[Anonymous]

[PatJordan]

Aer Lingus are celebrating their 75th Anniversary. They have taken delivery of a new Airbus A320 painted in 1960s livery. Having come through a severe downturn and survived it a credit to all concerned.

Their use of Dublin Terminal 2 is a very positive move.

This might be an opportunity for Aer Lingus to have a look at its FFP )Gold Circle club). The lounge at LHR T1 has been improved no end, and is as good as any similar lounge now.

However, I believe that there is value in Aer Lingus looking at it’s Gold Circle club to identify those whose membership has lapsed. Is this due to not flying or switching to another carrier, for example.

BMI did this a couple of years ago, and offered an incentive (Silver membership for a small number of flights). It is a low cost exercise which I imagine would generate enhanced revenue for the company, and expand their customer base.

Would this attract others on these pages?

[eirtraveller]

The pictures of the new plane look fantastic.

Agree EI is making great strides having shed its “no frills” directive.

Gold Circle really needs to be improved – there are no practical benefits for the higher tiers – such as the ability to choose a short-haul seat free of charge etc – benefits that would really make a difference.

Terminal 2 also needs a dedicated Business/Gold Circle lane through US Immigration, as the queues can still be horrendous, great as Terminal 2 is.

As someone who has earned GC membership, I’m not keen on giving it away to lapsed members – as has been a point of discussion here regarding other FFPs. It just seems daft to me, you either earn these points or not.

[Travellator]

Great paint job.

But dont understand your comment about shedding its no frills directive ?

It is still pay pay pay for everything. Miniscule cabin baggage allowance and no european business class !

[NTarrant]

I used to like EI, but the low cost aspect has put me off using them. Thankfully I don’t have to go to Eire very much. At least at one time you had to pay for food but baggage and seat pitch was fine. Seat pitch last time I travelled was worse than Thomson Fly!

It is a shame that BA gave up LGW-DUB

[BusinessTraveller]

For anyone who hasn’t seen the “retrojet” livery, here’s our picture piece from earlier today:

http://www.businesstraveller.com/news/the-big-picture-aer-lingus-unveils-a320-retrojet

[eirtraveller]

Travellator – yes, I agree it’s still pay pay pay. However, they have been making changes that differentiate it from “no frills” airlines such as Ryanair and EasyJet. There is a FFP Gold Circle check-in in most airports, high-quality lounge access, a world-standard Terminal in Dublin (mainly reserved for EI) and priority boarding for Gold Circle members.

I remain hopeful they may introduce further benefits for frequent fliers.

It’s almost a miracle the airline has survived given the constant battle it has had since the 80s. In my opinion, as a business class traveller, the cabin crew are far superior to most any other airline – certainly it’s a far better experience than on BA/AA/UA/Continental/AF on average – as superior as some of those airline’s hard products may be.

The pitch in economy might not be great – but the seats are much newer than, say, BAs, and therefore feel as spacious if not more so. Certainly the new Recaro seats on the A330s are a much more pleasant experience than a BA 747 in World Traveller. And I’m not trying to open up any BA v EI discussion here, as it is a senseless argument.

[PatJordan]

eirtraveller – I agree that when one has earned a status in a FFP it can be irritating when others get there “on the house”. However, it can be a good way for an airline to attract new or lapsed business. There is of couse the risk of diluting the exclusivity by opening that particular door too open.

There is one benefit of charging for everything: it gives pax a choice. There are those who just want to hop on the plane and go from A to B. Others like to have a snack, drink or check in a bag.

On EI you can select a seat in the front rows (10euro), have a hot breakfast (9euro) and even lounge access (20euro). In essence the majority of the old business class benefits can be had for a reasonable price…it you want them.

Row 1 is my personal favourite as there is a massive space beween the seat and bulkhead (NTarrant might like this!).

[NTarrant]

Thanks Pat, I would but would not be willing to pay extra for something which should be standard.

Eirtraveller, I would agree that EI’s cabin crew are good and friendly, but I can’t agree about the seat. Even Flybe’s Q400’s have more comfort and leg room that EI. Even QF and NZ domestic services have more leg room and more comfortable seats.

It is a shame that they went down the low cost route.

[Travellator]

You would need to fly a huge amount to gain Gold Circle status and because it is EI only not much use.

Best plan would be for EI to rejoin OneWorld – it would attract me to fly with them from BFS, especially to LHR.
Then bump up the service levels on EU routes, more carry on allowance and seat selection.

[Author]

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