Ireland’s Aer Lingus is in expansion mode across the Atlantic, having added several new destinations in the past year. The airline is now part of International Airlines Group (IAG) who own Iberia, British Airways and Vueling. This allows it to leverage aircraft delivery slots and pricing from its parent which has facilitated the introduction of new routes.

Las Vegas

The Irish Independent reports Aer Lingus CEO Stephen Kavanagh confirmed the airline will commence service to Las Vegas in winter 2017. The service is expected to be two or three times per week and will tap into existing demand from Ireland.

At present, passengers heading for Sin City must connect via another European gateway. The plan is to service passengers originating in Ireland as well as connecting traffic from other points in the UK and Europe.

Flights will initially be seasonal to take advantage of the airlines spare capacity during this period. Should the route be successful, Aer Lingus will continue operations for longer.

SuperValu joins AerClub


Ireland’s largest grocery retailer SuperValu is now a partner with Aer Lingus’ AerClub. This is great news for Irish frequent flyers, opening up a new opportunity to earn Avios points.

When shopping at SuperValu, you earn Real Rewards points at 1 point per €1 spent. Starting 1 February, you can convert your Real Rewards points to AerClub Avios at the rate of 1 to 1 at the SuperValu web site.

You can transfer your Real Rewards points anytime and the minimum transfer is 50 points. Between 1 February 2017 and 31 March 2017 you will receive a bonus 250 Avios on your first transfer.

Overall Thoughts

Service to Las Vegas will be quite successful from Ireland as it is already a popular holiday destination. The news that SuperValu is now an AerClub earning partner is long overdue and an excellent move. I transferred my entire Real Rewards balance a few minutes after finding out about it as Avios are far more valuable to me than supermarket points.

Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.

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Featured image by James Walsh via Unsplash