Update: I finally had a chance to experience Aer Lingus new business class on the A330 in 2018. See here for my full review.
Continue reading: Aer Lingus New Business Class A330 Unveiled
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
This is very good news, as I had gone out of my way to avoid them in the past because of their hard product. I only flew their 332 once (on the IAD-MAD wet lease to United) and spent the entire flight sliding under the seat in front of me on their angled seat. I'm also glad to see that dine-on-demand is becoming more of a thing. Already looking forward to your trip report, Lucky!
Another very good write up, Lucky. In searching for other N America routes flown by Aer Lingus, I came across an article on Aer Lingus' announcement of more N America routes due to a boost in profits. ( http://bit.ly/1ptK6u4)
Hi Ben,
Somewhere I read SFO-DUB would get the first new biz seats, about a week or two I was checking that route for next year and 2 biz seats were wide open on the schedule (UA site), now only Y, would love to try it someday.
@ Dan -- Keep in mind that BA has access to different space than what United shows. For what it's worth, the new seatmap isn't loaded for the flight for next year.
The dine before flying option is a great add for them as I'm based in Boston and that flight is so short for a transatlantic route. While their hard product now isn't great, I flew them in March from Boston to Dublin and I had some of the best service in a while for business class. Great crew and decent food (which has looked not so great in the past). And for how bad angled flat is - for whatever reason I found it more comfortable than Lufthansa's awful old angled flat business class seats.
Again, know that they haven't released the route schedule yet, but would you think they'll upgauge their SFO route to the a330 with this product next year? Obviously BOS and NYC are priorities.
Maybe it's just that I'm looking for popular times, but I find that Aer Lingus award space in business has really dried up lately, at least as compared to last year. I find it very hard to find a seat, let alone more than one. I'm using expert flyer.
Lucky, does BA availability have any pattern re: what United/EF show? IE, does it show more or less? Is it a false positive (ie, if I see it on United/EF, it MAY be on BA) or false negative (ie, if I don't see it on United/EF, I may still find it on BA)?
@ Amol -- Nope, haven't found correlation. I've seen BA have space while UA doesn't, and vice versa. Quite odd/unique for the industry.
Great upgrade looks like another trip BOS-DUB will be in the future for me! I really enjoyed my first flight last year with them using 50k Avios and a $150 US ticket from Philly to reposition - the angled seat didn't bother me as it has on other airlines. The service was phenomenal and the free wifi back then was good as I streamed my local radio morning show on the flight home. The lounge was good and having a pre-flight dinner is a nice option as the BOS terminal was a bit sad in terms of offerings during my visit.
This looks very, very good. When it comes to a Texas route, I do hope they pick Houston over Dallas though 😀
Any word on the upgrade schedule? I'd like to go in April from Boston but really would like to score the new product 🙂
The pre-flight dinner is a great move as from BOS that flight, especially going east, can be really short if you catch a good tailwind. In the past, I have booked business westbound but coach eastbound from BOS due to the length of the flight. I also agree with @philatravelgirl that the international terminal at Logan is lacking in food options. For an airport that has added non-stop flights to Tokyo, Bejing, Dubai, Istanbul and soon Hong Kong, I would think the international terminal should have more than 2-3 food places. As it is now, most of the food options in that termianl are in the connected Southwest gates on the lower level.
Aer Lingus from Chi to Dublin in August 2015. I would like to get the upgrade to business class. Ideas on when would be the best time to put in my bid? I get only one chance to bid on the upgrade.