In business class overhead bins were minuscule. Had to use cabin staff to find a place for my carry-on bag. Boarding process was shambolic, as “passengers who needed assistance in boarding” absorbed an excessive amount of time and attention that Aer Lingus was apparently unprepared for.
Aer Lingus was fabulous.nhowever, Aiirfare Assist who Kayak routes me to to purchase tickets for m was awful. They messed up my reservation so bad that after about six hours on the phone with them over the week before departure, I had been choice but to show up at the airport. The Aer Lingus staff were amazing and got it sorted out but I would recommend not using Airfare Assist.
Dublin to Boston was decent. Food and entertainment was included and that was expected for the rate paid.
The Nice airport was a horrible boarding experience. I have never experienced the kind of compressed mob (in the B12-B17 gate area) of people all unclear what was happening and no airport staff to assist. There was no signage and 1000’s of people waiting for any info for 2 hours.
Flight was on time. Boarding was quick and efficient. Seats were comfortable. Food was fine.
Weeeeeeell, you folks know economy class on Airbuses well--you're packed in like sardines. We may actually spring for more expensive seats next time, with a little room to stretch out. NO room to stretch out in Airbus economy class! :-) Apart from this, the food was decent (considering that it's mass-produced, and has severe spatial restrictions of its own), the staff were friendly enough, and there was a wide selection of movies, etc. to watch. Overall, I'd tend to use the word "adequate" rather than "exceptional" for my experience. But really, how could it be otherwise?
The check in process at CDG was absolutely unacceptable. We arrived to the airport 3 hours and 20 minutes before our departure time, waited in line for 1 hour and 30 minutes to check in (despite having checked in online and only needing to check a bag), then were forced to check all of our rolling luggage despite the fact that all were compliant with carry-on requirements. The staff at the desk were rude and there were only two desks open, while eight people were working. The check in desk wasn’t even opened on time (3 hours prior to departure) and there was no communication about when it would open or why there was a delay. We feared missing our flight because the departure board was not updated, so rushed to our gate to board once we were through security because it was 20 minutes prior to departure, only to wait another 30 minutes before boarding even started. Communication was lacking throughout the process. What a horrible end to our trip.
I like Aer Lingus so that is why I’m writing this critique so they can become better. The boarding gate was too small to board properly. Our seats were toward the back of the plane knowing we would be boarding after business class, we moved to that area after business class boarded. An Aer Lingus employee told us we couldn’t stand there. We explained we were the next group to board and wouldn’t even be able to hear when our boarding was called. She didn’t care and was not very professional. The cabin was freezing. I wouldn’t feed my dog the food. We were over an hour late coming into chicago because of weather which can’t be avoided. I asked the crew if they could make an annoucement for before whose final destination is chicago to wait and allow the people with connecting to deplane first. He said there are a lot of people with connecting flights. He said, it doesn’t matter. Well, yes it does. He could have been more considerate of his passengers.
The flight was delayed by about an hour, but the staff and signs at the airport never actually said it was delayed. At the expected boarding time, we were told we would be boarding in about 10 minutes, then 20 minutes passed, and were told again that we would board in about 10 minutes. That happened multiple times, such that "10 minutes" turned into an hour.
The flight was delayed by about an hour, but the staff and signs at the airport never actually said it was delayed. We were told we'd be boarding in about 10 minutes, then 20 minutes passed, and were told again that we would board in about 10 minutes. That happened multiple times, such that "10 minutes" turned into an hour.
