Aer Lingus JFK to Shannon and return, anyone have any thoughts on this airline, customer service, entertainment etc?

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Aer Lingus JFK to Shannon and return, anyone have any thoughts on this airline, customer service, entertainment etc?

Fly them regularly and very good. Pre-clearance at Shannon is a big plus. The food on board is also good. Old style seats a drawback but comfortable. Non-AVOD but 8 channels of movies.

Don't expect a lot! Aer Lingus are now re-launching themself as a new 'low cost' airline - so personal tv's and good meals not likely.

I flew with EI a year or so ago from ORD-SNN in Business. It was an OK experience but not great. The food, seats, and flight crew left little impression. The SNN-ORD return was better, but still nothing extraordinary. There were no surprises, good or bad. The SNN Airport is great.

Avoid at all costs - used be a terrific airline, but since they have gone low-cost, I would not recommend them at all. You have to pay for winde etc. on board, the food is poor and the planes are old. The IFE system is light years old and the seats are totally uncomfortable! Much better trying to re-route through London, Paris or Amsterdam if possible from Shannon (not sure), and have the services of full-service airlines like BA, KLM or AF. What a great pity however, as this used be such a class airline! Low-cost savings on long-haul is just not worth it!

My favourite way of crossing the Atlantic, even with the extra leg involved for me in getting from England to Ireland.

Flew this route 2 years ago. At the time I thought it was a good service for the price and I found SNN airport very good in terms of US immigration pre clearance. Now I think MaxJet has raised the bar. They are cheaper and offer a better on board service though seat comfort is about the same.

Aer Lingus has gone through some radical cost cutting in recent years, but so have the fares. The net result is having to pay for booze in economy class, which isn't too big a penalty for lower fares. My family flew Dub-JFK last year and very happy with the service from ground staff and cabin crew. The on-line check in is very useful indeed.

Have flown DUB-JFK in Economy with Aer Lingus and found them to be comparable with the other airlines I have flown transatlantic ex Dublin (Continental and Delta). Their A330s have just had a refit with new seats in economy and whole new Business class. Good value fares and pre-clear US customs.

I do think it depends on what your priority is - if its cost then EI can offer some very good deals out of JFK - fares seem to be cheaper flying into Ireland than starting from Ireland. Whilst they are generally mantaining their standards in Premier/Biz class (although on EI108 last Thursday the cabin senior told us that they no longer take biz passengers jackets because of cost cutting - I so wanted to argue but really wanted to get back to Ireland so held my tongue), I think in ecomony it is more of an experience. I would recommend trying BA via LHR, their fares are very good in/out of Ireland as they are competing with EI,DL etc. There has been much talk of the revamped A330 fleet that AndyMcD refers to above but I have yet to experience it having taken flights on 3 of their 7 A330's in recent weeks.

Just to mention the new revamped cabins, new seats and covers were added during the winter, actually I think they have just finished with EI-JFK. Newer premier seat and economy seat have been added, PTVs still missing from most A330s because of weight issues with the A330-300s but the -200s should be able to have it but I'm not sure if they do. A new Premier class and economy class is rumoured to be added on the new A330s due next month. "cocoon" style seats have been talked about by the CEO for premier and he also said "an overall better experience for the passenger" will be added.