I have often written on the blog about the good value Avios redemptions you can get on Aer Lingus flights in business class. I have had a few requests from readers to do a review on it so I decided to do a one way back from New York on Aer Lingus after my Iberia A350 flight out there. I flew from Newark to Dublin for 50,000 Avios and £93. To book it on BA would have cost the same Avios but £453 in taxes and charges.
To be honest I had fairly low expectations as Aer Lingus are not known for providing a particularly luxurious business class service but the seats looked good and I was expecting some warm Irish service if nothing else. However, I should have set them much much lower…..
In this post:
Check-in
Things started to go wrong at the on-line check-in stage. I had checked my seat fairly regularly and had booked one of the single window seats on the A330. Here is what I was expecting with a mainly 1-2-1 layout (90% of seats have aisle access).
When I checked in it was showing me in seat 3C. This seat does not exist on any online maps that I can find which left me feeling rather confused. I could not change my seat in the check-in process or look at a seat map for some reason. I decided to get to the airport fairly early to see what was going on.
The business class check-in was quiet when I arrived and the agent friendly but not particularly clued up. I asked him what was going on with the aircraft and what type it was but he didn’t seem to know. From what he said I was now in an aisle seat on a 2-2-2 aircraft on the window side.
Here is the description from the Aer Lingus website of their A330 business class “High comfort seats – The A330 Business Cabin is furnished with a fully lie-flat 6.5ft long bed. And with a width of 22 inches, you’ll have plenty of room to stretch out as you dream your way across the Atlantic.”
The lounge – cold sprouts anyone?
Aer Lingus use the British Airways lounge at Newark. I quite like the lounge but if you wanted to eat before your flight on Aer Lingus there were slim pickings. This is because BA offer a pre-flight dining for their Club and First customers which I have had before and is normally pretty good. For everyone else, there were just a few sandwiches and very bizarrely – cold Brussel sprouts!! I know its nearly Christmas but there’s no need to use the leftovers from the Christmas party on the buffet!
The drinks selection wasn’t bad though with a fairly typical selection of spirits and wines for a BA lounge. There was no champagne but there were Prosecco plus Hess Chardonnay and Matua Sauvignon Blanc white wines. There was a choice of Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon or Zinfandel for the reds.
For beer drinkers, there were 5 to choose from including Newcastle brown ale and Brooklyn lager.
The spirit selection was pretty good:
Boarding
Boarding started pretty early – over an hour before departure which seemed odd given that the flight was quiet. Once on board, I could see that I was sitting next to someone with virtually no divide between the seats. I was not very happy about it on a night flight given that he would also have to climb over me to get out. I popped into the galley to ask if there were any other seats available. The cabin crew member was very helpful and found me a seat in the mini cabin in the middle two with no one next to me.
At the seat was an amenity kit and the menu plus an invitation for the arrival lounge at Dublin. The amenity kit looked a bit cheap but it had the essentials you would need: socks, eyeshades, earplugs, toothbrush and toothpaste plus some Voya hand cream and lip balm. Voya is a reasonably upmarket organic brand and I quite liked the products.
This was where it all started to go wrong. They came round with pre-departure drinks pretty quickly with a choice of water, juice or I’m guessing what was Champagne. As you can imagine I take photos of everything, mainly as an aide memoir rather than taking notes. Obviously, sometimes people are in the picture but I always obscure or cut out people if they are identifiable if I haven’t asked their permission. I have been on hundreds of flights and never once had an issue.
On this flight, I took a picture of the pre-departure drinks which obviously the cabin crew was holding. She immediately came over and asked if I had taken a picture of her and demanded to see my phone. I showed her but explained that I was just trying to take the drinks. She told me quite rudely that I must not take pictures of people without their permission. She then stood over me and made me not only delete it but then go into the deleted items and delete it from there too. At this point, she did not know that I was a blogger.
I have no issue if people don’t want to be photographed but the reaction was totally uncalled for. There are ways to approach this and she could have not been confrontational about it. To be honest her attitude was like this for much of the flight as you will see (and not just with me). I am assuming she also told the rest of the crew about it too….
Getting back to boarding I drunk my champagne(?) and it was removed with 45 minutes to go to take off. And then we all sat and waited and waited……Eventually, just about on time we took off.
Cabin and seats
It turns out this was a 16 year old A330-200 which Aer Lingus acquired earlier this year from Qatar. There were two cabins with the front one having 3 rows of 2-2-2 and the mini cabin with just one row in the same configuration.
The forward cabin seats had very little space between them so as a solo traveller there was no privacy really apart from a small head height divider. They did at least have some storage space though with a cubby hole and a net pocket.
The seat had pretty much no storage whatsoever apart from a small side pocket which housed the headphones. Even after take off there was nowhere to put anything like a laptop but fortunately as the seat next to me was free, I put everything on there. In the mini cabin one advantage was that there was more of a divider between you and the next seat due to the housing for the fold out TV screens.
The seat had a pillow on it already and then very thin duvet/quilts were handed out by the crew. These actually were OK in terms of comfort and warmth as often I find many too warm.
There were simple seat controls but I found it hard to get comfortable as the seat had one of those annoying fold-out hard footrests which if you don’t fold it out is really uncomfortable and I personally don’t find it comfortable when folded out either. The seat was not a flatbed but a sloping bed the likes of which I last flew on at least 6 or 7 years or longer ago. I really hate sloping seats and would never have chosen Aer Lingus if I had realised there was a chance of getting this aircraft. I accept that aircraft substitutions happen but when there is no mention of this aircraft type even existing I get annoyed! At least if I fly someone like Qatar I know all the aircraft types I could get if there was a substitution.
Once in bed mode the angle wasn’t too extreme so I at least feel that I was sliding to the floor. However, I found the seat very uncomfortable for sleeping due to all the various breaks in the seat cushions. I managed about 2 hours of broken sleep and got off feeling pretty exhausted with a short haul flight to London left to go.
Food and drink
This is how the Aer Lingus website describes business class dining “Our attentive cabin crew prepare your food individually and serve each guest with particular care and attention. They are on call to top up your wine glass if you so wish. We want you to be able to close your eyes and imagine that you’re in a top restaurant in Ireland “. So now let’s look at the reality and those “attentive” cabin crew.
The menu looked OK apart from the small amount of food you get. I was aware of this and had eaten a decent lunch plus on a night flight it would be fine but on a day time flight, you may find it a little stingy.
My main course order was taken and then the drinks trolley appeared. The drinks selection wasn’t bad and it was nice to see Hendricks on there. They did not have light or slimline tonic though which I found unusual. Here is the drinks and wine list:
The one good thing I can say is that the crew did consistently offer you an extra miniature when you had a drink. Which was just as well as this was the one and only drink apart from water I was offered in the entire flight!! Still water was given automatically and topped up once before the meal. I was also given a bottle of water afterwards.
The drink was accompanied by a nice selection of canapés. However, this is also your starter – unless you count the side salad.
The canapés were roast beef with a dressing, a delicious light pastry case filled with ratatouille and a huge mound of smoked salmon on a slice of cucumber which I found tricky to eat. Fortunately, they came round afterwards with a hot towel.
This was where the trouble began again! The CSM had popped round to chat to everyone. I had commented on the aircraft swap and she tried to persuade me that this was just like the normal Aer Lingus business which obviously it isn’t. She was perfectly friendly and I explained that I was a bit annoyed having booked the flight specifically to do a review. I don’t whether she then told the rest of the crew this or whether they are just incredibly paranoid about photos being taken.
At the time of the towels being collected, I was taking a photo of the seat divider. At no point was it being pointed at any member of the crew or passenger. Here is the offending photo:
The cabin crew member had reported me to the CSM for taking her photo! Which at no point had I done even inadvertently. I then got told off again although much more politely this time until I showed her all my photos again and she could see there was no photo of a crew member. She said it was allowable to take pictures of the equipment and food and drink etc. No apology was forthcoming though. At this point, I was feeling very uncomfortable and beginning to get quite upset. I really just wanted to get off the flight as quickly as possible!
Next was the main course and I had chosen the cod with puttanesca sauce. The main course was delivered on a tray along with a side salad, dressing and a bread roll. The original cabin crew member who had told me off delivered my tray. It was literally plonked in front of me and nothing was else was offered – I would expect to be offered wine or a drink as on every other airline.
I tried to stop her saying “excuse me, could I have…..” but she just walked off. However, it was the same for everyone. I did not see anyone in my cabin get another drink. I thought the food was nicely presented and the vegetables were tasty and not too overcooked. The sauce on the cod was also nice but the cod was horribly overcooked and dry. Cod should not look this colour:
After the main course, I didn’t really want anything else but I did feel like I could do with a drink. I was offered dessert or cheese so I asked for a Baileys and was given one with a miniature on the side (which was good as by this point I felt like I needed it!)
In the morning a light breakfast was served about an hour before landing:
I did not really want anything. I missed the initial offering of breakfast as I was still trying to sleep but even when I did get up about 10 minutes after it had started I was completely ignored by the crew. It was only when I went through the galley on my way to the toilet that the CSD asked if I wanted anything.
Entertainment
The seat had an average size fold out screen with touchscreen controls and a hand-held remote with a screen as well. It appeared to be reasonably modern and the definition was OK too. I found the hand-held remote tricky as it kept freezing so it was easier to use the screen itself.
The selection of films and TV programs was actually pretty good and there were quite a few new films I hadn’t seen so I started to watch Christopher Robin which from the bits I saw was quite a charming film but as things progressed on the flight I didn’t really feel like finishing it.
Noise cancelling headphones were provided which were a bit flimsy and uncomfortable but they did the job. There was a USB for charging but it was not very obvious where the multi-country socket was. The couple next to me asked the cabin crew and she didn’t know either which I found worrying. Eventually, I found it on the end of the middle divider.
One positive about the flight was the WiFi. A voucher for 400mb was provided in business class which I thought was a very generous amount. I had trouble logging onto it as my iPhone would not bring up the sign in page but the CSM helped me with this which was good. Once it was working I found a reasonable speed for basic tasks such as messaging, browsing, emails and social media.
Conclusion
As you can imagine I have flown a lot of business class in my time but this was probably the worst flight I have had. I have had equipment swaps before but it has been made up for by the food or drink and lovely cabin crew. To have an equipment swap and such an unpleasant on board experience is a first. I am sure this is probably not everyone’s experience of Aer Lingus but I can only report on what happened to me. If I could be guaranteed one of the usual regular business class seats I would consider trying it again just to see if I was really unlucky as surely if they were all this bad no one would ever fly them?
I realise that airlines don’t have to allow you to take photos on board but obviously as a blogger if you ask for prior permission then it kind of defeats the object of a review and I have never had an issue before. I really don’t understand the paranoia about being photographed before they even knew I was a blogger. If someone just wanted to record their flight for personal memories I find it odd that anyone would care so much?
In summary, they may be cheap but personally, I would rather pay a bit more and use BA, Iberia (also cheap) or American to fly across the Atlantic as the experience was so bad compared to the other airlines.
Have you flown on Aer Lingus in long haul business class? What was your experience? Was I just very unlucky? Let me know in the comments below or on social media.
32 comments
I just wouldn’t do it Michele! Willie Walsh wrecked Aer Lingus before moving on to BA and cause the staff unrest that he has done there – and that persists under Cruz’s stewardship. Yet again it proves that you basically get what you pay for (or just about with Aer Lingus). I would not trust them to provide a good service for me, long haul, and will only use them even short haul if there is no alternative (LGW/DUB for BA ex EU when DUB is cheaper than AMS). I hope you got a stash of Avios for the pig ignorance of the crew members?
Great blog, love reading them
I have flown Aer Lingus in business from DUB-SFO-DUB and had a fairly decent experience
We had a A330/200 on the outbound and an A330/300 on the return, I could not fault the seat or food. The crew on the outbound were excellent but the inbound crew were rude and snooty which was a shame
It was great to clear the Border and land as a domestic flight but I felt the overall business class flight and experience was cheap and will stock to other oneworld carriers in future
Would definitely be asking for compo avios after that. Must have been a planned swop. Did you ever find out what happened to the original plane..l flew those angled ones on QR years ago whem we flew a lot with them. Yes quite uncomfortable.
EI may throw it back at you and say hey you only paid 79 for this flight, which was a steal if you were not used to J and F as you clearly are.
Makes me wary now of booking them with avios from USA.
Sounds like typical Irish customer service… you get used to it after spending a lot of time in Ireland :0
No wonder “Our Lady Air” is on its knees
Sorry to hear of your experience, such a pity. This is another example of how a single member of crew can spoil the whole experience (in addition to your plane swap). It happened to me as well, as much as I love flying premium for hours, I wanted my flight from Mexico City to LHR to end. And unfortunately it was in First in a 787 of BA with a window seat… what could go wrong? Yes, it is down to a single individual, but it stems from bad training and low standards. I learned to ignore individuals,in general, but if you are stuck with them for 10+ hours and they serve your food and drinks then it just gets annoying, in any cabin. I skipped breakfast too.
Note that my inbound was in my top 3 flights ever, and my inbound my second worst. Pity
Thanks George. Totally agree that the crew can make a huge difference. I actually don’t need them to be super friendly though it’s nice if they are but at least polite and efficient!
Not a great picture you paint here of what should have been a much better experience and I would certainly be looking for compensation. In terms of taking pictures, public, aircraft etc… there is now a lot of uneasiness in the aviation industry in which I work in at the moment over this. To quote a recent security briefing we had, “We live in very uncertain times.” I witnessed an incident recently where somebody video blogging in a terminal was asked to stop and delete the footage by the security authorities. I was shocked as he wasn’t in my mind doing anything wrong. Sometimes though, there are situations ongoing by the security services that we are not privy too. That said there is no need for rudeness from crew.
Totally understand that there is a security aspect to taking photos. It was more the attitude and paranoia about it that upset me. Though I think it is pretty obviously to look at me and speak to me that I am not a terrorist!
Very informative and useful to me as one of your U.S. based readers. Thank you.
I flew on the A330-300 from SFO to Dub in business.
I got the return leg for €800 in order to be able to sleep as opposed to a seat in economy.
I think the seats need the mattress toppers of the type you get on Emirates in business
Putting the seat into flatbed it felt as though I was basically lying on the floor.
That said I got maybe 5 hours sleep I reckon.
If I was flying to the east coast or Chicago I’m not sure the extra cost is worth it tbh.
“We want you to be able to close your eyes and imagine that you’re in a top restaurant in Ireland.”
I think I’ve found the problem. To the best of my knowledge, there are no top restaurants in Ireland.
On the island, yes, but not the country! Come to Belfast and enjoy a culinary experience to blow Dublin out of the water!
I assume you’re being snarky here, but I’ve had nothing but excellent food in the Republic (I’ve only had seafood this good in Hawaii). I suggest you choose your restaurants more carefully — there are plenty of fantastic ones in Dublin and the West Coast of Ireland.
Aer Lingus is now an IAG airlines so you can expect standards to fall in line with those of British Airways and so on. It’s no good getting on an IAG airlines and expecting to get Qatar or similar.
Why aren’t negative comments displayed?
It was flagged as spam due to a false email address Scott/John.
Happy to use my real email address… but this is a really badly written review.., what does a terrosrost look like? Probably one of the most silly comments I have ever seen. Also when asked to stop taking photos it’s a little silly to then take photos, of a tray of drinks? In my view the crew were well within their rights and the reviewer is acting like a princess.
Feel free to email me directly @ [email protected] and I shall explain why you are wrong.
I fly Aer Lingus business class transatlantic frequently. Normally my trips are flawless and the cabin crew are ace. Had the same equipment swop this month and it was not a great experience. Seats uncomfortable in the 2-2-2 config and I did not sleep very much The cabin manager was amazing and made sure that there was nobody beside me and stopped by frequently to make sure I was ok and inquire if I needed anything. The single K seats are really comfy and I try to choose those when I can. Food is usually good and even when they take off late generally ahead of schedule by landing. Had some poor experiences on BA twice but Aer Lingus has always exceeded my expectations. It’s like anything else when something starts of badly it tends to cascade does’t it. Sorry you had a poor trip -from personal experience that is the exception not the norm
Thanks Wendy. That’s good to know as it’s hard to tell from one experience.
Not a one-off occurrence I can assure you. I had an awful experience ORD-DUB and despite this I booked another trip on the same flight a few months later. Incredibly it was worse. Now, no matter the price, no matter the inconvenience, I will NOT fly Aer Lingus. Rude staff, mediocre service, barely average food and the worst seats in the air.
Thanks for the report. I learned today that my outbound flight to Miami will have this type of aircraft. There goes the Captain Kirk Chair I booked. 🙁 Nice to know I’ll be able to get a screen to see the films.
Flew Aer lingus business class in dec via San Francisco and Seattle home. Because the tour operator ticketed through Alaska (internal flights) i am told i am not eligible for aer club points. Very annoyed considering the cost of flights and the advertised partnership. Can’t fault the journey but not happy about the points. Will fly Ba direct next time
My memories of Aer Lingus go back to a very different Ireland, when working for the state airline was one of the few respectable options for sparky young women, as a result of which the cabin crew aboard long-haul EI flights were always delightful. But times do change.
In the last year I have travelled to Canada and/or the US eight times, twice with EI, three times with BA, and three times with AC. On a 747 from LHR-SEA last month we were upgraded to First, but apart from that flight BA is well behind the pack. AC is best, with its 1-2-1 layout in its 777s and 787s, and usually a very good crew.
EI is second best in my opinion. The Business Class cabin layout is way ahead of BA’s ying-yang way of packing people in. (Earlier this month I flew aboard a BA A380 for the first time, having used the A380s of five other airlines. The forward Business Class cabin was unpleasant with so many seats jammed into it). While boarding at DUB is usually something of a shambles, the cabin crew aboard EI are unusually very pleasant. The free wifi in Business is also appreciated, when it works.
Living in Bristol gives me connections with EI through DUB, and the EI fares are usually by far the cheapest.
Have to agree with the seating. I had the same experience with the seat layout change flying from Miami to Dublin in business class last May. It’s true if you have a window seat you have to climb over the person in the next seat to go to the toilet. I was very disappointed, having flown Aer Lingus several times before. At the very least the online seat selection should match the actual seating arrangement, in that way one can see what one is buying and choose another airline if the seating is not the type desired. I complained to aer Lingus saying the business class was twentieth century. It now appears they got a bunch of A330-200 aircraft on the cheap and can’t be bothered to update the seating. I’ll be looking for other alternatives when flying to Ireland again next year.
I flew with Aerlingus 3 times. Twice to Orlando and once to Miami. The first two times, I received the nice seats advertised and was able to get a seat for myself. The last time, back in May, I got the seats shown in this review. It was very disapointing to have such seats. Especially, after having reserved the so called, “Captains Chair” on the left. At least, I didn’t have a person next to me. On the side with the flight crew, I must say, I’ve always had friendly service. The lounges, well if you aren’t in an Aerlingus lounge, they aren’t always nice. The first time it was nice as Aerlingus used the one from United, but the second time in Orlando, it was some Priority Pass Lounge. The same was in Miami, but that one had two sides. One for those who weren’t business first, and people complain, but lucky, I was in the one for business first. Just the problem, like the Priority Pass Lounge in Orlando, no view. The flight from Dublin youare in the 51st and Green Lounge and I’ll give that one, “Two Thumbs Up.”
Cabin crew are not below you. If you take a picture of any human being without their permission, they have every right to be unhappy with you. You’re not above them, they are not your servants. We are all just people with the same rights.
In no way did I suggest that. I was married to someone who was cabin crew! And in no way was I trying to take a picture of them. But there is a way to ask people politely as every other airline that has a policy on this does. Each airline is different. Whenever I actually want to take a picture with crew I always ask. In this case I was taking a picture of drinks and a divider!
Keep reading reviews of how wonderful Aer Lingus are and have been confused by them. I’ve only flown economy with them but tend to avoid them because it’s usually been at best tolerable, often unpleasant. I’ve had one trip where the crew were lovely, but that was mostly a really nice male crew member. I have a belief that they’re nicer to guys than women, which may be paranoia. Have had some absolutely horribly snappy ones though, and I’m not difficult or demanding. On one overnight flight they forgot to load enough blankets. When I asked for one I was told “throw your coat over you”. Another time people were also cold and they loudly discussed how they wouldn’t turn the AC down because then they’d all (the passengers) be fainting.
Food often essentially thrown at you, sometimes inedible coming from the US.
It would be easy for me to go from BHX to the US and I’d love to clear immigration in Dublin, but experiences have been poor enough to make me drive to Heathrow instead.
I reread a Marian Keyes book recently, where the character’s sister wanted to get a job as cabin crew but failed. Sent the section to my family WhatsApp – it reminded us all of our Aer Lingus experience.
“…’I looked just the part’
‘How d’you mean?’
‘You know, the inch-thick tangerine foundation, the white neck, pretend smile, the visible panty line. Not to mention the selective deafness. I would have been brilliant!
I practised very hard, Rachel’, she said, her bottom lip trembling. @I really did. I was horrible to every woman I met and slimed all over every man. I practised opening the freezer door and standing beside it and nodding and giving a fake smile and saying, “Thanks bye bye thanks thanks bye bye thanks thanks bye bye thanks thanks bye bye bye”, for hours, but they said I was too short. What do I need to be tall for?” I asked them. And they said to put things in the overhead locker. Well, that’s a load of shite as anyone knows, because if you’re an air hostess it’s your job to ignore all the women and let them do everything themselves. And it it’s a man who needs help, you just flash him your jugs and get him to do it himself too. And he’ll be glad to do it. Thrilled.’
And nowhere in the above article or in this comment is there an element of crew being beneath anyone. I just wish Aer Lingus could be more reliably pleasant to me. I’d love to use them more. Have been better treated on most other carriers, except for a couple of United staff maybe. But then there were exceptionally nice crew to counteract them on the United flights too.
You’ve never lived in Ireland, have you, Michele? If you had ever done so, then you’d understand that amongst a larger-than expected number of Irish people, there’s an ambivalence about snap-happy, camera-wielding types, particularly those who hail from the United States, the country from which your flight departed. And while that might disappoint you, one need live there for only awhile to assume the very same attitude. Eventually, some Irishman or Irishwoman could well ask you to put away your camera.
I suspect that you’re British. In the event that suspicion is correct, if you happen to be English and an English accent was detected during your interactions with the crew, then it might have been construed as an “arrogant English person failing to respect us again” dealie. This could have triggered them and set them off. To this day, there can be a lingering anger and irrationality about Englishmen and Englishwomen amongst some Republicans. That’s a reality. (Americans are sometimes accorded similar treatment.)
Such people are unlikely to be keen on you if you are, indeed, English, but if you give them what they consider to be an excuse — in this case, the non-stop camera business — then they might be rude or even hostile. I’ve been subjected to similar treatment a handful of times over the years and it can, indeed, throw you off your stride. While it doesn’t excuse the perceived hostility, I do hope that this possible explanation helps you to you better understand the mindset. I’d have been unlikely to be as abrupt with you myself, but I might have encouraged you to put away your camera and to make the most of the business class experience (or relative lack thereof in this case).
I fly long-haul quite a lot but with the dreaded COVAID that has quieted down. My main trips are into Europe and the Middle East. When I book a flight, or have my admin book it, although originally Irish, I tell them, DO NOT book on that airline. Meaning Aer Lingus. I have always found them rude, poor service, horrible facilities at Dublin Airport when its not under construction. I have literally flown on eastern european airways which I really did not expect to be good but have found superior to Air Lingus.
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