Trip Report: Aer Lingus, Boston to Dublin (July 2017)

Trip Report: Aer Lingus, Boston to Dublin

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As part of my European trip, I was going to spend time in Dublin.  When looking to travel between the U.S. and Europe, flying to Dublin has proved to be one of the low cost options.  There are many airlines that fly between US and Dublin, but Aer Lingus was offering some of the best rates – and since I want to try new airlines – I booked with Aer Lingus. 

My original flight path was from New Orleans to Boston on JetBlue, Boston to Dublin on Aer Lingus, Dublin to Chicago on Aer Lingus, and then Chicago to New Orleans on United (I later had to change the return due to work so instead of Aer Lingus came back on American Airlines - check out that blog post here).  Everything was booked through Aer Lingus as they have a lot of partnerships and codeshares with various airlines.  It was extremely easy to book and navigate through the Aer Lingus site.  On the site you can see which option best fits you, and if another day has a cheaper option.  After selecting the flights, you can then choose other options for the flight.  Free checked baggage was included in my ticket, along with free seat selection.  Aer Lingus provides complimentary meals, or you can upgrade your emails for a price.  You can also add lounge access, hotels, and car rental at the time of booking.  Overall, it was easy to manage the flights and manage the options.

Aer Lingus also partners with many airlines so within one ticket you are able to seamlessly transfer between airlines.  For my ticket, I had partnered with jetBlue as they were my first carrier I was unable to check-in to my flight.  I was told I had to receive the boarding passes from the Aer Lingus counter in Boston.  In Boston, Aer Lingus has a number of flights to and from both Dublin and Shannon.  My flight was scheduled to depart at 9:20pm and around 8p the staff started making announcements requesting anyone who had connections, or those who had printed their boarding passes at home, to come and verify and collect their boarding passes.  They also made announcements that boarding, which was scheduled to start at 8:30p, was now going to be delayed.  Even though we started to board late, and it was a generally full flight, boarding was efficient and we were able to push back within 5-10 minutes of the departure time.

The aircraft on this route was an Airbus A330-300 which can seat over 287 in economy in a

2-4-2 layout.  The legroom was pretty decent on the plane, as long as the person in front of you did not recline.  If they did not recline, then the legroom was pretty good; however, if they did decline then the legroom cut down dramatically.  I was seated in an aisle on the 2-seat section on the other side of the cabin in the first economy section – there were two economy sections and one business class section.  Once boarding finished, there was an empty 4-seat available behind me so I moved there.  As I said, even though we boarded late, boarding was quick and we pushed back generally on time.  The flight attendants were on hand to greet passengers, and when it was time to screen the safety video they came around to ensure everyone was awake and paying attention to the video (almost like you were back in school). 

The flight time was scheduled at 5hr30min so it is not a long flight.  The seats are generally comfortable, although there is not that much padding so you feel the stiffness by the 5^th hour.  The headrests are adjustable, and as I said before the legroom was decent.  Each seat had a blanket, a pillow, and a headset waiting for the passengers.  In the seatpocket were the safety card, throw-up bag, airline magazine, and another magazine which doubled both as the duty free shop as well as the buy on-board snack shop. Each seat did have individual PTV’s, which were small but seemed updated.  No USB ports were available and I could not find plug outlets beneath the seat.  Even though the screens were touchscreen, they were not very sensitive and it took a while to respond – it was easier to maneuver with remote.  The remote was located in the armrest, as were the headphone jacks.  The remote also contained the buttons for the light and call button.  Selection in the PTVs was definitely limited, especially in the TV section.  While there was a decent selection of movies, and this selectin would be enough to get through the short flight, there were not enough selection of TV programs available to get through the entire flight.  It was also sometimes hard to see the screen.

Our scheduled departure time was 9:20p and we pushed back generally on-time and then had a decent taxi to the runway before taking off about 9:45pm.  There was going to be a beverage service, then meal service, then tea and coffee, and then duty free.  Most other transatlantic flights, especially night flights, tend to start the service very quickly so that it can be quickly finished and passengers can get the most amount of rest.  I am not sure whether it was because of turbulence, or this is how they operate, but the service did not commence until at least an hour after take-off, so around 10:45p/11p.  As the cabin lights were dimmed, and the crew were taking some time, most passengers were asleep.  

Around 11p, the crew turned on the cabin lights to begin their service.  The first service was a full beverage cart in which some drinks were complimentary while others needed to be paid for.  A packet of pretzels were served along with the drink.  Afterwards, the meal service commenced but it was not right after – it took some time after the drink service for the meal service to begin.  I had ordered a special meal so mine was brought out prior to everyone else’s – the choices in the main cabin were either beef pot pie or chicken with veggies.  Along with the entrée, the meal tray contained bread, salad, and water.  My meal tray also contained fruit for dessert, while others had ice cream.  The portion size of the meals was tiny, but to be fair the airline had promoted it as a “half-dinner’.  You could upgrade to a full dinner for a charge before the flight.  Afterwards, tea and coffee were served. 

After the meal trays were cleared, the cabin lights remained on for a long time as the

crew was preparing for the duty free.  Again, as compared to other transatlantic flights, this was the most time I had seen the cabin lights on in a flight.  The lights remained on for almost 2.5hrs – which is long considering it was only a 5hr flight (with strong tailwinds the flight time became shorter).  After duty free, the cabin lights were dimmed but we only had 2 hours left of the flight.  About an hour later, flight attendants came by (in the dark) and handed out boxes which contained a light breakfast.  The box contained a small orange juice and a muffin.  No other drink service was provided along with the breakfast – although water and other drinks were available in the galley.

The cabin lights were switched on when we were starting out decent into Dublin.  The cabin was prepared for landing and we landed into Dublin about 30 minutes ahead of schedule, and then had a quick taxi to the gate.  Immigration and customs was quick –it took about 10 minutes- and I was out the airport and on the bus less than an hour after landing.

Overall, it was an interesting flight with Aer Lingus.  The timing of the service was still a bit odd and did not allow for maximum sleep, which is what most passengers want on an overnight transatlantic flight.  Given the short flight time, the airline flights a nice service – decent seats, nice legroom, a PTV, free checked baggage, and a light meal.  Also, the airline is very good at connections both within Ireland and with other airline partners and this is very convenient.  Given all this, would I fly them again?  While they would not be my first choice, if I found a good deal (and they usually have them from the US NE coast) then I would not hesitate to fly them again.

Trip Report: TAP Portugal, Newark to Lisbon (February 2017)

Trip Report: TAP Portugal, Newark to Lisbon

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I have a two-pronged goal: I want to see new places and also try out new airlines.  As part of this goal, I decided to visit Lisbon, Portugal and decided to fly TAP Portugal.  TAP is the national carrier of Portugal, and they have been heavily advertising their low fares and free "Portugal Stopovers".  They even have a "Portugal Stopover" app with free activities and other suggestions for those with a day in Portugal.

I was connecting to TAP in Newark.  As TAP is part of the Star Alliance network, I had booked the ticket through United as my starting journey - from New Orleans to Newark - was on United.  Once I had booked the ticked through United, I called TAP to obtain my TAP reservation number.  My ticket included one free checked baggage (50lb, 23kg), a free carryon, a free meal onboard and free seat selection.   Even though I had the reservation number, I was unable to manage my booking online - including selecting seats or a special meal.  This meant I had to call TAP again - their hold times are minimal and the service is really good.  They also send email confirmations of the reservation to ensure the information has been updated.

Because I had booked through a Star Alliance partner, I had to check-in at the gate to

obtain my boarding pass.  My flight was scheduled to depart at 6:30p from Newark and arrive into Lisbon at 6:05am.  I had arrived to the gate area very early – around 4 hours prior to departure – and the plane was already there (it arrives from Lisbon at 2:50pm).  There was nobody at the gate so I returned about an hour prior to departure to get my boarding pass – even though I had confirmed my seat assignment and special meal a month before, and reconfirmed the night before, it was not registered and the airline could not find any record of it.  I had to wait for a manager to come and reassign me a seat close to the front of the plane.  It was not a good way to start the journey.

TAP boards in group, so after business class and premium class group A boards.  I had

group A so I went through and boarded the Airbus A330.  The plane was divided into three sections – one business class and two economy sections.  The economy seats were laid out in a 2-4-2 layout and the interior of the plane looked nice – not brand new but not too old.  Originally I had the aisle seat on the 2-person seater, but that got switched and now I was in the aisle seat of the 4-person seater with no one next to me.  The seat itself was comfortable, looked nice, and felt like it had been updated recently.  The padding was decent and the legroom was also good, especially for the 6hr flight.  The seat contained a headrest which could be moved and contoured to your head, and a footrest was provided which was a nice touch. 

Each seat contained a PTV on top, the tray table, and then a space for the airline magazine, duty free, safety card, and air sickness bag.  As you boarded the plane, each seat also contained a pillow, a blanket, as well as headsets.  The PTV was touchscreen and pretty responsive – the selections of movies was pretty good but the selection of TV shows was poor.  There were enough movies to keep you occupied for the 6 hour flight, but the TV selection was limited and odd.  Another negative was the lack of USB ports.

The plane was generally full, with some empty seats here and there.  We boarded on time and the front door was closed for an on-time pushback and departure.  The safety video was shown in the monitors, and the crew came around to check on the passengers.  Generally the service onboard was average, the attendants provided enough service to get the job done; they were generally pleasant but the service was not extra ordinary.

Around 8p, about 1.5hr after departure, the inflight service commenced.  Drinks,

including free soft drinks and certain alcohols, along with dinner were served.  I had requested a special meal but that was not honored, and I had eaten in the lounge, so I generally just picked at the meal.  After the meal, coffee, tea, and additional drinks were served while the trays were being cleared.  The cabin lights were then dimmed so people could get some rest.

The scheduled flight time is 6h 35m but we had very good tailwinds so the flight time was shorter and we were expecting to land early, around 5:30a.  About an hour prior to departure, a snack box and drinks were served.  The snack box contained a granola bar, fruit, and yogurt.  Overall, the food was fine for the short flight time.  We landed early, taxied to the gate, deplaned, went through immigrations and then waited for our luggage.  I flew TAP twice and each time it took almost 45mins for my luggage to come through – each time the wait was ridiculous.

Overall, it was generally a pleasant flight with TAP.  The seats were generally comfortable, the legroom decent, and the availability of movies were also decent.  The negatives included the lack of USB ports, the ordinary service, and the lack of confirming requests for reservations.  I had gone out of my way to book myself on TAP to try out their product and the question is, would I do it again?  i would not go out of my way to book TAP, but I would also not avoid flying them; if the price and schedules were good then I would book TAP again.