Aer Lingus v BA v AA Transatlantic Business
 

Hey everyone

Im looking to take advantage of the excellent ex CDG business fares for next summer to LAX. You can route via LHR on AA or BA or via DUB on EI. They’re all the same price, all on BA codes.

I’ve flown AA & BA business numerous times, never EI. Taking lounge, ease of transfer, seat, crew, food & drink etc, what are people’s opinions? I’m BA Gold so would get First lounges at LHR v 51st & Green at DUB

I guess one possible advantage for EI is pre-clearance in DUB so when you arrive at LAX it will be like a domestic arrival -- and LAX custom and immigrations can be awful.

The EI business class seat reminds me of the LX/OS business class seat which is my least favorite of the fully flat ones as they are narrow with a confining footwell. I know everyone has a different opinion on business class seats based on their own body size and sleeping preferences.

I would take the AA J seat over BA except for a few of the very nice CW seats. Still, avoiding customs and immigration at LAX could favor EI at least westbound.

Flew EI a few weeks ago for the first time, can’t say I can find many positive features of it.

The Dublin lounge is very weak, having Guinness is the best part of it, but no real food and cheap wine. The seat isn’t great, very narrow leg/foot hole, really was like being in a coffin. The food was also terrible, although the service is good. And finally they don’t have overheads down the centre so there was very limited storage room.

I’d normally aim for AA over any other options going west.

Seat
1: AA - most consistent and greatest average space and bed comfort
2: EI (although see EI forum - all seats are not equal)
3: BA - not for the claustrophobic or antisocial!

Food (not a huge spread here - AA/EI a bit more consistent mainly)
1:AA/EI
2: BA

Service
1: BA/EI - EI pretty consistent, good BA crew can be better but also worse
2: AA (see the AA forum!)

Lounges
1: AA - Because of LHR T3!
2: BA
3: EI - Dub lounge is ok (51st Green). LAX not worth the effort

Pre-clearance is a big plus of going via Dublin if you don’t have GE.

I’ve only done pre-clearance once in Dublin so maybe unlucky. But the whole process was a zoo and it’s a while since I’ve seen such queues in the US.

I was in the ticket queue at Dublin airport recently that was full of people who had missed their US-bound flights due to delays at pre-clearance. Admittedly, I don't know how much time they left for pre-clearance, but the airlines have no responsibility to people who arrive at the gate late due to issues at immigration. Aer Lingus were, however, offering people free rebooking onto later flights (some a few days off), but no hotel accommodation. At least with post-clearance, you've already reached your destination.

AA
Club Europe connecting to AA Business: At LHR this will be a T5 to T3 connection
AA109 is a 77W operated flight, therefore Cirrus flat bed, direct aisle seat
AA135 is a 772 operated flight, so either Super Diamond or Concept D flat bed. Both offer direct aisle access

Suggested reading:
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/amer...er-thread.html
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/amer...mond-seat.html
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/amer...-business.html
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/amer...er-thread.html
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/amer...-inflight.html

BA
Club Europe connecting to Club World: At LHR this will be a T5 to T5 connection
Boeing 747 and 789 types flown on the LHR-LAX route

EI
Aerspace service now available on the CDG-DUB
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/aer-...an-routes.html
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/aer-...t-refresh.html
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/aer-...ts-2015-a.html

Climate impact considerations:
Boeing 747-400 LHR-LAX return: 7,519 kg CO₂ (€173 offset)
Boeing 777-200 LHR-LAX return: 5,476 kg CO₂ (€126 offset)
Boeing 777-300 LHR-LAX return: 6,440 kg CO₂ (€149 offset)
Boeing 787-9 LHR-LAX return: 5,596 kg CO₂ (€129 offset)
Airbus A330-300 DUB-LAX return: 6,549 kg CO₂ (€151 offset)

As I say based only on one trip. I was business on AA and have GE, so the security bit was not bad with the different queue for business. Then you turn right into another large area for the pre-clear, this was manic, but GE paid off yet again with almost zero queue. Apologies if this is going off topic but PC to me seems entirely to benefit authorities and not passenger. Only advantage as I see it is if you have a USA connection your bag is through checked without you having to collect and recheck after USA landing. I would not factor pre-clear into decision in any positive way, but that’s just me.
I wouldn’t care between AA and BA, both seem fine to me, sometimes I think people over think these things. B787 and A350 I like simply because you feel better after a flight, I’d choose those where possible, otherwise which flight time suits best is my usual deciding factor.

The BA First lounges in LHR are better than 51st and Green. Saying that, 51st and Green is the best lounge in Dublin, though the upcoming East Lounge where the old Etihad lounge was promises to be better. There is barista coffee and cocktails made to order in 51st and Green, plus the view is quite nice. Food wise it's good, but BA First would be better.

Dublin is extremely easy to transfer in, and of course there is US Preclearance.

On board, I find the Aer Lingus food to be very very good in business class, and the service is always excellent. The seat is the same one used by other airlines like Swiss business, JetBlue Mint, and others. I prefer the current Club World over it for sleeping as Club has no feet restriction. That being said, the EI seat has tons more storage space. Wi-Fi on Aer Lingus in business class is free and I found it pretty decent speed wise too.

Maybe give Aer Lingus a go since you've never flown with them before. Or hedge your bets by trying them one way and one of the others the other way. If it were me, I'd try the airline I hadn't tried before, just for another data point to compare when booking in future! Let us know what you decided to do.

That being the standard Aer Lingus lounge, or 51st & Green, or both?

Presumably the standard Aer Lingus lounge. It has very little food, which is limited to soup and pastries or sandwiches, and a limited wine and beer selection. There's not much space for food and drink, so it's fairly basic selection wise.

When travelling Transatlantic in business class, they'll send you to 51st and Green anyway, as you can only use one lounge. It's also the better one.

It's also after per-clerance and customs, so best to get cavity search done before relaxing in the lounge.

EI is fairly basic. The seat is excellent, as long as you pick the right one. (There is no silly seat selection fee, so this should be possible.) I found the service good, but the food was below-par for business class and the drinks list is not especially exciting. The breakfast second meal was rather poor. But this was flying from the US to Dublin, and I've never done the reverse. The arrivals lounge in Dublin was basic but handy for a quick shower.

The best part of this is that the tax on an EI redemption was something like £18... To get this price, call, don't book line, and use BA avios not "avios" avios.