Aer Lingus

LHR to Shannon return on a rather cramped small plane. I was pleasantly surprised at the level of service, as I had heard this airline referred to as "Air Fungus!" It was an enjoyable flight, and the FA's were friendly and attentive. I enjoyed the Captain's announcements in Irish Gaelic, even though I couldn't understand it, but he repeated it in English. The gent next to me ordered a toasted sandwich, which took so long to be delivered he had to gulp it down as we were landing, and even then he only had time to eat half of it. A pleasing alternative to using that "Other Irish Airline". My only other quibble, and it's a nit-picky one, is that the female FA uniform contains too many varying shades of Teal/Aqua, and doesn't quite gel together, but I'm no fashion expert. I would certainly fly Aer Lingus again.

As an Irish citizen living abroad, the sight of the Aer Lingus plane at the terminal fills me with a sense of home. I chose the airline for a return trip Dublin to San Francisco and back via Phoenix. I regret to say that it'll probably be the last time I fly with them transatlantic. They lag far behind their American counterparts for basic service and in flight entertainment. Also, the food is very poor. The staff are unapproachable and give the impression that they hate their jobs. The movie choice is limited. The food was shocking on both legs. The return leg from Washington to Dublin was cramped and overheated. Having flown extensively from Schiphol to the USA, I can recommend KLM, United or Delta over my own national carrier.

✅ Verified Review | Got a very good deal on flights from New York JFK to London Heathrow, and Barcelona back to New York JFK, now I know why: their low prices are the only thing Aer Lingus have going for them. On the trans-Atlantic legs, you only see the drinks cart roll through once the entire flight, shortly after departure. Drinks are not served before or after the meal, as is common on most airlines, unless you actually demand a soda or something with your meal, which was awful both to and from JFK to Dublin. Also, sodas come in 6 ounce/150ml cans, and you get an angry glare from FAs if you ask for two, you must also be insistent that one tiny can simply isn't enough. The inflight entertainment system is very glitchy and often freezes, and the headphones are the most uncomfortable kind, and literally fall apart mid-flight. As not even water is ever offered the rest of the 6+ hour flight, you have to go back to the galley and literally demand or beg for something to drink during the flight. And on the intra-European flights, even a glass of water is offered only grudgingly, otherwise anything else comes at an added cost. Can't see why or how this can be a 4-star airline, and even with their low prices I wouldn't want to subject myself to EI ever again.

I recently flew Aer Lingus from Frankfurt to Boston VIA Dublin with my two young children, to take advantage of their US Preclearance. The flight was fine, the staff were friendly, and the process of going through customs and immigration in Dublin rather than Boston was excellent. For this reason I would recommend Aer Lingus, with some reservations. They lost my bag on the return flight, and took over three days to bring it to me, which was quite a hassle. I have never waited that long for lost luggage. The one major problem, though, was the food. I don’t expect airline food to taste good, but on our first flight both options were spicy, and by the time they reached us, they only had a very spicy chili. One of my children didn’t eat it at all (luckily there was at least a little bread), the other ate a little, and then vomited a few hours later. I ate most of our three meals, and felt quite sick for the rest of the flight. For the return flight I ordered children’s meals for all three of us, and even these were somehow too spice for the kids to eat. I don’t know how or why anyone needs to make chicken fingers and potato puffs spicy, but these were. It is unconscionable to have only spicy options on a flight, and to worse to serve food that makes your passengers sick. Not to mention the fact that the airline clearly knows how many children are on a flight, and could easily provide children’s meals for any children flying. Icelandair provides children’s meals that are well thought out (food kids actually like), and brings these meals immediately, as soon as the plane takes off, so the kids and parents can stay calm and happy – and Iceland Air doesn’t offer complimentary meals, so this service goes above and beyond what passengers might expect. Aer Lingus has a lot of good points, but they need to seriously re-evaluate their meal service.

Flew Aer Lingus with my partner as the it provided the most direct route between Edinburgh and Dublin. Despite travelling together and checking in together we were seated separately. On arriving at the gate we approached a small group of ground staff who were chatting to see if there was any possibility of sitting together. The gate agent was rude and dismissive stating "if your flying to Dublin go over there and sit down". After trying to discuss our request she was quite dismissive stating that the previous nights flight was cancelled and she was not prepared to move another passenger to help us. Just appalling behaviour. The flight crew were average with one crew member unable to generate a smile for the entire flight. The lavatory on board was filthy, so dirty I didn't want to touch any of the surfaces. This despite the fact that the cabin crew found plenty of time to sit and read. My overall experience with Aer Lingus was not a good one and will not be using this airline again.

✅ Verified Review | I recently flew Aer Lingus from Edinburgh to Chicago, changing flights in Dublin. The scheduled layover was 2 hours, but the originating flight from Edinburgh was more than 45 minutes late leaving the gate. When I realized how little time I was going to have to make my connecting flight from Dublin to Chicago I asked a member of the ground crew at the boarding gate desk in Edinburgh for assistance in changing flights in Dublin. My right arm was in a sling due to a broken shoulder and I was walking with a walking stick, carrying a purse and pulling a rolling backpack. The boarding gate attendant told me I would have plenty of time and no problems and refused to procure any assistance for me. Long story short, I almost fell on one of the many escalators that I had to use in the Dublin airport (it is pretty challenging to get on and off an escalator while pulling and carrying the aforementioned articles with one good arm and the other arm in a sling) and I barely made the flight to Chicago. At no time during my frantic transfer through the Dublin airport, although I was clearly handicapped, did any member of the Aer Lingus ground crew offer any assistance. In fact, I don't remember any opportunities to ask any ground crew for assistance (after the initial refusal from the boarding attendant) as ground crew were largely non-existent. The flights themselves were pretty pleasant and I commend the pilots for smooth takeoffs and landings and flights. In-flight food was decent and flight attendants were businesslike and efficient. Don't use this airline if you need any assistance within the airport. They are clueless. I cannot give them a rating any higher than 2 because the lack of requested help within the airport almost caused me to further injure my shoulder.

Boston to Shannon. Aer Lingus needs to bring the A330 to/from Boston and do away with the Boeing 757. Boston is a very busy route for Aer Lingus travelers and having this Boeing 757 aircraft is a punishment. Absolutely no legroom on this single aisle aircraft. For a 5 hour flight from Boston and a 6.5 hour flight from Shannon flying this aircraft is torture. Service on board was very good on both directions with the flight attendants making sure the passengers were looked after well. There were several beverage service runs and constant delivery of water to all passengers. Aer Lingus flight attendants have always provided exceptional service on board. The downfall is the meal service was just average and they ran out of chicken before they reached our row (don't they have a passenger count of meals, not acceptable to run out of meals so quickly). Overall, both flights were excellent except for the legroom on the Boeing 757.

Newark to Dublin with Aer Lingus. I normally fly with United on this route but changed to Aer Lingus recently when they started flying out of Newark as it was my impression that Aer Lingus generally provided a better flying experience. I was wrong. First, especially on an overnight flight, the constant intercom announcements for no good reason is annoying (e.g. announcing dimming cabin lights). The extra cost for their so called "Choice" seats in economy is definitely not worth it. Also their flight attendants are not adequately trained in how to get desired results. They came across to me as mini dictators. The entertainment system is totally inadequate in that the selection is substandard and limited.

✅ Verified Review | Dublin to London Heathrow with Aer Lingus. The best airline to London from Dublin for a few reasons. Firstly they depart from T2 Dublin which is a better terminal than the old and scrubby T1. Secondly they arrive at T2 Heathrow which is a lot closer to the underground and bus terminal and main roads to London. Service friendly and accommodating but no free drinks compared to BA. Only disadvantage is that they only board from the front door compared to Ryanair who boards from both rear and front doors and subsequently board and depart quicker.

✅ Verified Review | Manchester to New York JFK via Dublin. Very poor experience with ticketing and schedule changing. Aer Lingus changed my connecting flight a couple of times and finally cancelled this, meaning I'd not be able to make the transatlantic connection. Offered a full refund, but this hasn't arrived (a week later) and I've been told to expect 'at least 28 days' for this to happen. Aer Lingus customer services are impossible to reach on the phone and booking guys are not able to help. No offer of any assistance made to help us reach our destination other than to transfer to inconvenient flights. These guys have much to learn about customer service and I have made a note never to fly Aer Lingus again.