Got us to destination alive, albeit a bit late. Luggage was left behind. No live tracking app available (available on some other airlines). Supposedly going to be delivered in next couple of days.
The connection time between the regional flight (from Newcastle) to an international flight (to The States) was too short. To require as second security scan and customs clearance within an hour and 20 mins is not enough time to make the actual connection. We had a final boarding call the minute we walked out of US customs and had to sprint (with two small children) through 20 gates to make it in time before the door closed. The concept is great in theory to clear customs before leaving Europe, but the timing needs to be adjusted. We travel abroad frequently and won’t be using this route again. Thanks.
Seats a little to soft on the SFO DUB flight
One of the best flights I've been on in a while. Very genuinely friendly staff. Courteous, kind, respectful. On a past flight (not Aer Lingus) I remember being woken up rudely to put my seat forward. Like a child being berated for something. Oddly jarring experience when someone could just tap you gently on the shoulder and gesture kindly. But I noticed the Aer Lingus staff were incredibly patient with everyone on the plane. It's the holiday season and I noticed a lot more elderly customers on the plane than I typically see flying, and the staff went above and beyond with helping accommodate people. Service throughout the flight was flawless. They came through offering water, and picking up garbage at perfect intervals. Seemed like this flight, everyone was on point. And the flight landed early on top of that
Flight takeoff was delayed an hour, but arrival time was not updated at the same time as departure time, so those picking me up at the other end were not alerted to the change in my arrival.
NOTE. Aer Lingus does not accept American Express. I was denied boarding because I could not pay the fee for my oversized bag. I did not have another credit or debit card. Moreover, at CDG, I needed to check my bag at one location, go to another location to check my oversized bag and a THIRD location to pay for my oversized bag. Hence, once I was denied boarding, my bags were already en route to the plane. To retrieve them I needed to go to a FOURTH location in another part of the terminal. Last, Aer Lingus will not reimburse me for any portion of my ticket. I lost $1000 bc Aer Lingus doesn’t accept American Express at the CDG counter even though I paid for my ticket through the Kayak link with Amex. Kayak should remedy this situation if they want to continue to partner with Aer Lingus.
The biking process was confusing and I was called for a seat assignment from I number I repeatedly though was spam, but the flight itself was great
I think the extra charges for seating with no added advantage and the added charges for baggage are excessive compared to other airlines.
I had zero issues with the flight. I did have issues with the staff at the airport. We missed out flight due to a delay with another airline. Talking to the staff and trying to get a new flight arranged was challenging. One guy was able to try to help us and got us on a new flight, but other staff was dismissive and clearly let us know it wasn’t their problem. All I kept thinking was… this is why air lingus has such a poor customer service reputation. I will be avoiding this airline in the future.
I liked that I went thru customs in Dublin instead of having to do that in LA.
