WARNING!: This content is AI generated - when in doubt, research or reach out with your personal questions.
WARNING!: This content is AI generated - when in doubt, research or reach out with your personal questions.
These are the questions that came up most in the group since June 2024. If the answer is here, you don't need to wait for anyone to reply.
Three things before you start.
Rates, bonuses and promotions change constantly. Every number here is accurate as of the date at the top. Check the app or the official site before transferring or buying anything on the strength of a promotion.
Nobody here is a financial adviser. What the group has is the experience of people who've tested things. "It worked for me" is not a guarantee — country of account registration, plan and history all change the outcome.
Avios have no fixed value. The same 10,000 Avios can be worth €40 on one booking and €400 on another. The value only exists at the moment you redeem. Always compare the cash price against Avios plus taxes before booking.
Avios is the currency used by seven different programmes. You don't have "an Avios account" — you have a separate balance in each programme, and you move points between them when you need to.
The seven programmes
British Airways Club, Aer Lingus AerClub, Iberia Club, Vueling Club, Finnair Plus, Qatar Airways Privilege Club and Loganair Loyalty.
Why that matters
The same flight can cost different amounts of Avios and different taxes depending on which programme issues it. So it's worth holding accounts in more than one and comparing before you book. Iberia is usually the best door to Brazil because of its fixed chart; Aer Lingus is where most of us earn.
Moving Avios between programmes
Transfers are 1:1 and free, done through Avios.com. The accounts need to be linked first.
Most routes are now direct between programmes.
Qatar is the exception: it can only be linked to British Airways. To reach Qatar, go via BA.
Finnair: sources disagree on whether direct transfers work. If it's your first time, test with a small amount before moving your whole balance.
Watch expiry. Finnair points lapse faster.
The rule that trips most people up
Name, date of birth, email and address must match exactly across all accounts. Any difference — a middle name, an accent, an old address — will block the link. Fix it first.
There's also a lifetime limit on how many times you can link accounts, so don't link and unlink to experiment.
Quick answers
Avios missing after a purchase? File a "missing Avios" claim on the site of whichever programme should have credited it. Online shopping normally takes up to 35 days to post.
Can two people pool Avios? You can't freely transfer between accounts. The official routes are a British Airways Household Account, or booking for the other person as a passenger.
Earning with no destination in mind. Miles sitting in an airline programme lose value and sometimes expire. Accumulate somewhere flexible and transfer when you're ready to book.
Spending more to earn. If the product that earns is the more expensive one, you're paying for the points. Do the sum.
Buying direct instead of through the eStore. The easiest way to lose Avios that were already yours.
Assuming Avios have a fixed value. They don't. Always compare against the cash price.
Leaving names and addresses different across accounts. It blocks linking between programmes, and there's a limit on attempts.
Booking late in peak season. Availability is the bottleneck, not the number of points. The people who travel well are the ones who book early.
Using credit you can't clear. Miles only make sense when the money is already in your account and the balance is paid in full every month. Interest wipes out any gain in points.
Avios is the currency used by seven different programmes. You don't have "an Avios account" — you have a separate balance in each programme, and you move points between them when you need to.
The seven programmes
British Airways Club, Aer Lingus AerClub, Iberia Club, Vueling Club, Finnair Plus, Qatar Airways Privilege Club and Loganair Loyalty.
Why that matters
The same flight can cost different amounts of Avios and different taxes depending on which programme issues it. So it's worth holding accounts in more than one and comparing before you book. Iberia is usually the best door to Brazil because of its fixed chart; Aer Lingus is where most of us earn.
Moving Avios between programmes
Transfers are 1:1 and free, done through Avios.com. The accounts need to be linked first.
Most routes are now direct between programmes.
Qatar is the exception: it can only be linked to British Airways. To reach Qatar, go via BA.
Finnair: sources disagree on whether direct transfers work. If it's your first time, test with a small amount before moving your whole balance.
Watch expiry. Finnair points lapse faster.
The rule that trips most people up
Name, date of birth, email and address must match exactly across all accounts. Any difference — a middle name, an accent, an old address — will block the link. Fix it first.
There's also a lifetime limit on how many times you can link accounts, so don't link and unlink to experiment.
Quick answers
Avios missing after a purchase? File a "missing Avios" claim on the site of whichever programme should have credited it. Online shopping normally takes up to 35 days to post.
Can two people pool Avios? You can't freely transfer between accounts. The official routes are a British Airways Household Account, or booking for the other person as a passenger.
The most-asked topic in the group. RevPoints launched in Ireland in June 2024, and it's what made earning miles realistic while living here.
Turning it on
In the app: Lifestyle → RevPoints. On basic plans you need to enable Spare Change to unlock Card Spend and Challenges. On paid plans the options appear directly.
Does debit earn?
Yes. You don't need a credit card.
Which plan is worth it
Entirely depends on how much you spend and what you use. A plan pays for itself through the benefits you actually use — travel insurance, lounge access, exchange rates, savings rate — not just the points rate. Before upgrading, add up what you'd realistically spend in a month and work out how many extra points that generates. In practice most of the group concludes Metal covers it well and Ultra only suits a specific profile.
What doesn't earn
The list changes, but the pattern holds: transfers between accounts, cash withdrawals, credit card bill payments, some services, and retailers who leave the programme (Temu dropped out; AliExpress stayed). If a big purchase didn't earn, check whether that retailer is still in the programme before complaining.
Transferring RevPoints to Avios
Lands instantly, with the bonus already applied when there's a promotion.
What counts is the country your Revolut account is registered in (Ireland, UK or Spain in recent promotions), not where you live. A Portuguese or Brazilian account won't qualify.
If the promotion banner doesn't appear, transfer 10 points first as a test.
RevPoints also go to Etihad, Avianca, Aegean, SAS, Turkish, TAP, Singapore and Air France/KLM. Only the Avios group lets you move between airlines afterwards.
RevPoints transferred to BA allow Boost
Boost multiplies transferred Avios, up to 300%, for a fee.
It only exists in the Avios app. If you transfer to AerClub you can't use it. Send to British Airways if you plan to Boost.
The multiplier applies to the whole transaction — you can't Boost part of it. Transfer in smaller chunks to control what you spend.
You have 35 days after the transfer to decide.
Boost is buying Avios. It only makes sense with a trip in mind, and after comparing against the Esfera price.
Insurance
On plans that include travel insurance, cover normally requires that flights and accommodation were paid for with the Revolut card. Read your own plan's terms before relying on it — Metal, Premium and Ultra differ.
It's the Bank of Ireland credit card in partnership with Aer Lingus. Not AIB.
The basics
Spend €5,000 on the card in a year and you get two return flights in Europe with Aer Lingus, paying only the taxes. That's about €417 a month, or €100 a week.
Earning
1 Avios per €4 spent, and 1 Avios per €1 on Aer Lingus purchases. You need to link the card to your AerClub account for the points to post.
Cost
€6.50 a month, plus €30 government stamp duty per card per year. Around €108 a year.
"Counts" versus "earns"
This is the most common confusion in the group. Some transactions don't earn Avios but do count towards the €5,000 target — utility bills and insurance, for example. That makes them the ideal spend to put on the BOI card, keeping everything else on whichever card earns better.
Electric Ireland accepts card payment if you request it 7 or more days before the due date.
The flights
Once you hit the target you have 1 year to book. The flight itself can be later.
The free flight cannot be rebooked.
If you cancel, you get the taxes back minus a €40 fee. If the taxes were only €40, nothing comes back.
Availability is genuinely limited, especially in peak season. The people who get the flights book early and stay flexible on dates.
Worth having both BOI and Revolut?
The consensus among people who use both: BOI until you hit €5,000, then everyday spending moves to Revolut. Sign-up bonuses on the Aer Card, when they exist, typically appear in January and February only.
Cancelling the card afterwards
People who booked their flights before cancelling report the bookings were kept. Even so, book first and cancel after — not the other way round.
The number that matters
1 Tescopoint per €1 spent. And €2.50 in Clubcard vouchers converts to 600 Avios (250 Tescopoints). It's comfortably the best conversion rate available to us.
For comparison: Aer Lingus sells Avios at roughly €21 per 1,000. That same €2.50 would buy around 118 Avios. Through Tesco it's 600.
How to convert
Turn your points into a voucher in the app first, then convert the voucher. You enter your AerClub number at the point of conversion — the accounts aren't permanently linked, it's per conversion.
Conversion is one-way. Once it's Avios, it doesn't come back.
Your voucher needs to be in an amount that matches the conversion. If you hold €3 and the conversion is €2.50, adjust the voucher first.
If Aer Lingus doesn't appear in the reward partner list, check you have enough voucher balance and that you're in the right section of the app.
Worth waiting for a bonus?
There's no reliable pattern of year-end bonuses on this conversion. People who waited didn't always get one. If you already have a destination in mind, converting now is the safe choice.
Missions
Missions are targeted challenges with bonus points. They aren't offered to everyone — if they don't appear in your app, that's not your mistake and there's no way to force them. They show up in the Clubcard section of the app when they exist.
An honest warning from the group
Several people noticed the same pattern: they earn Avios on the Clubcard but spend more over the month, because the product that earns tends to be the more expensive one. Points that cost more than they're worth aren't a win. If Lidl or Aldi is cheaper for your shop, the maths may not work.
If you still have a Brazilian bank account and card, buying points during a promotion is usually the cheapest way to top up a redemption. It's the group's most-used route to Brazil via Iberia.
How it works
Esfera (Santander) and Livelo (Bradesco/Banco do Brasil) sell points at a discount in frequent campaigns. You buy cheap, transfer to the partner programme and redeem. Esfera transfers to Iberia; from there the points are Avios and can move on to the other programmes.
Clubs and multipliers
Subscribing to the club gives you monthly points and unlocks bigger purchase discounts. Plenty of people subscribe to a higher tier for one promotion and downgrade after. Check the qualifying rules first: some discounts only apply after a year of membership, and campaign codes don't work for everyone.
The only calculation that matters
Work out the cost per 1,000 points in euro and compare it against the alternatives:
Esfera or Livelo during a strong promotion
Buying Avios directly from Aer Lingus (around €21 per 1,000 at best)
Revolut with a transfer bonus, which is free
BA Boost, which is buying in disguise
If Esfera works out similar to Boost, the Revolut transfer bonus wins, because it costs nothing.
Watch out for
The name on your Esfera account must match your Iberia account. You can't adjust it at transfer time.
Transfers sometimes sit as "pedido realizado" for a while before landing. That's normal, but check the points left the origin.
Esfera registration requires facial recognition and an active CPF, which blocks some of the group.
Livelo needs a Brazilian mobile number for the SMS.
Don't hoard miles inside an airline programme with no destination. Accumulate in the bank programme, which stays flexible, and transfer only when you're ready to book.
Partnerships change
Livelo dropped TAP as a partner, for instance. Confirm the partnership still exists before building a plan around a route.
The eStore turns ordinary online shopping into Avios. Same shops, same prices — you just have to start from the right place.
Where to find it
In the Aer Lingus app under "Collecting Avios", or at estore.aerlingus.com. The eStore now runs inside Avios.com, so being redirected is normal. Over 1,000 brands, up to 12 Avios per €1.
The golden rule
Start at the eStore, search the brand, click "Shop Now", and only then buy. If you were already on the retailer's site and bought directly, it won't earn.
The questions that come up most
Can I fill the basket first and go through the eStore at checkout? Don't rely on it. Go through the eStore and rebuild the basket.
Does a discount code break it? Depends on the retailer. Each one has its own terms on discount codes, and some void the points if you use an outside code.
How long does it take? Up to 35 days for the Avios to post.
The points came through wrong or were cancelled. It happens often enough. Screenshot the offer and the order, then file a claim. It doesn't always work, but without the screenshot it never does.
Can I stack it with cashback?
Usually not on the same purchase. If you open the shop through the eStore, the sale is attributed to the eStore rather than the cashback portal. Pick one and compare which is worth more on that particular purchase.
Other portals the group uses
Woolsocks and TopCashback come up most, paying cashback in euro rather than points. On large purchases the cashback is sometimes worth more than the Avios — worth doing the sum each time.
Iberia and British have their own portals
The same shop sometimes pays more in one programme than another. Since Avios move between programmes, it's worth checking all three before a big purchase.
The question behind all the others: is this redemption worth it?
Always compare three numbers: the cash price, the Avios required, and the tax. Divide the saving by the Avios used to get your value per 1,000. If that comes out below what you'd pay to buy Avios, it's a bad redemption — pay cash and keep the points.
Iberia's fixed chart
Iberia uses a fixed award chart, which makes planning predictable. The price doesn't move; availability is the challenge.
MAD–GRU: 20k economy, 36k premium, 50.5k business off-peak; 74k peak.
December after the 10th is close to impossible.
The people who get seats check several times a day over weeks.
Not flying from São Paulo or Rio? Enter through Recife or Fortaleza and book the domestic leg separately with Azul or Latam.
Calendar not showing your dates
Each airline releases award seats a different distance out. If the AerClub calendar doesn't show the month you want, it hasn't opened yet — nothing is wrong with your account.
Taxes
These vary a lot by programme and route, which is exactly why it's worth comparing before booking. The same leg can carry very different taxes through Aer Lingus, Iberia or British Airways.
Baggage
Depends on the fare and the airline, not on the fact that it's a reward booking. Check what's included before you book. Some fares let you add a bag later; on others it costs more than it would have at booking.
Cancelling and changing
Rules vary by programme. Generally the Avios come back for a fee, but the cash taxes don't always return in full.
Aer Credit Card flights can't be rebooked, and cancelling returns the taxes minus €40.
Cancel as early as you can. The closer to departure, the worse the terms.
Booking for someone else
Allowed across all the Avios programmes — the other person goes on as a passenger. What you can't do is freely move balances between accounts.
Hotels
You can book hotels through the programmes' portals (eDreams, Booking and Agoda appear as partners across different programmes) and earn Avios. Two honest points:
Booking through a portal usually means forfeiting the hotel chain's own points and status benefits. If you use a chain often, it may not be worth it.
Bookings that pay on arrival typically credit at the rate in force when you pay, not when you book.
For actual hotel points, All Accor comes up most in the group as the easiest to build in Europe.
Transport
Aircoach: 5 Avios per €1.
Uber: link your AerClub account (works for Ireland and the UK).
Kildare Village: 1 Avios per €1, claimed at the concierge with the day's receipts.
Others
Card-linked offers: register your card with AerClub to activate in-store offers.
Avios for Thoughts: surveys, with 100 Avios for signing up and 500 for the first survey.
Tesco Views: Tesco's customer survey, at tescoviews.ie.
None of these changes your life on its own. Together, over a year, they add up to something real.
Do I need a credit card to earn?
No. Revolut debit earns. A credit card comes in when you want the Aer Card bonus or better rates on specific spending.
Does AIB earn?
Ordinary Irish bank cards have no points programme. AIB works as a bank account, not a source of miles. For miles via credit card here, people look at the BOI Aer Card or the Revolut credit card.
Revolut credit card
Available in the app depending on eligibility and plan. Rates and availability vary — check your own app, because the terms have changed more than once.
Paying the BOI bill from Revolut
You can pay by transfer. The bill payment itself doesn't earn points — it's moving money, not a purchase.
One4All
A gift card accepted in shops that don't earn in any programme (IKEA is the classic case). Buy the One4All somewhere that does earn, and you shift the earning onto a purchase that wouldn't have earned. Sold in Tesco and An Post, among others.
Brazilian cards
If you keep a Brazilian account, the cards that give access to Esfera, Livelo and their own points (Santander, Bradesco, C6, Nubank) are the entry point for buying points. Before subscribing to any club, confirm you can keep your CPF and registration active while living abroad.