Airline: Aer Lingus
Flight Number: EI133
Plane: Airbus A330-300
Cabin: Business Class
Seat: 3A
The Flight
This is a review of my flight from Dublin to Boston, flying Aer Lingus on the Airbus A330.
Aer Lingus operate two flights from Dublin to Boston, EI133 which leaves Dublin at 12:40 and lands in Boston at 14:40 – and EI137 which leaves Dublin at 16:45 and lands in Boston at 18:45. Both routes are operated on Aer Lingus’ Airbus A330-300.
This is the first time I have flown long haul with Aer Lingus, and there are a few things to note about the experience. Firstly, Aer Lingus do code share and you can earn OneWorld/British Airways Tier Points and Avios from their flights – albeit they are not in the OneWorld group. Secondly, despite being a OneWorld Emerald Member (and flying Business Class), I was not able to pick my seats in advance on the website. This was sort of resolved WhatsApping them – but further WhatsApp messages about something else went unanswered.
Checking In
Checking in was very easy. At Dublin Airport, Aer Lingus have a small designated section for Business Class passengers. Seemingly, checking online would have automatically assigned my seat without the ability to change – so I decided to do it at the airport, and was given 3A.
The Lounge
For anyone traveling to the US from Dublin, there is the 51st & Green Lounge, which is located after pre-clearance, however it is also possible to use the Aer Lingus lounge. Whilst this was all well and good, you cannot use both, so I was told at the Aer Lingus lounge. I was only told this after my ticket was stamped – presumably which would have then refused my entry into 51st and Green.
Both lounges have their pro’s and con’s – the Aer Lingus lounge has unlimited drinks and poor food – where as it seems 51st & Green have launched a new policy of 2 drinks per person, but the food is a lot better.
For me, 2 pints of Guinness is enough pre-flight, but I can see why some people may be annoyed – especially as the lounge is used by those flying Business Class with American, Aer Lingus, Delta and United – and having paid those price tags, may want to consume as they wish.
Anyway…… I got round this small problem, but I won’t say how!
The Plane
This flight was on Aer Lingus’ A330-300. This particular plane was configured with 30 Business Class seats, and 287 Economy Class seats.
You’ll see from the seat map below that Aer Lingus operates a varied cabin of 1-2-2- and 2-2-2 seating.
The Seat
I was seated in Seat 3A. As usual, you can find my detailed review of the seat here, however the headlines are that it’s a good seat with plenty of storage – but I did find sitting ‘normally’ my elbows were in the aisle and occasionally clipped by the cabin crew.
Another problem this aircraft (which is ex-Cathay Pacific) has is the very small overhead bins, which are considerably smaller than any standard A330 I’ve ever been on!
Food and Drink
I should say firstly that Aer Lingus does not offer any form of pre-selection of dining – so everything was subject to availability, off the menu.
Drinks
First things first…….Aer Lingus an Irish airline HQ’d in Dublin do not offer Guinness! Can you believe it?!
This issue aside, there were a variety of wines, ‘other’ beers, cocktails and spirits available – and actually various drinks I was quite impressed with.
Pre-take off, Champagne was offered, along with orange juice or water.
Once airborne, I took a Moretti beer, which was served with a box of crisps……a box! Sustainability or cheapness I am not sure!
Main Meal
Food was served in 3 courses.
For starters it was either Salmon or Soup. Not eating fish, I took the soup – which was quite nice, and served with a small side salad.
Offers for mains included;
- Chicken supreme
- Hake
- Vegetable stew
Sort of out of desperation I went for the chicken, which was served with pea puree mash potato……hmmmm….well I’ll say the chicken bit was good! I’m not a mash potato fan as it is, and I hate peas!
Deserts on offer were lemon mousse or a cheese plate. I took the cheese plate, which was fine – but that was about it!
Second Meal
As with many US flights, the second meal was more of a snack.
The options available were Korean BBQ chicken, Korean BBQ biles – whatever biles are? This was serverd with 3 deserts.
In some ways I enjoyed this meal more than the main, although it was a lot smaller. Perhaps this was more my style of food, etc – but this was good and I enjoyed it.
Snacks
If you’re peckish at other times during the flight you may be disappointed, the snacks are pretty basic.
Amenities Kit
There was a cheap looking fairly basic Amenities Kit provided. This included:
- Lip Balm
- Hand Cream
- Toothbrush
- Eye Mask
- Socks
- Ear Plugs
- Pen
Entertainment
Interesting, similar to Qatar Airways, Aer Lingus offers some form of App to be able to control the TV with.
Aside from that – the screen is fairly big and of a decent size for the size of the seat. There were a decent range of movies, music, TV, etc on board and I wasn’t disappointed.
The screen is touch screen or could be controlled from a small remote control under a cover by the seat.
Also supplied were some headphones for the entertainment system – these again were sadly pretty cheap looking and sounding!
Wifi
One thing that really was tremendous is that Aer Lingus offer free Wifi to passengers flying Business Class. The free Wifi was really good, and I found very handy!
If, for whatever reason, you need to buy a Wifi package – a full flight package was around €20.
Cabin Crew
For many of the Aer Lingus’ faults – the Cabin Crew were brilliant.
They had the Irish charm and charisma you’d expect, where nothing was too much trouble and served with a smile and a joke.
When I asked for suggestions on wine, one of the cabin crew members said that “me and wine don’t get on, we’re not on speaking terms” – of course some may see this as slightly abrupt, but said with Irish charm and charisma, it was obviously a joke, with a sort of explanation!
In another case, one of cabin crew had a 5 minute chat with everyone as she served post-takeoff drinks. For anyone sitting in Row 6 may this have been a bit frustrating – but I thought it was a nice touch in my humble Row 3, and it felt like entering someone’s house.
Landing
Landing in Boston was a piece of cake. I was connecting, so walked off the flight and into a lounge – it saves so much time doing connections via Dublin when you clear US Immigration before getting on the plane! And of course, your luggage goes straight through!
Conclusion
Aer Lingus, despite their modest size, seem to operate a huge amount of flights to the US. With my travel schedule, the pre-clearance in the US, and ability to earn OneWorld Tier Points – it’s an obvious choice for the ease of flying to the US.
With that said, there were a number of ‘quirks’ which gave the impression of a lack of consistency and alignment…. For example, the difficulty of selecting a seat when booking; the lounge thing; the not great food; and of course not serving Guinness on the flight.
However much of that was made up by the excellent cabin crew, the variety of other drinks that weren’t Guinness, and free Wifi.
So, I’d definitely fly Aer Lingus again – but would certainly be mindful of it’s ‘quirks’ – and may even eat pre-flight!
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