Airlines are usually pretty good at telling you how many points you will be awarded per flight. Some have calculators, others use a handy chart, all with the intention of keeping you informed. Sometimes a little bit of fiction does come into it.
Ireland’s Aer Lingus have a frequent flyer programme called AerClub. You earn Avios based on how much money you spend on your flight. All well and good, but things don’t really match up.
AerClub Fiction
Earning Avios on Aer Lingus flights is simple. According to the collecting Avios page – “Avios are awarded based on what you paid for the Aer Lingus flight, excluding government taxes and any ancillaries like bags or seats. AerClub members can get 3 Avios for every €1 spent on flights booked with Aer Lingus.”
Based on 3 Avios per Euro spent, one would assume it would be €48.98 x 3 for a total of 147 Avios, since taxes don’t count. Interestingly, my account was credited with 441 Avios, so what are the facts and where is the fiction?
Overall Thoughts
This is the kind of fiction I like, the kind that benefits the customer. For what it’s worth, I completely agree that Avios should be awarded on the tax and administration fee component. All of it is money going out of my bank account and I would expect to be awarded frequent flyer benefits for this.
I’m not entirely sure why ancillaries are excluded as I would like to get Avios for my bag, seat and priority boarding too. To be quite honest, I’d also like to see it for on board purchases when flying Aer Lingus.
What do you think of the way Aer Lingus calculate their Avios awards? Do you agree that the reality is better than the fiction? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.
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Featured image via Aer Lingus.
