[Anonymous]

[PatJordan]

MCO-DUB (Business )

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 fly direct to Orlando from Dublin three days a week: Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. On other days, the routing is via JFK where one joins JetBlue, Aer Lingus’ codeshare partners. Through ticketing is available, but my wife and I prefer direct flights, so we chose this option.

This is the homebound leg of a return flight, and I was looking forward to a similarly good experience to that on the outbound.

We arrived at Orlando International Airport at 3.00pm for our 7.10pm flight. This is earlier that I would normally arrive, but there was a lot of speculation in Orlando newspapers that issues with the TSA might create delays with airport security, so we erred on the side of caution.

MCO is a very pleasant airport with very good shopping outlets and restaurants landside. Having a bit of time to kill before check-in and security was not too much of a hardship. One little detail to be aware of is that when getting a baggage trolley in MCO is the need to pay a $5 fee. When returned, there is a rebate of 25cents. A little expensive, but difficult to avoid if one has to drop off a rental car.

Aer Lingus have a number of check-in desks with a dedicated Business Class/Gold Circle desk. Aer Lingus’ handling agent in MCO is Servisair, and check in opened @ 3.10pm. Business Class passengers are allowed 3 checked in bags, which is very useful if one has taken advantage of the shopping (for which Orlando is noted). The agent who checked us in was very pleasant, quickly tagged our bags with “business class” tag and boarding passes issued within a couple of minutes. She also took the time to explain the location of the Lounge.

One of the benefits of Gold Circle membership is the use of the Fast track security lane in Dublin. Sadly, this does not apply in MCO and we joined the main queue which took only 15 minutes. My fears of delays thus were groundless!

Lounge (Orlando)

Aer Lingus passengers use United Club Lounge. This is located adjacent to Gate 48 which is in a different part of the airport from the Aer Lingus gates. Additional time is needed to get to and from this lounge.

It is situated on an upper level giving good views of the apron, comfortable seating and a reasonable range of newspapers and magazines. There is a business centre for those who need to work, and restrooms in the lounge.

Food is limited to cheese, crackers, savoury nibbles and fresh fruit. Hot beverages are self service, but all others are behind an attended bar. There is a range of alcoholic beverages which is complimentary, premium drinks are on sale. A generous glass of Champagne (Moet) is a reasonable $10, which I felt was good value.

Boarding

Boarding began at 6.30pm, with Business class and Gold Circle passengers being invited to board first.

The Airbus 330 was immaculate and cabin crew warmly welcomed passengers.
The Business Class cabin has 8 rows of seats, configured 2-2-2. Our allocation was 2H & 2K.

The seats are lie flat, have a pitch of 58” and 21” wide. The pairs of seats beside windows are ideal for those travelling together, as when the aisle seat is fully reclined, the window seat passenger has to climb over the other’s legs. Not ideal for solo travelers who are better off in the middle row where both seats have unimpeded aisle access. There is a privacy screen between each pair of seats which is easily raised or lowered. There is storage space in the seats for books, magazines etc.

Within minutes of boarding, jackets were hung in the wardrobe and pre-flight drinks offered: a choice of water, juice or champagne (Jean Pernet).

We opted for champagne which is served in Louise Kennedy Crystal glasses.

At this point, bottled water and amenity kits were given out, along with bottles of mineral water.

Inflight

The Captain gave a brief welcome and details of flight times, followed by a safety announcement. We pushed back a few minutes early and were airborne quickly. The projected flight time was 8 hours, with an expected landing time of 0745am (scheduled landing time was 08.35am).

Catering

The Aer Lingus website promises:

• The finest choice of restaurant quality food and drink available in-flight.
• Wines specially chosen and matched to each entrée to bring out the full flavour of the meal.
• All Business Class gourmet meals are served on custom made Crystal and Wedgwood China.

About an hour into the flight, canapés were served with a bar service. We again chose champagne, and commendably we were offered regular refills.

STARTERS:

California Salad: mesculin mix of baby greens, sliced English cucumber, yellow and red teardrop tomatoes, and topped with shaved carrot, served with a balsamic vinaigrette.

A selection of warm breads was also offered.

ENTREES:

Blue Cheese Crusted Fillet Beef: beef fillet crusted with a blue cheese bread crumb topping, accompanied by sweet potato Anna, and heirloom carrots. This is served with a truffle Madeira sauce.

Oregano Marinated Chicken Breast: a herb marinated chicken breast accompanied by a four cheese ravioli, topped with sundried tomato Alfredo sauce.

Grilled Salmon: a grilled salmon fillet, accompanied by fingerling potatoes Lyonnaise and asparagus. This is served with a citrus beurre blanc sauce.

Eggplant and Ratatouille: fresh vegetable ratatouille (zucchini, eggplant, squash and peppers, rolled in sliced eggplant, sitting on yellow squash. This is served with grilled Portabello mushrooms that are topped with a tomato and kalamata sauce, and accompanied by haricot vert.

DESSERTS:

Butter bread pudding: an individual pudding, served with warm vanilla crème.

CHEESE PLATE:

Fresh fruit and a duo of cheeses. Accompanied with biscuits

TEA or COFFEE

The food is served on a tray with crisp white linen, Wedgewood china and is superbly presented.

My wife opted for salmon, I had the beef. Both were superbly presented and delicious.

The butter bread pudding was as good as any I have ever had, including one memorable example in Anton Mossiman’s dining room in London.

About an hour before landing, a Continental Breakfast is served:, orange juice, a selection of warmed breads & pastries with butter and jam, yogurt and sliced fruit, along with hot beverage. A particularly nice touch is that the hot drinks were served in warmed mugs.

Entertainment

There is a good range of films, TV, Radio programmes on demand, but we didn’t take full advantage of this, opting instead to have a sleep after dinner. The seat reclines fully, and the dark blue duvets ensure a good sleep during the overnight flight.

We landed in Dublin almost an hour ahead of schedule (at 07.48), and after a short taxi were on stand.

Baggage Collection

As we were amongst the first off the aircraft, and as there was no delay whatever in going through passport control and then onto to the baggage collection area.

There was a short wait for the first bags to arrive. However, it was only a few minutes till the first bags appeared, and these were the business class bags. From leaving the aircraft to leaving the terminal building took only 20 minutes: this is very good indeed.

I had parked in the Dublin Airport Authority’s new surface car park. This is a short walk from T2, and while out in the open, it avoids boarding (with luggage) a shuttle to the satellite car parks and subsequent disembarking from the shuttle and trekking to one’s car. It is even more convenient than the covered car park beside T2, and well worth the fee paid (just under 10euro per day).

CONCLUSION

This was a most enjoyable flight. Aer Lingus Business Class is a high quality product, and our experience was enhanced by a very professional and pleasant crew. The food is well presented, of top quality and the seat very comfortable for the 8 hour flight. Well done to all concerned.

[NameRemoved-18/12/14]

Sounds wonderful Pat. I have never flown EI across the pond and, as others have mentioned, it seems like a very refreshing alternative.

[PatJordan]

Thanks Alex for the kind words.

Dont forget that with the current situation in US where arriving international flights are delayed as a result of TSA staffing issues, the US Pre-clearance ex Dublin means you avoid all the delays and proceed directly to baggage collection.

[LuganoPirate]

Sounds good Pat. I’m thinking about it for m upcoming NY trip. Checking fares now.

I had the pleasure of eating one of Mr. Mossimans B&P puds in Kuala Lumpur which he made especially for me when I told him it was one of my favourite deserts!

[FormerlyDoS]

According to the poster Sergeant Major, EI Premier seats are no better than some other airlines premium economy.

So Pat Jordan must be deluded – and also me, as I agree with his trip report conclusions and experiences.

[PatJordan]

LP, I know I’ve said it before, but US Customs pre-clearance ex Dublin saves a lot of time when arriving in USA.

FDOS, thanks for your post. I report as I find, as (I imagine) do many of us in the forum. Mind you, I look forward to trying Aer Lingus’ new lie flat seats: always good to see a policy of continuous improvement in place.

[FormerlyDoS]

EI will be even better with flat beds, coupled with pre-clearance on EI105, it’s a great way to get to NYC.

[Author]

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