Might I just rant at Aer Lingus for a moment?

Manic Moran

Sorry.. I just need to vent.

I am trying to get back to Ireland just after the New Year. From one of the larger US metropolitan areas, and one which is a common destination for Irish folk.

Last time I did this, it was easy. Take the train to the airport, walk onto a fairly large green airplane, get off at the other end ten hours later or so. No muss, no fuss. And nice and affordable, too.

Now, Aer Lingus no longer flies from San Francisco. I'm looking at spending four figures for the privilige of a stopover somewhere. And Aer Lingus isn't in the picture, except maybe as a link from LHR.

WTF WERE YOU THINKING, EI!

'Twas a great service, and you got rid of it. Boo! Hiss!!! Bring it back!

[End Rant]

I now return you to your regularly scheduled Boardsdom.

NTM

Plowman

This post has been deleted.

Fighting Irish

I cant understand how people complain about companies trying to make as much money as possible

TheUsual

Can you not get an Air France flight to Paris and then a cheap flight to Ireland, or use London as a flight hub ? That's what I do.
And you can fly the local airline from Europe to Dublin. You don't have to fly Aer Lingus.

Also I have noticed that (Ryanair included) at Christmas time all the prices go up when everyone is travelling. Robbing bastards. Their planes are full and yet it cost's more.

donkey balls

Last time i used EI to the USA they had a code share with Jetblue have you tried that or even the likes of SWA to one of the destinations on the east coast.

FlutterinBantam

Have you looked at connex thru ORD?

munchkin_utd

lax to dublin is only 627 euros with bmi via LHR flying on jan 4th and jan 11th as a random example.
Whats wrong with that?

I nearly paid as much once to get to Stockholm from Germany (a journey that ryanair does for 50 return but they only fly 3 times a week, so crap for business trips)
if you want a c+nt of an arline then SAS are a real shower of b+stards, crap planes for an extortionate price

AfterDusk

TheUsual wrote: »

Also I have noticed that (Ryanair included) at Christmas time all the prices go up when everyone is travelling. Robbing bastards. Their planes are full and yet it cost's more.

Prices go up because demand goes up. The less seats there are available on the plane, the more expensive they become. But I don't see why, in thread about Aer Lingus culling US services, you decided to bring up Ryanair prices.

HarryPotter41

Manic Moran wrote: »

Sorry.. I just need to vent.

I am trying to get back to Ireland just after the New Year. From one of the larger US metropolitan areas, and one which is a common destination for Irish folk.

Last time I did this, it was easy. Take the train to the airport, walk onto a fairly large green airplane, get off at the other end ten hours later or so. No muss, no fuss. And nice and affordable, too.

Now, Aer Lingus no longer flies from San Francisco. I'm looking at spending four figures for the privilige of a stopover somewhere. And Aer Lingus isn't in the picture, except maybe as a link from LHR.

WTF WERE YOU THINKING, EI!

'Twas a great service, and you got rid of it. Boo! Hiss!!! Bring it back!

[End Rant]

I now return you to your regularly scheduled Boardsdom.

NTM

They still provide a service via JetBlue, so what were YOU thinking, ranting about something they still provide, just with a stopover.

phonypony

Other than the convenience of a direct flight, from bitter personal experience I would have to question anyone's motive for spending such a long flight on our 'national carrier'...

I would say continental/united is your best bet, they're about €625 for that route mid January SFO-DUB. 737/757 Maybe not as comfortable as an A330, but you get a walk in between and (IMO) a better service;)

edit: in fact for an extra €10 you could go from San Jose

DevL

Aer Lingus stopped DUB-SFO some time ago for cost reasons IIRC. I flew SFO-DUB via LHR during the summer on United. BA and Virgin offer the same service. Had a nightmare with United on the way home as the aircraft went tech and we had a long unscheduled stop in ORD, but stuff like that can happen with any airline.

If I was doing the route again I would try the following:

SFO-ORD-DUB with United and Aer Lingus
SFO-JFK-DUB with JetBlue and Aer Lingus
SFO-EWR-DUB with Continental and/or United

My reasoning is that it would be two shorter flights instead of the one exceptionally long flight (SFO-LHR). There is also something mentally unpleasant about flying over Ireland to have to connect back to Ireland.

cson

munchkin_utd wrote: »

lax to dublin is only 627 euros with bmi via LHR flying on jan 4th and jan 11th as a random example.
Whats wrong with that?

BMI are a super if not very punctual airline.

Top drawer in terms of baggage allowances, comfort and service.

Manic Moran

FlutterinBantam wrote: »

Have you looked at connex thru ORD?

Yes, that's a different issue. It seems that there's something the matter with EI's computer connections, what they are telling the travel sites like 'expedia' or 'orbitz' in the searches as regards availability don't actually match with reality. I spent quite some time on the 'phone over that one before giving up.

I cant understand how people complain about companies trying to make as much money as possible

Ask the lads at Enterprise Ireland what they think about the business prospects of a Bay Area to Dublin link. They might not have been making money because the flight was ludicrously cheap. I paid about $600 return, after fees and whatnot. I'd have paid $800 no problem, especially when the competitor links with stopovers were running as much if not higher.

Can you not get an Air France flight to Paris and then a cheap flight to Ireland, or use London as a flight hub ? That's what I do.
And you can fly the local airline from Europe to Dublin. You don't have to fly Aer Lingus.

You're still talking over a grand for that, plus an extra four hours transit time (2 hours flight from CDG on Cityjet, plut 2hr layover). I only get so much vacation, the less I spend sitting at airports the better. I'm sure that the lads at Intel, HP, or any other Silicon Valley corporation that has substantial assets in Ireland might have better things to do with their time as well.

lax to dublin is only 627 euros with bmi via LHR flying on jan 4th and jan 11th as a random example.

Convert Euro to Dollars, and add taxes/fees if not already added. Then add in cost of getting to LAX, and the added time of a second layover.

Still fighting it out. Unsure if I want to go United, Continental, or a long hop to LHR on Virgin. I think I prefer the idea of the longer flight, at least I get a meal for the first six hours as I cross the US, and there's less 'air time' as LHR is only an hour out from Dublin.

NTM

maggy_thatcher

The problem Aer Lingus had with the two west coast routes was that a round trip run took longer than 24 hours. This meant that two planes were required for the route rather than one that the other US routes manage with. In addition, the layover time for the crew was longer. Couple that with higher fuel costs, and these routes were substantially more expensive than the East Coast routes. When EI got code share agreements with B6 and UA, it was the final nail in the coffin for them.

BuffyBot

Ask the lads at Enterprise Ireland what they think about the business prospects of a Bay Area to Dublin link. They might not have been making money because the flight was ludicrously cheap. I paid about $600 return, after fees and whatnot. I'd have paid $800 no problem, especially when the competitor links with stopovers were running as much if not higher.

The problem is that they weren't selling it cheap because they wanted to, but because they had to. Discounting seats to fill them is all the can do. Cheaply filled seats are better then completely empty seats. If they could make $800 out of everyone, they would have been selling them at that price.

BuffyBot

Ask the lads at Enterprise Ireland what they think about the business prospects of a Bay Area to Dublin link. They might not have been making money because the flight was ludicrously cheap. I paid about $600 return, after fees and whatnot. I'd have paid $800 no problem, especially when the competitor links with stopovers were running as much if not higher.

The problem is that they weren't selling it cheap because they wanted to, but because they had to. Discounting seats to fill them is all the can do. Cheaply filled seats are better then completely empty seats. If they could make $800 out of everyone, they would have been selling them at that price.

basill

You should be venting your spleen at your fellow travellers rather than AL. Fact was that the loads were not great even at the best of times. Landing fees were also very expensive.

Unfortunately the low fare mindset seems to have spilled over to the average Irish punter on longhaul routes who would rather save a bit of cash and fly via a US hub and go around the houses rather than partake in a direct flight.

Whilst everyone screams from the hills how often they travel to the US West Coast or would do so if a direct service was offered the fact of the matter is that people didn't vote with their feet.

troposphere

http://www.jetblue.com/about/ourcompany/aerlingus/

Manic Moran

basill wrote: »

Unfortunately the low fare mindset seems to have spilled over to the average Irish punter on longhaul routes who would rather save a bit of cash and fly via a US hub and go around the houses rather than partake in a direct flight.

The kicker was that the direct price when I flew last was also a fair bit cheaper than any other route. I wasn't swimming in cash at the time, so it was a concern. I figured it was due to having to only pay one set of landing fees, service only the one airplane, and so on.

Other than the convenience of a direct flight, from bitter personal experience I would have to question anyone's motive for spending such a long flight on our 'national carrier'...

I don't know if it was the novelty of the direct flight, that the route was new enough that the AL staff (Ether aircrew or at SFO) hasn't become jaded yet, or because I got lucky and landed one of the most modern of the A330s, but I had no qualms with the flight at all, except maybe the food could have been a tad better. I found it the best long-haul I'd ever flown, outside of those paid for by the Army. On a psychological level, though, I just like those green airplanes. Good memories, as soon as I set foot in the cabin, no matter what country I'm in, I feel like I'm home. Kindof like that old advertisement.

http://www.jetblue.com/about/ourcompany/aerlingus/

Yes, well, looking there, that about says it all. Looking at my travel dates I could fly Air France/Delta, arguably both better airlines, for $400 cheaper, with a shorter door-to-door time. In the end, I paid $27 more than JB/EI were looking for, for the 'Premium Economy' seat on the SFO-CDG-DUB route. I'm 6'5, I'm willing to pay a bit for legroom. Just regular economy on the way back via ATL though, I'll see what Delta are charging for upgrades on the day.

I'm sure the marketing/sales people at EI have their reasons, but they seem strange to me.

The problem Aer Lingus had with the two west coast routes was that a round trip run took longer than 24 hours. This meant that two planes were required for the route rather than one that the other US routes manage with

Why were they fixated on such frequent service, though? Could they not have alternated SFO and LAX, for example? Solves both the overcapacity problem and the need for the extra airplane.

NTM

Tenger

Manic Moran wrote: »

I'm sure the marketing/sales people at EI have their reasons, but they seem strange to me.

Why were they fixated on such frequent service, though? Could they not have alternated SFO and LAX, for example? Solves both the overcapacity problem and the need for the extra airplane.

Fully see your frustration.

Did you look at United to ORD then EI to DUB? Mates of mine went to Stanford recently and they liked this route. Gave them a 2 1/2 hour layover to stretch and wander in ORD.
Business traffic is where the money is in aviation. And business travellers want frequency over cost. (EG if a meeting runs over they can easily rebook on the next days flight) To be taken seriously by business passengers EI have to offer at least 4 flights per week. Once you go into 2-3 times a week you are seen as a leisure/charter flight. So alternating SFO/LAX seems like a good idea to you and me, but not for the guy with a meeting in LA who has to fly DUB-SFO-LAX to get there. In addition you have to consider the airports. EI have to 'do a deal' with the airport. It could be based on a certain number of flights or an assumed number of passengers.

Lots of people (IDA, Enterprise Ireland etc) have complained about EI stopping LAX/SFO. It was based purely on economics.

Larger airlines (Delta, AF, BA) can afford to allow an underperforming route the cushion of letting it get back into profit. EI with only 8 longhaul aircraft need all their routes to make money.
If EI could make a profit from a West Coast flight they would be back in a heartbeat. The CEO has stated as much. If Enterprise Ireland or the like could block book a number of seats on each flight EI could restart it then the passengers apparently will 'flock to the route'.

Manic Moran

Business traffic is where the money is in aviation. And business travellers want frequency over cost. (EG if a meeting runs over they can easily rebook on the next days flight)

It seems to me that a 50% chance of a direct flight the next day vs a stopover is still more appealing to a businessman than the current 100% chance of a stopover flight.

NTM