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Aer Lingus - Reliability In Question

Posted by (Pittsfield, MA, United States) on

In an effort to get the most bang for the buck, my husband and I are flying Aer Lingus (round trip) from JFK to Dublin to Rome. It was the least expensive airfare we could find back in October when we began planning our trip. Since then, I have heard a couple of times that Aer Lingus is reputed for cancelling flights when they haven't sold enough seats. Of course, I'm worried because so much of our experience depends on arriving in Rome on time or at least within a few hours of the original schedule.

Has anyone experienced this with Aer Lingus? Also, does anyone have advice for the best plan of action if our flight is cancelled. What can we do to stay on schedule?

If I had to do it over again, I would spend more on airfare in order to depart from a more conveniently located airport and a direct flight from the US to Rome. Oh well . . . live and learn!

Thanks! Linda

Posted by
606 posts

I've never had any problems with Aer Lingus. They're certainly reputable.

LOTS of airlines will cancel flights if they aren't full enough. That could happen on most airlines these days.

For flights originating in the US, that are canceled for reasons other than "acts of God", the airlines are required by law to put you on the next available flight to your destination, even if the next flight available is on a different airline.

Posted by
805 posts

All these fears about reliability are IMHO way overblown. Sure airlines cancel some flights but not very many, e.g. Aer Lingus cancels less than 1% of its flights (according to: http://www.flightstats.com/go/FlightRating/flightRatingByCarrier.do?airline=(EI)+Aer+Lingus).

If your flight is canceled, the best advice is to remain calm. Lots of people are likely to be screaming at the agents and they don't need to add your voice to the fun.

Posted by
2724 posts

I flew Aer Lingus last month and had a delay (the arriving plane had a mechanical issue and was 2.5 hours late) but they didn't cancel the flight. You could have a delay or cancellation with any airline, and these days it's more likely than not to happen given fuel prices. If possible, try to rearrange your first day's schedule so that you're not counting on an on time arrival and have some flexibility. I rarely plan anything important or time sensitive on the first day for this very reason. Or at least file this away in the "lessons learned" for future trip planning.

Posted by
103 posts

Since this post, I've talked with my travel agent who has assured me that Aer Lingus has an excellent reputation and that our flight is nearly sold out so barring any unforseen mechanical/weather problems we should be good to go. Also, I did just what was suggested here and planned no particular activities for our first day just in case we were delayed in arriving.

We're leaving today and I am just so thrilled to be going on this trip to Italy. I have had as much fun planning it and reading about Italy and it's cultural and art history as I expect to have when I arrive.

Ciao

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