Dewsbury

Either confusing or 'operator malfunction'

I am looking at booking some flights with Aer Lingus but am having great difficulty in finding my way around the online booking system and would appreciate some advice.

Ideally I want to fly
NCL to DUB (Stobart Air - on behalf of Aer Lingu)
Connect to
DUB to JFK
Connect to
JFK to SJU. (JetBlue - a US code share partner of Aer Lingus)
And, at a later date, return flights.

Using the default 'book a flight' scenario, I can book either
NCL DUB JFK .... but not through to SJU.
Or, I can book
DUB JFK SJU … but not the first leg?

I cannot for the life of me book a complete outbound journey?

If I try the 'multiple leg' leg scenario I can book
NCL JFK but not DUB JFK?
Neither can I book JFK DUB.
The booking engine will not recognise SJU.

The other option is via the 'Where we fly route map".
This will allow either
NCL JFK
or
DUB JFK SJU
but again, not the whole journey?

I did ask my TA about sorting out the flights and the reply was
"We can book other airlines outside of what we use in our brochure, but we do not have contracts to work with all airlines. If the airlines are internet based, we would not have a contract."

I suspect I will have to sort this out direct with Aer Lingus but I am asking for opinions first so as to know what I am talking about and not let them try to baffle me with science.

Obviously I want everything ticketed so as my bags get checked through, everything is ticketed correctly and life is made as simple as possible.

I was going to confuse the issue further and involve my Avios points but as I haven't put any on for four years, the 77000 that I had have been scrubbed.

Cheers

Mike

ROKNA

You can only book flights with 1 connection online

Otherwise either call Aer Lingus or get a better TA

Dewsbury

Ah! That would explain a lot. Thanks for that.
I think option 2 sounds a good bet ... research called for?

DELLAS

How they are still in business is amazing. What you have asked for is a simple task. Get a good TA with a GDS and IATA ticketing authority then it should be no hassle at all. Alternatively use a OTA with a multi segment facility.

ROKNA

Aer Lingus is a full IATA member so should appear on any decent TA's screen

Probably simpler to call EI and book over the phone, its not a problem

Depending on the phase of the moon EI online can be more, the same or less than the IATA rates.

Dewsbury

In respect of changing TA's .... I did some research and contacted - by email four highly reputable 'Award Winning' companies. All have failed to reply - which must say something.
I have spoken with my current TA and told them the exact flights that I require, I supplied all flight numbers and times and pretty much did their job for them.
They have said they can meet my requirements. It is now definitley certain that it is possible that they might do as I ask ....... maybe, perhaps?

irishguy28

Being an IATA member has nothing to do with accessibility of inventory. If an airline doesn't subscribe to a particular GDS, no agencies using that GDS will be able to see, access or sell their inventory.

It's only a few years ago since EI has been back on all the main GDSs after the "aerlingus.com" branding years.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/aer-lingus-aerclub/1685663-aer-lingus-returns-gds-all-fares-uk-europe.html

Ber2dca

The Aer Lingus website is pretty narrow in its options and not really suitable for booking itineraries involving partner airlines (even BA). If you require onward travel on non-EI metal you are typically better off with the website of whatever airline that is. This holds especially true if your starting airport isn't DUB.