[SwissExPat]

Aer Lingus AerSpace experience

Having experienced Aer Lingus (EI) over a number of years on basic fares, I was able to book an AerSpace fare (at a favourable price) for a trip from ZRH to DUB return with MrsExpat. We have previously experienced the EI base fare offering on this same route which was very cheap, involved no checked luggage and the requirement to check in your hand luggage.

AerSpace is at the opposite end of the fare structure. There are 2 intermediate fare structures above the very basic which are “Plus” which adds checked luggage and seat selection plus ability to bring your carry-on onto the aircraft therefore avoiding the need to queue to check in. An “Advantage” fare adds lounge access and fast track plus better refund/change conditions. AerSpace adds in front row seats with guaranteed unoccupied middle seat, designated overhead storage plus an included drink and food option. One could call it “business class minus a curtain”.
Essentially, AerSpace is almost a standard european business class offering minus a separate cabin and minus an extra 2nd checked bag. It seems that EI have largely unbundled the european business product so you can pick and choose what you require. This is to be welcomed because many PAX may have lounge access via some program (Priority Pass) or no need to check in luggage, so this product variation does serve a function.

We arrived at ZRH and checked in our bags. The Business check in was swift and I noted the 30-40 PAX queuing at the normal check in. Fast track worked well and soon we were in the Skyview lounge in ZRH which was useful given the 2-3 hour weather related delay. PAX with less than a “Plus” fare would need to check their 10kg hand baggage in so the extra over the base fare is essentially a fee to avoid this delay plus the wait at the other end which I assume some PAX do.
Priority boarding worked well, and we were soon in the front row with no issue with our overhead bags. The 2 hour flight was uneventful and we benefitted from the included food/beverage option. EI does not provide paper menu options (nor an inflight magazine) so one needs to download the .pdf before travel.

Arrival in DUB was at a gate in Terminal 1 (not EI’s main terminal) which involved a 10 min walk over to T1. Bags arrived in the middle of the general off-load so the priority bag tags made no difference (Quelle surprise!)
On the Return journey, we benefitted from the EI business check in at DUB (avoiding the main general queue) and the fast track was available but did not seem to be very quick relatively. Here was where the deficiencies of Dublin airport started to work against the Airline (i.e. beyond EI control). We used the EI Lounge which was comfortable and had what anyone would expect from a home airline base lounge. The issue was that our gate was (the infamous) 335. DUB is apparently not large enough for the home airline EI. The new Terminal 2 is (almost) largely reserved for EI long-haul and other long-haul carriers such as AA and EK. The European routes (judging by the departures board) are sometimes relegated to a separate building known as the “South Gates” which are only reached by bus. So you need to leave the lounge and then get a bus (with boarding card check) to another terminal where you wait to board the aircraft (by foot with no airbridge and again with a boarding card check). So, we needed to leave the lounge early to get to gate 335 and then get a bus to what is essentially a remote terminal. This we did and ended up waiting in what is a glorified hanger (no lounge but some snacks/drinks for purchase) for 20 minutes before walking to the plane.

The flight was fine, and the crew seemed to be quite attentive to us in the front row. I did want to charge my phone, but it seems that there were no in seat charging facilities on this EI A320.

An additional disadvantage for EI is that our flight did not generate any BA Avios or Tier points despite EI being owned by Int Consolidated Airlines (BA/IB). It seems that a decision was made some time ago to exclude EI from OneWorld and Avios accrual. EI run their own FF program but this is largely only of value to Irish Residents. Maybe this works but it did prevent me from considering EI as a connector airline for my USA flights. Recently, I noticed an EI flight from ZRH to USA via DUB in J (thanks to Skyscanner) which may have suited but I choose a BA/AA flight instead based in Tier/Avios accrual at a similar price point.

My conclusion is that AerSpace is a decent attempt to replicate a European premium product by re-bundling the main elements of a short-haul J product. The main constraint/problem is that DUB airport gets in the way of the delivery of this given the potential use of remote terminals which destroys the experience for PAX buying a premium product. Also not having in seat charging in this day and age could be problematic for some
Would I buy it again… Likely yes buy predominantly on an inbound flight to DUB but dependent on relative fares on both EI and other carriers (such as LX on this route). However, I have already booked EI Aerspace for a trip in May 2023 but returning via LHR with BA so one could count me as a partial Fan.

Occasionally I have been able to get a well-priced C fare (less than €200 one way) with Swiss whose offering on the route has been very consistent. Always with Swiss, the plane arrived and departed at a Terminal 1 gate (Non-EI terminal) using an airbridge which facilitates an easy arrival or a hassle free journey from Lounge to Gate for the return sector. This convenience/certainty has a value.

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Polly, PatJordan, cwoodward, MarkCymru, Tom Otley

[PatJordan]

A very good review of a product I have often enjoyed.

SwissExPat makes a very good point about BA Avios & Tier points for non Aer Club members: this is something I hadn’t realised.

AerSpace makes very good sense if flying on an Airbus Neo, however. The front rows are proper business class seats, which on an early morning or late evening flight might give a tired pax the bonus of an hours’ sleep!

Safe travels all,

Pat

[MarkCymru]

I enjoy Aerspace a lot too. The airport staff and crew are lovely. Dealing with Aer Lingus call centres or by email is somewhat less lovely: just hope you never have to try to get a refund on these allegedly fully-refundable fares.

The big disadvantage to Aerspace is no fast track outside Ireland (you can get fast track at Heathrow if you have Aerclub silver or higher, but Aerspace doesn’t give it to you and EI doesn’t encode it in the QR codes so you have to go to the T2 manual desk each time). There’s not even an option to buy fast track elsewhere. This leads to the absurd situation at many airports that Ryanair passengers can buy fast track while Aerspace passengers kick their heels for an hour in some massive security queue. It happened to me in Berlin last month

Lounge access is also hit and miss. I have Aerclub Concierge (the highest level) and I honestly have no idea where I have lounge access beyond Dublin, Shannon and Heathrow — I went to pay at a lounge in Geneva and was told that I didn’t need to. I’m still not sure if that was because of Aerspace or the Concierge card. You periodically get bizarre emails linked to Aerspace about needing to print out a lounge access coupon (a quaint touch), but these often refer to lounges that no longer exist — at CDG, for example. There’s not even any pretence of access at many airports that have a BA Club lounge

Sadly, this is all symptomatic of EI being the unloved stepchild of IAG. BA bought it to suppress competition on trans-Atlantic routes and has largely neglected it since.

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PatJordan

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