Why American frequent fliers should care that British Airways' parent company finally took over Aer Lingus

The European Commission has given its A-OK on the takeover deal of Aer Lingus by International Airlines Group (parent company of British Airways and Iberia). At issue were concerns over fair competition, and to even the playing field and finalize the deal, IAG is agreed to give up some of its landing slots at London Gatwick.

Aer Lingus has plans to rejoin the oneworld alliance after dropping out in 2006 due to a change in the airline's strategy. It opted instead for partnerships with individual airlines, including United. With the IAG tie-up, United fliers will most likely lose the ability to redeem miles on Aer Lingus, but American Airlines mileage collectors will now get the chance.

A positive of redeeming miles on Aer Lingus flights over British Airways with either BA avios or through American Aadvantage is that Ireland does not charge the outrageous taxes that come with passing through airports like London Heathrow. The addition of Aer Lingus to oneworld would add another airline to the mix, and potentially give American frequent fliers another option in redeeming European flights.

Unfortunately, American likes to tack on fuel surcharges that can be as high as $300 for a one-way when redeeming miles on British Airways flights. Let's hope the carrier does not add those to Aer Lingus redemptions, as well. A good sign might be that when American partnered with Iberia, the carrier did not add the same type of high fuel surcharges. For those using British Airways avios on Aer Lingus, it is more likely that the fuel surcharges would be added, though.

Earlier this year, British Airways updated the Avios award chart, which raised the number of miles needed for several popular redemptions including the formerly amazing deal of 50,000 roundtrip business class flights on Aer Lingus between Boston and Dublin. Now, those flights are 75,000 roundtrip. Luckily, the ability to redeem just 4,500 miles for a one-way flight anywhere under 650 miles remains unchanged. Aer Lingus flies to many cities in Europe that would qualify for that low-level redemption.

Specific details are yet to be released, but for Europe-bound travelers with a stash of American miles, this is definitely a positive. And British Airways Avios holders will find that Aer Lingus has lots of flights that qualify for low-mileage redemptions.