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.
Seats are terribly cramped. I’m only 5’2” and my knees were practically in my face. No room to put a normal size bag under the seat and when the person in front of you reclined their seat your tray table was in your lap. This is the airline’s way of cramming more seats into the plane to make more money. I’ll think twice about taking Aer Lingus again since there are a few other options from Boston to the Emerald Isle.
Couldn’t check In online, message was couldn’t check in until Sunday morning though plane left Saturday night. Checked in okay at airport but caused slot if stress.
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.
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.
The seats needs to be comfortables, at least please add more padding to the seats.
I liked that I went thru customs in Dublin instead of having to do that in LA.
Aer Lingus unfortunately seems more like a budget airline than a national carrier. The plane was fine. The crew seemed a bit hurried and without that Irish charm (which may be an inappropriate stereotype and maybe not to be expected on a long international flight but other carriers seem to pull it off). My biggest complaint was that my gold status on Alaska Airlines--which gets me into lounges with BA and other partner airlines--was not accepted at lounges in Rome or Dublin, despite Aer Lingus on paper anyway partnering with Alaska. But the flight itself through Kayak was several hundred dollars cheaper than others, so overall, the right decision. Also, be aware that US customs on flights from Dublin occurs in Dublin (like Canadian airports) so if you have a connection or are just departing from Ireland, give yourself enough time (up to 30 minutes) to negotiate all of the lines. Still better than going through customs in the US after a 10 hour flight.
Fast and sensible boarding was absolutely amazing. But extortionate wifi and seats that barely moved, making me unable to sleep, didn't do a lot of favors.
Excellent flight and crew. Boarding at Dublin Airport was a very difficult trying to find the right gate.
