Aer Lingus from US

If you do a forum search for Aer Lingus, you'll find lots of threads about the airline.

We've flown Aer Lingus from Chicago twice, and it's fine. Don't know what kind of planes they fly out of Boston, but probably similar. They fly Airbus A330s from Chicago. The older 200 model has more comfortable seats, but the touch screens on the entertainment system are flaky. The system actually went down on our return flight in May 2017. Our outbound flight from Chicago to Dublin on that trip was on the newer 300 model, which was immaculate and felt like it couldn't have been more than two weeks old. The entertainment system worked flawlessly and there were plenty of choices. But the seats were rock-hard and the leg room was definitely tighter. I'd fly them again if it was a decent price, but I'd consider economy-plus on another airline in the future.

We have used Aer Lingus several times, and have had good experiences. Aer Lingus is our go-to airline because they are the only one that flies directly to Europe from our home airport (Hartford).

Did Jet Blue Aer Lingus out of CHS to JFK, on to Dublin and over to London last summer. Worked well, thought $970 was a good RT fare. Fine flights. Connections, well connections are always fun. These worked out fine.

My one experience with Aer Lingus (Newark to Dublin to Glasgow, and Liverpool to Dublin to JFK) was fine. The only quirk was that there was only one drinks service on the flight over; if you wanted wine (or even soda) with your dinner, you had to get it before they brought the dinner service, as they didn't bring the drinks cart down the aisle a second time. Also, their carry-on size and weight limits are bit tighter than a US carrier (the over the seat bag can only be 21 inches, not 22 inches). My bags were not weighed or measured, but I made sure to adhere to their requirements so there would be no trouble, just in case. Otherwise, it was like any other airline in coach, and I'd certainly fly them again.

Something else to know if you're returning to the US from Shannon; you go through US immigration and customs in Shannon, before you board your flight to Boston (or anywhere else in the US). Your arrival in Boston is thus like a domestic arrival. So, you don't need as much time to make your Boston connection as you would on a regular international to domestic connection, but you need to allow more time at Shannon to go through the "formalities."

You also go through U.S. Immigration and Customs if departing from Dublin (which I gather you're doing). It does help immensely with a tight connection in the U.S.

That sounds great! Thank you all for this information.
We hope to book our flight this week. I am leaning towards Jet Blue / Aer Lingus (Boston Connection) versus Untied (Newark Connection) or Delta (JFK).

Thanks

If you're leaving flying from Dublin or Shannon nonstop to the US, on any airline, you go through Preclearance (US Immigration and Customs) before getting on your plane, and your arrival in the US is like a domestic arrival, so any of your options will be easier than someone flying from another European country and trying to connect to a US domestic flight.

That said, I'd probably favor BOS over EWR or JFK for connections too.

We have flown Jet Blue to Boston from Pittsburgh and then Aer Lingus to Dublin twice. We actually arranged our entire trip the last time through Aer Lingus Vacation Store and received vouchers for the B&Bs and car at a really reasonable price. We really enjoyed flying Aer Lingus both times and, if you get an early arrival in Boston, you can spend the day touring there. On one trip we did the hop on and off bus and the next time we toured Fenway Park and hit a brewery nearby and then were tired enough to sleep on the plane to Ireland! Have a great trip!

Hi. Just to add to the mix of options: Aer Lingus has begun a daily Philly > Dublin flight. Though if Shannon is your ultimate destination, the Boston connection does sound like the shortest.

Thanks again for the replies. It sounds like Aer Lingus would be a nice, appropriate airline to fly to Ireland. We are flying from RDU (Raleigh, NC) so we would need to change more than likely in Boston or JFK from the flights I have found so far. I think Boston would be better than JFK. We are flying into Shannon and out of Dublin with our family of four (myself, wife, 3-year old and 6 month old).

We usually fly Aer Lingus to Ireland and have never had a problem. The Boston-Shannon leg will likely be on a smaller 737 with 3/3 seat configuration. Your return flight will be on a 330 Airbus with 2/4/2.

You can go to seatguru.com to look at the seating maps. Try flight number EI 134 going over and EI 137 for the return flight. (Those prefixes are “ei.”)

Thank you again!

We are close to booking :)

The flight going from RDU to SNN is about $500 less if you change in JFK versus Boston. Do you know if the gates for Jet Blue and Aer Lingus are near each other at JFK? I am leaning towards changing in Boston because of the proximity of the Jet Blue and Aer Lingus gates. However, I am curious about the JFK gate locations for these airlines.
Coming back is no problem as we would fly from Dublin to RDU, via Boston.

Thanks

Yes, your Jet Blue flight will arrive in JFK terminal 5, and your Aer Lingus flight will depart from JFK terminal 5. Since these are in the same terminal, and since there are no immigration or customs formalities on departure from the US, you will just go within T5 from one gate to another (no need to go through security either).

Terminal 5 isn't that large, either. Here's a map (direct link to a PDF): https://www.jfkairport.com/static/JFK/pdf/terminal-5.pdf

That sounds great! So flying through JFK to SNN (Jet Blue and Aer Lingus) would be an easy walk to the gate.

Do you recommend travel insurance through the airline? I want to have insurance in case the children are sick before trip (cancel flight) or during the trip in case have to visit a doctor or pharmacy.

Thanks again!