BA Silver and Gold members lose lounge access in Shannon and Cork when flying Aer Lingus

If you are looking for an example of the unnecessary complexities that airlines and loyalty schemes can impose, you will struggle to beat the lounge access rules for Aer Lingus if you have British Airways status.  The fact that the two airlines are owned by the same company just makes it even crazier.

Two major changes have recently kicked in, which have a negative impact for any British Airways Gold or Silver member.

You need to remember that Aer Lingus is NOT a member of the oneworld airline alliance and so a BA elite member has no automatic right to use Aer Lingus lounges.

What has changed with Aer Lingus lounge access?

As we understand it ….

• British Airways Executive Club Silver and Gold members no longer have access to the Aer Lingus lounge in Shannon when flying with Aer Lingus

• British Airways Executive Club Silver and Gold members no longer have access to the Aspire lounge in Cork when flying with Aer Lingus

British Airways Executive Club elite members were previously allowed to use these lounges when flying on Aer Lingus, but ONLY if flying to London. You have never been able to get access if flying elsewhere from Shannon or Cork.

We have no idea why this has been done. An email I saw from an Aer Lingus employee said that the decision had been made by British Airways, who were presumably being billed by Aer Lingus and Aspire.

Where does this leave British Airways elite members flying Aer Lingus?

Here is a summary of the rules following these changes:

In Heathrow:

Aer Lingus has a pleasant lounge in Heathrow Terminal 2.  We reviewed it here.

The rule here is that British Airways Silver or Gold cardholders can use the Aer Lingus lounge at Heathrow.

Your ticket does NOT need to be issued by BA and it does NOT need to be a BA codeshare.  If you have BA status, even a super-cheap ticket booked on aerlingus.com will do the job. No guests are allowed.

In Dublin:

British Airways Executive Club Silver or Gold cardholders can use the Aer Lingus lounge in Dublin.  It doesn’t matter if your ticket has an Aer Lingus or British Airways flight number.

However, this only works if you are flying to Heathrow or Gatwick.

If you fly from Dublin to, say, Manchester you will not get Aer Lingus lounge access in Ireland with a British Airways status card.

In Shannon or Cork:

Following the recent changes, a British Airways Executive Club Silver or Gold cardholder CANNOT use the Aer Lingus lounge in Shannon or the Aspire lounge in Cork.

It makes no difference whether you are flying to London or elsewhere – you are no longer given access.

In Gatwick or Belfast:

And to confuse matters further …. Aer Lingus has no lounges in Gatwick and Belfast, although qualifying passengers (via Aer Lingus status or ticket class) can access the No1 Lounge and Aspire lounge respectively.

If you have a British Airways Gold card, you can use the British Airways lounges when flying on Aer Lingus. In Belfast, this means the Aspire contract lounge used by BA.

No guests are allowed.  More importantly, your ticket must have a British Airways flight number AND have been issued by BA (the ticket number will start 125-).  An Aer Lingus ticket with an EI flight number will not get you in.

British Airways Silver cardholders do not get into the Gatwick or Belfast lounges in any scenario, irrespective of who issued their Aer Lingus ticket.

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