Aer Lingus

Manchester to Chicago via Dublin with Aer Lingus. Best value transatlantic business class. Flat bed seats, sufficient entertainment options, really good food and champagne. Outbound crew a little stand-offish, and the cabin wasn't clean - found someone's sock at my seat. The return crew were friendly and chatty and landed feeling thoroughly looked-after. Also, free wi-fi was welcome. The lounge at Dublin is not up to par with other transatlantic business class standards, feeling more like a regional pay-per-use lounge than a main hub. The inflight experience was competitive.

Don't believe Aer Lingus if they say they will refund any costs for a cancelled flight! Fog caused cancelled flight (not their fault) but from there on service was atrocious! Kept waiting at the airport for 2 hours until someone said what would happen, then offered a taxi home (great!). However when I tried to reclaim the costs got the following response. "Aer Lingus will not cover accommodation or transport costs if a Guest opts for a refund following a flight cancellation. This will apply only if the Guest retains their booking, and reschedules for a later date." £275 taxi costs now borne by my company - its a joke! Shame I cant give a minus number.

New York JFK to Dublin return. We always enjoyed flying Aer Lingus to Dublin almost once a year, and went out of our way to book it. We paid an extra USD240 round trip to get extra leg room. They had reconfigured the seating and I could not straighten my legs out and the seats were narrower. The cabin crew was rude and sounded like a bunch of teenagers when hanging out in the galley after lights went out. I complained to Aer Lingus on 16 October and received a confirmation number. I have not heard anything since. Next year's trip will not be booked on Aer Lingus.

Flew back to the US with Aer Lingus. Once I heard they were re-instating their direct service to Ireland from SFO, I was very happy. Unfortunately the experience was terrible. Outbound to Ireland, both mine and my wife's seats were faulty and my inflight entertainment screen was loose and would not hold position for best viewing especially when the passenger in front reclined. Mentioned it to staff, no adaquate response or help. Inbound to SFO it was the same aircraft, no high expectations then. Again our seates were both faulty, I could not stop the recline on mine so at take off, I was in the guy's lap who was sitting behind me, very safe! Again, no empathy or even a free beverage from staff who really could not care less. Aer Lingus need to upgrade their service and aircraft, Next time I'll take the inconvenience of making a connection, versus flying an old, unmaintained aircraft. Aer Lingus do not know what type of service they're offering, it's not low fares, nor is it standard like most other transatlantic carriers.

Dublin to New York JFK return in business class was an excellent experience. Food very good, crew very pleasant, seat was very comfortable and good for sleeping. The only downside are the Aer Lingus lounges both in Dublin and JFK. The lounge food offerings were not great particularly in Dublin, in JFK you can pre-dine, however the food on board was far superior to the pre-dine option. Would recommend if you book well in advance and get a good deal.

London to Chicago via Dublin. I actually haven't flown with Aer Lingus yet and I regret that I am flying with them. My ticket is a part of a multi city itinerary and I am disappointed with my online travel agent for using them. One gets suspicious when you have to pay for alcoholic beverages and extra snacks. No wonder Aer Lingus is pushing a business class seat onto me. They only have a 20kg baggage allowance as opposed to Emirates and Qantas the other airlines I'll be with.

Worst international flight experience ever. Unhelpful staff, terrible food and an additional charge for drinks (something I've never experienced on any other international flight). At one point on the return journey I asked an air hostess for a blanket. She told me to go search for one myself on one of the empty seats. It was dark onboard and I couldn't see a thing. I again went to ask another air hostess for a blanket and she also told me to look myself. When I explained it was dark and I didn't want to go rummaging around peoples seats she went to look but had a terrible attitude. They had the same limited movie/tv selection on the return flight as the flight over. I have never felt compelled to write a review of a service before, but I feel others should know before booking how below standard Aer Lingus are when compared to other airlines. I would definitely recommend going for Virgin atlantic or British Airways. If you're travelling from Ireland, this will mean getting a connecting flight from London. But it is worth it if you value comfort on a long haul flight.

I am very underwhelmed with Aer Lingus. I have flown international a few times and this is the first time we had to purchase a glass of wine and pay for coffee! Then the worst came when we very unfortunately missed our flight from Rome to Dublin because of a massive traffic jam getting to the airport. I can't tell you the stress we were under and we tried over and over to call customer service, we were on hold without ever getting through. We were using precious cell phone minutes with no luck. Once we got to the airport, the counter was closed, we tried again, over and over to call, still no luck. So there we were with 4 adult flights that couldn't be honored. We had to rebook on another airline and spend another 10 hours via Germany to get to Dublin. This was at a great cost to us. We had a baby with us and my husband with a very serious heart condition. It was a very difficult situation which was made worse to not be able to communicate with anyone from Aer Lingus. If it were not for the help of a woman at the airport in Rome who finally connected with someone, we were told we were out luck. There's one flight out of Rome and tough luck if you miss it! Then once we were in Ireland and needing to check in, it was impossible. The website was difficult and again we couldn't get through to customer service. My daughter probably spent a few hours on the phone without ever reaching anyone. This is so unacceptable. I have been on buses that were more comfortable! I'm sorry for all my complaints but Aer Lingus did not make traveling very enjoyable.

Boston to Dublin with Aer Lingus. Everything was standard for a coach seat. We paid extra to get a better seat location but there was no more leg room than usual. Flight was on time both ways. Service was a little slow but overall a good experience. I would fly them again and recommend.

I flew return Dublin to Brussels, having flown with Aer Lingus many times previously and have been happy with the service before, however this time I was extremely disappointed. We arrived at Dublin airport around 5am and there were long lines for the Aer Lingus check-in desk even though we had checked in online we were shown to the main queue. A member of my group was using crutches and so standing in the line was uncomfortable. A member of Aer Lingus staff who was directing passengers to the various desks was extremely rude an was shouting at many of the passengers. We had pre-booked assistance for the member of our group using crutches but we asked the at the check-in desk there were steps to the plane - to which she told us that it was definitely an air bridge to the plane so accessibility wouldn't be an issue. We arrived at the gate to find that there was no air bridge to the plane and there was stairs down to the tarmac. To which a lady here was helpful but the member requiring assistance would have to wait behind. When the other staff scanned the passports there was a computer issue with one which the staff couldn't figure out. As my passport already scanned and I waited for my family member I was rudely told to "Just go and board the plane!". As I went down the stairs I was met by several different doors/corridors with no signage or member of staff to point us in the correct direction. After spending several minutes lost, myself and a few other passengers finally made it to the tarmac where two members of Aer Lingus ground staff were standing chatting then were again somewhat rude while taking us to the steps. Onboard we waited for the member of our group who required the assistance to get on to the plane. As she made her way down the aisle to sit beside us, she was told to "just sit there" in a row by herself about 5 rows away from us. Because she was not seated beside us we were not able to help getting bags/crutches from the overhead locker and no staff helped. The return flight was no improvement on Aer Lingus part. As the flight was full we couldn't place the crutches in the locker, after trying to get the attention of the crew and being ignored, my family member had to sit with the crutches upright in front of her for the whole journey - which wasn't even remarked upon by cabin crew doing the usual "tray up, bags away safety check". Furthermore, staff were extremely rude. As this flight was departing late in the evening and was delayed a lady in the seat across the aisle from me had fallen asleep before takeoff. A male crew member then proceeded to stop during the safety demonstration, stomp over to her, nip her arm and shake her quite aggressively, rudely telling her pay attention! I was shocked and the lady seemed upset at this. After years of happily flying Aer Lingus I doubt I would again unless no other alternative.