United Airlines and Aer Lingus are winding down a 15-year relationship that includes codeshared flights, the ability to earn and redeem miles, and other benefits. On October 27th, the agreement will end and Aer Lingus will more closely align with American Airlines.
Aer Lingus and American currently have a codeshare agreement in place. The Irish carrier is owned by IAG (which also owns British Airways and Iberia). Is United being dropped so that Aer Lingus can finally join Oneworld and offer members of American AAdvantage and other alliance airlines more benefits? No official word has been given, but it will be even more likely if Aer Lingus also terminates its relationship with Air Canada.
For years, Aer Lingus provided a workaround for crediting flights on United Airlines to Aer Lingus and then transfer the Avios to another Oneworld airline. This also worked in reverse with United MileagePlus members being able to get credit for Aer Lingus flights. This all ends next Friday.
Anthony’s Take: It makes sense for Aer Lingus to more closely align with American Airlines and join Oneworld given its ownership by IAG. This has not been announced, but it seems like it will happen in the future.
written by Anthony Losanno
Source TheBulkHeadSeat
