We lost track of time shopping at the store and ended up having to rush back to the hotel to grab our bags. Having learned my lesson getting to the hotel the day before, I decided take an Uber to the Paddington Station and then taking the Heathrow Express straight into Terminal 2. The combination was slightly cheaper than taking a cab straight to Heathrow, but more importantly we avoid Friday gridlock and made it to Heathrow about 45 minutes after leaving the hotel.
Aer Lingus check in at Heathrow was a bit confusing. There wasn’t a separate line for AerSpace/Business Class though there was a dedicated counter. Apparently, we had to use the kiosk to check in before going to drop off our bags at the counter. But the kiosk couldn’t retrieve our reservation, so eventually the line bouncer relented and let us go up to the AerSpace counter. The agent quickly issued our boarding passes and tagged our bags. And then she gave us directions of the Aer Lingus Lounge.
Security and immigration were a non-event, and we were soon approaching the Aer Lingus Lounge. I have to admit I had no idea Aer Lingus had a lounge at Heathrow until the agent mentioned it at check in. I originally planned to use one of the Priority Pass lounges, but this was far closer to our gate.
The lounge was decent sized and it was a pretty attractive space. There was plenty of seating.
While the drink selection was good and included an automated espresso machine, beer, and sodas, the food selection was weak. All that was on offer was soup, cake, and some fruit.
We relaxed with some drink at the lounge before grabbing a snack at the nearby conveyor belt sushi restaurant just outside of the lounge. It was actually pretty good. We still had a little time to do some last minute souvenir shopping before it was time to board.
Aer Lingus 175
London (LHR) – Dublin (DUB)
Depart: 6:10PM
Arrive: 7:35PM
Aircraft: Airbus A320NEO
Seat: 1D (Kinda Business Class)
Aer Lingus branded their short haul business class as Aer Space, which includes a snack and drink, checked bags, blocked middle seats, and apparently lounge access. It was a steal at just €98 for our flight, which was actually cheaper than British Airways Economy. I was hoping to find a frequency operated by the long haul configured A321XLR, but it wasn’t quite meant to be. Regardless the European short haul kinda Business Class was perfectly acceptable for this short hop.
I chose 1D and 1F for us, which offered a smidge of extra legroom.
The snack was a choice from the Aer Lingus’ buy onboard selection.
Other than that, we pushed a few minutes late. The flight was rather bumpy because of the rough weather. Flight attendants were friendly and hard working. They offered us seconds on snacks and drinks, which we declined. And the engines were shutdown in Dublin right on time.
Everyone else on our flight seemed to be commuting as we were two of ten folks waiting at baggage claim despite the full flight. Eventually we got our bags, and it was off to immigration. Immigration took forever, though in a good way. The officer was super chatty and was genuinely happy it was our first visit to Ireland. As there was not line, he spent a good five-ish minutes giving us tips on things to do.