What's your current favourite TAL carrier?

Nijmegen

Huge explosion in TAL routes, lots of new aircraft types on them and options for the discerning flyer to go for; from middle aged narrow 757s to brand spanking new wide 787s. I've been doing a lot of TAL flying of late, with a lot of connections as well as direct in both cabins. I've found myself surprised at what has and has not impressed.

I won't fly TAL connecting in Europe because I just think USPC is such a major bonus, which does mean missing out on some of the better new aircraft and cabin choices that go to London etc. But you can't beat doing the queue in a controlled way in Dublin at the energetic start of your journey, instead of a pot luck on the far end when you're tired. Arriving domestic makes life so much easier - I walked from my aircraft to a cab in Logan in less than 10 minutes including wait time for the bag and was in the bath in my hotel 40 minutes after landing.

So, of the current broad range of options out of Dublin what do you like and not like?

Aer Lingus has the home field advantage and direct route network. I've only flown their 330s, not including the ex-Qatar one that's been getting rave reviews (:rolleyes:) on its interior; never up the front as I find their pricing a bit too premium (on the above Logan trip, I flew Delta for 1.3k less return than EI was quoting me for the sake of a 40 minute flight to connect in JFK on the way home). Economy they've got the best food in my opinion and otherwise it's fine. The big disadvantage I find is they tend to connect with United, who have given me by far the worst connection experiences of my flying life; so if you need to go anywhere beyond their direct flights it's not my first choice. (Jet Blue, on the other hand, who I booked via EI about two years ago, are among my favourite US domestic carriers generally.)

Their rewards program is, frankly, crap; if you're flying TAL everyone can get into the 51st and Green lounge anyway and I'm not sure there's much benefit to you if most of your flying is north america. Status with the US3 obviously has further reaching consequences for lounges, upgrades, etc.

United as I mention have given me the worst connection experiences of my flying life. They once gave me 24 hours in IAD after they held my connecting plane on the ground for 1:45 while they waited for a non-crew staff member they needed to dead head. Talk about putting the internal over the customer in the most blatant way. Their network is good otherwise. Their crews are hit and miss in a big way - I got onto one flight out of Dublin, another pax asked a crew member to assist because someone else was in her seat; and the FA said "You can speak, can't you? Go talk to her." The look, the tone, the entire attitude was appalling and is symptomatic of what you can get with United.

In economy they're fine (I think the economy product is pretty standard across the US3 and EI, except American's 787 seat but that's a 787 problem). Business class they tend to fly their older product on all aircraft; but because of the advancements with Polaris that are fleetwide I actually find their business class hard product to be the best of the US3. If you request it you can get a mattress topper and an extra gel pillow that make a big difference.

Delta have the friendliest crews, I think. I've found them more customer centric in general than United. All three are developing their apps but Delta is the one that has wowed me the most of late - Auto check in and real time info about bags getting loaded or unloaded is really nice.

Economy, again, fine. Business I've been in 767 and 757 with them lately and the 757 is by far a better product - On the 767 they have this mad no storage setup, it's a pretty wide seat and everyone has aisle access but after that it's crap, the screen is actually smaller than the one they're putting into their new premium economy. The cabin is also pretty densely packed. On the 757 they're flying a 2-2 config, but otherwise the seat is much better, more storage, nicer surfaces, it's obviously been put in more recently; and a decent IFE screen.

The big shout out to Delta has to be their never expiring miles. Really like that setup.

American I've not had to connect on, I've only gone point to point and in the 787 to Chicago. Love that aircraft, hate those seats. The windows are genuinely amazing and the feeling of space when you get onto the aircraft is palpable. The hard product, not so much - Economy, 3-3-3, ohh my goodness what a seat. 17.3 inches is becoming pretty standard, but there's something about the design of the American ones on the 787 that is awful. This is a pretty common complaint to all operators I think, but the whole design is just more confining.

Their business class hard product to be honest didn't impress me all that much. United just spoiled me with their mattress topper, I found the seat to be quite hard. Sleep is what I put a premium on coming home and so that's what I'm going to call out most often. Nice IFE and there's a certain amount of novelty if you get one of the rear facing seats.

Their crews are fine... Certainly no United levels of sass. I obviously need to try their 330 experience.

That's it for my current experience, obviously there's a bunch more - the Icelandic carriers and Norwegian. There's the Canadian airlines too for that end of the woods - I've heard bad things about Rouge but ok things about Air Canada mainline for example.

I think point to point United would get my business up front and Aer Lingus down the back if the routes worked, but on connections Delta is my preferred carrier. (If you happen to be doing internal flights out of sequence though, Jet Blue has to be my favourite domestic).

Of course it's all deeply personal and somewhat experience based. What's your view of the current options available to us?

Noxegon

All of them are crap compared to the ME3...

trellheim

Don't Delta do 330's into Dublin any more ? I remember being on one to JFK a couple of years ago

Nijmegen

Noxegon wrote: »

All of them are crap compared to the ME3...

Yeah, but Dublin-Dubai-New York is a bit of a slog!

mikel97

Norwegian is my and lots others favourite for Low Fares and Easiness. But I will give AL a go when Im on the staff travel in the coming months.
Giving Wowsair a try soon to LA

Kev11491

Aer Lingus or Virgin Atlantic. Found both excellent in economy with regard to service, food and entertainment.

Captain_Crash

Controversial choice coming up here... but pre-merger AA top the bill for me.

nsa0bupkd3948x

I always take United to the States, find connecting in EWR perfect. Not the biggest fan of their domestic 772 on the route but normally get to snag 41C/J which makes a big difference. Avoid EI if at all possible unless taking advantage of the Avios sweet spot business to Boston/New York.

Although favourite is Ethiopian to LA, no pre-clearance which is a big plus for me. Can't stand pre-clearence in Dublin, last 10 times its been shorter in states then in Dublin.

Tenger

Noxegon wrote: »

All of them are crap compared to the ME3...

That may be a factual statement but the OP is asking about Transatlantic carriers. Its a different market and level of customer expectation. I think this is validated by the fact that United use their 'Domestic' B777s on US-Irelnd routes and that their is no 1st Class on Ireland-US sectors.

Captain_Crash wrote: »

Controversial choice coming up here... but pre-merger AA top the bill for me.

I dont have the level of experience as the OP but yes, that is pretty controversial!

Noxegon

Tenger wrote: »

That may be a factual statement but the OP is asking about Transatlantic carriers. Its a different market and level of customer expectation.

It is a different market but I’d take issue with the suggestion that customer expectation is different.

I put it to you that if any carrier put an EK-type service on DUB-JFK they would do very well.

revelman

I know this is a question about Dublin but within the last 12 months I have flown United, AA, Aer Lingus, and Delta from and to Shannon and Norwegian from and to Cork. Up to last year my standard way of going over was United though I did use Air Canada once or twice.

According to my most recent experiences, I would rank them as follows:

1. Delta
2. Norwegian
3. Aer Lingus
4. American Airlines
5. United

I don't there there is a big difference between the top four but, in my opinion, the gap between 4 and 5 is massive. Maybe I've flown too much with them but I do everything I can to avoid United.

I flew Delta most recently. I was extremely impressed. Brand new 757-200, great inflight entertainment equipment that actually worked, friendly and helpful staff, good food, lots of little touches even in economy e.g. warm hand towels distributed, good quality pillow and blanket.

nsa0bupkd3948x

revelman wrote: »

I flew Delta most recently. I was extremely impressed. Brand new 757-200, great inflight entertainment equipment that actually worked, friendly and helpful staff, good food, lots of little touches even in economy e.g. warm hand towels distributed, good quality pillow and blanket.

Boeing stopped making the 752 around 2004. Shows you how good Delta are at keep the interiors fresh.

This also shows you how subjective it is. I rank United the highest out of the the TATL, you avoid it at all cost.

Captain_Crash

Tenger wrote: »

I dont have the level of experience as the OP but yes, that is pretty controversial!

Haha it is yeah, Ive only flown the following airlines TATL tho, and do rank them closely.



EI, BA, CO, AA, US

revelman

Joyce Black Thimble wrote: »

Boeing stopped making the 752 around 2004. Shows you how good Delta are at keep the interiors fresh.

This also shows you how subjective it is. I rank United the highest out of the the TATL, you avoid it at all cost.

Yes, the interior was brand new - beautifully decked out.

Perhaps with United there is a different experience flying from Shannon compared to Dublin - I don't know what planes they use from there? But have you not noticed really unhappy staff with United? I must have flown with them 20 times and they never even came close to what I experienced with Delta. But maybe it is all subjective as you say.

nsa0bupkd3948x

revelman wrote: »

Yes, the interior was brand new - beautifully decked out.

Perhaps with United there is a different experience flying from Shannon compared to Dublin - I don't know what planes they use from there? But have you not noticed really unhappy staff with United? I must have flown with them 20 times and they never even came close to what I experienced with Delta. But maybe it is all subjective as you say.

They have the 772 on the EWR flight and 752 to ORD/IAD. Preferred the 772 when it was 9 across, but don't mind the domestic one apart from being 10 across. Wifi is good and no IFE means no boxes under seat and people poking the back of the seats.

Staff can be slightly hit and miss but overall find them pleasant.

nim1bdeh38l2cw

Are United any better TAL from Heathrow?

Marcusm

Joyce Black Thimble wrote: »

Boeing stopped making the 752 around 2004. Shows you how good Delta are at keep the interiors fresh.

This also shows you how subjective it is. I rank United the highest out of the the TATL, you avoid it at all cost.

It’s probably a routing thing. UA ex SNN May be much worse than ex-DUB. Ex-DUB, AA has much better planes on PHL and CLT ( ex-USA330s) than on JFK (757 where even the refitted business class is not good).

incentsitive

I last year flew on a AA flight where the plane was 30+ years old (at a guess), the window beside me (internal part) was falling out of its frame, my sole wish throughout the flight was that it would stay airbourne to get us across the Atlantic. It was absolutely awful.

Tenger

Noxegon wrote: »

It is a different market but I’d take issue with the suggestion that customer expectation is different.

I put it to you that if any carrier put an EK-type service on DUB-JFK they would do very well.

I 100% agree with you pn that last point.
But I feel that the current operators are looking at each others product abd figuring out what they have to do to remain competitive.
'Customer expectation" may be an awkward phrase.
EG. Lidl and Aldi are competing with Dunnes and Supervalu in most Irish towns. They arent trying to compete with M&S as M&S arent there. (Awkward analogy perhaps)

Noxegon

Tenger wrote: »

I 100% agree with you pn that last point.
But I feel that the current operators are looking at each others product abd figuring out what they have to do to remain competitive.
'Customer expectation" may be an awkward phrase.
EG. Lidl and Aldi are competing with Dunnes and Supervalu in most Irish towns. They arent trying to compete with M&S as M&S arent there. (Awkward analogy perhaps)

The world would be a better place if M&S was there

I cannot be the only customer who would gladly pay a 20-30% premium for a higher grade of economy product across the Atlantic. Right now if I want that I have to fly via LHR.

Tenger

I too am surprised that a Premium economy or even Economy Plus hasnt made an impression. Instead we see TATL carriers introducing these Y- fares to compete with Norwegian and WoW.

Noxegon

Tenger wrote: »

I too am surprised that a Premium economy or even Economy Plus hasnt made an impression. Instead we see TATL carriers introducing these Y- fares to compete with Norwegian and WoW.

There seems to be a collective assumption among the vast majority of the airlines serving Ireland that the only thing that matters is price.

Nijmegen

revelman wrote: »

Yes, the interior was brand new - beautifully decked out.

Perhaps with United there is a different experience flying from Shannon compared to Dublin - I don't know what planes they use from there? But have you not noticed really unhappy staff with United? I must have flown with them 20 times and they never even came close to what I experienced with Delta. But maybe it is all subjective as you say.

The interior on the Delta 757 is excellent, I was so disappointed when I got onto the 767 in JFK for the ride home. Shows you the value when connecting of paying more attention to the specific frame flying the route.

United FAs can be very hit or miss, but when they're miss, man, they are dogs. You can see very much how they're the airline that beat the crap out of a guy.

Are United any better TAL from Heathrow?

They fly their proper Polaris product from there, but the 772s with it move to 10 abreast in economy which is just awful, awful, awful. 242 seats vs 221 in their previous config of the same aircraft. More seats packed in isn't a United only problem, as I mentioned basically all new aircraft like the 787 and A350 are negating their big window, fresh air advantage by having seats that shave off shoulder room and cram you in in new and innovative ways.

There seems to be a collective assumption among the vast majority of the airlines serving Ireland that the only thing that matters is price.

People vote with their feet in the airline business. We might complain about 10 abreast 777s but that's what people will accept for a cheaper ride. Helps that in Ireland they can also fly some of their domestic transcon birds that don't tend to have the top of the bus materials. (If only JetBlue would start flying their Mint suites across the Atlantic...)

Noxegon

Nijmegen wrote: »

People vote with their feet in the airline business. We might complain about 10 abreast 777s but that's what people will accept for a cheaper ride.

But again, those of us who want to pay more do not have the choice.

I go to Singapore every eight weeks, and to the best of my knowledge I do not have an option that will get me there with a single stop at around the half way point that doesn't involve a 10-abreast 777.

If I had one, I'd use it.

If I had a premium economy option, I'd use it.

BigMoose

Qatar only have 9 across their 777s but as they fly a 787 out of Dub I guess that doesn't help! Only done Singapore on Emirates and as you say, 10 abreast until you get the A380

As for TAL, I've had very mixed experiences with Delta (was Gold with them so was my first choice TAL for a few years) - new interiors are nice, but get an old one... Only had awful old aircraft with AA so dont even look at them. United, only ever flown single aisle TAL which I didn't like for that distance so dont bother to look, maybe I was unlucky. I dont mind EI if east cost. When I flew the family this summer chose them. But agree, certainly for work travel, if there was an ME3 quality option, I'd take it.

cson

In the past 2 years I've done a decent spread of these from various eastern US cities
EI: IAD-DUB x2
AA: PHL-SNN, PHL-DUB, JFK-DUB
UA: IAD-DUB x2, EWR-SNN
DL: JFK-DUB, JFK-SNN, ATL-DUB
Thoughts; NYC is a pain in the arse no matter which airport you fly from; EWR marginally better than the ****show that is JFK. Problem for me is all the SNN flights originate out of JFK (or BOS). Out of Ireland SNN is an absolute dream - helps that the Boru lounge is Priority Pass too. Of the other Airports I really like PHL. I think pre clearance has lost its edge in DUB, its just too busy these days and way more stressful than it used to be - much of a muchness clearing stateside vs DUB nowadays imo.
Of the carriers (all in Y class); the EI 757 product is a shambles tbh - considering they use aircraft with a similar profile to United how it can be consistently so bad is mind boggling. In contrast the United 757s tend to be decent in my experience, agree with the staff being probably the worst of the bunch. AA don't give a **** about the product to Ireland so you basically get domestic quality with no IFE (doesn't bother me, I prefer my own iPad with its curated content). That being said my best TATL experience was on an AA A330 out of PHL so there you go! Delta are probably the best across the board though, a very reliable product, no direct's from Ireland to my usual city though so I don't use them as often. Their A330 & A350's are probably best in class imo.
I've LHR, AMS & CDG on some of the above plus a couple others and the get far better aircraft than we get in Ireland for the most part.

Lapmo_Dancer

From a business class perspective, EI’s 330 product is the market leader, especially the seat, catering and crew in premium cabin.

Someone mentioned the ME3. I’d put EI’s business class head of EK’s 777 business class. EK wins with their economy product and their business product on the 380. And they obviously offer a First Class.

EI’s 757 is a different story.

goingnowhere

I've had the misfortune to fly BA TATL many times and its gone downhill. Crew random, food dire and the aircraft age and condition questionable, 787 seats are horrible. It was great once upon a time. What do you mean I have to pay to select a business class seat (do you want to fly backwards stuck in the middle, no thanks), LHR no thanks.

EI is a mixed bag, the biz class offering, if you are traveling alone and get one of the solo seats is ahead of the competition (food varies from excellent to ok), economy was great, then was rubbish and is now back to being good, the food was improved considerably in the last two years. The IFE choice is poor, KLM use the same equipment but a way better offering, BA somewhere in the middle.

Would much rather a A330 over the 757, 767, 777, 787, much more roomy feel and more overhead space, plus it looks so much better than the 1980's 777 interior which the 787 seems to have been dumped with.

Delta is probably the best overall operator, having seriously lifted its game in recent years, its probably the best of the legacy US carriers, but EI's route network and its pricing gives it a huge advantage as direct with bad onboard experience can be worth avoiding making connections (and dealing with the TSA...)

x567

I find the airport experience as important as the airline. I try to depart and arrive back to Shannon if possible; the airport is a dream to get through (despite the recently-added slalom queue at passport control) and US pre-clearance usually fast and efficient. The seasonality of most of the flights doesn’t always make this an option however.

Of the airlines, I favour EI, mainly for the staff and service (usually in J class) and I quite like the 757s they use from SNN. Of the others I’ve used BA, AA, Delta, Virgin and AC for TATL (excluding now defunct or merged carriers), and find them to be much the same in terms of overall service quality. If I have to go via the UK (for timing or destination reasons) I’d generally pick BA via a T2/T5 transfer, which is usually pretty efficient and I get into a decent lounge in T5. I haven’t had cause to try United in recent years. None of them come close to QR if heading the other way.

I’ve flown TATL on 747s, 757s, 767s, 777s, 787s, 330s, 340s and 380s (and further back on DCs/MDs and Tristars) and favour the Airbuses these days for the cabin experience, particularly the 380.

The other factor is transfer experience at the other end, where I’d favour AA (for Oneworld reasons), Jetblue and Delta (or Porter for nearby Canadian destinations accessible via BOS). They all tend to be tainted by the US airports however, which aren’t my favourite places. La Guardia is a particular favourite place to avoid, although seems to be being redeveloped at the moment.

The one thing I’d personally like to see EI do to improve their overall offering to the TATL business traveller is to re-join Oneworld, properly. It would be a nice-to-have if they could bring this off without having to sever their Jetblue ties, but I guess that’s unlikely...

Stephen Strange

Just on the point above, has AL food improved much lately? Flew DUB-JFK 2 years ago and the food was so bad both directions that it was inedible.

BigMoose

Completely agree re EI joining a decent group frequent flyer program. Most annoying thing with my job is I do a lot of trips to Malaysia and a few to the US, but short of using Delta and KLM I end up splitting my travel between EK and EI. Since it’s all mostly economy the status is important to me!

I agree also re the EI business experience on the 330s V EK on the 777s. EK have crammed one too many seats in, Qatar have one less on their 777s and offer a much better experience. If EI were in Oneworld I’d move my east bound travel to Qatar and stick to EI for US.

HTCOne

Noxegon wrote: »

All of them are crap compared to the ME3...

Just shows how subjective it all is. I flew via DXB with EK a few times in the last few years in both Y and J and I considered both inferior to the EI A330.

The 10 abreast seating on the 777 results in me ending up in agony after a few hours in economy and the J seat does not lie fully flat (despite them saying otherwise)hence why there’s a foldout stand that you literally have to stand your feet on to stop sliding out of the bottom in your sleep! Also they don’t do amenity kits in J anymore, even on the A380 (which is a fabulous experience in both Y and J).

EY are going down the toilet, have stop investing in their cabins and service.

As regards TATL, I’d imagine it’s probably SQ on the 380 or 350. Only tried them heading east but top notch. Maybe NZ too, heard rave reviews about their product.

BA the worst, by far. The club world or whatever J is called is a complete joke. Seats uncomfortable, no storage, you’re staring into a strangers face the whole time and there’s nowhere to put anything.

Noxegon

HTCOne wrote: »

The 10 abreast seating on the 777 results in me ending up in agony after a few hours in economy and the J seat does not lie fully flat (despite them saying otherwise)hence why there’s a foldout stand that you literally have to stand your feet on to stop sliding out of the bottom in your sleep! Also they don’t do amenity kits in J anymore, even on the A380 (which is a fabulous experience in both Y and J)..

Sure they do. I got one two weeks ago on DXB-SIN.

BigMoose

I recently did DUB-DXB-AKL in EK J and got 3 out of 4 amenity kits - they dont do them on what they consider a day flight.

HTCOne

Noxegon wrote: »

Sure they do. I got one two weeks ago on DXB-SIN.

Well I didn’t on 4 separate trips during the summer, maybe they just hate me.

Anyway I think it’s all subjective, for example if you get a great crew vs a not so great one, that’ll hugely shape your impression

Blut2

I've done transatlantic economy on all of American/Delta/United/Aer Lingus regularly, and business class semi-regularly on Aer Lingus, American and United over the last 10 years. And a few connecting flights via AMS/LHR on other carriers. In that time I think:

- Preclearance in Dublin is fantastic. Its just too much of a crapshoot arriving in the US to clear immigration there, in terms of possible wait times. And much more unfriendly border agents. Its always worth paying extra to fly direct from DUB just for this, even regardless of the additional significant time savings in travel/connection time.
- Delta are overall the best of the US carriers
- EI have by far the best customer service and cabin crew attitudes
- EI's business class in the last few years has really stepped up. Its almost at ME3 quality on-board these days, significantly ahead of the American carriers
- EI's frequent flyer program however is also by far the worst of any long haul airline I've ever experienced. I really don't know how they can be messing this up so badly in this day and age.

Given all of that I always advise casual/holiday flyers to fly EI if they ask me. But its hard to advise anyone whos going to be flying over regularly for business to do so, despite the high quality product, just because of the awful AerClub.

nsa0bupkd3948x

The above post shows you how subjective it is.

In my experience:

I pay extra to avoid mid morning pre-clearance at Dublin. Maybe I've been really lucky in the States but unless I'm on one of the first flights I'll avoid pre-clearance. 147 to SFO pre-clearance was miserable. Boiling hall and over an hour.

EI business soft product is distinctly average. Hard product is good but service is nowhere near ME3. It's a good use of avios but that's it.

EI customer support is the worst of any airline I've traveled including Ryanair and the only 1 star airline...

Blut2

^I should probably emphasize the almost qualifier more there in that line about EI transatlantic business class coming near ME3 quality. Its not really at ME3 level, but its just closer to the ME3 than to some of the very poor business class flights I've had on American carriers in the last few years. Flying business class transatlantic on US Airways in 2014 was one memorably bad example - I thought it closer to premium economy on a non-American airline in terms of amenities/comfort/service onboard than a real J service.

Agreed that it can be very subjective though, and/or even vary massively in individual experiences depending on the cabin crew, age of aircraft etc.

Disagree about pre-clearance in DUB though. Even ignoring the variability of clearing immigration in the US, doing it in DUB and taking an onwards domestic connection in the US is still far quicker flight/connection time-wise than connecting via LHR/CDG/AMS/etc for most journeys in my experience. And obviously flying direct from DUB if possible is always much faster than any European connection.

I do think theres a certain knack to timing it just right in DUB to miss the crowds too though, which can make a big difference.

Nijmegen

Nobody really flies premium economy out of Dublin, do they?

I know there's two schools of thought re: J - That you fly daytime to get your monies worth or nighttime to get a kip on the red eyes back home, and I fall into the latter camp. So for me I don't mind economy on the way over daytime to the east coast at least, I read a lot or work and splash out for an exit row seat. I'd be interested in trying a premium economy as there seems to be a lot of push in this space among the US3 at least.

USPC have cleared out all of the machines they had downstairs that you could use if you'd traveled on your esta before. I wonder is that a temporary or a permanent thing? The queues seemed a lot longer without them, but that might just have been luck of the draw.

steve-o

Nijmegen wrote: »

Nobody really flies premium economy out of Dublin, do they?

Transatlantic, AA have it to Philly, Charlotte (and Dallas next summer). Air Canada to Toronto and Vancouver.

Tenger

Joyce Black Thimble wrote: »

............
EI customer support is the worst of any airline I've traveled including Ryanair and the only 1 star airline...

Thats a pretty niche badge of honour!
Referring to your Air Koryo travel, that would be an experience.

nsa0bupkd3948x

Tenger wrote: »

Thats a pretty niche badge of honour!
Referring to your Air Koryo travel, that would be an experience.

Yup, Flew them FNJ - PEK. No way they deserve just one star - purely political

Nijmegen

steve-o wrote: »

Transatlantic, AA have it to Philly, Charlotte (and Dallas next summer). Air Canada to Toronto and Vancouver.

Great tip, I must try AA.

Duff

Has anyone used Ethiopian Airlines for TAL flights? Flying with them to LAX in a few weeks and wondering what their service is like?

nsa0bupkd3948x

Duff wrote: »

Has anyone used Ethiopian Airlines for TAL flights? Flying with them to LAX in a few weeks and wondering what their service is like?

Yup, I've used them a few times both east and west. Flight to LAX was good, good food, good beer and friendly staff. No pre-clearance in Dublin which is an advantage/disadvantage depending on your opinion.

The Veteran

Joyce Black Thimble wrote: »

Yup, I've used them a few times both east and west. Flight to LAX was good, good food, good beer and friendly staff. No pre-clearance in Dublin which is an advantage/disadvantage depending on your opinion.

No preclearance but then ET gets into LAX as one of the first (if not the first) international arrival of the day. If you’re on an EU passport you’ll be through in a few minutes. Also they tend to be generous on the hand luggage side of things. It’s an early morning start going west and you are back in here for around 6pm so you need to sleep going west as you arrive around 08:30 into LAX.

castie

BigMoose wrote: »

Completely agree re EI joining a decent group frequent flyer program. Most annoying thing with my job is I do a lot of trips to Malaysia and a few to the US, but short of using Delta and KLM I end up splitting my travel between EK and EI. Since it’s all mostly economy the status is important to me!

I agree also re the EI business experience on the 330s V EK on the 777s. EK have crammed one too many seats in, Qatar have one less on their 777s and offer a much better experience. If EI were in Oneworld I’d move my east bound travel to Qatar and stick to EI for US.

Can't you do BA and earn avois on Qatar and EI flights to one account then?

BigMoose

castie wrote: »

Can't you do BA and earn avois on Qatar and EI flights to one account then?

Good question - never quite got my head around avois as I lost my EI status when they changed from gold circle... Should check that out. Although BA prices seem rather erratic, they can be very competitive but sometimes are crazy expensive to the point work might give out.

micosoft

Stephen Strange wrote: »

Just on the point above, has AL food improved much lately? Flew DUB-JFK 2 years ago and the food was so bad both directions that it was inedible.

SFO-DUB flight in Business recently and the breakfast was inedible. Not just me. The FA asked me as everyone else had handed it back quarter eaten.

micosoft

Joyce Black Thimble wrote: »

The above post shows you how subjective it is.

In my experience:

I pay extra to avoid mid morning pre-clearance at Dublin. Maybe I've been really lucky in the States but unless I'm on one of the first flights I'll avoid pre-clearance. 147 to SFO pre-clearance was miserable. Boiling hall and over an hour.

EI business soft product is distinctly average. Hard product is good but service is nowhere near ME3. It's a good use of avios but that's it.

EI customer support is the worst of any airline I've traveled including Ryanair and the only 1 star airline...

So the flights vary in quality. The 757's are ratty but the 330 is a fine business product from the West Coast.

But regardless of the flight experience I think we can all subjectively agree that AerClub is the worst customer service by any airline. Badly designed. Badly supported. And like you I include Ryanair. Despite having access to the "concierge" line (what a misnomer) I have found out of 14 calls I was given the wrong information or actions I asked were not acted on 12 times. Likewise their email address have agents who refuse to read what is being asked before responding (which is typically a link to the website). I'm struggling to think if you could deliberately design a worse service....

Blut2

micosoft wrote: »

But regardless of the flight experience I think we can only subjectively agree that AerClub is the worst customer service by any airline. Badly designed. Badly supported. And like you I include Ryanair. Despite having access to the "concierge" line (what a misnomer) I have found our of 14 calls I was given the wrong information or actions I asked were not acted on. Likewise their email address have agents who refuse to read what is being asked before responding (which is typically a link to the website). I'm struggling to think if you could deliberately design a worse service....

I recently had the joy of being told by two different AerClub employees that they themselves couldn't help me, but to contact X who would be sure to help me. After doing this twice the third person I emailed didn't even bother to reply to fob me off, they just ignored my email completely.

In direct contrast to that I was also livechatting recently with a BA agent about an issue, which she did her best to solve but was unable to - but she at least didn't immediately fob me off by telling me it wasn't her responsibility. But then a week later I got a follow-up email from her out of the blue, telling me that she had gone off and investigated it further and found a solution for me.

Its really just consistently surprising how bad AerClub can be. I wish IAG would just scrap it and absorb EI fully into BAEC.