Aer Lingus Gold Circle Club - First time on Aer Lingus

Hi all,

I am flying Aer Lingus for the first time from SFO to DUB with a 3 hour connection in O'hare. I have a few questions. 1) Is 3 hours enough time for the connection? 2) Are Aer Lingus seats comfortable on the A330? 3) Do each seats have individual TVs? 4) Is the food any good? If you have any other advise for me please let me know.

Thanks

I've only used Aer Lingus for a couple of short haul flights but I was very pleased wth the service I received. The FA's I have had were very pleasant and attentive. Also I'm a big fan of cider and was beyond ecstatic that they served it onboard. If I'm ever lucky enuf to score a long haul flight with them I'd probably be one of those drunken idiots we all love to talk poorly about ;-)

1) Yes - unless you're having a very bad day
2) Yes - the equipment is new (<2 years) and I can manage a little sleep on these Y seats, but not on some others; J is very good.
3) Yes - the equipment is new (<2 years) and there's a reasonable selection of entertainment; also seat power in Y before you ask ;)
4) Yes - Aer Lingus does reasonable food in Y; very good food in J

Took Aer Lingus last summer from BOS-DUB in J

Great seats
Great service
Good food
IFE was good too

Thumbs up from me

Except for the later flights there's US preclearance for Dublin flights to the US. That means you need to arrive extra early for the flight in Dublin. You'll go through immigration in Dublin and an extra security check.

But don't need very long at all to transfer in ORD. You just walk from one gate to another. No wait for bags or immigration queues.

Your only worry is your transatlantic flight being delayed and landing late. But in that case there are plenty of flights from ORD-SFO and they shouldn't have any trouble getting you on one.

3 hours is even a bit excessively long. A coworker of mine did this exact flight recently and had to choose between what he thought was a tight connection and the 3-hour connection. He chose the 3-hour connection and said he could have easily made the short connection.

Hi all,

I am flying Aer Lingus for the first time from SFO to DUB with a 3 hour connection in O'hare. I have a few questions. 1) Is 3 hours enough time for the connection? 2) Are Aer Lingus seats comfortable on the A330? 3) Do each seats have individual TVs? 4) Is the food any good? If you have any other advise for me please let me know.

Thanks

What airline are you taking SFO-ORD?
What class of service are you flying?
Are you checking bags?

What airline are you taking SFO-ORD?
What class of service are you flying?
Are you checking bags?

I am flying united from SFO-ORD. I booked the ticket on Aer Lingus.com. I am flying coach :( all of my miles are with Delta and I have not been happy with the service or the old planes that they use on transatlantic flights. I flew from SEA to DUB with a connection in ATL and the flight was terrible. I am checking one bag but I was told by United that they would transfer it for me to Aer lingus is that correct?

Dan

1) Yes - unless you're having a very bad day
2) Yes - the equipment is new (<2 years) and I can manage a little sleep on these Y seats, but not on some others; J is very good.
3) Yes - the equipment is new (<2 years) and there's a reasonable selection of entertainment; also seat power in Y before you ask ;)
4) Yes - Aer Lingus does reasonable food in Y; very good food in J

Thanks for the information^

Except for the later flights there's US preclearance for Dublin flights to the US. That means you need to arrive extra early for the flight in Dublin. You'll go through immigration in Dublin and an extra security check.

But don't need very long at all to transfer in ORD. You just walk from one gate to another. No wait for bags or immigration queues.

Your only worry is your transatlantic flight being delayed and landing late. But in that case there are plenty of flights from ORD-SFO and they shouldn't have any trouble getting you on one.

3 hours is even a bit excessively long. A coworker of mine did this exact flight recently and had to choose between what he thought was a tight connection and the 3-hour connection. He chose the 3-hour connection and said he could have easily made the short connection.

I did three hours because SFO often has fog issues and you just never know. Thanks for the information.^ Yes I remember that about DUB but last time I went to Dublin on Delta airlines it felt that I went through security again when I reached JFK.

I am flying united from SFO-ORD. I booked the ticket on Aer Lingus.com. I am flying coach :( all of my miles are with Delta and I have not been happy with the service or the old planes that they use on transatlantic flights. I flew from SEA to DUB with a connection in ATL and the flight was terrible. I am checking one bag but I was told by United that they would transfer it for me to Aer lingus is that correct?

Dan

Yes, they will check it through to Dublin for you.

3 hours is plenty of time, the seats are good (with the exception of economy C seats, which have rubbish legroom; best seats in economy are 10H and 10K) and have decent individual touch-screen TVs. Food is moderately good in my experience.

Flew J return to JFK last year & both Mrs ABZ1C & I loved it, if you can somehow use your miles to upgrade you'll not be disapointed.

Except for the later flights there's US preclearance for Dublin flights to the US. That means you need to arrive extra early for the flight in Dublin. You'll go through immigration in Dublin and an extra security check.


How early is "extra early"?

I'm planning to fly LHR-DUB-ORD on Aer Lingus. The layover in DUB is 1:40. Is this long enough to clear US immigration and customs?

How early is "extra early"?

I'm planning to fly LHR-DUB-ORD on Aer Lingus. The layover in DUB is 1:40. Is this long enough to clear US immigration and customs?

yes

I regularly travel DUB-USA and my bottom line for a flight leaving at peak time (10am-noon) is to be standing in the US immigration queue 1hr before scheduled departure. Outside of this it can be take as little as 15mins to get through. The ORD flight is at 13:00 so the worst of the queues should be gone.

You should not have any issues especially if your bags are checked thru from LHR

At 08:00 this morning I walked straight up to the immigration desk with no one else in the hall.

However, in summer season, you can expect 30-45 mins.

I did three hours because SFO often has fog issues and you just never know. Thanks for the information.^ Yes I remember that about DUB but last time I went to Dublin on Delta airlines it felt that I went through security again when I reached JFK.

That would have been the case prior to the opening of Dublin T2. At that time you would have been precleared for US immigration but still have had to go through US customs. That meant picking up your bags so you would have had to go through security as well.

That's all gone. Now you preclear both immigration and customs which means you arrive as a domestic arrival with no immigration, customs, *or security*. Your bags go on without any intervention (hopefully:).

Some flights leaving later in the afternoon don't get preclearance though btw.

I have a feeling I know the answer, but I'm hoping otherwise...

I booked a round-trip flight over the New Year (MSP-ORD-DUB) on Aer Lingus back in July. Due to a recent change in plans, I need to return to BOS rather than MSP. Expecting to deal with customs the typical way in ORD, I decided to buy a one-way ORD-BOS on UA thinking I'd throw away my last ORD-MSP segment (also UA) on the return.

Except it sounds as though there's preclearance in DUB for most flights to the US, meaning even if I decide to hop on ORD-BOS, my bag will still get sent to MSP. What time is the cutoff for the DUB preclearance? How much will this cost me if I call the airline? Suggestions appreciated.

I have a feeling I know the answer, but I'm hoping otherwise...

I booked a round-trip flight over the New Year (MSP-ORD-DUB) on Aer Lingus back in July. Due to a recent change in plans, I need to return to BOS rather than MSP. Expecting to deal with customs the typical way in ORD, I decided to buy a one-way ORD-BOS on UA thinking I'd throw away my last ORD-MSP segment (also UA) on the return.

Except it sounds as though there's preclearance in DUB for most flights to the US, meaning even if I decide to hop on ORD-BOS, my bag will still get sent to MSP. What time is the cutoff for the DUB preclearance? How much will this cost me if I call the airline? Suggestions appreciated.

The ORD flight pre-clears in DUB.

The change fee for low Y fares with EI is $150 plus any fare difference. Have a look at the DUB-BOS flights and see if you can get one with the same fare code as you have.
Fare code visible by clicking on the terms and conditions link after selecting flights and scrolling to the bottom.

Heading from ORD to WAW via DUB this summer. Anything I should know about or prepare for?

If you are on separate tickets or are stopping over in DUB for more than two weeks, make sure you pay your bag fee online for the DUB-WAW section.