[Anonymous]

[PatJordan]

DUB-LGW-DUB(Economy )

Booking and check in

http://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: Fully flexible, Lowest and Plus. The Plus fare includes one free checked bag, complimentary seat selection and earns Gold Circle points. I chose this option.

Having made my booking, used the advance seat selection facility and chose 1D.Rows 6 and after are complimentary with the Plus fare. I opted to pay for the front row: an additional 5euro each way. I took advantage of the advance check in and printed my boarding pass within minutes of booking. This is an excellent facility, and one which is a real time saver if travelling with hand baggage: when arriving at the airport, all there is to do is go directly to security.

I also took advantage of the new pre-order meal service and paid for a cooked breakfast: a snip at 7.50euro, and most importantly guarantees a meal. Heretofore, a set number of meals were loaded, and there was always a chance of the breakfast being sold out. The service extends to beef of chicken salads on later flights. A voucher is generated for printing, and this is given to cabin crew during the flight.

I arrived at Dublin Airport Terminal 2 just after 6.30am for my 08.40am flight and proceeded straight to security. One of the benefits of Gold Circle membership is the use of the Fast track security lane. Unusually, on this particular morning it was very busy, and clearing the single security lane took almost 20 minutes.

There is a good range of shops and cafes, most of which open around 5.00am to cater for the early birds.

Lounge (Dublin)

The new Gold Circle Lounge in Dublin T2 is open to non members for 25euro, which can be booked on line or paid at the lounge. Gold Circle members can also bring additional guests for a charge of 250 Gold Circle Points. It is a large two storey area with good views of the apron. Lounge staff are always very welcoming, and this warm attitude extends to the ladies who restock supplies and clear tables.

There is a water feature which extends over two floors, and is impressive.

Upstairs is a quiet area and has shower suites, which is a vast improvement on the previous lounge in T1.

The food on offer early morning consists of:

• Fresh fruit
• Fruit salad
• Breads, scones, pastries
• Cereals
• Yogurts
• Cheese, crackers
• Muffins
• Savoury nibbles

A full range of soft drinks is available along with decent orange juice and coffee.

There is a good continental breakfast on offer, which alone makes a visit worthwhile

At this time of the morning, alcoholic drinks (except beers) were not on display. This is an unusual decision as many lounge guests may well be at the end of their day’s travels and would welcome a glass of something. I asked for a glass of red wine, and a very friendly lady was glad to help me.
Small bottles of still & sparkling water have been replaced with jugs of still water and large bottles of sparkling water. I imagine this represents a significant cost saving over the cost of small bottles. However, sparking water when opened quickly loses it’s fizz, particularly in a plastic bottle. I daresay the numbers of small bottles travelling in passengers’ bags played a part in this decision. However, amongst the small cans of mixers available is Soda water which hit the spot nicely.
Newspapers and magazines are available as well as internet access for those wishing to work.

Boarding

Whilst in the lounge, there was an announcement that due to poor visibility in London there were restrictions in place affecting inbound traffic. This had a minimal impact on my flight, but resulted in the cancellation of a Heathrow bound flight. In typical Aer Lingus fashion, passengers on the cancelled flight were offered seats on the Gatwick service. It appeared that this offer was accepted by many passengers. This is an excellent example of Aer Lingus delivering on their commitment of “great care from the ground up”.

Boarding was from gate 409, which is a short walk from the lounge. The cabin crew were very welcoming (as is the norm for Aer Lingus, and made frequent announcements asking passengers to place small objects under seats so as to leave overhead bins for larger cases. I was seated in row 1 and was delighted to note that the overhead bins were clearly marked “Row 1 only”. As it is obligatory to place all items in overhead bins in Row 1, ensuring that there is adequate storage space available is a nice touch.

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. This particular aircraft’s seats are grey leather with fixed headrests.

Inflight

The Captain gave a brief welcome, apologised for the delay, and details of flight times, followed by a safety announcement, which is now a recorded message instead of the senior cabin crew member speaking into the PA system.

Once cruising altitude was reached, the crew began the inflight service. This is a paid for service, and there is a good range of food & drink on offer. I had pre-ordered a breakfast. This has the advantage of guaranteeing a meal and not having to fumble for small notes/coins. The very efficient crew were aware of this, and even before I produced my email voucher, I was asked if I would prefer coffee or tea!

• Tomato & hash brown
• Bacon
• Black & white pudding
• Sausages
• Brown bread
• Coffee & orange juice

I thoroughly enjoyed the meal which was good value at 7.50euro.

We landed a bit later than scheduled, but this was not the fault of Aer Lingus. An airbridge was in place quickly and we deplaned. It is quite a walk to the arrivals hall in LGW South Terminal. For some reason, security staff collect boarding passes from passengers arriving from Ireland. I know of no other airport in the UK doing this.

RETURN
My return flight was scheduled for 7pm, and I arrived at Gatwick railway station at 5.15pm. It is a short walk to the South Terminal departures area. Security seemed to be busy, but there was an adjacent fast track area which was not manned but had a scanner for boarding passes. Not being sure whether my Gold Circle status granted access to this facility, I scanned my pass, and was pleased to find that the gate opened for me. There was a minimal queue, and I was airside within a few minutes.

There was an extensive range of shops, but being a little tired, I made my way to the No 1 Lounge. This is available to Aer Lingus Gold Circle members, but is open to all travelers for a fee.

The lounge staff were very pleasant and took the time to explain the facilities on offer. The lounge spans two floors, but the upper level was closing, so I chose a seat and had a look at the menu. There is a small range of complimentary food, and more substantial meals are available for a fee. I chose the fish finger sandwich, having read about it in other reviews. Three fish fingers with a choice if sauces in a nice bread roll, with a side of salad leaves. It was a smallish dish, but quite tasty.

Other food on offer was a poorly stocked salad bar, bread sticks, jars of shortbread, and a bowl of fruit. A jug of iced water was on the bar, with soft drinks and coffee hear the salad bar. Compared to their sister lounge in Manchester, the range, quality and amount of food on offer was disappointing.

Alcohol is available from a staffed bar. The basic range of drinks is complimentary, with premium drinks available for a price. I asked for a glass of red wine, which was very nice. I enjoyed two glasses while reading my book.

The lounge has excellent views of the runway and apron. I was pleased to see the Aer Lingus Airbus arriving at the gate, and shortly afterwards, I made my way to the departure gate.

BOARDING

As with the outbound flight, passengers boarded through an airbridge, and rearmost rows boarded first. As I was seated in row 1, I waited for the majority of passengers to board before getting on board.

On BOARD.

As always, the crew were very welcoming, and the interior of the aircraft was immaculate. As with the outbound flight, the storage bins above Row 1 were reserved for passengers seated in that row, and this is a great idea.

Before long, the door was closed, and the Captain outlined the routing and duration of the flight, with the crew giving their safety demonstration.
Once cruising altitude was reached, the crew began the Sky Deli service. I chose a chicken & stuffing sandwich which was generously filled, and quite nice. A can of lager washed it down, and I sat back, relaxed and enjoyed the remainder of the flight.

Shortly after landing, we were on stand, and the airbridge at the door very quickly. It was a short walk to passport control, and from there to the arrivals hall.

CONCLUSION

A very impressive return flight. Excellent on board service, which is the norm for Aer Lingus. The way in which Heathrow bound passengers were facilitated speaks volumes for the customer care ethos of the airline.

Aer Lingus have struck a good match between a low cost carrier model and offering a good level of service. This was a busy flight, and the number of frequent flyers seems to indicate that Aer Lingus has attracted a growing customer base.

The No.1 Lounge in Gatwick was a little disappointing, but in all fairness, it was late in the evening, and not too far from closing time.

Gatwick is an interesting alternative to Heathrow for London based travelers. The Gatwick Express takes 30 minutes to reach London Victoria, compared with 15 minutes on the Heathrow Express to Paddington. Both routes are served by regular commuter services also: Southern Railways from LGW to Victoria, The Tube from LHR to Central London. Depending on where the final destination is, Gatwick is a viable (and very pleasant) alternative to the sheer size of Heathrow.

[DanSaunders]

Very nice.

Do you have a template to cut and paste these together?

[FormerlyDoS]

Pat

Great review, as usual.

I am a big fan of Lingus and use them as much as poss.

Just wish they would start a flight to Malta, so I could cut out the other lot, when travelling up for EI105 to NYC.

[PatJordan]

Hi Dan & FDOS

Thanks for the kind words.

I don’t use a template as such, I use an earlier review for details of meal content, lounge food, etc. Apart from that, I write almost everything else. It takes a bit of time, but there would be little point in posting reports which are almost the same as each other.

[CXDiamond]

Thank you Pat, thorough as always. I wish I had the patience to write as you do.

[Author]

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