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 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) 50,000 Avios $143.30
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 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…
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.
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 ;)