- Introduction: Across The Atlantic On The Airbus A321XLR
- Review: InterContinental Minneapolis St. Paul Airport (MSP)
- Review: Aer Lingus Business Class Airbus A321XLR (MSP-DUB)
- Review: Aer Lingus Arrivals Lounge Dublin Airport (DUB)
- Review: Hilton Dublin Airport (DUB)
- Review: Aer Lingus Lounge Dublin Airport (DUB)
- Review: The Liffey Lounge Dublin Airport (DUB)
- Review: Aer Lingus AerSpace Airbus A320 (DUB-MAD)
- Review: Iberia Business Class Airbus A321XLR (MAD-IAD)
Welcome to my next trip report series, covering a recent trip I took to Europe, to review the world’s newest long haul aircraft. This will be one of my shorter trip reports, since it was a quick turn, and didn’t include that many segments (don’t worry, my crazier review trips will be resuming soon).
In this series, you can expect flight reviews of Aer Lingus’ A321XLR business class, Aer Lingus’ A320 AerSpace, and Iberia’s A321XLR business class. You can also expect reviews of the InterContinental Minneapolis St. Paul Airport and Hilton Dublin Airport, plus some airport lounge reviews.
In this post:
Why I took this trip
I had a very simple motivation for taking this trip, which was to check out the brand new Airbus A321XLR. For context, the A321XLR is a new long range version of the A321, which many airlines view as a game changer. Airlines have collectively ordered hundreds of these aircraft, and the goal is to use them for long and thin routes, to open up all kinds of new markets.
When I took this trip, only two airlines in the world were flying the A321XLR — Aer Lingus and Iberia — and my goal was to fly both of those planes on a single trip. With a brief hall pass from home, and business class award options that allowed a (near) direct turn, I set off to take this trip. Below is the routing I flew, for the main part of this trip.
The airlines I flew on this trip
With only a handful of Airbus A321XLRs in service, I had to be very deliberate about the gateways out of which I flew, in order to get on this jet.
On the outbound, I flew Aer Lingus’ Airbus A321XLR business class from Minneapolis (MSP) to Dublin (DUB). I booked the following for 50,000 British Airways Club Avios and $143.30 in taxes & fees:
4/28 EI88 Minneapolis to Dublin departing 6:59PM arriving 8:30AM (+1 day)
I even picked up those British Airways Avios with a 30% transfer bonus, so I really only paid 39,000 transferable points for that ticket — score!
To position for my next segment, I flew Aer Lingus’ Airbus A320 AerSpace cabin from Dublin (DUB) to Madrid (MAD). This is essentially AerLingus’ premium cabin on flights within Europe, but it’s not quite to the level of business class. Annoyingly, there’s no real way to redeem points for this, so the only option was to pay cash.
So I booked the following for $357.05 (admittedly this was way more expensive than usual, but I booked last minute, and this was the only flight portion of the trip I paid cash for):
4/30 EI592 Dublin to Madrid departing 6:20AM arriving 9:55AM
For the return, I flew Iberia’s Airbus A321XLR business class from Madrid (MAD) to Washington (IAD). I booked the following for 57,500 American AAdvantage miles and $169.21 in taxes & fees:
4/30 IB361 Madrid to Washington departing 11:50AM arriving 3:00PM
For what it’s worth, I positioned from Miami (MIA) to Minneapolis (MSP) on American through Chicago (ORD), since at the very last minute, it was by far the cheapest option. Then I included the flight from Washington (DCA) to Miami (MIA) on the same award as my Iberia flight. I won’t be reviewing those segments, and instead, the review series will start in Minneapolis and end in Washington.
In addition to flight reviews, you can expect reviews of the following lounges:
- The Aer Lingus Arrivals Lounge Dublin (DUB)
- The Aer Lingus Lounge Dublin (DUB)
- The Liffey Lounge Dublin (DUB)
The hotels I stayed at on this trip
This trip was pretty unglamorous in terms of hotels, as I simply had two overnights near airports, one near Minneapolis (MSP), and one near Dublin (DUB).
In Minneapolis, I was keen to check out the InterContinental Minneapolis Airport, which I had heard good things about, especially as it’s (sort of) connected to the terminal. I booked that using an IHG free night award, so there was no cash outlay.
Then in Dublin, I decided to stay at the Hilton Dublin Airport. Okay, let me rephrase that slightly. When I wrote about my trip plans and asked OMAAT readers where I should stay, several people commented to specifically avoid the Hilton Dublin Airport.
Something must’ve been going on in town when I booked at the last minute, because just about everything was outrageously expensive… except the Hilton Dublin Airport. So I decided to book it, both because it was the best deal, and because I was intrigued, based on the number of people who said I should avoid it. Fair enough? 😉
Bottom line
I’m thrilled I had the chance to fly the Airbus A321XLR across the Atlantic back-to-back, on the two airlines currently operating the jet. This will become an increasingly popular aircraft on long haul flights, and it’s not often you get the chance to fly an aircraft variant when it’s still so new.
Thanks for reading, and stay tuned! I hope to get this review series out pretty quickly…
why spend 57K AA miles on the IB flight when it was 34K avios on IB? I just flew it and loved the space from the new layout.
I personally like IB’s configuration, looks pretty good for a narrow body aircraft.
Looking forward to reading this, as I have BNA-DUB booked for a few months from now. I also booked it with 39k Amex points transferred to 50k Avios. Pretty great deal for a trans-Atlantic flight and, being based in Nashville, I'm looking forward to crossing the pond directly from BNA for the first time rather than playing games with positioning flights.
While we have also had a BA flight to LHR from BNA for several...
Looking forward to reading this, as I have BNA-DUB booked for a few months from now. I also booked it with 39k Amex points transferred to 50k Avios. Pretty great deal for a trans-Atlantic flight and, being based in Nashville, I'm looking forward to crossing the pond directly from BNA for the first time rather than playing games with positioning flights.
While we have also had a BA flight to LHR from BNA for several years now, the taxes and fees on it were always crazy and, until last year, it was BA's old business product. I am, however, planning to also take that flight for the first time on the return from this trip, since it now has Club World Suites on a 777 and I was able to get it for 55k Alaska miles (vs the 100k Avios BA wanted) and with lower fees due to originating in ZRH instead of LHR.
Since I prefer smaller, quieter airports, but also fewer connections, and business class, I'm interested to read about the experiences.
"Then I included flight from Washington (DCA) to Miami (MIA) on the same award as my Iberia flight."
Do you mean "I included the flight"?
FFS don’t be such a pedantic wanker
Stephen King, it should have been.
Did you mean "I included the flight?"
One of the big downers about these flights (and Mint) is that there's no turn-left boarding. Just finished a long, multi-segment trip and it really drove home how nice it is to have 30-ish minutes before take off to get up and use the toilet or grab something out of the overhead bin you forgot and not worry about holding up the entire boarding process. It's a lot more relaxing. I wish they let Business...
One of the big downers about these flights (and Mint) is that there's no turn-left boarding. Just finished a long, multi-segment trip and it really drove home how nice it is to have 30-ish minutes before take off to get up and use the toilet or grab something out of the overhead bin you forgot and not worry about holding up the entire boarding process. It's a lot more relaxing. I wish they let Business Class board last and just keep the J overhead bins locked until they board.
Totally agree. At the end of the day, wide bodies are more spacious and more comfortable. It really is as simple as that. It's great that they've evolved these comfortable seats onto these narrow bodies, but there are so many downsides to them, from your point to 1-2 bathrooms (with everyone coming up to use them), and you feel turbulence more. Not a fan.
That was my thought too...flying across the Atlantic in the Winter will make for a very bumpy ride.
If I fly business, I still try to board last for this reason, but I've always wondered if some airlines would make me board first or really really not like that I board so late for the front end of the plane if I'm doing that. Are there airlines where you're more or less not allowed to board last if you're in business?
I doubt anyone will forbid you from boarding last. You may arrive at the gate in the last minute for whatever reason.
While they won't forbid you from boarding last, the same problem exists as on domestic narrow-body flights: namely overhead storage space being gobbled up (and not always by business passengers) by the time you board.
Shelbourne Dublin isn’t cheap but it’s what I’d recommend for points hotels. The Merrion or the Westbury are good too.
Really interested to hear your take on the long haul experience on the A321XLR. I've been apprehensive about this plane for a while because I predict if it's successful then airlines will start using it to beef up schedules on normal routes and it'll become the de facto "saver" level points awards, while the true premium experience on jumbo jets will be at a more expensive award cost.
"So I decided to book it, both because it was the best deal, and because I was intrigued, based on the number of people who said I should avoid it. Fair enough?"
Ben, you should avoid TAAG Angola ;)