AER Credit Card Review: A Must Have For Frequent Travelers
You get Avios points when you spend on Aer Lingus and other transactions, and spend it on travel, discount flights, fast pass and hotel.
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Summary:
In partnership with AER Lingus, Bank of Ireland offers great travel rewards including Avios benefits and AER membership and loyalty program makes the credit card worth the monthly fees.
Pros:
- 0% interest on purchases and balance transfer up to 7 months
- Great rewards and benefits including 2 return flights to Europe
- Access to Partner Airlines
- Aer Lingus Lounge pass
- Avios rewards included as bonus
- Flexible rewards redemption
Cons:
- Carries an anuual fee
- Complex redemption of rewards
AER Credit Card
- Annual Fee: €78
- Intro Offer: 0% on purchases for 6 months and balance transfers for 7 months
- Interest Rate: 16.12% variable on all purchases
- APR: 22.7% variable
- Currency Conversion Fee (POS/ATM): 2.25%
- Stamp Duty: €30 annually
- Balance Transfer: 27%
- Additional Card Fee: €0
- Late Payment Fee: €7.50
- Cash Advance Fee: 1.5%
Product Details
- Intro offer rates on balance transfers for 7 months OR intro offer rates on purchases for 6 months.
- Spend €5000 and more on your credit card in any 12 month period and you get free fare but you only pay for taxes, fees and charges.
- APR of 17% variable, which means when you use up a credit limit of €1500 and you payback equal amounts over a 12 month period with interest rate of 11.84%, the total amount you pay back is €1596 including €30 stamp duty
- Earn 1 bonus Avios point for every €1 and 1 bonus point for every €4 spent on other transactions. You redeem Avios points when you link your AER credit card to your AER Club profile.
- Enjoy protected travel with family, with worldwide family multi-trip travel insurance, including winter sports.
- Get travel rewards such as 2x fast track and priority boarding passes, 2x lounge passes in AER Lingus airport lounges and 2x return flights to Europe4 benefits plus more
- View rates and fees
Compare Similar Credit Cards
AER Credit Card
Annual Fee
€78
Intro Offer: Spend €5000 and more on your credit card in any 12 month period and you get free fare but you only pay for taxes, fees and charges.
APR: 22.7% Variable
Executive Visa Corporate Card
(Business Credit Card)
Annual Fee
€200
Intro Offer: Priority pass to over 1400 airport lounges regardless of your choice of airline and class of ticket
APR: not stated
Gold Business Credit Card
(Business Credit Card)
Annual Fee
€120
Intro Offer: Unlimited access to Aer Lingus Lounges, Priority Check-In & Fast track access to the security channel
APR: 17.39 Variable
Benefits and Perks
Intro Interest Rate offer
New AER Credit Card holders can choose from 0% interest on purchases for first 6 months or 0% interest on balance transfers for the first 7 months
Fast Pass
Go through security quickly using fast track passes on Aer Lingus operated flights out of Ireland and at selected airports. You earn 2 fast track and priority boarding passes every reward year.
Airport Lounge Access
The Aer Credit Card from Bank of Ireland offers unmatched access to Aer Lingus own Airport Lounges. They include Airport Lounges at Dublin, Cork and Shannon Airport every Reward Year. Lounge access is only available when flying on an Aer Lingus operated flight.
» MORE: Credit cards with Lounge Passes
Free Europe Trips
Jet away with 2 return flights to Europe when you spend €5,000 or more on your Aer Credit Card, you get free return fares in any European Aer Lingus ticketed and operated flights to / from Dublin, Cork, Shannon or Belfast. You get a minimum of two seats per flight, except during restricted periods. Seat availability on the Aer Lingus website or through a booking agent does not guarantee a free return fare. For more information on restricted periods see the Aer Credit Card Travel Rewards Terms and Conditions. You only pay taxes, fees and charges.
Insurance Protection For Your Travel
Travel happy with your family on a worldwide family multi-trip travel insurance that also includes winter sports. Worldwide Multi Trip Travel Insurance worth €385.34 is based on a family (2 adults aged 18-80 and 2 accompanying children under 18 years or under 23 years if in full time education) taking out a Bank of Ireland Annual Multi Trip policy including winter sports. Underwriting, terms and conditions apply. This information was obtained in October 2023. Coins to Asset takes no responsibility for the accuracy of information from third party websites.
» MORE: Worldwide Family Multi-trip Travel Insurance
Avios Rewards
The Aer Credit Card rewards attractive Avios points. Earn bonus Avios points when you use your credit cards to make inclusive payments. There is no limit to the amount of Avios you can collect. You can check your Avios balance on your AerClub account under My AerClub. Collect rewards in just different categories which can be complex:
- 1 Avios for every €1 spent with Aer Lingus (on AER Credit Card)
- 1 Avios for every €4 spent on all other transactions (on AER Credit Card)
- 10 Avios for every €1 spent with Avios Hotels
- 2 Avios for every €1 you spend at The Merrion in the heart of Dublin
- 2 Avios per $1 spent on Marriot Bonvoy and participating hotels or transfer your points and get 1 Avios for every 3 Marriot Bonvoy points transferred
- Collect 3 Avios for every €1 spent in over 40 countries when you stay with Meliá Hotels & Resorts, or transfer Meliá Rewards points into Avios.
- 5 Avios for every €4* you spend in Kildare Village or any one of the nine Villages within The Bicester Collection™
- 5 Avios per €1 spent on Avis car rental
Travel partners where you can also use your Avios points include British Airways, Iberia and Vueling
Simple Rule: Use your Avios to pay for up to 100% of the cost of any Aer Lingus or Aer Lingus Regional flight booked directly through aerlingus.com. Collect Avios every time you fly with Aer Lingus and our AerClub partners. Just remember to include your AerClub membership number on all bookings to ensure you receive your Avios and redeem your rewards. You can also collect Avios with our range of retail, travel and leisure partners. Avios are issued and redeemed in accordance with Avios Terms and Conditions. Please see www.avios.com for more details.
» MORE: What to expect from Avios
Value for Money
The estimated value of some of the card benefits include Travel Insurance policy worth €385.34 per person, 2 Lounge passes worth €60 and 2 fast passes worth €16. For an annual fee of €78 and the benefits and perks listed above for AER Credit Card holders, its hard to find similar credit cards at that price point in Ireland. The value these rewards continue to increase and is largely determined by when and where you travel and how often you use your Aer Credit Card.
» MORE: Credit cards that give you travel rewards
You Might Want To Consider a Different Credit Card
Lounge Access restricted to AER Lingus
If you are a business person and a frequent flyer and require access to a range of airport lounges, may be the Aer Credit Card might not be suited. Other credit cards with access to airport lounges are mainly business credit card. You might be better off with Executive Visa Corporate card depending on your needs. The card gives you access with priority pass membership and access to 1400+ executive airport lounges, regardless of your choice of airline and class of ticket
AER Credit Card only gives you access to 2x lounge access in each 12 month period, if you are a business person and frequent AER lingus flyer and require unlimited AER lounge access and priority pass, the Bank of Ireland Gold Business Credit Card might suit your needs and business.
>> More: What to Expect with Priority Pass Airport Lounge Membership
Annual fee
If you are not a frequent flyer, the annual fee in addition to the mandatory €30 Government stamp duty charge can be a turn off when they are other credit cards with no annual fees
>> More: Credit Cards with no Annual fees in Ireland
Complicated points categories
The Avios points can be complicated to calculate because you earn different points when you spend in different categories of transactions. This can sometimes be difficult to track.
Check out Coins to Asset Best Credit Cards in Ireland to see how cards compare to their competition.
Aer Lingus Credit Cards FAQ
How can I redeem Aer Credit Card travel rewards?
To be eligible for and redeem your Aer Credit Card travel rewards, three things are required. Register with Aer Club, become an Aer club member and get an Aer club account. Once your Aer club account is set up and active, you need to link your Aer credit card to your Aer club account. Full instruction of this will be provided to you when you receive your credit card. Note that your right to Aer Credit Card rewards stops when you credit card is no longer linked to the Aer club account.
Which credit card is best for airport lounge access Ireland?
There are very few credit cards that offer airport lounge access. AER credit card is one of them and it gives you access to 2 airport lounge access in each 12 month period. As soon you are linked to your Aer club account, you will have access to the AER Credit Card Portal where you can check the status of and redeem your Lounge passes, free fares and fast track and priority boarding passes.
Which credit card is best for air travel?
AER Credit card is a credit card recommended to Aer Lingus frequent flyers in Ireland and comes with great air travel benefits including Avios points, travel insurance and airport lounge and priority passes.
Who does Aer Lingus partner with?
British airways, American airlines and Iberia are some of the few Aer Lingus partners. For a full list of partners can be found here
How can I get travel insurance on the Aer Credit card?
The comprehensive worldwide multi trip travel insurance is active as soon as your credit card account is set up and does not require Aer club membership and card linking.
Review Methodology
Coins to Asset reviews credit card across many the factors. We analysed popular 14 credit cards available in Ireland to come up with the best cards for you. We looked at fees, interest rates, rewards and cash backs including the ease of redeeming the rewards. We also considered the monetary value of the benefits and perks and the overall value add of the card to the cardholder. Part of our review includes ease of credit card application, the simple reward structure, attractiveness of the features, and whether the card suits everyday use or best reserved for specific purchases. We give star ratings serve as a general guide of our comparison but it is only a consideration when you are choosing a credit card not a rule. Learn how Coins to Asset Rates Credit Cards.
Lynda Unogu MBA IMC (CFA UK) PMP
Lynda holds an MBA from University College Dublin and worked previously in product roles within financial services and technology firms like Mastercard, Citi Bank and JP Morgan. She constantly seeks to apply her expertise in financial services to the field of personal finance with the goal of helping people navigate the complexities of the finance.
