Annoying experience with Aer Lingus last weekend

jackal

Flew Dublin to Barcelona with Aer Lingus for a long weekend, and while the staff and all are great, the inconsistent application of policies and their utterly pointless online check-in system really is beyond me.

We (a couple) went to check in online. We decided to check one bag in to carry all the liquids and makeup and stuff. You are pretty much forced to do this unless you are perhaps a regular traveler and have the 100ml bottles of everything. Most people wont.

This is the first annoying thing. Why are punters being encouraged NOT to check bags in by the airlines, but at the same time being severely restricted in what they can bring by the security directives. Airlines should abandon this policy until such a time as the things a person would reasonably need can be brought in cabin baggage.

The cost of checking a single bag in was an astonishing 24 euro return.

With little choice we paid the thing and checked in online the night before. Upon arriving at the airport we found that every single person must have had the same idea because the queues for the bag-tag and drop were as long as any check in queue I have seen. Waste of time having this online check in when everyone is forced to check luggage through also.

We checked in the bigger bag and I brought on my small wheelie bag which I have used as cabin baggage many times before with no problem. The bag weighed approx 12 KG and easily fit in the overhead locker.

We had a great weekend, but on the return journey from Barcelona, the guy on the Aer Lingus check-in counter was eying up my cabin luggage, asked me to weigh it, found it was 12kg and pointed me to the little sign which says cabin baggage must be X by Y by Z and less than 6KG. Total and utter bull. 6KG basically restricts cabin baggage to a ladies handbag. I told him there was no problem on the way out, but he was not interested and I saw people behind and in front also getting stung. They had a guy dedicated to paying baggage charges and it had all the hallmarks of a scam, albeit in the guise of airline policy. Of course because I had not checked in my bag online... the cost one way was 18 Euro. If I had known I would be forced to check in the bag I would have brought a bigger one and filled it with cheap Spanish wine and smokes!

They are really taking the mick with these charges and the inconsistency between whats permitted in dublin (anything by the looks of it) and elsewhere. The problem is the airlines are all matching each others policies so its like it or lump it.

cp251

As with everything else you can blame Ryanair. They started it and now Lingus is copying.

Darwin

Well, when Aer Lingus first introduced a fee for checking in bags, I recall the CEO as stating that it was in response to 'cutomer demand' - or some utter tripe like that. You can imagine hordes of people ringing Aer Lingus demanding that they start charging for checked-in bags. :rolleyes:
However, it does clearly state on their website that the max weight for cabin luggage is 6Kg, so you should consider yourself lucky that you didn't get charged in Dublin. You are right that Aer Lingus check-in at Dublin airport is very inconsistent when it comes to enforcing baggage allowances. In my own experience, Aer Lingus check-in desks at other airports often weigh cabin baggage if it looks anyway over the size/weight limit. If you think that's bad, some US airlines are now considering weighing passengers...watch this space

Tenger

jackal wrote: »

We checked in the bigger bag and I brought on my small wheelie bag which I have used as cabin baggage many times before with no problem. The bag weighed approx 12 KG and easily fit in the overhead locker.

We had a great weekend, but on the return journey from Barcelona, the guy on the Aer Lingus check-in counter was eying up my cabin luggage, asked me to weigh it, found it was 12kg and pointed me to the little sign which says cabin baggage must be X by Y by Z and less than 6KG. Total and utter bull.airline policy.

They are really taking the mick with these charges and the inconsistency between whats permitted in dublin (anything by the looks of it) and elsewhere. The problem is the airlines are all matching each others policies so its like it or lump it.

Inconsistency is a problem. However the website and the print out from your online check (page 2 or 3)clearly states that cabin baggage is limited to 6KG. As you say this is not very much at all. I only spotted this recently on a boarding card,I always though it was 10KG cabin baggae limit

The EI staff in DUB obviously looked and saw that your bag was acceptable without bothering to weight. In BCN the staff are contracted by EI to work for them. Hence the sometimes overly strict adherenc to the rules by many of the handling agents for EI inEurope.

And yes the charges are getting out of hand recently.EI seem to be following the policy of "If FR do it then so can we"

jackal

Bramble wrote: »

Inconsistency is a problem. However the website and the print out from your online check (page 2 or 3)clearly states that cabin baggage is limited to 6KG. As you say this is not very much at all. I only spotted this recently on a boarding card,I always though it was 10KG cabin baggae limit

The EI staff in DUB obviously looked and saw that your bag was acceptable without bothering to weight. In BCN the staff are contracted by EI to work for them. Hence the sometimes overly strict adherenc to the rules by many of the handling agents for EI inEurope.

And yes the charges are getting out of hand recently.EI seem to be following the policy of "If FR do it then so can we"

I think flying is simply getting more expensive. They are trying to get more money from people without affecting the headline price of the flight. They are doing this with "optional" charges, which are in reality and practice compulsory based on the limits imposed by security and check in weight allowance.

I was surprised to see Aer lingus are at the bottom of the league for allowed cabin baggage weights compared to airlines around the world. At least Ryanair are making a genuine effort to allow people to bring bags in the cabin with their 10kg limit (which it is possible to pack to). 6kgs is simply not enough for an average person on a long weekend - which probably accounts for a lot of aer lingus traffic to european cities.

robinph

jackal wrote: »

I think flying is simply getting more expensive.

I'm not sure that it's getting more expensive or cheaper, it's just that now you get to see 10 different charges listed when buying your ticket so people start complaining that they are getting charged for new things all the time.

We are still getting charged exactly the same as before in total, although you do now get the option of dropping things like checking in a bag if you want to save a couple of quid. They just confuse matter with the headline prices of 1cent which we always knew was a lie.

A cabin baggage limit of 6kg for an airline that is charging seperately for hold baggage is daft though.

Biro

Aer Lingus annoy me most. Everyone complains about Ryanair, but just try to book a flight with Ryanair to and from the same airports for a certain price and then with Aer Lingus to and from the same airports for the same price, and compare the "Taxes and charges". While Ryanair's taxes and charges vary between small and medium, Aer Lingus's ones are consistantly too high. €58 on taxes and charges on a return flight to the UK. That's a sham. They're still charging taxes from Shannon to Dublin, despite there not supposed to be any tax on internal flights.
On the baggage note, I've found with Ryanair before also that leaving Ireland is grand but coming back with the exact same baggage has cost me money. I think it's cause all the Irish people at the check-in desks in Dub and SNN know that they'll be given nothing but grief if they start nit-picking, where as in other countries the people there are just doing their job to the letter of the law.

FlutterinBantam

Nope, in Ireland we ignore the regulations, in other countries they enforce them.


That's the difference.

covers all walks of life from driving to w@nking.

Fratton Fred

FlutterinBantam wrote: »

Nope, in Ireland we ignore the regulations, in other countries they enforce them.
That's the difference.
covers all walks of life from driving to w@nking.

There are regulations for that:eek:

I have given up flying Aer Lingus. they have become a low cost airline without the low cost. I regularly do Dublin Heathrow and BMI are the only way to go as far as I am concerned.

cp251

That's partly true. But you can't depend on it anymore in Ireland. I think Aer Lingus employees here don't nit pick too much because they are not used to it. But Ryanair often do.

The thing to remember is that although many airport staff wear the uniforms of the airline they are supporting. In fact most probably they don't work for them but for a handling agent. Thus they have no loyalty to the airline and there is pressure on them to do what the airline wants and collect as much revenue as possible. Otherwise the airline will find another handling agent.

That's why Aer Lingus staff at Dublin might be more lax and the those at foreign airports stricter.

It always used to amuse me on the series 'Airline' that they never mentioned this salient fact. Most of the people featured at check in etc did not actually work for Easyjet at all.

Davidth88

The bag-drop queue on a Monday morning is a sight to behold !

I have waited 1 hour to drop a bag off on an early morning Rome flight before now.

I too got stung by being made to check in a bag at CDG and LHR . At CDG I actually got annoyed because my bag had my laptop in it. At LHR , I pulled the Harry Potter book out that I was reading ( yes sad I know ) and got them to re-weigh it and everything was ok.

The staff at CDG don't work for EI and are really horrible .

Rome has a reputation for stinging people also , you get a lot of US people flying from Rome to Dublin doing the whole ' this is Thursday so it must be Dublin thing ' they have flown the atlantic with 30kgs, and guess what they try to check in with 25-28kgs in Rome , and get stung for extra charges.

As for the OP's original comment re

you are perhaps a regular traveler and have the 100ml bottles of everything. Most people wont.

. I am a regular traveller , and TBH I check a bag in most of the time because of the stupid liquid restrictions.

jackal

Fratton Fred said:

they have become a low cost airline without the low cost

Bingo! you have hit the nail on the head there.

I will avoid aer lingus where possible after this. Its a shame, cos any of their staff I have met have been bang on.

I must say, the likes of cityjet are becoming more and more appealing to me. You pay more upfront, and in fairness, a little more overall, but there is no bloody hassle, its flying as it was 15 years ago. You get on a plane to go somewhere, wanting to bring a bag with you is not considered an extravagant extra!

ImDave

I was travelling back to Ireland from Germany with EI earlier this year and checked in two bags not paid for on the reservation, and there was never a mention about costs. I was ready to fork out for it

dogmatix

I always try to avoid Aer Lingus - even before their race to the bottom they had the most restrictive cabin bag size restrictions of any airline I have even flown. That and the fact that they where always on strike, giving strike notice or treatning to strike.

I avoid Ryanair the same way I try to avoid catching Bubonic plague.

Solution:
1. BMI for Heathrow.
2. BA for Gatwick. But sometimes Aer Lingus would sneakily use a BA code for
Gatwick so you would book BA but end up flying Aer Lingus. This was in the
days when they where in the same air alliance - dont know if they still are.

PRND

At least Ryanair are aware of what they are. Cheap headline rates that they try to claw back elsewhere.

Aer Lingus seem to have ideas that they are still a cut above.

I flew DUB to LHR yesterday and was invited to "purchase beverages from the bar" when in fact they are hawking warm lager from a trolley for €4.

WexCan

I'll always pick Aer Lingus over Ryanair wherever possible, due to the generally more civilised boarding procedure, onboard service and some (possibly misguided) sense of national pride. Always feel like I'm going "home" with EI.

In saying that, if BA works out at a reasonable price, I'll fly BA instead. Top notch most of the time.

OPENROAD

Fratton Fred wrote: »

There are regulations for that:eek:

I have given up flying Aer Lingus. they have become a low cost airline without the low cost. I regularly do Dublin Heathrow and BMI are the only way to go as far as I am concerned.

Agree with 100% I have flown with bmi for 10 years now, initially because of there excellent frequent flyer scheme, but bmi are streets ahead when it comes to service, excellent staff all round imo.

PRND

WexCan wrote: »

I'll always pick Aer Lingus over Ryanair wherever possible, due to the generally more civilised boarding procedure, onboard service and some (possibly misguided) sense of national pride. Always feel like I'm going "home" with EI.

In saying that, if BA works out at a reasonable price, I'll fly BA instead. Top notch most of the time.

I prefer the Ryanair seating arrangement to be honest. Since Aer Lingus have started charging to choose a specific seat, all the good ones are gone by the time you get to the airport. And the only time I paid for a window seat, the stewardess asked me to move because some man had not prepaid and was separated from his two children.

In terms of national pride, all Aer Lingus does is underline that the Irish treat each other with contempt and the man in the street is prepared to accept it.

championc

Personally I think EI boarding is disasterous. How many times have flight been delayed departing due to the delays in boarding. While they might board certain rows first, you get someone from the C or D seats going on first and then they have to get up to let the A's and B's or E's and F's in. It's even worse when the window seats are the one's to be filled.

Instead of calling rows x - y, the should call seats A's and F's first followed by B's and E's and finally the C's and D's


C

OPENROAD

championc wrote: »

Instead of calling rows x - y, the should call seats A's and F's first followed by B's and E's and finally the C's and D's

What happens if you are travelling with your family. Nothing wrong with present system though people themselves could be more efficient when boarding.

Fratton Fred

championc wrote: »

Personally I think EI boarding is disasterous. How many times have flight been delayed departing due to the delays in boarding. While they might board certain rows first, you get someone from the C or D seats going on first and then they have to get up to let the A's and B's or E's and F's in. It's even worse when the window seats are the one's to be filled.

Instead of calling rows x - y, the should call seats A's and F's first followed by B's and E's and finally the C's and D's
C

Why do you think FR don't give you seat numbers. It's not saving check in system costs, it's to get turnround times down. That mad dash accross the tarmac is a beautiful site to MOL

OPENROAD

Fratton Fred wrote: »

Why do you think FR don't give you seat numbers. It's not saving check in system costs, it's to get turnround times down. That mad dash accross the tarmac is a beautiful site to MOL

You get the same dash with pre assigned seated boarding, I think it must be an Irish thing but it is to watch

Davidth88

Although this is now drifting off thread slightly now , in my time as a frequent flyer ( 2-3 return trips per month , many with stopovers ) I have observed the following.

There are two types of people .

The get on board quick , these people queue before the aircraft has even arrived, now on flights where the seats are not pre-designated you can see some strange logic in that but with EI, whats the point ?

The let everyone else get on and we will board type, these people often ignore the queues and wait then wander on board at the last min.

There are also window people and aisle people. I am a window person because I like to gawk at the aeroplanes , my boss is a aisle person. We travelled together recently for the first time from DUB-LTN ( FR ) and LTN-CAG ( EZ ) both airlines that have no pre-designated seats. I sat in the window, he sat in the aisle and guess what , we got an empty seat between us on all four sectors.

Now as for EI being annoying , yes they are , but they are still slightly better than FR , and if you want to get anywhere apart from LHR/CDG you basically have no choice from DUB. ( I will not stage though LHR/CDG unless there truly is no choice because this would negate any positives of using another airline )

highlydebased

Its certainly an Irish thing, queuing early for flights.

Even in the past when I have travelled on charter flights, there were seats assigned, and well, the same people who queued up early in Shannon queued up early on the way back!

The mad dash across the tarmac can sometimes be a comical sight...

I'm a window seat person, generally I am not in any hurry as there is going to be a window seat somewhere for me. As far as I can remember one of the primary causes of late EI departures is boarding!

robinph

Davidth88 wrote: »

The get on board quick , these people queue before the aircraft has even arrived, now on flights where the seats are not pre-designated you can see some strange logic in that but with EI, whats the point ?

Was a big queue formed before the previous plane had departed the gate for a FR flight I took this morning and we were all just guessing which one the one we were after would come in on, there is only really two gates that they tend to bring the FR flight in at that airport. It's definately worth getting on the plane first though and grabbing a seat in the front row as you then get to be off the plane first and out past the passport check and out of the airport probably before they have finished unloading the plane.

There is of course less reason to rush to the plane with assigned seating, but that depends on how much carryon you have with you, get there too late and you'll not have any room left in the overhead bins.

Fratton Fred

Neon-Circles wrote: »

As far as I can remember one of the primary causes of late EI departures is boarding!

and of course, if a passenger is late and their luggage is in the hold, you either unload it or wait for them. A good reason to put people off checking in luggage;)

As much as I get annoyed with Ryanair, you have to admire their planning.

Tenger

championc wrote: »

Personally I think EI boarding is disasterous.

Instead of calling rows x - y, the should call seats A's and F's first followed by B's and E's and finally the C's and D's

Irish people have always ignored those "rows x-y" announcements,whne stopped they then stand still and block the gate for people in those rows. Why would they suddenly change to respond to the "seat A and F",then you have people travelling together boarding seperately. Mant pax can't handle the going down seperate aisles to end up seated together.
In my experience of boarding the Irish and Americans often don't check their seats until they reach the aircraft. The cabin crew check the flight and date on the boardning card and then get asked where the seat is?

robinph

Bramble wrote: »

The cabin crew check the flight and date on the boardning card and then get asked where the seat is?

I still see people asking the RyanAir cabin crew where their seat is when they get to the plane.

Fratton Fred

As this thread touched on BMI/EI heathrow routes, I thought I'd give a quick heads up.

They have moved the security gatesfor UK&I departures at Heathrow Terminal 1. You now go through to the main deparure gate and into the main shopping mall that is international departures. There is an exit to gates 62 to 80, the domestic/Irish departure gates which requires showing your boarding pass again.

As you can imagine, there is a bit of confusion as people are still finding their way around so it may be worth allowing an extra ten mnutes to get your flight.

IRLConor

robinph wrote: »

There is of course less reason to rush to the plane with assigned seating, but that depends on how much carryon you have with you, get there too late and you'll not have any room left in the overhead bins.

+1

I fail to understand:

1. How people get past the check-in desk and the boarding gate with so much cabin baggage.
2. Why some of them stick their stuff in the overhead bins near the front of the plane and then continue down to sit at the back thus forcing me (sitting near the front) to have to either wait for the entire plane to unload or force my way against the flow to get my stuff when getting off.