Airline/Airport/Travel questions and queries

IRLConor

pilly wrote: »

You're tempting me now maximum12, I could possibly splash out on it but would be thinking of what I could buy for that money. :-) I did ring the reservations line and ask the agent if the plane had been upgraded and she couldn't answer that question so I wasn't sure. Have they all definitely been upgraded?

I'm pretty sure all of them have the same business class seat. You can use Google Street View to have a wander around the aircraft and see for yourself: https://www.google.com/maps/@53.4228485,-6.2393878,3a,75y,273.8h,78.48t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sd4qpiXy-yIgAAAQvOswG7w!2e0!3e2!7i13312!8i6656

pilly

Found out on the Aer Lingus forum that they definitely are all upgraded so I'm definitely tempted for the return leg at least because it's an overnight and I've to drive from Dublin to Cork afterwards so it would be nice to sleep.

Thanks again guys, this forum is fantastic.

jamie124

Hi There,
Does anyone know if there are flights that go directly to Belfast from Dublin? and the same from Dublin to Belfast?
Had a quick look there but I was told you could??
Thanks.

Absoluvely

There are no direct commercial flights. It's 2 hrs 15 mins by train.

pilly

Quicker and easier to drive or go by train, very little hassle or traffic. Again you would check in it at an airport and go through security etc., take the flight, easier to drive or take a train.

Jack1985

Get the aircoach!

looksee

Not sure if I am on the correct thread, but I have a query about a minor but irritating incident relating to Aer Lingus seating. I have flown before with AL and have always been happy with the service. This time was also good apart from this incident, I wonder if it is a recognised issue?.

I booked on a flight months ago and paid for a seat in row 30, the side aisle/aisle seat in order to get the extended leg room. This was on the airbus chart provided. When I boarded I discovered that the booked position was in fact row 29. I asked the steward about this and he said this was a different aircraft and that was the way the numbers were, and I should sit according to the number, and he would see what he could do.

I was a bit put out about this, but sat in row 30 as requested. He had a phone conversation with someone and eventually came back and said, it was ok, the first row was vacant and I could have the seat. He said something rather patronising to the effect of 'there there, it was all ok now, no problem'.

(Irrelevant aside) As I was moving a young woman came and took the window seat beside me. It turned out that she had objected to sitting beside the toilets so she had been 'upgraded' immediately. I had no problem with her sitting there, in fact we chatted amiably about a common interest. What I was a bit irritated about was the instant upgrade for an attractive young woman (about a third my age) while the aul wan - who had been perfectly courteous if a bit bemused - was patronised and given the impression the booking was of no consequence - 'you can ask for your money back'.

So what is the situation about (paid) seat reservations when a different plane is used?

maximum12

looksee wrote: »

So what is the situation about (paid) seat reservations when a different plane is used?

You get shafted. It has happened to me and they don't care. Plus if you want your money back they make you jump through hoops to get it back.

Fattes

looksee wrote: »

So what is the situation about (paid) seat reservations when a different plane is used?

60 day response time, for all post flight complaints, last time it took them 62 days to get back to me and provide a refund for a service they didn't provide! 4* airline my hole.

Noxegon

I had to escalate my EU261 claim to the regulator after EI decided that a cancellation thirty minutes after scheduled departure due to "operational reasons" wasn't covered by the law.

It took a year, but I eventually got my €250.

Tenger

looksee wrote: »

Not sure if I am on the correct thread, but I have a query about a minor but irritating incident relating to Aer Lingus seating. I have flown before with AL and have always been happy with the service. This time was also good apart from this incident, I wonder if it is a recognised issue?...........................

So what is the situation about (paid) seat reservations when a different plane is used?

I moved your post to the queries thread as its not related to the EI fleet discussion.

looksee

As to all seats being the same, when we were being loaded on the return journey the business class and the usual 'families and less able' people were loaded first, then they called for 'priority seating rows x to x, and row 30'. This was Aer Lingus specifying that they were priority seats. Row 30 was not mentioned on the way out, suggesting they knew perfectly well what was happening.

Yes, I was (as I said) overthinking the business of the young woman beside me. Funny coincidence though that she got all smiles and courtesy, and I was pretty much told I could have the seat (that I had booked) and wasn't I ok now?

Yes it is a minor detail, otherwise the trip was good and I had no problems, but there was really no reason for this to be a problem; all it needed was for the purser to say, we have a different layout, here is how we will handle it.

Locker10a

looksee wrote: »

As to all seats being the same, when we were being loaded on the return journey the business class and the usual 'families and less able' people were loaded first, then they called for 'priority seating rows x to x, and row 30'. This was Aer Lingus specifying that they were priority seats. Row 30 was not mentioned on the way out, suggesting they knew perfectly well what was happening.

Yes, I was (as I said) overthinking the business of the young woman beside me. Funny coincidence though that she got all smiles and courtesy, and I was pretty much told I could have the seat (that I had booked) and wasn't I ok now?

Yes it is a minor detail, otherwise the trip was good and I had no problems, but there was really no reason for this to be a problem; all it needed was for the purser to say, we have a different layout, here is how we will handle it.

No, all seats are the same (other than business class) what you pre pay for is priority for those seats, upfront/choice/exit row etc. But these seats, when not pre selected are assigned to any passenger for free! For example the passenger who paid the lowest fare on the whole plane could technically be assigned an exit seat if it hadn't been booked by anyone else and it was available when they were checking in!!
Airlines may offer priority boarding to those who paid the extra for these seats as a nicety but it's not treated as a separate class etc.

Fattes

More a case that EI believe it is acceptable for a customer to wait for over 2 months to get a response to a query!

When you make a customer complaint, you get an automated response than 60 days later a human email, that is often not much more than the automated mail.

If EI want to bang the 4* drum they have to do that across all sections not just one.

So as an example, I traveled with EI out of TXL Berlin on Aug 8th, on this rare occasion I had paid for priority boarding and a designated seats 3A, 3B. No priortiy boarding was called or available at TXL, there was also an issue with the seats on the flight, that was resolved eventually.

I sent an email to EI on August 10th, I received my refund for services not provided Oct 10th! This required, 8 phone calls, several social media interactions and eventually a formal letter. I reveiced a response to my original query 2 days ago!

joeysoap

I got one of those 'how was your flight' emails from AL a year or so ago. As far as I can remember there was a comments section and I pointed out that the front row seats, which cost the most, are usually allocated free to passengers checking in at the airport, which made no sense. Everybody (I think) knows if your flying RY and you wait as long as possible to check in you have a good chance of getting the front rows (and free priority boarding). If you're unlucky and the flight is not full you get the back however, or if other passengers are even more cool about checking in real late you might not get the front seats. RY have now started a policy of offering seats and priority boarding for half price when you book, but I am going to use this iPad from now on. No more silly money wasted on seats.

knucklehead6

Shot in the dark here, but I don't suppose anyone knows what plane is covering AC1909 on Saturday?

JCX BXC

Flying Ryanair next week, neither of us have been assigned window seats (Seat B and C). If the flights not full and there is a spare window available how would we go about taking this? Just move or should you ask the cabin crew first?

deaddonkey15

Carnacalla wrote: »

Flying Ryanair next week, neither of us have been assigned window seats (Seat B and C). If the flights not full and there is a spare window available how would we go about taking this? Just move or should you ask the cabin crew first?

Just move once airborne and the seat belt sign is off.

JCX BXC

deaddonkey15 wrote: »

Just move once airborne and the seat belt sign is off.

Could we not request a move before takeoff or would this not be able to happen?

A Dub in Glasgo

I would ask when everyone is on board

JCX BXC

Thanks deaddonkey15 and A Dub in Glasgow

cobham

I had this situation on a recent underoccupied flight. I asked cabin crew and they said fine once we had taken off and seatbelt sign was off. I suppose it would help ID people if we crashed on takeoff

Locker10a

cobham wrote: »

I had this situation on a recent underoccupied flight. I asked cabin crew and they said fine once we had taken off and seatbelt sign was off. I suppose it would help ID people if we crashed on takeoff

No! Good guess though!
Planes are loaded (fuel, bags and passengers) based on carefully calculated weight and balance divisions.
These vast based on aircraft type! For a correctly balanced and calculated take off passengers should sit in their assigned sections as these figures are used by pilots to calculate take off configurations.
After take off these weight and balance calculations are of much less significance

JCX BXC

Locker10a wrote: »

No! Good guess though!
Planes are loaded (fuel, bags and passengers) based on carefully calculated weight and balance divisions.
These vast based on aircraft type! For a correctly balanced and calculated take off passengers should sit in their assigned sections as these figures are used by pilots to calculate take off configurations.
After take off these weight and balance calculations are of much less significance

Ah so that explains why Ryanair always allocate the first to check in online at the middle.

Irish Steve

Carnacalla wrote: »

Ah so that explains why Ryanair always allocate the first to check in online at the middle.

Yes, it was much more of a problem before they reintroduced allocated seating, when it was unallocated, on the rare occasions when the flight load factor was very low, you may have noticed that the front 5 or 6 rows were blocked, as were the very back rows, and that was to ensure that the load as calculated was where they expected it to be.

Many years ago, when I spent a good few flights on the jump seat of the Shorts 360's that were used on the commuter routes, the crew often commented that the hostie was on the move again, the weight of the hostie plus the service cart moving from the front to the back of the aircraft was more than enough to upset the trim, and most of the 360's didn't have autopilot or automatic trim systems, so the movement of even one person plus the cart from the front to the back was well able to change the stability of the aircraft.

On a much smaller aircraft, (Britten Norman Islander) used to serve the Aran Islands, each passenger and hand luggage has to be weighed, along with the hold bags, in order to ensure that the aircraft is correctly trimmed before flight, and the weight of the passenger may determine which seat they are allocated to.

On the larger jets, once in the air with the automation on, if a few passengers move around the cabin, the autopilot will compensate for any trim changes. For take off, the trim setting is pre calculated, and if the passengers (or bags and or freight) are not where they were expected to be, that can result in some very nasty surprises for the crew as they rotate, and in extreme circumstances, if the trim is badly wrong, it can cause a tail strike if tail heavy, or prevent sufficient rotation for take off if nose heavy, and on a short runway, that can be seriously problematic.

Neilw

Hi all,

I'm travelling to Düsseldorf on Friday morning at 7.20am with Aer Lingus.

Would arriving at the airport at 6am give me enough time to get through security? Carry on only and boarding passes printed.
It's been a long time since I had to take a Friday flight so don't know how busy it usually is.

I also presume it's terminal 2 we leave from?

Thanks

Jack1985

Neilw wrote: »

Hi all,

I'm travelling to Düsseldorf on Friday morning at 7.20am with Aer Lingus.

Would arriving at the airport at 6am give me enough time to get through security? Carry on only and boarding passes printed.
It's been a long time since I had to take a Friday flight so don't know how busy it usually is.

I also presume it's terminal 2 we leave from?

Thanks

Hi Neilw,

You will be fine. Heading through at 6am for a 7:20am departure is plenty of time, especially during what are now quieter months compared to the peak summer. You have all the essentials covered from the on-set (check-in etc).

Enjoy your flight.

mfceiling

Quick one...does anyone know the letters for the aisle seats on Ryanair flights?

Cheers.

robyntmorton

mfceiling wrote: »

Quick one...does anyone know the letters for the aisle seats on Ryanair flights?

Cheers.

C/D

mfceiling

robyntmorton wrote: »

C/D

Cheers rob...have to book the father an aisle seat for his hols... never hear the end of it if I make a balls of it.