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Aer Lingus Visa Signature Card review: Earn a lucrative welcome bonus and companion ticket

Jess Ullrich
7 min read

Offering a generous welcome bonus and straightforward rewards, the Aer Lingus Visa Signature® Card could be a useful option if you fly from the U.S. to Europe fairly often. This card comes with a series of other perks, and you can use your rewards to offset the cost of flights on Aer Lingus or its partners in the Avios points program.

If you’re considering adding the Aer Lingus Visa Signature Card to your wallet, here’s what to know about its features, perks, and drawbacks.

Annual fee: $95

Welcome offer: Earn 85,000 Avios points after spending $5,000 in the first 90 days

Rewards:

  • 3x Avios points on flights purchased directly with Aer Lingus, British Airways, Iberia, and LEVEL

  • 2x Avios points on hotel accommodations booked directly with the hotel

  • 1x Avios points on all other purchases

Other benefits: Priority boarding on Aer Lingus flights between the U.S. and Ireland, earn a Companion Ticket each year after spending $30,000 annually

The Aer Lingus Visa Signature Card has a variable APR of 21.49% to 28.49%. Chase will consider your credit and other factors when determining your APR.

You’ll pay a $95 annual fee with this card, but it’s easy to offset by earning the welcome bonus.

The Aer Lingus Visa Signature Card has a generous welcome offer: Earn 85,000 Avios after spending $5,000 in your first 90 days as a cardholder. Those points could be worth $850 or more, depending on your redemption method.

While some credit cards offer a 0% promotional APR for a set time frame, this card isn’t one of them. The regular APR applies immediately.

  • 3x Avios points on flights purchased directly with Aer Lingus, British Airways, Iberia, and LEVEL

  • 2x Avios points on hotel accommodations booked directly with the hotel

  • 1x Avios points on all other purchases

Unsurprisingly, you can maximize your Aer Lingus Visa Signature Card earnings by using your card to book flights directly with Aer Lingus or its listed partners. These bookings will net you 3x Avios points. You’ll also earn 2x points when you use your card to book reservations directly with hotels. All other purchases will net you 1x Avios points.

The Avios points you earn each month are automatically transferred to your Aer Lingus AerClub account at the end of each billing cycle.

One of the most popular ways to use your Avios points is for flights or upgrades on Aer Lingus, Iberia, British Airways, and LEVEL. You can also use them for hotel or rental car bookings, or to offset the cost of certain experiences while you travel.

Booking a rewards flight can be quite lucrative. For example, an economy seat from Dublin to Los Angeles in the off-peak season starts at 16,250 Avios points each way — at that rate, the welcome bonus could get you two round-trip tickets. Flights between Shannon and New York City start at 13,000 points, meaning the welcome bonus could get you three round-trip tickets across the pond.

For cardholders willing to do a bit more work, you could potentially use your points to book with more than a dozen other airlines. You’ll first need to transfer your Aer Lingus points to British Airways, which is a Oneworld airline alliance partner. Once your points are with British Airways, they can then be used to book travel on one of Oneworld’s partners, including American Airlines, Alaska Airlines, and Qantas.

This card is fairly light on benefits compared to some of its competitors, but it does offer the opportunity to earn a companion economy ticket annually. For each calendar year you spend over $30,000 with your card, you’ll get a free companion ticket that’s good for a year.

Get priority boarding on Aer Lingus flights between Ireland and the U.S. when you use your card to purchase your reservations.

The Aer Lingus Visa Signature Card is ideal for travelers who fly from the U.S. to Europe fairly often. Since its highest rewards come from flight bookings on Aer Lingus or its partners, it likely doesn’t make sense unless you’re a relatively frequent flyer.

For those who don't frequently fly or aren't loyal to Aer Lingus, a more general travel card could be a better choice.

  • Generous welcome bonus and solid rewards

  • Opportunity to earn a companion ticket

  • No foreign transaction fees

  • Priority boarding

  • Relatively light on airline perks

  • High spending requirement to earn the welcome bonus

  • Has annual fee

  • Highest rewards categories are limited

The Aer Lingus Visa Signature Card is part of the Visa network, which means you can use it almost anywhere in the world. Visa is accepted in over 200 territories and countries worldwide.

  • Online through the Chase dashboard

  • Via the Chase mobile app

  • By mail:
    Cardmember Services
    P.O. Box 6294
    Carol Stream, IL 60197-6294

  • By phone: 1-800-436-7958

  • In-person at a local Chase branch or ATM

The Aer Lingus Visa Signature Card is issued by Chase. You can reach a Chase customer service representative by phone at 1-800-432-3117 or by messaging them through X, Instagram, or Facebook.

If you don’t travel from the U.S. to Europe often and the Aer Lingus Visa Signature Card doesn’t seem like the best choice, here are other top travel cards to consider.

Why we like it: The Chase Sapphire Preferred is popular among travel cards, and with good reason. This card comes with valuable rewards, the opportunity to earn a $50 annual statement credit, partnership benefits, and more. Like the Aer Lingus Visa Signature, the Sapphire Preferred has a $95 annual fee.

Cardholders can earn 5x points on travel purchases made through Chase (excluding hotel purchases that qualify for the $50 annual credit that comes with this card); 3x points on dining, select streaming services, and online groceries; 2x points on travel purchases; and 1x points on everything else. This card also offers a generous welcome bonus: Earn 75,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points after spending $4,000 in the first three months.

Read our full review of the Sapphire Preferred

Why we like it: The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card offers more straightforward rewards than the Aer Lingus Visa Signature. With the Venture Rewards Card, you can earn 5x miles on rental car and hotel bookings made through Capital One Travel and 2x miles on all other purchases. This card is a great choice if you don’t want to memorize complicated rewards categories.

As a Venture Rewards cardholder, you can earn a 75,000-mile early spend bonus after making $4,000 in purchases during the first three months. This card has a $95 annual fee.

Why we like it: If you’re a frequent flier within the U.S., the United Explorer Card could be a better choice than the Aer Lingus Visa Signature. United flies to over 210 destinations in the United States, so you can rack up miles when you fly domestically.

The Explorer Card has a generous welcome offer and rewards. You’ll also get airline-specific perks like free checked bags, priority boarding, and 25% back on inflight food and beverage purchases. This card has a $0 introductory annual fee in the first year, after which it’s $95 annually.

Read our full review of the United Explorer Card

This article was edited by Alicia Hahn

Editorial Disclosure: The information in this article has not been reviewed or approved by any advertiser. The details on financial products, including card rates and fees, are accurate as of the publish date. All products or services are presented without warranty. Check the bank’s website for the most current information. This site doesn't include all currently available offers.