To kick off my round the world journey I flew Aer Lingus’ A321LR business class from Hartford to Dublin. The plane was literally just a few days old, and I was on the third ever flight to Hartford, which is the first destination for the plane.
Continue reading: Review: Aer Lingus A321LR Business Class
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Crystal Geyser water instead of Dasani? I am sold. And free wifi... heck wifi at all is a major draw.
I hope to fly them soon from SEA.
Thanks for doing a trip review through BDL. It's exciting to see the hometown airport on the big stage!
I think the new Aer Lingus livery looks great on the narrow bodies, less so on the A330s.
Bit curious why barista made coffee is only available in the lounge until 7am - does that mean for the rest of the day, it's machine coffee?
STOP spreading the lie that this flight can be booked with United miles. IT CAN NOT. Virtually all the J award inventory on Aer Lingus that's shown on united.com is phantom, and will NOT ticket. You continue to propagate this misinformation over and over. Either you are woefully ignorant to this (really, it's widely known, it shouldn't come as a shock) or else you're being willfully dishonest about it. Either way, you do a disservice to both your readers and to your credibility. Please stop.
Where did you fly after you arrived in dublin??
@JDS - the way EI do most of their business is flights from the US (and Toronto) arriving into Dublin in the early hours then connecting onto continental Europe and the UK. The reason it’s so early is cause Ireland is 1 hour behind most of the continent.
Love this new trip report thing you’re doing. Absolutely love it. Thanks Ben. Great review as always.
Only three types of beer - and one of them is Heineken??? I would have been deeply disappointed! Fly Brussels Airlines and you can have a full beer tasting.
Other than that: it sounds like a narrow-body is not such a bad experience after all. I would try it any time.
Thanks for the great review!
@Lucky--genuinely confused. You said the only real downside to this arrangement was entering through the forward door. Would you feel the same way about the flight if you weren't in one of the throne seats? It looks like the other seats in J have no or virtually no storage. Wondering why I would ever deliberately choose this arrangement compared to 4-per-row seating on 777s and 787s.
Oh no, I get the timings of EI flights into Dublin (my passport has a harp on the front ;)), I was just surprised why they only bother to offer barista coffee in the early morning.
Sounds like a great trip, but is this really a good use of miles? Unless I am missing something you spent 120,000 miles for round trip Chicago to Japan in first (Virgin vs Avios, but both are transfer partners with major credit cards which I assume is how most people will get the miles) vs 60,000 for 1 way in Business on a much shorter flight.
Liking the new approach to doing a speedy detailed write up, just as informative and enjoyable as usual. Looking forward to following along with the rest of your trip
Impressed by the top shelf liquor... Hendrick's Gin, Grey Goose Vodka... that's better than most in business class.
Very cool. I'll be on my way to DUB tomorrow(8/8) night, but will be flying D1 on DL as this trip is primarily for MQM. I hope to give EI a try as well someday, even if it doesn't have the new plane smell.
Count me in as a fan of the new livery as well. I know it follows the general trend of mostly white liveries these days but that shamrock on the tail just looks FAST!
Hartford is an easy airport and as someone from central CT it’s so nice to finally have decent international service thru BDL. I’ve flown in the old aircraft several times almost always on the throne seat to/from Hartford and it was ok. (Business fares are quite good if you book early.) But coach one time was pretty bad. Found the flight attendants not all that friendly in either cabin. The best part is clearing customs in Dublin, but have found check-in at European locations except Dublin really disorganized and annoying. I do love the lounge in Dublin! I’m looking forward to trying the new plane and thanks for the very thorough report.
"STOP spreading the lie that this flight can be booked with United miles. IT CAN NOT. Virtually all the J award inventory on Aer Lingus that’s shown on united.com is phantom, and will NOT ticket." -Andre R
A couple of months ago I booked DUB-IAD on EI, using United miles. Ticketed within 5 minutes without any issue.
Last week I went online to change the travel date (but still flying DUB-IAD on EI). Ticketed without any issues.
Yesterday I made another date change, keeping the DUB-IAD route in EI. Ticket issued instantaneously.
I don't know what you're doing wrong, but you should stop doing it.
Aer Lingus looks a great option to cross the Atlantic, and I'm impressed by the meal service presentation. LOVE the new livery and especially on this A321LR.
Thanks for the report!
Question... why do so many flights board through the first door instead of the second?? Can these jetway at smaller airports not accommodate burins through the second door?
I can’t imagine any type of draw back by boarding through door 2, and would think it would add so much more to first class experience not having everyone shlep past you to coach.
Great review.
Hi Lucky, great review.
Unfortunately for your boarding preference the A321neoLR features the new door configuration called Airbus Cabin Flex (ACF). There is only the front door and then two small overwing emergency exits in the forward cabin.
ACF is quickly becoming the standard delivery spec for A321neos and you will have that issue with most airlines going forward.
Willie Walsh and Alex Cruz and have reduced BA so much that now Air Lingus looks like a vastly better experience even in an A321....
@ Philip Harrison
Er .... you do know that Willie Walsh is also the big boss of Aer Lingus’ holding company? If you’re going to blame him for the one, you should be praising him for the other...
I dunno - why not compare like with like, and contrast EI’s brand-new J class with BA’s brand-new J class? Which, if you wait a short while, I suspect is exactly what Lucky is about to do.
As a regular UK-US flyer, and despite almost always prioritising direct non-stop routes over routes with changes, I have been tempted by EI - because of clearing US immigration in Ireland. What has put me off until now has been Economy-only flights on the UK-Ireland leg (I only ever have carryon), but since they are upgrading those routes I may give this a try.
Thanks for the review.
I will be flying that route in Sept. in eco and looking forward to the new A321LR.
Just wondering while seeing the picture of the "old" headphone. Does this new aircraft only has the old double headphone jacks?
Or can I use my own headphone with one 3,5mm plug?
@Bob
Door 2 on a321s is not a full-sized boarding door. It’s really just a larger emergency exit. (A larger exit allows for faster evacuation to meet the 90 second rule.)
I was a little surprised they didn’t make that a full door on the NEO.
@Scudder, doors add weight and reduce available space for seating. Airbus' customer base wants fewer doors, not more. Look at the photo of the incoming aircraft. There is no second door prior to the wing.
Not only is the configuration and seats identical to jetblue’s Mint, but the amenity kit, meal presentation and even the blanket look identical. Not a bad thing at all!
Loving the new review format/timing, too, Lucky!
@Lucky love the new blog format! More efficient and to the point. Thanks for changing it up
I literally just flew the opposite route from Dublin to Hartford and am writing this reply here at BDL while waiting for my very delayed JetBlue flight to Orlando. I am actually quite disappointed with the whole inflight experience. While the seats are really no different from A330, the service on this daytime flight is much less than similar flights operated by A330. The canapês were replaced by the amuse bouche, similar to your flight, but we had no additional snack offering. While main course is individually plated on A330s, main course is served in a casserole dish on A321. The pre-arrival meal features three pastries served in a similar tray like your breakfast. The toastie was served in its original microwave packaging. I sort of miss the classic afternoon tea service. We had two F/As dedicated to the business cabin, but the main meal service took three hours.
I really don't think I agree with you that A321LR is better than A330. In the future, I will try to stay with the A330s. There is nothing wrong with A321LR but A330s are still better!
"The canapês were replaced by the amuse bouche ... but we had no additional snack offering. ... main course is served in a casserole dish on A321. The pre-arrival meal features three pastries served in a similar tray like your breakfast. The toastie was served in its original microwave packaging."
Oh, the humanity...
I’ve not taken this version of the A321 on long haul but had the similar older J cabin on several BA LHR-CAI-LHR flights and found it the best BA J hard product experience particularly with the “throne” seat. This does look like an attractive way of using my Avios (without those outrageous fees) to cross the Atlantic...just curious what the intra-Europe J flights would be like.
I am planning to fly with Aer Lingus soon. Looking forward to your review on Economy class.
I just booked this route to Dublin for next month & wanted to give a word of warning for anyone booking Aer Lingus, especially on the IAD-DUB route.
I used United miles to book it and booked IAD-DUB. On United.com, it said the A321Neo was the equipment.
Once I made the reservation, I sent a tweet to Aer Lingus asking for a throne seat, since you can't pick it online on United's site. They told me there was no throne seat since the layout was 2-2-2.
I immediately knew it was their old A330 EI-GEY ( https://onemileatatime.com/aer-lingus-business-class-angled-seats/). This was all despite both United & Aer Lingus site stating that the A321Neo was operating the IAD flight. Be warned !
I cancelled that flight and rebooked via BDL to get on the new plane instead.
This is a one way flight for me because I'm moving home to Dublin after twenty years in the US. Very excited to both check out the new A321 and to be living at home again.
Just completed Dublin - Hartford return over this festive period & not too impressed. I'd placed bids for business class for both legs & by the time I was told my bid had been successful, it was within 72 hours of flight & the seat allocation is transferred to airport control within 72 hours, & so could only "choose" a seat at the airport (by which time there was no choice). On the return journey, there was no menu at my seat & I hadn't been given one & as I was last to be served, this led to dinner service not being completed until over 2 hours into the flight.
Also, I inadvertently left a (quite expensive) item I'd purchased on board in the seat pocket. I telephoned Aer Lingus customer services a few hours later as soon as I'd realised, but instead of saying they would check their lost property (as most major airlines I've travelled with would), they said they couldn't do anything, but instead said I had to contact WeReturnit.com, which is a service you have to pay for!
Did you need a special pass to use the Escape lounge at Bradlee Airport or did you get in with just your business class ticket?
Under no circumstances would I choose a medium haul flight on a narrow body! Not even at the front! Crossing the Atlantic on a single aisle plane ended with the demise of the DC8 and 707!!
This is just madness!!!
Narrow body flights, 2.5 hours, maybe 3! Max!!