First time with Aer Lingus
 

I need to fly to Dublin and the cheapest option is Aer Lingus. I never flow One World and I never flow Aer Lingus. (I have gold status with SkyTeam and with OneWorld but this doesn't help me in this case.)

My question is now basically: Is there anything I shall be aware off when I book with Aer Lingus? I don't know why, but some alarm bells ring in my head when I hear the name Aer Lingus. It says to me "don't fly with Ryan Air" but I have honestly no idea why is that.

Oh, and what about baggage? Is there also 20kg? What is the tolerance and how much hand luggage am I allowed to take?

1. You state you are skyteam and OW tho just before you say you have never flown OW (do you mean you have only flown AA?)??

2. When is the trip?

Important Note: Aer Lingus will leave the oneworld Alliance on March 31, 2007. oneworld services and benefits on Aer Lingus, including the ability to earn AAdvantage elite qualifying miles and elite bonuses, are valid only through
March 31, 2007. However, Aer Lingus will continue to be an AAdvantage participant airline beyond April 1, 2007. Miles earned, however, will no longer be elite qualifying miles.

3. Are elite qual miles important or not?

4. Ryan Air had made a purchase bid for EI but that fizzeled.

5. Where are you flying from? What class of service? What are your expectation?

6. Carryon information is updated at http://www.aa.com/aa/i18nForward.do?...Regulation.jsp

6. baggage information at http://www.aerlingus.com/cgi-bin/obe...754&Category=3 and note that they appear to charge to check luggage!

My trip is from May 25 or 26 until June 09 or 10.

I have an AA flight on a separate ticket from DFW to ZRH. From ZRH I need a connecting flight to Dublin on the above-mentioned dates.

The only relatively reasonable option seems to me Aer Lingus.

About FFPs: I am elite in SkyTeam and StarAlliance (not in One World). The AA flight will be my first paid One World flight. I guess I shall credit the miles to AA? Or is there any better option?

What might be important to me is baggage allowance because I may have > 20 kg

Buying separate tickets means you don't get the US baggage allowances. Aer Lingus is brutal with baggage, it will cost more than your ticket if you are over their limit, and 8 euro per bag if you are under 20kg limit. Yes, EI on short-haul flights now charges over USD 20 for 2 bags. If over 20kg, it is additional 8 euro per kg. So 50 lbs. of baggage would cost about USD 100 (and go up rapidly from there, 2x50lb bags, free on AA, would cost over USD 300, for example). See the EI website for details, http://www.aerlingus.com/cgi-bin/obe...754&Category=3

these charges took effect in Jan 2007, so they are new this year.

Since you are Elite with *A (*G I presume) why don't you fly Swiss. They fly daily ZRH-DUB. If you are *G you will also be allowed 40kg of baggage rather than 20kg.

Also keep in mind that many (most?) of the cheaper EI fares are non mileage earning. I found them to be fine for a london-dublin hop, but I had a small carry on and the plane was rather empty.

Swiss has whooping prices for my travel dates. Hence, not possible :confused:

So in other words - (to keep things simple)...

You are leaving from DFW to DUB on May 25th and return on June 9th? So if you are elite on Skyteam, is it not LOGICAL to fly with either KLM, AF or any other Skyteam partner?

Right, Guty Betsy. I checked all the airlines (SkyTeam and StarAlliance) but none of them had competitive prices on my dates. Finally, I booked with AerLinguis and hope that I can go along with the 20kg baggage. Pffff... And did you know that we have to pay for checked-in baggage with AerLingus?

Yes, this change earlier this year was well publicized -- but you could have flown EI trans-atlantic (no baggage fee in that case, and no 20 kg limit), or you could have flown AA non-stop ORD-DUB, etc, or you could have flown ZRH-DUB on the same ticket. So lots of ways to avoid the fee etc., giving you little reason to complain.