Aer Lingus

London Gatwick to Dublin on 15/11/2013 AE 249 - 9pm flight. Friday flight - delayed yet again due to Aer Lingus passengers taking their time to get on and off the plane. People again had too much hand luggage and the ground staff were forced to place some in the hold. Late take off due to passengers being selfish and hogging the overhead bins and generally being thoroughly stupid with regards to the basics such as sitting down quickly and being able to count from 1 to 29. The crew found it frustrating and its credit to them they kept calm during a very unnecessary delay. I'm finding this behaviour very annoying and am going back to Ryanair who at least make the effort to be on time and their passengers don't push and shove like Aer Lingus passengers.

The service and food was adequate considering we got a good deal on round trip flights between SLC and Dublin. Rather it would have been a good deal if Aer Lingus didn't end up charging my $521 for two more tickets to return home. After getting a little lost in Dublin we arrived at the airport with a little over an hour before our departure time. When we tried to check in at the kiosk it said check-in was closed. The attendant directed us to the check-in desk. They told us check-in had closed 15 minutes ago. When I pointed out that there were no lines at security and that an hour would still be plenty of time to get to our flight they still refused to let me check in and sent me to another desk to find another flight. The frustrating thing was I presumably would have been allowed to check in on the kiosk if I had been there 15 minutes earlier but I still could have had to wait in line to check my bags. That was not the case. I was able to walk right up to the desk because the airport was not very busy. When I went to the customer service desk we still had 55 minutes before our departure. Told they could get us to the U.S. that night but we'd have to find our own connections but she was not willing to quote the price of those other options. As it turns out it looks like Aer Lingus sold our seats out from under us. Yes I suppose I should have arrived earlier but I've made long haul flights before with less time to spare. Not a good ending to our honeymoon.

I was rebooked with Aer lingus to Dublin after our BA flight was cancelled due to technical difficulties. We were very impressed with the friendly and professional service offered. The aircraft was spotless fresh and bright. The crew kept us informed of our progress and had issued a very warm welcome on boarding. On the downside we had booked on a full service airline where drinks and a snack were included on Aer Lingus you pay. However the full breakfast I ordered was delicious and well worth the money. I look forward to booking with you in the future.

Best experience I have had flying transatlantic. Flew round trip MCO-DUB 10/22 and returned 10/31. Continuing service to CDG. Very friendly and ever present staff on the transatlantic portion. The seat turned into an almost lay flat bed which provided a sound sleep in both directions. Wines were well chosen and poured frequently. Meals were well presented with a variety of appetizers before and hot breads during dinner. The staff service and the overall cleanliness of the plane convinced me that I had made the right choice for an airline. The connection DUB-CDG was a packed economy flight. For an hour and a half flight it was tolerable. Aer Lingus competes with Ryanair on this route so everything including water is for sale. My choice from now on for transatlantic flights. Clearing customs and immigration in Dublin is a real plus. American customs and immigration are rude and hostile but about what you would expect from them.

JFK-DUB EI108 Nov 1st. Another more or less faultless flight with Aer Lingus across the pond. Young cabin crew who were enthusiastic smiling and charismatic. Very attentive to all passengers on a late night flight from New York to Dublin. Pilots again very informative on routing weather and arrival time which is great. Crew apologetic for delay leaving JFK but flight still arrived 55 mins ahead of schedule. Added bonus was the fact that the crew played some great modern music while taxiing to stand after arrival. One minor criticism was the pace of check- in/bag-drop. Great job all round.

DUB-ORD and return. Both flights on Airbus 330-300. Seating seemed tight in both width and legroom compared with other airlines we have used. We booked their so called Choice seats for which we paid extra but there is no real advantage to this other than you get to board with business class. Aer Lingus offers the facility to pre-order better quality meals and I would definitely recommend doing this. Much better than the normal economy offer and you get free wine. The service on the flight out was exemplary. They had lost my wife's pre-booked meal but rustled her up a business class meal and gave us extra wine to compensate. Film choice is not nearly as good as we have experienced on Far East airlines and very annoyingly they truncated the film service towards the end of the flight to show a video for their pet charity which they had already screened at the start of the flight. Big bonus being able to clear US customs in Dublin so arrive at Chicago as domestic passengers. On the flight back they woke us up three hours after serving dinner for a cheese roll at 3.30am Suggest they abandon this idea and let people sleep a bit longer. Overall it was as good as economy gets on European airlines although not anything like as good as the likes of Singapore and Malaysia. Would fly with them again.

DUB-DUS-DUB. Outbound flight light load had breakfast not bad value and quite tasty. Remote stand in DUS but efficient transfer via bus so no complaints. So return last night full flight (215 people). Departure at 9.20pm. At about 8.30 at gate announcement made asking everyone to go downstairs collect bags and exit for bus transfer to Cologne where our aircraft was! Turns out curfew at Dussledorf means no jet aircraft after 10pm. Inbound flight was delayed which would have prevented a departure prior to 10 resulting in an overnight. All handled pretty well to the point that obviously this was not the first time this happened! Bit of a pain back through security etc in Cologne and people who had bought duty free in Dussledorf had some issues. Ended up arriving in Dublin at 1am about 3 hrs late. Flight itself fine. My only comment is on one attendant. Few German lads in row opposite me having a few drinks. A bit spirited but nothing to bother anyone. In fact the young attendant on board had a few laughs with them chatting about best pubs to go to in Dublin. Then as other attendant passing they were a bit loud and I noticed her giving them a hard stare. I travel a lot and know when people are behaving in a poor manner but not in this case. She had a furious look the whole trip. Ok so like the rest of us on a Friday night not impressed running so late but we were all in the same boat and I thought the passengers were remarkably stoic and took it all on the chin.

Dublin - New York Oct 26th: Early start for flight to NYC on EI105 "St. Patrick". Booked flight 6mts in advance for a hugely competitive £440 return. Major plus is clearing U.S. Immigration and Customs at T2 and hassle-free seamless arrival at T5 at JFK. Aircraft spotlessly clean new and unworn. Entered fleet in 2010 only. PTV screens were great with excellent documentaries although choice of good movies limited. Staff professional and efficient. Pilot is provided plenty of weather and routing information. Chose the pre-ordered chicken meal which I would highly recommend doing. Head and shoulders above the standard economy meal. Overall an excellent flight and experience. Could in no way fault.

Dublin to Frankfurt. Departed a little late but arrived in time. Comfortable flight (not full). Good and pleasant service from the cabin crew. Decent selection of food and drinks for sale. Overall cannot fault it and the price was very reasonable.

EI775 Agadir - Dublin 12th October. Normally full of praise for Aer Lingus there seems to a general problem with inflight catering with Aer Lingus lately. They heavily advertise their new "pre-booked meal service" this is the 2nd time in 5 weeks that the meals were never loaded? Why offer something you can't provide food for purchase seems to always run out crew were ok but hassled not the normal friendly crew. Swissport the ground handlers are a disaster.