My experience with Aer Lingus was not too good. First, because of the last minute delayed flight from Amsterdam to Dublin we almost missed our flight from Dublin to Philadelphia. Secondly, the flight from Dublin to Philadelphia had very uncomfortable seats especially it was a very long flight. My buttocks were constantly in pain for sitting on these seats for this long. Lastly, the service in the plane was also slow. I asked for a second cup of water and the hostess told me he'll be right back with that where it took him over an hour to come back with water. It was warm in the plane and I was very thirsty. Overall this airline needs much improvement in their services.
I think the extra charges for seating with no added advantage and the added charges for baggage are excessive compared to other airlines.
They specifically asked about my flight from bordeaux to Dublin, which was fine. A little lacking but for a 1 and a half hour flight - it was more than enough. I transferred at Dublin and went to Newark. And wow that flight was incredible.
Our first flight from Venice to Dublin was delayed due to very bad weather and when we did arrive we were ushered out of the secure area to collect our luggage then told we could not Demeter as the US Customs team closed at 4pm. Thus we were stuck in Dublin for one night with hundreds of passengers scrambling for information and little help from the local staff. Many passengers were left without accommodation and told to find something on their own. We were also told we would get contacted with rebooking details and did not, requiring us to make those arrangements ourselves, in some cases at a very high out of pocket cost. Many passengers swore they would never fly on Aer Lingus again.
I was so grateful for the kindness of the crew. They made a long trip very pleasant. Food was delicious. Many movie options
Crew was friendly and helpful, plane was comfortable would fly with them again
I liked the front row seats. A lot of leg room. The check-in window needs to be longer
Dublin airport is big and US Customs and Immigration screening officers are is part of the process there. This eliminates screening upon arrival to US, however should be taken into consideration when playing your transfer. After all, pleasant experience enhanced by draft Guinness and Irish coffee at the buffet area near the gate. We loved boarding by the row, back of the airplane first.
A caveat, we flew during the ransomware attack that hacked the boarding and luggage tracking systems. I wouldn't ever be angry at the employees for that, but I WOULD be (and am) angry that communication was incredibly poor, that we got few live updates, and that the employees seemed uninformed and ill-equipped to handle the situation. Clear, honest, open communication and instructions would have benefited the situation. Unfortunately, there were literally no gate agents to talk to, no airport employees to direct people, and no clear signage (the app pretty much said "we don't know what gate your flight is."). Beyond this nightmare, the security was the usual dehumanizing circus of "Security Theater" which is... as we all know... only for show and completely useless. All three airports on this journey dropped the ball so hard. The flight industry can do so much better. Aer Lingus can do so much better.
Wonderful experience from start to finish. Extremely nice flight staff and much better food than other airlines I have used. Arrived right on time.
