Call it the luck of the Irish: We found your best bet to get over to Europe later this year in lie-flat business class seats using miles.
We sent our Thrifty Traveler Premium members an alert earlier this week with a boatload of chances to book Aer Lingus business class this fall and early winter straight into Dublin (DUB), Shannon (SNN), or even connect onward throughout much of Europe. And not from just one or two U.S. cities, either. This is bookable from airports across the country: Big airports like New York City (JFK) and Boston (BOS), Midwestern hubs like Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP), and even smaller airports including Cleveland (CLE) and Hartford (BDL)
Here's the crazy thing: It even includes Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Eve – a rarity in the world of travel, where holidays often lead to sky-high prices and next-to-zero award deals.
Best of all, you can book these lie-flat seats for as low as just 45,000 miles each way from many cities, with award space for two or even four passengers all fall and into 2026! You'll get the lowest rate using Alaska Atmos Rewards points – especially with this neat trick to reduce the cost – but you can also transfer your credit card points to British Airways or Aer Lingus and book for as low as 50,000 points.
Get award alerts to use your miles like this one with Thrifty Traveler Premium!
This kind of nationwide, business class availability is unprecedented for the fall and especially over the holidays, when airlines prefer to sell seats for top dollar. Thrifty Traveler Premium members got first dibs on this amazing deal earlier this week, so some peak holiday dates have already been gobbled up.
But there's still plenty still available to book a trip to Ireland and beyond (in style) later this year or early 2026. And there are lots of departure cities to pick from. Keep reading for the full list!
We found wide-open availability through the fall from eight U.S. cities. If checking out Dublin over Thanksgiving, Christmas, or New Year's is your idea of a good time, your best bet is to search and book from Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP).
The easiest way for most travelers to book is using Avios from either British Airways or Aer Lingus itself. Both carriers charge just 50,000 miles each way from most cities during the off-peak season – check Aer Lingus's calendar for a breakdown. In most cases, you'll pay roughly $170 or so each way in taxes and fees – or a bit more for the return from Ireland.
Getting the miles you need is a cinch, too. British Airways partners with Chase, Amex, Capital One, Bilt Rewards, and even Wells Fargo, too. That means as few as 50,000 points from the *chase sapphire preferred*, *venture x*, or the *amex gold* is all you need.
Thrifty Tip: If you're trying to fly to or from Orlando (MCO) or Miami (MIA), you're much better off booking with Aer Lingus instead of British Airways.
But if you're flush with Alaska points, the price can get even better. Alaska currently charges as few as 45,000 points each way from cities like Boston (BOS), New York City (JFK), Philadelphia (PHL). It's a bit more at 55,000 miles each way from other cities like Minneapolis … unless you employ a trick we discovered.
While it costs 55,000 for the nonstop, you can add a connection in economy – on either side of the pond – and the total price drops to just 45,000 miles each way! You can even build in a free stopover and stay in Dublin for a few days before continuing onward and it's still just 45,000 points total!
Best of all, Alaska charges just $19 in taxes and fees for the nonstop one-way to Dublin – and $55 on the way home from Ireland! Bilt is the only bank whose points transfer straight to Alaska.
Head spinning with all these options? We don't blame you. That's the beauty of our Thrifty Traveler Premium alerts: We do all the legwork for you, finding this rare award space and walking you through the best ways to book.
Aer Lingus business class may not be the fanciest cabin you'll find crossing the Atlantic Ocean, but there's no better way to fly nonstop to Dublin no matter when you're going. The seats are plenty comfortable – especially if you snag one of the so-called “throne seats” with more privacy and an incredible amount of storage space. Everything from the service to the meals to the snacks is cheekily Irish, and I mean that in the best way possible.
Whether you fly on a narrow-body Airbus A321 or one of Aer Lingus's huge Airbus A330s, the setup looks more or less like this.
Plus, the food is great and the service is quintessentially (and cheeky) Irish … in the best way possible!
Read our full review of Aer Lingus business class!
Departure Cities
This excellent availability varies from city to city – and some of it has already been grabbed up by our Thrifty Traveler Premium members who got alerts days ago. But you should still be able to find Aer Lingus business class seats to and from…
- Boston (BOS)
- Cleveland (CLE)
- Hartford (BDL)
- Miami (MIA)
- Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP)
- New York City (JFK)
- Orlando (MCO)
- Philadelphia (PHL)
Bottom Line
Even if you've got 1 million miles or more, finding business class seats over to Europe that you can actually book can be a tall task. That's what makes this Aer Lingus business class availability so spectacular.
A chance to fly to Ireland later this fall or winter in lie-flat business class? From several U.S. cities? And it'll cost you just 50,000 to 60,000 points and a few hundred bucks in fees … or maybe far less? That's tough to beat.
Great find! This is exactly the kind of deal I was hoping for. The detailed breakdown of booking options and tips is super helpful. Definitely saving this for future planning!
Did Aer Lingus remove all of their award inventory from United??
Did Aer Lingus remove all of their award inventory from United??
What is the best way to book non-stop from SFO to DUB with Avios? We don’t want to do a positioning flight – we’d like to just fly straight from the west coast over.
There’s an added bonus to using Alaskan Airlines to do this: they allow a long stop in Dublin and then the ability to continue on for the same amount of miles, IE Seattle to Dublin, stay 4 days, then head on to Madrid… All for 60,000 miles business class
Traveled to Scotland last summer on Aer Lingus, they lost our golf clubs for two days and refused to reimburse for added expenses (balls, gloves, shoes etc) NO customer service… Business Class was definitely on the cheap. Heineken was the only beer on board, must have been on sale at a convenience store by the airport. My advice, don’t book it if you want to have a pleasant trip!!
Hi Kyle,
Looking at your comments in this article that “Our Thrifty Traveler Premium+ members got first dibs on this amazing deal last week, so some peak summer dates have disappeared” and “That’s what makes this deal we sent to Thrifty Traveler Premium+ members last week so great” …..What date did this original email alert you reference go out to “Thrifty Traveler Premium+ members last week”, as I’m a subscriber, was watching for an award offer on Air Lingus like a hawk, can find no record of getting any such email “last week”, even checked my spam folder, and I’ve “All NYC Airports” selected as my airport option on my Thrifty Traveler Premium+ membership! Thanks !!!
Hey Robert, shoot our support team an email at [email protected] – we’ll help you get to the bottom of this!
same. I have the Premium membership and I didn’t get the email either. Disappointing. I will still see if it is possible to snag one, but what a bummer.
Hi Kendra, please shoot our support team an email at [email protected] – we’ll make sure we get this fixed ASAP.
I flew Aer Lingus DUB-ORD a few weeks ago. I think we got a coke and no meal the entire trip. Add in a broken monitor to complete the experience and I’d say I’ll pass to trying their business class. Of course Delta replicated the customer service on my LIR-MSP non-stop a few weeks later, however the monitor did work so I could take my mind off my rumbling stomach.