First, let me say the staff are among the friendliest I've ever encountered. But this review is of management. My Aer Lingus flight from Glasgow to Dublin was delayed, which put me at risk of missing my Aer Lingus flight from Dublin to Boston. When we arrived in Dublin, they told us they were holding the plane, and they fast tracked us through security. It still meant running some distance to get to the gate. Only 2 of us made it. The agent took our tickets, but they were rejected when scanned. When he couldn't figure out why, he had another agent check into it. We were told that because it was past the original departure time, our seats had been sold to standby passengers. Then they beckoned to a couple behind us, who walked past us and onto the plane, which was still sitting at the gate, and they got our seats.
Realizing the unfairness of the situation, the agent said he could give us each 900 euros compensation and put us on the next flight out. I immediately accepted, because missing this flight meant missing my next connection from Boston to Maine, and I didn't have enough money to purchase another flight.
However, when he called management to confirm, they said no.
Another agent said as an alternative, they could offer us free hotel accommodations and meals, and provide transportation, then fly us to Boston the following day. Again, I immediately accepted, because this would give me time to contact my wife to make other arrangements for my flight from Boston to Maine.
But then they suddenly rushed us to another gate and said they were putting us on a flight to DC, where there would be a Flybe flight paid for by Aer Lingus to take us to Boston. I said I preferred to take the overnight offer, because if I went tonight, I would be stranded in Boston. The agent wanted to work with me, but management said their obligation was to get me to my destination the same day as originally scheduled. So they were more concerned with doing only as much as they were obligated to than in doing what was best for the customer.
The last thing they said was that the one thing they could definitely guarantee was that our luggage would get their first and be waiting for us when we got to Boston.
They gave me a 6.50 euro voucher for breakfast on the plane, which was pointless. First of all, breakfast is included in the cost of the ticket. But more to the point, they were no longer serving breakfast. The flight attendant took pity on me and gave me some candy, but I did not get a meal.
Also, I was given a middle seat, even though my original booking was for an aisle seat, which might not be as big a deal for a domestic flight, but very uncomfortable for a transatlantic flight.
When we got to DC, we had to figure out on our own that it was jetBlue, not Flybe, that was taking us to Boston. We had just enough time to catch it.
When we got to Boston, we went to the Aer Lingus desk to collect our luggage. Not only did they not have our luggage, they had no idea where it was or if or when it might arrive.
Now I realize the following events are not directly related to Aer Lingus, but they only happened because of events set in motion by Aer Lingus when they refused to follow through on the first two offers they made me, both of which I accepted.
I had already missed my flight from Boston to Maine, so I needed to think about accommodation. I only had a few dollars left. My wife had money, but it was a holiday, and the banks were closed, so she could not deposit it into our account for me to access. Instead, she attempted to wire me money via Western Union.
We were on the phone together, and the agent in Maine asked how my address was listed on my driver's license. I said it was our PO Box. My wife was told she needed to put that on the form, because it had to match exactly what was on my license in order for me to collect the money in Boston. However, when I tried to collect, I was told nobody lives at a PO Box, and that my wife would have to resubmit. But the Western Union office in Maine had just closed for the night. We had an extremely difficult time getting that money refunded later.
I decided I would use my last few dollars to get something to eat, but when I turned around from the Western Union booth, all the shops had just closed for the night.
I was exhausted from a busy time in Scotland. I was jet lagged. I was hungry from not having a single meal that day. All I could do was lay down in a corner on the dirty airport floor and try to sleep (the benches had fixed armrests, so I couldn't even lay down on them).
I became very ill. All of this could have been avoided if Aer Lingus management had backed up their employees who were trying to best serve their customers.
I received a "Tell us how we did" email from Aer Lingus, but my review was rejected for being too long.
I will pay extra for my next flight over booking with Aer Lingus again. They were my favorite before this. read more