Aer Lingus

ORD-DUB. Not the best international flight but cabin crew very friendly. We had an elderly passenger become very ill and they tended her with great professionalism and kindness. Planes a bit tired but the overall experience for the price was above average.

I booked and paid for LAX-Shannon round-trip. Arriving at LAX on Friday they had screwed up my booking and made me fly standby. Their next flight wasn't until Monday so if I didn't get on the plane my vacation would be severely disrupted. Their counter person said he would try to help. He then vanished from the counter not to be seen again when I (thankfully) was boarding the plane. No word of apology from him or anyone else at Aer Lingus. Completely unprofessional.

Malaga to Gatwick. Have flown the route a couple of times with Aer Lingus and I think they compare favourably with Easyjet. The plane was clean crew friendly and legroom was greater. One problem though. I had paid for 2 seats but my partner was unable to fly so I had an empty seat next to me. I was asked to give it up so that a father could sit with his young son. This I agreed to do but pointed out to the stewardess that I had in fact paid for the empty seat. "No problem" says she "I'll organise a refund for the unused seat". She took all the details but I heard nothing. When I contacted customer service (a feat in itself) to follow up I was offered £5 which after several emails was increased to £27.93 when I had paid over £100. I was told that cabin crew have no authority to offer refunds. Certainly won't be prepared to offer my seat again.

LHR-BFS-LHR - first time I have flown Aer Lingus since they adopted the low cost model. The only difference between then and now is a lack of business class cabin and food and drink is not free. Still a good experience. Relatively new A320s on this route and a price comparable to EasyJet who serve BFS from LTN. Staff friendly seat pitch adequate and food and drink on sale.

Chicago-Dublin-Manchester. New A330 good legroom and decent recline. Friendly check-in staff at Chicago O'Hare and cabin staff decent food. Choice in the entertainment system could have been better. Expected free alcoholic drinks on long haul flights but charged for. Baggage handled well. Dublin airport is good - shopping food space etc and immigration staff very helpful.

NOC-LGW with elderly infirm passenger. Friendly service from Aer Lingus at Knock Airport. They arranged a wheelchair there and then for us (normally have to warn them 48 hours prior) and got us to the plane. After nightmare journeys with Ryanair (never again) to Ireland in the past treating their passengers like animals this was much appreciated.

Gatwick to Malaga. Excellent flight no delays comfy leather seats 32 inch seat pitch in economy compared to Thomson and Easyjet and it was a cheaper fare. Cabin crew attentive. After inflight sales they advised passengers to use call button if anything was required.

Boston-Shannon-Boston. Plenty of leg room entertainment screens wonderful cabin crew helpful and attentive first bag checked is free. All entertainment free and they feed you as well.

London Gatwick-Dublin-New York Boston-Dublin-London Gatwick. New A330 on US routes excellent entertainment onboard and good food. Very kind cabin staff. We arrived at Boston airport and our flight to Shannon was delayed for 2 hours so we could not catch the flight from Shannon to London. Aer Lingus staff rebooked our flights from Boston to London via Dublin. The US immigration clearance in Dublin instead of the USA airports were also great.

BOS-SNN return. The outgoing flight was OK. I recently had a knee replacement and paid extra for roomier seats. The first set of seats were against the bulkhead and I found I had less room than if I had been in a regular seat where I could stretch my legs out. I did not get the same seats on the return and sat with my wife and daughter in the middle of the plane. I noticed that there was much more room. The food was good in both directions. Cabin staff were pleasant and attentive.