aer lingus or united for direct to dublin?

[Anonymous]

Economy class - which would you choose? Traveling with whole family.

I worry with aer lingus if there is a problem its a smaller airline and wont have a plane to sub in. But I think they have an expedited customs arrangement which could be useful.
But united might be better able to handle any need to rebook if there is a weather cancellation etc.

Any inputs?

[Anonymous]

United
Because there is a chance Americans will have to come back quickly

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:United
Because there is a chance Americans will have to come back quickly

uhhhh....why?

[Anonymous]

I was on the Aer Lingus flight on Thursday night from IAD to DUB that had to divert to Boston. Which they said was one of their largest "hubs" in the US, but it's all relative -- they didn't have the ability to swap out planes so we all spent the night in Boston and had to rebook for Friday (or in some cases, Saturday). Aer Lingus ground staff were lovely about hotel arrangements but they did not provide any help with rebooking, and the automated system was even worse -- it rebooked us for the Friday flight from IAD to DUB, but of course we were in Boston thanks to the diversion. We did get that sorted out and made it to Dublin early this morning, but we still lost a day of our quick trip to Dublin. If price is close I would go with United.

[Anonymous]

United baggage fees are insane not sure about aer lingus

[Anonymous]

There is zero difference in customs, not sure what you meant by that. All flights have to use the same passport control/customs process. When you come back from Dublin, all US bound planes use the same concourse for departures, because of the US preclearance facility there. We flew back years ago on United and Aer Lingus flights departed from the next gate over.

I'd say probably United because it will give you more overall options in terms of delays/cancellations if they happen. Obviously on the outbound, good to leave from a United hub, means United better able to shuffle things around, if there are issues- but of course they don't just have extra planes sitting around. On the return, Dublin obviously Aer Lingus' hub, but they don't have that big an operation overall, and and best would be able to say send you to New York or Newark if things went wrong on your flight. United has 5 flights a day from Dublin, so they would have some options possibly to shift you to, if there is space available, and then of course connection options to get home.

[Anonymous]

Depending on when you’re flying, I’ve seen some much better prices on Aer Lingus compared to United. Like half the amount.

[Anonymous]

I like Are Lingus. I just flew with them. No issues. They were very nice. Food was surprisingly good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Depending on when you’re flying, I’ve seen some much better prices on Aer Lingus compared to United. Like half the amount.

PP above who said United for more capacity if issues develop. Aer Lingus is generally an okay airline operationally, so yeah if you are saving hundreds more per person I'd say that is worth it.

[Anonymous]

Are Lingus if economy and flying from anywhere on east coast.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Economy class - which would you choose? Traveling with whole family.

I worry with aer lingus if there is a problem its a smaller airline and wont have a plane to sub in. But I think they have an expedited customs arrangement which could be useful.
But united might be better able to handle any need to rebook if there is a weather cancellation etc.

Any inputs?

I've flown Aer Lingus for 2 roundtrips this year. Mostly bc it was the cheapest out of Dulles.
We had a situation where a storm came thru Dulles while I was sitting at the gate (I despise August travel but I digress) and the incoming flight was diverted to Philly where the crew timed out. Rescheduled for 24 hours later on Lufthansa and a connection in Heathrow instead of direct to Dublin. There are no backup planes.

That being said I just flew them in December on a connection- same flight actually to Dublin, and all was good and all was good coming home. Coming home out plane was only 3 days old and was actually quite nice. I find the food disgusting but...I would say if it's August think twice. Otherwise, I would probably do it again. The August prior I had a similar situation and American was able to move planes around from Dulles to DCA and we got a plane to fly (late but still had a plane).

[Anonymous]

I just flew Lingus to Dublin in August because it was the cheapest direct option. I had no problems and the flight wasn’t full so we were able to spread out.

[Anonymous]

Both are fine. I would choose whichever is the cheapest. If price is similar, I would choose United for, free checked bags (not all get this), earning points and Economy Plus seat.