Aer Lingus Schedules Philadelphia Service For 2018 – Good For Low Tax Award Travel

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We’ve been hearing rumors of a new Aer Lingus service to the East Coast for a while and the rumors got louder late last week with Philadelphia being named as the city expected to get the new service….and so it has turned out to be.

Dublin – Philadelphia From March 2018

From 25 March 2018 Aer Lingus will use its recently reconfigured 757-200 aircraft to offer a 4x/week service between Dublin and Philadelphia on the following schedule:

EI115 DUB 13:50 – 16:15 PHL (Mon, Wed, Fri & Sun)
EI114 PHL 17:30 – 05:10+1 day DUB (Mon, Wed, Fri & Sun)

a map of the world with a route

I haven’t seen any mention of this being a seasonal service so I’m left to assume that this route will operate year-round.

Low Tax Award Redemptions

As it’s owned by IAG, Aer Lingus will undoubtably eventually join the oneworld alliance but, until that happens the main airline currencies you can use for travel on Aer Lingus are United Miles & British Airways Avios.

United Mileage Plus Redemption

  • Economy Class – 60,000 miles roundtrip & approximately $52 in taxes and fees
  • Business Class – 140,000 miles roundtrip & approximately $52 in taxes and fees

While the number of miles needed for a Business Class redemption isn’t exactly low (you’re better off trying to get to/from Europe on United’s own aircraft which will only cost 115,000 for roundtrip Business Class), the taxes for a premium cabin award are low for a European route.

This is demonstrated clearly when we look at the cost of Avios redemptions.

British Airways Avios Redemption

Note: (off-peak redemption/peak redemption)

  • Economy Class – 26,000/40,000 Avios roundtrip & approximately $150 in taxes and fees
  • Business Class – 100,000/120,000 Avios roundtrip & approximately $280 in taxes and fees

For travel to/from the UK (rather than Dublin) the taxes and fees on the Economy Class booking would be in the region of $366 and the taxes and fees on the Business Class redemption would be a colossal $700.

The Aer Lingus 757

The aircraft Aer Lingus has scheduled for this new route is its Boeing 757 and, despite being a narrow-body aircraft on a long-haul route (something I try to avoid), it actually has a few things going for it.

In Economy Class the cabin is set out in a 3-3 layout…..

rows of seats in an airplane

…and while you still only get 31″ of seat pitch (the same as you’ll get on most other airlines flying across the Atlantic regardless of aircraft), you get 18″ wide seats…and that’s more than you’ll get on a wide-body aircraft flying to/from Philly.

In truth it’s in the Business Class cabin that the 757 shines as, for a narrow-body aircraft, it’s pretty good.

a seat in an airplaneAer Lingus 757-200 Business Class

the inside of an airplaneAer Lingus 757-200 Business Class

There are just 12 Business Class seats all of which are lie-flat and the layout gives the cabin 4 “throne seats” that solo travelers will be very keen to book:

a plane with seats and windowsAer Lingus 757-200 Business Class

a seat and table in an airplaneAer Lingus 757-200 Business Class

In lie-flat mode the seats create a bed that’s 78″ (6f 6″) long and, when upright, they offer 60″ of seat pitch and a very comfortable 22″ of seat width.

As far as narrow-body Business Class cabins go this one looks good.

Bottom Line

Any routes to/from Europe that give travelers a chance of a low-tax award redemption are a very good thing so it’s great to see Aer Lingus start this route up.

The Philadelphia route means that Aer Lingus now flys non-stop to 9 US destinations which include cities like Los Angeles and Miami which just started this month.

With Chase Ultimate Rewards points transferring over to United Mileage Plus and with both Ultimate Rewards and Amex Membership Rewards transferring over to British Airways Avios, getting together enough points for a transatlantic award shouldn’t be an issue….now all we need is a bit more award availability.