pat jordan

AMS-DUB (Economy )

Booking and check in

www.aerlingus.com is an easy site to navigate and selecting a flight for my preferred date and time was no trouble. Aer Lingus offer an advance check-in facility up to 30 days before travel. Three fare types are available: Flexible, Lowest and Plus. The Plus fare includes one free checked bag, seat selection and earns Gold Circle points. I chose this option.

Having made my booking, I decided to opt for a front row for an additional charge of 7 Euro: I like the extra space a bulkhead seat offers, and selected 1D.

I decided to take advantage of the advance check but found that it was not available on this route. Subsequent enquiries found that despite being part of a trip which began in Dublin, web check in was unavailable and I had to check in in AMS, where KLM act as agents for Aer Lingus.

I arrived at Schipol just after 6.00pm for my 8.30pm flight. KLM are Aer Lingus’ handling agents in AMS, and Gold Circle members are allowed use of the KLM elite check in desks. There were four desks open, and with only a couple of passengers in front, I was checked in very quickly.

Passport control is beside the KLM desks, and my Gold Circle status allowed access to the fast track lane, and I was airside within moments.


There is an excellent range of shops and cafes which offer good choice and value, and I made a couple of purchases before going to the Lounge.

Lounge (AMS)

Aer Lingus use the KLM Crown Room (numbered 52 on the directional signs. This lounge is beside the apron, and in daylight gives fantastic views: the parked 747s are almost close enough to touch, it seems! This is a very large spacious lounge, with a good selection of seating types. The predominant colours are brown, beige and grey.

There is a reasonable range of magazines & newspapers and a business centre offering complimentary internet access.

There is a reasonable range of food available in the evening:

• Soup (two flavours: tomato and vegetable)
• Thai Green curry chicken
• Spicy ckicken wings
• Pate
• Cheese
• Crackers
• Biscuits
• Cake
• Bread rolls

A full range of soft & alcoholic drinks is available, along with sparkling wine. I particularly like the fact that soft drinks and beer are served from dispensers. This guarantees that sparkling water is guaranteed to be fizzy, unlike when poured from an opened bottle.

I sampled the tomato soup which was hot and tasty.

The chicken curry was accompanied by rice and looked very appetizing. Sadly, the chicken turned out to be the processed variety, which had an unpleasant texture. The curry sauce itself and rice were very good, however.

I spent a very pleasant hour and a half reading and resting. Given that the Aer Lingus departure area is 15 minutes walk from the lounge, I gave myself plenty of time to get there and to allow for possible security delays.

Aer Lingus currently depart from gate D28, and security is just before reaching this gate. There was a small number of people in front, and I was through within a few minutes. Though efficient, the security staff did not engage with passengers, making it a somewhat impersonal process.

Boarding

I found a sizeable number of passengers waiting to board EI 611. Boarding began around 8.10pm, and there is a secondary passport inspection before staff check boarding cards.

Boarding is called by rows, rearmost fIrst. There is no provision for Gold Circle Club members to board separately, but once the boarding began it moved remarkably quickly.

The Airbus 320 was immaculate and cabin crew warmly welcomed passengers. All Aer Lingus short haul aircraft are economy class and seats are configured 3-3. The seats are dark blue leather with adjustable headrests. Having selected row 1 there was no seatback in front of me, which I particularly like. Unlike some A320s, the bins above row 1 on this particular aircraft were not reserved for row 1 passengers. This may seem unimportant, but as nothing is allowed to be stored on the floor in Row 1, it can become important.

Sitting in Row 1, the galley was almost directly in front of me. The containers for food, drink, etc are secured here, and are in full view. I was pleased to note the use of a new surface on the containers: stickers are used to identify the products inside, and when removed, left an unsightly residue. A non stick surface has been introduced, which avoids this, and greatly enhances the appearance of the galley area.

Yes, this might be a small detail, but it typifies Aer Lingus’ commitment to constantly enhancing passenger experience.



Inflight


The Captain gave a brief welcome and details of flight times, followed by a safety announcement from the cabin crew. There was also a recorded version of this in Dutch. We pushed back on time but had a short taxi before taking off.

Aer Lingus offer a “Sky Deli” which offers a good range of snacks and drinks. However, on this particular flight I slept most of the time and didn’t sample the menu.

As we approached Dublin, there was a noticeable degree of turbulence, indicating that there was no let up of the stormy weather. Despite this, the landing was as smooth as ever, a testament to the skills of the flight crew. After a short taxi we were on stand and deplaned into T2 through an airbridge, 10 minutes ahead of schedule.


Conclusion

Schipol is always a pleasant airport to fly to and from, and KLM facilities are very good. The cabin crew were friendly and welcoming, making this a very pleasant flight. Judging by the high load factor, the travelling public seem to agree.

irishguy28

Hi Pat,

Have you considered posting in the Trip Reports part of this website? It's the more natural home for trip reports - even short ones like these.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-reports-177/

pat jordan

Many thanks for the tip, Irishguy. I'm relatively new to flyertalk, and appreciate this type of suggestion.

DELLAS

Hi Pat , thanks for posting your experience. Very well written if I may say so.

EI do have a good short haul product and I enjoy using it on a regular basis. Even if EI are a bit more expensive than say FR I will nearly always pay it.

groobs

Hi Pat, thanks for another excellent report. If you do post them in the trip report section please provide a link from here so we don't miss out. It can be hard keeping up with the many reports in that section.