then I don't think there will be much to chose from there either. No access at LGW (unless, ironically, Gold and BA codeshared) or NOC.

 

Given that EI still hasn't managed to roll out Aer Club successfully, and given that BA are seemingly even worse at IT, the prep necessary for EI to re-enter oneworld - which optimistically we were hoping for sometime late 2017/early 2018 - may take significantly longer.

I certainly would NOT hold my breath and would not make any decisions on the basis of an assumption of EI being back in oneworld in a reasonable timeframe.

 

So as an update to anyone looking at this thread

I decided on BA as the points travel further..

I've just hit silver 7 months in, it is handy for fast track and lounges and the odd upgrade
I'm still on the Dub to LHR to Dub and as a tip it’s worth considering the more often you can get a business class flight the quicker you will get up the ladder. It’s worth checking often on the app as I have found particularly at short notice the business flight is only a few euro more or in the case of today €90 cheaper than the economy!! I have and ea and travel desk and let neither near my flights as by the time I explain what I want I have it booked on the app. Is the BA system perfect, by no means but 9 times out of 10 it does what I need.

all round I’m much happier on all the BA Dublin to London flights than any Aer lingus flights in the end for space , food and comfort

 

very important item worth noting is the ability to get to AerClub basic lounge access level after as little as 3 return trips if booking the (often only slightly more expensive) plus or advantage fares - and when doing so one gets lounge access for those first few flights also - meaning that a strategy to purchase hose more expensive fares for your first 2-3 trips is partly justified by the fast track and lounge access benefits which you suggested were important to you on those fares for the first few flights.

when starting from zero as you appear to be this is not matchable with BA.