Aer Lingus A321XLR Business Class: Pretty Good, With Some Caveats

Hello from Ireland, as I’ve just completed the outbound portion of my quick Aer Lingus & Iberia A321XLR adventure. To kick off this trip, I flew Aer Lingus’ Airbus A321XLR business class on the 6hr50min flight from Minneapolis (MSP) to Dublin (DUB), on the jet with the registration code EI-XLR (hah!). I booked this ticket for 50,000 Avios.

The primary reason I took this specific flight is to fly the A321XLR, the longest range narrow body commercial jet in production, which only commenced operations in recent months. I’ll share more thoughts on flying the A321XLR as such in a future post, after also taking the return, so that I have time to form a full opinion on the jet. In the meantime, let’s focus on the Aer Lingus business class experience.

I found Aer Lingus’ business class product to be pleasant, but not much more. Like, I wouldn’t avoid it in the future, but I also wouldn’t seek it out. On the plus side, I appreciated the greatly improved tech, the very friendly service, and the good pillow and blanket. However, I’d otherwise describe this as one of the more no frills business class products out there, in terms of dining, amenities, etc.

Below I’ll share some initial thoughts, and then soon I’ll publish my full trip report.

Aer Lingus’ A321XLR business class seats are a mixed bag

Even though the A321XLR is a brand new plane, Aer Lingus has chosen to maintain the same general business class hard product it has throughout its long haul fleet, including on the A330s and A321LR. The business class cabin has 16 staggered seats, alternating between a 2-2 and 1-1 layout, based on the Thompson Aero Vantage platform.

If you’re lucky and book far enough in advance, you can snag one of the four “throne” seats, which are individual seats that mean you don’t have a neighbor.

Meanwhile 12 passengers will end up in a pair of seats, potentially seated next to someone. And half of those people won’t have direct aisle access, while the other half of people will potentially have someone stepping over them.

When reclined, Aer Lingus’ A321XLR business class seats turn into 77″ flat beds.

Quite honestly, I’m a little confused by why Aer Lingus didn’t choose to go with a new style business class product with direct aisle access from every seat. The throne seats are of course quite nice, and the pairs of seats are preferred by some if traveling with a companion.

However, 75% of passengers end up with a seat mate, and that doesn’t seem ideal for those traveling alone. I suppose Aer Lingus has more leisure travelers than some other full service transatlantic airlines, so maybe that’s just what customers want. I didn’t get a throne seat this time around, so I was in one of the pairs of seats. Fortunately my flight was pretty empty, so I had the entire last row to myself.

Aer Lingus’ A321XLR entertainment & tech are great

Prior to taking delivery of A321XLRs, Aer Lingus already flew (and continues to fly) A321LRs. The “bones” of the seats are the same, but the technology has been significantly improved, so that’s great. Nowadays I’d argue that’s the biggest advancement we’re seeing in premium cabins.

Aer Lingus’ A321XLRs have 18″ 4K ultra high definition monitors in business class, which are pretty spiffy.

Not only is the hardware great, but I found the entertainment system to be really easy to use and very responsive, and there was also bluetooth audio pairing, so that passengers could use their own headphones.

I also found Aer Lingus’ entertainment selection to be huge, with hundreds of movies and TV shows, and mostly modern titles. I don’t remember it being that good in the past, so I’m happy to see that. Travelers should have no problems staying entertained with what’s offered onboard.

On top of that, the A321XLRs have AC power outlets, as well as USB-A and USB-C outlets, so there’s no shortage of charging opportunities. It doesn’t seem like the USB ports are 60W, so they charge a bit slower than electronics on some other airlines, especially if trying to use those for a laptop.

The only negative about the entertainment onboard is that the flight was supposed to have Wi-Fi, but it was broken on this flight. I appreciate that the airline sent out an email to passengers informing them of this a few hours before takeoff.

Aer Lingus business class has good bedding, okay amenity kits

While there’s not a mattress pad, or anything like that, Aer Lingus does offer a pillow and blanket that are very much to my liking. The pillow was really thick, and since I had the last row to myself, I could create a bit of a pillow fort. The blanket was also substantial and soft, without being overly warm. Thanks to individual air nozzles, warmth also wasn’t a problem.

As far as the amenity kit goes, it was fine, but maybe a little on the basic side. I’m not someone who cares all that much about amenity kits, but this isn’t exactly a collector’s item.

Aer Lingus’ business class catering does the trick

I’d describe Aer Lingus’ transatlantic business class meal service as being adequate but unmemorable (which perhaps sums up the experience overall?). Most transatlantic flights to Dublin are pretty quick, so for many passengers, the priority is to maximize rest.

Dinner was served after takeoff, and that started with a round of drinks, plus pecorino and rosemary “drink biscuits” with balsamic. That has to be one of the more interesting drink accompaniments I’ve seen on a plane. The airline also has some pre-made cocktails, so I had a Chipper’s Old Fashioned, which I enjoyed.

There was a choice of two starters, and I opted for the “saffron poached prawns and mizen lettuce on a carrot ginger puree, garnished with vibrant pickled red onions.” Kudos to the person writing the descriptions for these menus… I wouldn’t want to be eating non-vibrant pickled red onions! The starter tasted good, and was probably the best part of the meal, and I thought the presentation was surprisingly great for a pre-plated airplane dish.

There were three choices for the main course, and I opted for the vegetarian option, which was golden tofu in a lightly spiced massaman vegetable curry with blanched pak choi and jasmine rice (see, I didn’t get the fish dish — you’re welcome!). It wasn’t particularly flavorful, though it wasn’t bad either.

Lastly, there was the choice of dessert or cheese (or both), and I selected both, for the picture, of course. The dessert was a vanilla custard and cinnamon apple tart with a crunchy vanilla bottle crumble, and then the cheese board had manchego and gouda cheese, crackers, and chutney.

I have to give huge credit to the senior cabin attendant, Ross, who was working business class on this flight. Not only was he friendly, but gosh did he work hard, and was he efficient.

Aer Lingus has four flight attendants on the A321XLR, so ordinarily you have one dedicated to business class, two dedicated to economy, and one that helps out in business class at times, but is otherwise in economy. Because the load was light on this flight, Ross worked business class all on his own.

He served the entire meal in roughly the first hour of the flight, which was simply an amazing speed, given how many things that entailed. And it’s not like he just plopped things down, but he checked on people, offered drink refills and made proactive drink recommendations (“how about a glass of port with dessert?”), promptly cleared plates, etc.

Working both the galley and aisle isn’t easy, even if there aren’t that many passengers, so kudos to him. For example, I even saw him taking a cloth and making sure that drinking glasses were spotless prior to serving drinks out of them. So kudos to him. Many airlines struggle to serve a drink within an hour of takeoff, while he served the entire meal.

Bottom line

I’m happy I had the chance to fly Aer Lingus’ new A321XLR. The plane offers a very similar experience to the carrier’s A321LR business class, with some material tech upgrades, from the entertainment, to the bluetooth audio, to the charging ports.

Not having direct aisle access is a deal breaker for some, though it wasn’t an issue for me, due to the light load, which meant I had a pair of seats. I also know that some couples like that kind of seating arrangement.

Ultimately Aer Lingus is somewhere in the middle of the pack when it comes to quality in business class, from the food, to the amenities. The airline checks most of the boxes, but is a bit on the basic side, and non-fussy. Like I said, I wouldn’t hesitate to fly Aer Lingus again if the fare or schedule were right, but I also wouldn’t seek out the airline.

What’s your take on Aer Lingus’ A321XLR business class?