Review of Aer Lingus flight New York → Dublin in Economy

Arriving at JFK

After a 12pm late checkout from my hotel, the SuperShuttle picked me up from my hotel at 1250pm.

I left Manhattan at 1310pm,arriving at jetBlue Terminal 5 at 1400pm. I took a few photos outside


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The TWA Hotel - relive the Jet Magic of a once Global brand name !


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Checkin

I was checked in by 1410pm by jetBlue's lovely Tomeka who was most pleasant,friendly and extremely professional.


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21kg is hardly heavy but when the total allowance is 23kg I guess it is almost heavy !



British Singer Rick Astley's " Never Gonna Give You Up" started playing in the terminal . I said to Tomeka that I don't hear Rick's music this much in the UK as I do in the USA ( the third time I had heard the song since my arrival in New York ! ).


I made Tomeka laugh and a couple nearby also laughed. Tomeka had to see her Supervisor 2 times to change my seats and she did so with a lot of care and dedication. She is the first ever jetBlue staff member I have interacted with face to face and I am very impressed and hope to fly jetBlue on my next visit.


If checkin was pleasant and efficient, security would soon make me think otherwise.


Your passport is checked before you go through security and an officer simply marks your Boarding Pass.



The Security queues were deeply out of control - no queue combing meant people were joining any line causing aggressive arguments and tension.
1 lady from Security then suddenly started getting her line into shape by loudly stating what to take off and what to leave on / in. and soon things began moving efficiently.

I was quickly through to departures and didn't need to remove my belt or shoes.

jetBlue Terminal 5 JFK

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img]https://static.flight-report.com/media/photos/1544877472NMGQ/20190224_141526.jpg
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Photography - New York Style !

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jetBlue Juniors -because Aviation has no age limit !



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And talking of jetBlue - what is in this box ?!




A guide to all the different jetblue Aircraft tails can be found here - my favourites being Highrise and ( of course ) Tartan !

https://www.jetblue.com/travel/planes/


Just a week or so after my flight from jetBlue Terminal 5, the news showed that jetBlue is considering A321LR flights to London…and I sure hope Manchester will follow !



My flight EI 104 was parked at gate 11 - now this is absurd when you think that the Aer Lingus Lounge is opposite gate 26 which is like an 8- 10 minute walk if you have heavier bags.
The A330 is registered EI-ELA and named St. Patrick after the Patron Saint of Ireland,

Aer Lingus Lounge JFK

Time for the lounge - the Aer Lingus lounge which is nowhere the gate


I arrived at the lounge and was pleasantly greeted by Sharon.


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However being around the Aer Lingus brand made me really upset and I knew I wouldn't be able to enjoy the lounge as this would be my only chance to meet someone in authority in Aer Lingu and a Manager face to face to discuss all the poor service so far and the meal incident on my Inbound EI 105 flight a few days before.



I asked Sharon to please call the Station Manager ( Brendan would be on duty today ).

Sharon kept trying and eventually let me know that Brendan is opposite gate 26 and will be happy to hear my concerns. She told me he is a very good manager and will do his utmost to assist me.

Sharon was really caring and took so much care of me. She had listened to my brief explanation that I am upset and really felt for me. I must point out however that lounge staff are not direct Aer Lingus staff. Hence the warm, friendly and caring service. I would never have got someone like Sharon in Aer Lingus. She is a true credit and I would happily have her to Dublin to teach EI staff the art of communication and empathy.

I went downstairs to meet Brendan opposite gate 26 and explained everything to him ; the poor service from booking,the meal incident and the bad attitude and neglect of Rachel Curran ( supposedly the head of Aer Lingus' social media team ). He listened to me and thanked me for sharing my concerns and he advised he would log my complaint. He wanted me to start afresh with Aer Lingus. Sadly this would not happen. See the final thoughts at the end of EI 202.


Back in the lounge the WiFi took a while to connect but was then at reasonable speed.

I got to have a hot meal with refreshing cold drinks and desserts.



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Boarding

Boarding began at 1655pm and I was onboard minutes later.


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The Cabin Services Manager Colin and a Steward were at the door.

I had a brief chat with the crew and they would enforce the "no photo with crew" vigorously.

I closed some overhead bins to allow me to have a photo in the cabin - I joked at having a job as Aer Lingus Crew.

The manager was looking at the trim ( loadsheet) and said the seat next to me is free - woohoo ! space to work out and relax.


The seats had blankets - one lady passing by my seat said Thank God there are blankets this time - meaning they are not consistently loaded. I attest to this as there weren't any on the flight into New York. Earphones were thrown on pillows on some seats.


I note therefore that cabin presentation is not a priority for Aer Lingus on longhaul flights.

Instrumental music played and was uplifting - the crew very jovial and nice as passengers boarded. It was a real pleasure to see the crew being their lovely charming self. A credit to Aer Lingus where I have not had much to shout about.

A 5hr 55 mins flight time was unannounced.

An Aer Lingus 757 ( EI-CJX ) for Shannon was parked at gate 14.




An IFE preview video played and doors closed at 1731pm.


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Pushback was at 1735pm

Colin did a welcome announcement


Despite a video safety demo,again crew stood throughout the cabin.

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Colin had borrowed me a pen during boarding ; something I returned just before door closing and to a smiley Airhostess, I believe her name was Jennifer.

Announcement was made "Crew to Station for cabin secure check "- the crew then headed to their seats after locking the toilets.

Moodlighting has relaxed the cabin in Blue and occassional Lavender hues

Take Off

After taxying a short distance, we took off at 1750pm and went straight into a sunset lit sky high over New York. I hoped to see some skyscrapers bursting through the clouds but it wasn't to be !


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The flight Begins

I began listening to Michael Jackson's "Bad" and I was tapping my toes in my seat and almost dancing !





Whitney and Dido - my transatlanic sound buddies. I wonder what music Whitney would have brought out right now. Her timeless classics will live forever.


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John,Shayne,Jennifer and Emma would be the crew to serve me in my section. I did greet the jovial Supervisor Katrina during boarding but she would be working in Premier Business Class.


An announcement at 1815pm stated that the bar would be closed during meal service and to place drink orders now.


As Aer Lingus appears to have DIY ( do it yourself) service on longhaul flights, I thought ahead and brought two coke cans from the JFK lounge.

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Inflight Service

During the drinks service we were given a small packet of salted pretzels and……A MENUCARD…..but we didn't get a menucard to JFK….again and by this time, such inconsistency is not a surprise when flying Aer Lingus.


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I asked Airhostess Jennifer when she passed by if I could please have some ice - she immediately got me some despite her being at the rear middle of the cabin by now.



The meal service commenced at 1915pm 1 hr 25 mins after takeoff - Airhostess Emma said she had a meal for me and wished for me to enjoy it !

She was very nice and engaging - she told me she had connections in the Manchester area after I said I was connecting to Manchester.




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Spot the Shamrock !





The joys of no neighbour !




Progress Report





Later on but in error I pressed the call bell in error, instead of the reading light ( easily done ! ) - A Steward arrived in seconds and I apologised ; he smiled and said it was ok and immediately switched the call bell off !


Tea and coffee were served at 1945pm - I asked Airhostess Emma if I could please have a spare Lily O'Briens Dessert. My dessert had been fresh fruit.


She went away and got me two desserts with spoons ! The dessert was succulently delicious.


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Trays were collected with 3.5 hrs to landing in Dublin.


Multilingual Greeting adorned breakfast boxes with Blueberry Muffins and Orange juice were served - I asked for more !


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Atlantic Sleep time !



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A Discover Ireland video on the IFE system



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Cara Inflight Magazine - Cara means Friend in Gaelic. Yet Aer Lingus has not been a friend to me in any way.




USB Cable charging my Smartphone





Inflight Manager Colin brought me some goodies and asked if I needed anything else - I asked for water and was given a bottle. Excellent Inflight Manager and I love the shamrock stitched linens !


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Dublin Arrivals video played in the cabin



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The rest of the flight was uneventful - then again my expectations were low anyway so Aer Lingus meets the very low standards they set.

The Cabin Crew as ever made the flight experience great but the poor product doesn't match the high levels of crew service. It's actually heartbreaking. If I feel this way as a passenger, surely they must not be motivated to deliver the inflight product ? Which means the excellent service they give really is above and beyond and from the heart. I would feel worn out having to deliver such a poor product and having to smile and be genuine. Yet the Aer Lingus crew are so naturally warm and caring.

Arriving into Dublin

The aircraft began to descend over a very dark Dublin and we landed at 0435am - 20 minutes ahead of schedule.


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An announcement was made advising as we had arrived early there was ample time for connections. Barcelona connecting passengers were informed which gate to go to.


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EI-ELA - farewell - forever I think as I am not likely to fly Aer Lingus longhaul ever again



Time to transit


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See you at EI 202 back home to Manchester.

By the way - the box I showed you back in the lounge ?

It and the goody bag I got from jetBlue was full of gifts for loving jetBlue ! The seatbelt keyring and Reviver is something I already had from jetBlue !
The Tartan tailed A321 model sure celebrates my Scottish roots !


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