Aer Lingus to San Francisco

Conway_Damien

Has anyone flown Aerlingus to San Francisco? was thinking of going to maui and using san fran as the stop in between. what was the service like on Aerlingus. Travel Agent suggests using united airlines out of london but that just adds time to the flight and the hassle of an xtra stop

Any thoughts

markf909

Conway_Damien wrote: »

Has anyone flown Aerlingus to San Francisco? was thinking of going to maui and using san fran as the stop in between. what was the service like on Aerlingus. Travel Agent suggests using united airlines out of london but that just adds time to the flight and the hassle of an xtra stop

Any thoughts

Its fine. Basic service on economy but the flight time of ~10 hours direct arriving around noon local time beats the old way of having to go BA via Heathrow (14-15 hours from Dublin) and arriving in the early evening IMO.

Conway_Damien

markf909 wrote: »

Its fine. Basic service on economy but the flight time of ~10 hours direct arriving around noon local time beats the old way of having to go BA via Heathrow (14-15 hours from Dublin) and arriving in the early evening IMO.

Cool...but are ya squashed in like on ryanair or have you a little more room. Have a bad back and sitting for long periods cramped would kill me

Alun

Personally I wouldn't fly United anywhere unless there was absolutely no other alternative. They must have the grumpiest, rudest cabin staff on the planet.

ardmacha

If you do not wish to be cooped up for long periods in a plane perhaps Hawaii is not the best place to holiday!!

Check out seatguru.com, most airlines have slightly more space on the long haul, some more than others. But United Economy and Aer Lingus seem to be the same unless you fork out for Economy Plus on United.

dmeehan

if you want the best service to san francisco then my first choice would be aer lingus it to heathrow and go with Virgin to SFO

i havent tried the aer lingus option (to SFO) but i think of aer lingus as a flying version of irish rail and should be avoided at all costs- the attitude of some flight attendants is of heavily unionised, i-have-a-job-for-life type dont give a **** about customer service

on the other hand virgin staff were great, with delta comming a very close second. i would easily recommend flying with either of these airlines to san francisco, from personal experience

Alun

My wife's travelled longhaul to the states many times with Aer Lingus and has never had any complaints regarding service.

Conway_Damien

Thanks guys,

Ardmhaca - i don't mind being cooped up as long as it is of reasonable comfort not the shoe boxesque arrangement of the ryanairs of this world...the reason for hawaii is a honeymoon and would like to go somewhere i am not likely to go again for a long time.

I know if want space then business on aerlingus will afford me that but not payin 3800 return to sfo for that privillage :eek:

For speed and convenience 16 hrs vrs 22 hrs i may still go with EI but gonna look at DELTA possibly toatlanta and there to muai

daymobrew

I did Dublin-SFO in 2005 on the way to Maui. We changed planes in Philly.

I've done Aer Lingus Dub-LA before that. It was grand and I preferred the 757 (or whatever the plane was) to the 747s I used to get going SFO/LHR with Virgin or United. I hated the extra time spent going via LHR. And getting US Immigration done in Dublin was more pleasant than doing it in SFO.

One thing I recommend - try spend a few days in SF to get somewhat over jet lag. On the way back we only stopped for a few hours (took guts of 2 days to go Maui-SFO, SFO/Philly/DUB) and it was very draining.

Enjoy - I love Maui (was much easier to get to when I lived in SF). I got married on a beach there.

Victor

Alun wrote: »

My wife .... has never had any complaints regarding service.

Is your wife cabin crew?

Alun

Victor wrote: »

Is your wife cabin crew?

No. It was a serious comment. Any reason why it shouldn't be?

Heroditas

Flew with Aer Lingus to LA earlier this year and absolutely no issues. Reasonably comfortable and pleasant apart from the screaming brats two rows ahead of us who deserved a slap.
I would rather travel Aer Lingus than go through Heathrow.
Travelling between terminals in Heathrow should be avoided. It's quite a trek.

The only thing with the San Fran trip with Aer Lingus is you go through immigration AFTER you land there, as opposed to getting it out of the way in Ireland when you fly to LA. So be prepared for a bit of a queue when you get to San Fran.

Hurley6969

I went to San Fran there a month ago, flew Are Lingus, no problems enough space to move, the only thing that was poor was going over I got a newer plane, screens in the head rest in front (was in economy), own head phones, you got to pick what you want to watch and when, good choice of films and tv shows, then comin home I got an older plane, drop down screens from millde aisle roof and forced to watch what was on. If it wasn for my mp3 player time would have dragged even more.
The actual plane was a deciding factor for me i got the 9 30 am (or around that time) flight on the monday morning if that helps.

markpb

dmeehan wrote: »

if you want the best service to san francisco then my first choice would be aer lingus it to heathrow and go with Virgin to SFO

I think Virgin fly from Manchester to San Francisco too, it might be an easier transfer than Heathrow. I would definitely recommend Virgin anyway, best trans-at carrier at the moment.

Conway_Damien

daymobrew wrote: »

I did Dublin-SFO in 2005 on the way to Maui. We changed planes in Philly.

I've done Aer Lingus Dub-LA before that. It was grand and I preferred the 757 (or whatever the plane was) to the 747s I used to get going SFO/LHR with Virgin or United. I hated the extra time spent going via LHR. And getting US Immigration done in Dublin was more pleasant than doing it in SFO.

One thing I recommend - try spend a few days in SF to get somewhat over jet lag. On the way back we only stopped for a few hours (took guts of 2 days to go Maui-SFO, SFO/Philly/DUB) and it was very draining.

Enjoy - I love Maui (was much easier to get to when I lived in SF). I got married on a beach there.

The plan is to stay in SFO for3 nights but can't decide whether to do it on the way ther or the way back...possibly the way there so as not to be wrecked when we get there

BTW where did yiu stay in MAUI...we have been looking at the westin or shearaton or the Fairmont Kea Lanai

Victor

Alun wrote: »

No. It was a serious comment. Any reason why it shouldn't be?

Sorry, just reading your post in a certain way suggests she would be on the receiving end of any complaints.

Alun

Victor wrote: »

Sorry, just reading your post in a certain way suggests she would be on the receiving end of any complaints.

OK, I see now :pac:

daymobrew

Conway_Damien wrote: »

BTW where did yiu stay in MAUI...we have been looking at the westin or shearaton or the Fairmont Kea Lanai

Each time there we stayed in a condo - Papakea Resort a little north west of Lahaina. PM me if you would like suggestions for that end of the island e.g Pacific'O restaurant for fine dining or Maui Tacos for lunch.

Conway_Damien

Thanks for the comments all

Wishbone Ash

I flew with Aer Lingus to SF in July and it was fine apart from a one hour delay outbound.

(The return plane was better equipped than the outbound one - i.e. personal screen for films/TV/music/games etc.)