Aer Lingus

LHR to Belfast International and they were fine and efficient. Beware of feeling forced to pay for a particular seat on their website though. They give you the impression you have no choice but to pay extra to select a seat. Just wait till online check-in opens and pick the seats you need and save £10s.

Travelled to Faro and returned to Belfast. Staff where great and the flight was on time with very comfortable seating. I travel back and forward to Great Britain on a regular basis and also to Europe and Canada I will try and book Air Lingus when possible.

Dublin to JFK Gatwick Athens Warsaw and Krakow over the past year with Aer Lingus. Good solid service as usual despite some short delays. Aircraft are generally very clean and comfortable. Vast improvement and consistency in the entertainment system on the A330s since I last flew on one. Also had to cancel a couple of flights to Gatwick and the tax element of the fare was credited back within a couple of days. I called British Airways three times a couple of years ago for the same reason and I'm still waiting. Although AL have pitched themselves in a certain position to compete with the dreadful Ryanair their service is much more consistent than other so- called full service carriers who promise the earth but often fall short.

Flew to Boston from Heathrow via Dublin and back. The service was very warm and the food delicious. Nothing was to much trouble for the crew and met all our requirements. The only drawback was the comfort of the seat. In whatever position the seat was in I just couldn't get comfortable. The other good point with flying via Dublin is clearing US Immigration and Customs prior to departure and landing into the US as a domestic passenger.

DUB-JFK-DUB. Efficient check-in. Outbound flight delayed due to large numbers waiting to clear US Immigration/Customs at Dublin. On the flight the menu choice was chicken pasta or beef pasta now that you clear US customs and immigration in Dublin disembarkation at JFK was swift. The return flight left a few mins early and arrived into Dublin 45 mins ahead of time. The food was better than on the outward trip and the crew were friendly good humoured and helpful.

DUB-LGW-DUB. Single class flight. Online check in easy as usual. SMS to remind me of my flight details a helpful new addition. New Terminal 2 a huge improvement on the old Dublin terminal. Security swift on the early morning rush. Gold Circle Lounge a huge improvement on the old one. Good choice of snacks and food. Flight left on time and efficient boarding with alot of connecting passengers from the US. Cabin Crew friendly and efficient. LGW easy exit but need to remember to have boarding pass ready to avoid passport control on fast domestic / ROI exit. Returning that evening long and inefficient on the queues if a lady is being searched on the opposite side of the X- ray why not call through the 8 gents waiting to go through. LGW should be excellent when finished but inefficient security a problem. Delay on flight on return but efficient boarding and flight. Again the crew were excellent. Arrival into Dublin excellent and to my car within 10 mins of getting off of the plane. Will use again.

JFK-Dublin. Business Class. Return leg of previous review. Efficient boarding at JFK for what was a very full flight. Great Cabin crew who did a nice meal service that wasn't too rushed but not too lengthy either giving passengers who to get some sleep the opportunity. Good Cabin Crew presence throughout the night and they certainly kept the galley noise to a minimum which was much appreciated. Slept well for 4 hrs straight and crew served a very tasty breakfast an hour out of Dublin. Priority bags out very quickly for Dublin anyway and customs a breeze. Can't fault Aer Lingus on this flight they seem to be getting the balance just right on the LCC model. Business Class fares very competitive on this route.

Dub-Orlando. What a poor effort by Aer Lingus. Entertainment systems on flights over and back kept breaking down so whole system had to keep getting rebooted. Kids were served one drink the whole flight then tea or coffee 45 mins before landing.

LHR-BFS-LHR. Arrived at check-in and found a queue that stretched all the way back to Zone A (the entire length of the check-in hall). After some time waiting I and another passenger in fear of missing the bag drop cutoff for our flight left our positions and went to in search of somebody from Aer Lingus at the check-in desks. It was then a race for our flight. Narrow claustrophobic corridors and even narrower aerobridges. EI I suppose can't be held totally responsible for the terminal area assigned them by BAA or probably even the number of counters they can open but I think they could have been a little more pro-active in providing a queue host rather than wait to be prompted by waiting pax in the queue. On the return check in at BFS was smooth no queues at -90mins and despite late arrival of the inbound aircraft we left only 5 mins late. On board both flights were unspectacular and the crew polite and efficient. Although I miss the days when EI was a full-service airline and a member of oneworld they have carried off their transition to a LC carrier successfully. Their website and all rules are simple and clear and there is no ambiguity. If you want extras you pay for them and you get them if not you don't. Simple. We wanted transportation from A to B with one bag which we made sure was under 20kg followed their rules and that's what we got. Easy.

DUB-JFK in Business class. Very impressed with all aspects of the flight. New Gold Circle lounge in Dublin's Terminal 2 is a real improvement on the old lounges. Cabin Crew just first class very friendly and efficient and nothing was too much trouble. With US pre-clearance in Dublin I'm surprised more people aren't using Dublin as a hub for transatlantic flights as the new Terminal is a breeze to get through.