Other European Frequent Flyer Programs - Aer Lingus A330

I thought that I might take advantage of the United-marketed Aer Lingus flights from IAD->Madrid. The price is right.

Would someone be able to give me advice on economy seating? Seatguru's seat maps for Aer Lingus' A330-200 and 300 do not match up with the seat map shown by the UAL website. Seatguru would have you believe that 13-D/E/F/G are the best as this is a bulkhead row. The UAL website shows rows 11/12-D/E/F/G in front of 13.

Any advice would be very much appreciated.

Thank you!

Lamphs,

Here is a copy of what I posted in relation to your request in the United thread also:

Indeed, the information about the Aer Lingus fleet on Seat Guru at present is entirely out of date & should be ignored.

The aircraft currently loaded as operating the Joint-Venture flight is an Airbus 330-200 series. Aer Lingus currently have 4 of these aircraft, all with a uniform onboard product in both Business & Y as all four are either new or have been upgraded. As I said previously, it would be my opinion that there will be a rotation between various A330-200 aircraft from DUB as scheduled maintenance will be required etc.

If you view the Seatmap on the UAL website after attempting a ''dummy'' booking in Y class, you can see that row 11 is now the first row of Y, the entire breadth of the cabin with a 2 - 3 - 2 configuration, subsequent rows of Y are in a 2 - 4 - 2 configuration. Row 11 in the centre of the aircraft would be considered as a bulkhead row with 11AC & 11HK being emergency exit seats. It is the general policy of Aer Lingus that emergency exit seating inventory is only released on the day of departure, apart from exceptional circumstances.

However, caution is advised in relation to row 11, seats DEG (centre row), as this is usually the position for an infant bassinet... Legroom will also be more restricted in the centre of the cabin so 11AC & 11HK would be the best option to my mind.

Also relatively comfortable & relatively quiet, with standard seat pitch of 32 inches, are rows 14 through to approx row 25. If travelling alone or in a group of 2 - I would strongly advise either seats AC or HK. All Y seats have 32 inch pitch however the third cabin is generally somewhat more noisy.

All of the A330-200 series aircraft have Audo Visual On Demand Panasonic IFE screens on the back each row of slimline Recaro seats in Y.

Alternatively, you could also try for exit row seats in row 29... Just bear in mind that on some occasions there can be enhanced noise levels near to emergency exit seat with people either going towards the galley or the bathrooms.

I'm not sure whether the onboard service will be the same as the current offering ex Ireland, however the general Y service on EI Transatlantic flights consists of:

Starter - A small salad type dish along with a Breadroll.
Main Course - Choice of 2 - Usually Chicken/Beef.
Dessert - Usually a sponge cake type offering along with a choice of coffee/tea.

Special Meals or Child Meals can also be requested in advance.

Water will be placed on your tray & softdrink refreshments are available throughout the flight from the galley & during the meal service. There is a charge for alcoholic beverages. Duty Free is then offered after the meal service has been completed.

Approximately one hour prior to landing further refreshments including tea/coffee are offered.

Hope this is of help,

EI Premier.

Thank you very much for your detailed reply. Safe travels!

No problem at all Lamphs & hopefully you will get the opportunity to travel on the IAD-MAD route & sample the Aer Lingus product, which should be quite interesting in light of the overall joint venture agreement.

EI Premier.

[QUOTE=EI Premier;12338024]Lamphs,

Here is a copy of what I posted in relation to your request in the United thread also:

Indeed, the information about the Aer Lingus fleet on Seat Guru at present is entirely out of date & should be ignored.

The aircraft currently loaded as operating the Joint-Venture flight is an Airbus 330-200 series. Aer Lingus currently have 4 of these aircraft, all with a uniform onboard product in both Business & Y as all four are either new or have been upgraded. As I said previously, it would be my opinion that there will be a rotation between various A330-200 aircraft from DUB as scheduled maintenance will be required etc.

Not as easy and as cheap to rotate the aircraft now that EI are pulling out of Washington. I wonder if that will influence this routing over time.

Not as easy and as cheap to rotate the aircraft now that EI are pulling out of Washington. I wonder if that will influence this routing over time.

Indeed eireman,

I was also wondering regarding this. Esentially, there would be an empty -330 flying from MAD-DUB-MAD. Perhaps EI might use this aircraft for revenue services, but then there would be the logistical issue of the return flight to DUB.

Alternatively, perhaps there will be a rotation between other aircraft in the US, but this does not really allow for the possibility of unscheduled maintenance etc.

At the moment though, it does seem pretty certain that only 1 -330 aircraft will be made available for the Joint Venture.

EI Premier.