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.
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.
This flight left about 45 minutes late, and arrived about 45 minutes late, which was enough to make us miss our next flight and trap us in Dublin for 24 hours!!
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.
I liked the front row seats. A lot of leg room. The check-in window needs to be longer
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.
My flights with Aer Lingus were very good and I will definitely fly with them. Again in future trips to Ireland and Scotland.
