Aer Lingus

I liked Aer Lingus. Flew with them to Barcelona. In flight entertainment was darn good, food was meh, trip was comfortable. No complaints.

I have flown them. Not bad. They do offer an upgrade on the food, I have never purchased it, their regular food is fine.

I have flown them. Not bad. They do offer an upgrade on the food, I have never purchased it, their regular food is fine.

A couple of years ago we were sketching out an open-jaw itinerary. We found the lowest fare from Rome back to Portland to be on Aer Lingus FCO-DUB-ORD, then UA fto PDX. We took advantage of the DUB route to extend our vacation a couple of days with a quickie two-night stopover in Dublin, and had a great time.

FCO-DUB was on an A320, with sardine-class seating typical of shorter-range European continental flights. But the longer haul from DUB to ORD was on an A330, and it was fine. No complaints about Aer Lingus at all.

No complaints with Aer Lingus. Would not hesitate to use them again. Especially as their prices are a bit lower than the rest of the pack of the full-service airlines. Changing planes in Dublin is a lot easier than the mega-airports like Heathrow or CDG.
People post bad experiences, but the 95% of satisfied customers just go about their business.

Aer Lingus is effectively two airlines in one - around Europe from Ireland its primary competitor is Ryanair so it has to go the low cost route to survive. Inter-continentally it remains a full service airline. It has been around since 1936 and is now part of IAG.

And they have great customer serrvice

Last summer we booked an Aer Lingus flight from Gatwick to Dublin for next month. The flight has since been changed a couple times, most recently it was essentially canceled and they rebooked us 3 hours later, much later than we wanted to go. Said we could call.

Easiest customer service call I've ever made, not only no hassle, but when i said I did not want to go as early as their substitute flight, they offered to change out flight to one out of Heathrow close to our original time, without any charge, even though the Heathrow flights cost twice as much. Great win, as this was not only a much better time, but for us Heathrow is easier (and less expensive)

I just love this sight! Thank you everyone for your response to my questions. I am now wondering if perhaps the mixed reviews had more to do with the smaller planes.

I have flown with them every time I have gone to Ireland (four times now). They are a full-service airline, and the last time I was with them, their food was fine, and their customer service was wonderful. They might be "no frills" on short-hop service in Europe, but not transatlantic. I have never experienced upgrading a meal for a fee, nor would I be interested in doing so.

Greetings from Ireland!
Aer Lingus is a great airline, full-service transatlantic. However, more important than their food offerings is their safety record which is excellent.
They aren't the only airline going from LA to Dublin direct however.
Wait for it....
Air Ethiopia also fly the route, on a dreamliner!
So you have a choice!
Slainte/Good health
Stephen McPhilemy
Rick Steves Ireland Tour-Guide
Dingle & Derry

We are using Ethiopian Air to fly non-stop Los Angeles - Dublin the first week of April. Great airfares at the time we purchased. I'll post on the experience when we return.