Aer Lingus

I have not flown them yet but have flights booked next summer. Everything I've read and heard about them sounds fine (at least on a par with most major carriers and in many cases better). Details of what they provide/what you get should be on their website.

I flew them to and from Dublin this year. I found them satisfactory. Their ap isn't very helpful though. I flew from Chicago to Dublin business class and that was fabulous. Flew back in economy which was typical economy, but they did serve a meal, allow carry on and attendants were friendly. Leg room in economy is never decent no matter who you fly. However, I will fly them again,

@ Laurie Beth - I'm flying them in business class next summer. Did you find the lay-flat seats good for sleeping?

I flew with them in Sept. comfortable etc.
No problems at all.
Go for it.

Just to clarify-we cannot afford to fly business class. I should have been more specific. I appreciate knowing business class is great, as it should be! But wondering about "normal" economy class.

We flew them last fall from Toronto to Munich, connecting thru Dublin. The meals were fine, but small portions. Leg room in coach? Forget it. It was especially rough for me, as I'm almost 6 feet tall. Lol. Probably the same as any other airline. Flight attendants were pleasant, and we really had no issues. We were forced to gate check our carryons for the Dublin to Munich segment, but that was handled efficiently. They had plenty of movies and music from which to select. We would not hesitate to fly with then again.

@David Yes, the lay flat seats were extremely comfortable.

We flew with them twice, from NY to amsterdam and NY to Rome. On time, friendly, Dublin airport has a self service VAT refund center which was so easy. If you have access to the lounge through American Express it is fabulous.

We’ve flown them twice. If you do a forum search for Aer Lingus, you should find multiple threads discussing it.

I elected to buy premium economy seats on United yesterday for our trip to Scotland next year. If I’d chosen to fly economy, I likely would have gone with Aer Lingus again. Their fares are good right now and customer service is first rate if you have an issue.

The Dublin airport is easy to navigate and there are agents to direct travelers everywhere. One of the best things about flying home through Dublin is that you go through U.S. passport control and Customs there rather than back here. It can be a real time-saver.

I have flown with them multiple times and really like the airline. I have a fear of flying and their flight attendants always go above and beyond to make sure I’m comfortable.

Thank you all for your responses. Looks like we should go ahead and book with Aer Lingus.

I thought the leg room was a tiny bit smaller than other transatlantic flights, but not a deal breaker

Didn't get a chance to sleep much as there were multiple beverage/food services and a duty free announcement in between so it seemed like if that's the kind of thing that rouses you there wasn't much time in between events to nod off again.

I just returned from Ireland 4 days ago, and we flew Aer Lingus from San Francisco both ways. I have no complaints at all. They are comparable to the major airlines in all the ways you mentioned. I think you will be pleased.

Cindy, did you fly regular or business class? And it's good to know you had no complaints, I think given the cost and the times of the flights from LA (we have to get to LAX from Phoenix), Aer Lingus is our best option.

We have flown Aer Lingus many times with no complaints. We normally fly out of Boston and have never had a canceled or delayed flight. Only once did we fly in business class, and it was the only transatlantic flight that I slept for more than an hour. After the lovely meal I laid the seat flat and woke up in time for breakfast orange juice.

I flew economy, and it was a comfortable flight both ways.

I've flown them a few times. They're perfectly fine. I would say essentially the same as British Airways.

We recently flew Aer Lingus from the east coast to Shannon and back from Dublin to the US. The flight included our 3 year old and 7 month old. The staff were extremely accommodating and friendly. Each seat included an individual tv to watch movies, etc. too. The food was average, but that is something not important to me. I was surprised alcohol was an extra charge though. Overall, I would fly Aer Lingus again.

Aer Lingus is my go-to airline (Norwegian Air is my budget second). AL flights are reliable, the staff is helpful & friendly, the food ranges from meh to pretty good (you can pay a lot extra for a better entree if you want, but I don't think it's worth the $), and you have decent legroom, even in the standard seats. The price is decent-- cheap in the off season, middling but with some good deals during the summer.

I'm usually on the redeye from Boston to Shannon, and have found that Aer Lingus rarely serves coffee before landing at 6AM anymore. As you are on a longer flight, you may still be able to get it (again, if you're on a redeye). I pick up a Starbucks bottled coffee at the gate to drink when I wake up, so I can ward off a headache.
Also, Aer Lingus has implemented an upgrade lottery system now, as have some other transatlantic airlines. If you want first class during your initial booking so you can sleep comfortably, it's typically 2-3 times the economy cost, at least on my regular flight. However, you can make an offer to upgrade a la the old Priceline system. You make an offer (there will be a minimum) and if there are first class bed seats available 1-2 days before the flight, your offer might be accepted & you'll be upgraded. I've done this for my elderly dad. It's a long shot, but a great deal for a tall person when it works.

OKAY- So here's the bad news: customer service, prior to the flight, by email, phone, or social media, is absolutely horrible. I've had to call AL a few times since British Air took over, and I've never been on hold less than a 40 minutes. I tried to reach them via Twitter, and ended up doing an Abbott & Costello routine with a bot. I've emailed, and received a response a week after the flight in question.
This is the only substantial complaint I have with AL. Overall, they're good.

Have a great trip!

OKAY- So here's the bad news: customer service, prior to the flight, by email, phone, or social media, is absolutely horrible. I've had to call AL a few times since British Air took over, and I've never been on hold less than a 40 minutes.

Maybe you've just been unlucky, or maybe I've been lucky. But... I've had to call Aer Lingus twice recently, after booking flights between SEA-DUB and DUB-EDI. Both times, I did have to listen to a bit of "hold music" while waiting for an agent, but...
1) The hold time was never more than 5 minutes (less time than many domestic airlines IME).
2) When the agent came on the line, they were friendly, courteous, efficient, and got my business done easily and quickly.
3) I actually found myself enjoying the hold music - it's Irish music, some ditty about "it's was hard to come back home again, but even harder to leave"...come on, Irish music, can't beat it!

I'll agree with David. I dealt with Aer Lingus customer service last year, when our original flight was canceled and I needed to reschedule. I called once for information and options, then a second time to actually reschedule. Each call involved relatively short waits and both agents I talked to were cheerful, friendly and efficient. They answered my questions and helped get things sorted out, all with lovely Irish accents. No complaints whatsoever.

I appreciate you all sharing your experiences, both positive and negative. Unless something major changes with air fare, Aer Lingus is the way we will go. I guess customer service is sort of a crap shoot, I know we've had long waits on hold with AA. I am far more concerned with getting to Ireland and back home safely and relatively on time , no lost luggage, and no rude passengers who can make or break any trip!

I have my fingers crossed. A few days ago I booked Boston to Venice and Milan to Boston on Aer Lingus for late May 2019 for our Village Italy tour. Since I couldn't go non-stop regardless of the airline I decided to risk their $900ish fare vs. $1400+ on the other airlines. Of course, I wish I had booked when I started thinking about it when the Air Lingus fare was just over $700. The deciding factor was they'll let us take on our carry-on up to 22lbs which isn't true for either Swissair or Lufthansa. We always carry-on on the way to Europe and check on the way back.

Carol,

No worries. I've taken Aer Lingus from BOS for my last 4/5 trips. Always had decent service. And returning through DUB on the way home is great since Immigration is actually in DUB, not BOS. Once you get back to Logan, just grab your luggage and go.

:) Have a good trip.

Carol,
You'll have a good experience. The connection in Dublin is easy, since you don't go through customs for your connecting flight; you just go straight from one gate to the next. And the Dublin airport is easy to navigate.

Aer Lingus might weigh your carryon in Boston, just FYI, so be certain you're under 22 lbs or they'll check your bags. We've had our bags weighed, but others (traveling at a different time) did not. Better safe than sorry!

Have fun!

Davis & stoutfella-- I'm so glad to hear you didn't have my nightmare experience. I rarely have had to call AL but ran into problems three times in the past year that required calls, and they were absolute nightmares. Are you calling from the west coast? I tried to space mine out to hit different shifts, but maybe it's a matter of my calls being routed differently when calling from Boston.

Yes, I was calling from the US west coast, IIRC around early afternoon Pacific Time. Not sure to what degree (of any) that makes.

Rule #1 of calling any airline (or other large corporation): keep your expectations low and give it a try. If it goes well, thank them and be on your way. If it doesn't go well, politely excuse yourself, hang up, call again later.

I was calling from Illinois, Central time, maybe early to mid-afternoon here. When I described relatively short wait times, it might have been 30 minutes-plus, don't really remember for sure, but the service I received from the phone reps was excellent once I got through.

david & stoutfella-- Thanks for the feedback! Once I was able to talk to a breathing, speaking human being, they were unfailingly polite and as helpful as they were empowered to be, but that was, unfortunately, not very. I was able to resolve one issue mostly via phone, though it required me to follow up with an email & get a post-flight refund, rather than taking care of the whole thing with the one call in advance. The other issue was never resolved, and I ended up paying a lot so my dad could attend a family funeral.

I ask about the time zones because I worked for 3 years at a federal agency that fielded service calls, using the same call software that most private businesses do. Depending on the location from which the call came & the time of day, calls got routed to different offices. I worked on the east coast; the coastal offices were the busiest, by far, and our hold times were much longer than the midwest & mountain zones. My guess is that British Air/Aer Lingus probably has at least one other customer service boiler room besides the one in New York. To be honest, sometimes you can game it to get a less busy office.

But twitter, oh dear... https://c.gmx.com/@558013361288124388/HJYtwVbBQg-lu5piTh-3KQ

mbheart Hope all goes well-- AL is a reliable airline in my experience & I doubt you'll have any need to contact them. Have fun!

Hi MB.

Yes I always use Aer Lingus and they are wonderful. They are very reliable, Great customer service, Lovely meals included and of course, allow a carry on bag. I can only say positive things about them. British airways are also good but for some reason, it just feels better travelling to Ireland on a big Green plane with a shamrock on the tail and wings ;)

Mike.

I know this post may b a little late. Just few with Aer lingus 2 weeks ago from U.S to Dublin, then to London. And also flew to Ireland last year. Both experiences great! 2 weeks who the crew fabulous, and we even arrived 45 minutes
earlier. In fact we had such a good experience, I tweeted. Good luck!

Flown aer lingus a bunch of times over the last year for business. Staff are nice, fares are cheaper than anything I could get with American. Have flown PHL to Amsterdam and PHL to Frankfurt both via Dublin, and also PHL nonstop to Frankfurt during the summer. Pretty nervous about their 90 minute change time at Dublin, but never missed a connection. Had a 3 hour delay on one nonstop due to mechanical issues.

Last flight home just before Christmas, they managed to lose 30 peoples' luggage, including mine. Got it back two days later. They did not handle that well at all, but that is most likely true of any airline.

Food is on par with other airlines....in other words, not all that great. All things considered, no better and no worse than any other airline these days...unfortunately. My flights across the pond were in standard 757s instead of wide bodies. I considered that a plus because there are fewer people to occupy the flight attendants.