Aer Lingus

Thanks for helping. I booked a flight from Dublin to Lisbon, but chose not to book a seat (one must pay for it, what is a clear option). Surprisingly, as I proceeded to check-in online, the company site refused to complete it, stating that I couldn't do it without booking a seat!

On October 4 2011, I was scheduled to fly from Paris to New York by Air Lingus. But due to a traffic tied up, I arrived late at the airport, therefore I missed my flight. Then Airlingus voided my return flight to New york, and it refused to honor the ticket due to the fact that I had booked the flight through Expedia.com. I was advised to contact them.

Then Expedia told me that Airlingus had refused to help, therefore I was told to book another flight back to New York at my own expense. So I was unable to take a cheap flight, and I was stranded in Paris for a week. Until I was able to book a cheaper flight, back in the USA. Expedia and AirLingus have refused to give me a credit for the flight that I missed. They told me that is my own fault and they are not responsible. I consider such scam and dishonest behavior from two major travel companies as unacceptable.

Background: My wife (Katy) and I (Gary) have both lived in multiple countries. We love to travel, and with our children (2-year old Sophie and 4-year old Liam), continue to do so several times each year. The following is a description of our travel experience with Aer Lingus, returning to Boston in the US via NY (JFK) from Shannon, Ireland, on December 27th 2010. It is without a doubt the worst travel experience of our lives and thought others might find it interesting/entertaining.

The morning of December 27th, we arrived at the airport two hours in advance of our 12:30 flight and checked in without any problem and went to our gate. There we learned that JFK was closed, but that it planned on opening in approximately eight hours, so they delayed our flight for 1.5 hours so that by the time we took off and flew to JFK, it would be opened. We left at approximately 2 pm and had an uneventful seven-hour flight. The kids watched a lot of TV and Liam slept for an hour. Sophie managed to go the distance and refused to nap.

As we got closer to our destination, the pilot came on the intercom and told us that JFK was still closed and that we were going to land in Boston. Gary and I were in the process of high-fiving one another when the pilot added that, unfortunately, although a number of passengers had Boston as a final destination, no one would be allowed to deplane due to immigration rules. That was strange since we had already cleared US immigrations in Ireland so both Gary and I questioned various flight attendants about why we weren't allowed off, but no one could explain and no one would let us off. We thought up various creative ideas of how to get thrown off the plane, including having one of the kids take the fall, but in the end decided it wasn't worth it. Had we known how the next 12 hours would go, one of us probably would have resorted to drastic measures. But we didn't, so we sat tight with everyone else.

We sat at the gate not allowed to get off the plane for a total of three hours. Every hour, the pilot would get on the PA and say we'd requested to leave, but that JFK wasn't open. Our pilot wanted to get to NYC that night and was going to stop at nothing. Having refueled the plane, the pilot wanted to get airborne over JFK and circle until they opened, but flight control wouldn't allow that. He was hell bent on leaving Boston and getting to NYC while Gary and I were praying that JFK would remain closed and we would have to deplane.

After three hours (we landed at 4pm and it was now 7pm), we were granted permission to fly to JFK so we took off in blowing snow and flew the hour to JFK. We landed on a very snowy runway and taxied to the airport. That was when the fun started. We had already been on the plane an additional four hours to the seven-hour flight and now we were being told that they couldn't find a gate for us. We waited 30 minutes and then were told that we were waiting for another plane to back out of the gate. Unfortunately, while backing out, that plane got stuck in a pile of snow, and then the truck trying to tow it out got stuck. As Gary says, you really couldn't make this ** up. So there we sat for an additional 2.5 hours waiting for a gate. We landed at 8 pm, and at 10:20 pm, we were allowed to deplane.

By then the kids had slept for three hours of fly time and wait time and were not thrilled to be on the move again. But we got off and looked for someone to tell us where to go. An Aer Lingus ground-crew lady told us to go to the arrivals hall: we walked for about 10 minutes and found the arrivals hall, but were then told we needed to go back to baggage claim. Unhappily, we did, and by then the line to talk to anyone from Aer Lingus was a mile long. But Gary joined the queue and the kids and I sat in a corner reading books to pass the time. It took about 45 minutes, but when Gary got to the front of the line, we learned that we were on the 6:30 am JetBlue flight out, but that there were no available hotels in the area. At this point it was after 11:30 pm (EST or 4:30 am Irish-time), and the kids were hungry and our bags had still not come to baggage claim so we went upstairs to use our food vouchers.

The terminal was filled with stranded passengers, most of them lying on the floor with their possessions strewn around them. All the food shops started closing at midnight, but we were able to get in line at McDonald's. And wait and wait and wait. Everyone there was ordering 30 meals for them and their friends and the lines were agonizingly slow. It took Gary over an hour to place his order and when he did, we all sat on the floor and dined on french fries and milkshakes. This helped wake up the kids and with the new fast food energy, we returned to the baggage claim and got our bags, which had finally arrived, and loaded them onto a cart and tried to decide what to do next.

At this point it was 1:30 am. We needed to get to the adjacent terminal to catch our 6:30 am flight and wanted to go there as soon as possible, but the AirTrain was not running and the buses weren't running and, as Gary found out by doing some initial scouting, the sidewalks were not cleared. Even the taxi line was about 200 people long so we decided to spend a few hours in the terminal and try our luck closer to 5 am by which point we hoped the sidewalks would be cleared.

We took the elevator upstairs and found a free area of floor on which to park ourselves and put the kids in their car seats, read them a book and told them to get a little sleep. We lay down on Gary's coat and tried to get a few hours of sleep, but the lights were bright, people were all over, and the PA system was constant. And of course I was worried someone would take off, not with our stuff, but with our kids. Neither of us really slept, although the kids did, and at 4:30 am, Gary and I woke them up and told them it was time to move again. They were less than thrilled. And that's when the fun really started.

The sidewalks had not been cleared and the train and buses still weren't running, but we needed to get to the other terminal for our 6:30 am flight. The taxi line was still incredibly long, but we were told that it wasn't worth waiting in as no taxi would take us just to the other terminal. The only airport guy we could find suggested we walk on the road. So we did.

It started out okay. Dangerous, but okay. I carried Sophie and held Liam's hand and Gary pushed the cart with our two bags, two car seats and two carry-ons. About 10 steps in, Liam started sobbing about the cold and the wind. Sophie is quickly in tears herself. Then the road started getting worse and now there is snow and ice to contend with. A car inches past us and honks. Gary is now pushing the trolley in crud and ice and it's not moving as the wheels refused to turn in the snow. He started to pull it instead and things started to fall off. I threw the kids over the embankment onto the sidewalk and ran back to help Gary. The kids were screaming and crying. Gary yelled at me to let him do it and to get the kids inside. I ran back to the kids who were sobbing wildly, picked up Sophie and started dragging Liam. I looked over my shoulder every few steps and there was Gary, valiantly pushing or pulling our crap through snow and ice with car seats sliding off into the snow every few inches. The line of cars behind him grew longer and longer, but at this point, no one is honking. After about five minutes of pushing and pulling, he managed to get on better ground and reached the terminal before we did, but he was sweating profusely and not impressed. The kids have stopped crying at this point as we're indoors and we all gathered ourselves together. Amazingly, we still have all our possessions. Thank you, Gary.

We took the elevator upstairs at 5:15 am and there we were almost knocked over by the crowd of people overflowing the JetBlue check-in area. The line stretches for miles and we got in it with trepidation. We were never going to make our flight at this point. Gary went to see if there is self check-in and there is. He checked us in and came back to collect us and our bags and we got in another line for bag check. This line was as long as the last and was not moving. It's a madhouse with people jumping lines all over and there were no airline personnel to help. We waited for another 20 minutes before catching someone's eye and asked for help as it's 5:45 and our flight leaves at 6:30. Then it's to the security checkpoint where, again, it's chaos and the line stretched for miles. At this point, we've teamed up with a really nice couple who had been on our Aer Lingus flight. They are both doctors at MGH and she's from NYC and he's from Kerry, Ireland. They helped us with our bags and we managed the kids, who at this point, were about to collapse and needed constant carrying. The security line also had no rhyme or reason and we can't seem to move forward. It's not until 6:45 am that we cleared security and literally ran to our plane, which fortunately has waited for those who were unable to navigate the crowds, and at 7:15 am, we took off.

The flight to Boston was easy and the taxi ride home wonderfully short. The fact that the airline lost one of our bags was in keeping with the day, but virtually a non-event as it was delivered later that evening. Then while the kids napped, it was out to shovel out our cars from the mountains of snow, a real treat.

I have traveled from Dublin to Bucharest on Saturday, December 4, with Aer Lingus flight. I have had seat **, and my son has had seat **. He was carrying a backpack placed under his seat. I was carrying a suitcase in accordance with all rules, but I could not place it in the luggage compartment over my head because: (1) the overhead bin corresponding to Row 1 and (partially) to Row 2 was reserved by board personnel, and (2) the overhead bin corresponding to Row 2 (partially) and Row 3 was already occupied when I embarked. I asked to whom belongs a great luggage in the overhead bin not reserved by board personnel. I got no answer so I had to take out that great luggage to place my small suitcase.

Surprise. It was the suitcase of an elder stewardess, who came and ordered me to put the luggage back, then to move with my suitcase along the aisle until Row 4 where some available space could be found in the overhead bin. When I tried to comment that on my Boarding Pass was written ** and it was supposed to be normal to place my luggage in the bin overhead (so as to be accessible by hand on a four-hour flight), she asked me: "Sir, are you okay?" This means that according to stewardess' rules on Aer Lingus, each one trying to find an available place for his hand luggage in the bin overhead is crazy (or a fool, taking into account that a lot of suitcases where much bigger than the luggage limits).

I shall send a complaint for this at Aer Lingus in a couple of days, but first I want to report this wrong behavior of Aer Lingus, so as to try to change this stupid manner of not applying the travel rules.

I flew into Dsseldorf Airport on Friday, 13th of August for the weekend but no luggage arrived. I didn't receive any luggage back until Sunday, August 22. When I opened my case, I noticed that some items were missing.

On July 23 in the Warsaw Frederic Chopin airport I had a flight (EI 363 at 12.10pm) scheduled on Aer lingus airline to take me to Dublin where I was to spend a day and a half before returning to the US on a different airline. I have been living in Poland for the last 16 years and was returning to stay in the US permanently. I was accompanied by 2 friends, both of whom were taking a bag back for me as part of their 2 bag allowance we had from the other airline. I was essentially taking back 3 'extra' bags. My friend who had booked the ticket had asked the Aer Lingus agent on the phone about the extra bags. She said that we'd be able to pay for them at the airport.

I checked Aer lingus website and it said the same thing. We had figured it would cost about 600 PLN (approx. 165 euro) for the 3 bags. That was fine and I was prepared to pay that price. At first that's what the agent at Swissport (the company handling the financial transaction) had said. After I had given her the money, she had made a call and realized that we were not flying back to the US with Dublin as a connection but instead 'just to Dublin'. She then said that in addition for each 'extra' bag that we would also have to be charged for every kilo over the one bag allowance. The charge was 62 PLN times the 60 kg the 3 bags weighed which equaled 3720 PLN.

After the additional charges, the total was 3966 PLN (991 euro). Mind you that the original ticket had cost roughly 120 euro one way. At that price, I could have bought 8 one way tickets to the same destination and transported as many bags instead of my 3. I had no choice but to pay the fee as we only had 20 minutes to catch the flight after waiting for more than an hour to sort this out. When we returned to the check-in desk with the receipt that we had paid. the agent there was even shocked by the whole transaction and even asked her supervisor if that was correct.

Aer Lingus has partnered up with Jet Blue, or so they would have you think. We get to the airport and they cannot interline the bags to Dublin, you must claim the bag at JFK and recheck. Huh. I thought that's what partnering did. To make matters worse, they cannot issue the boarding pass for the Dublin leg of the flight. This is not partnering. Supervisors says the system cannot do this yet. I said didn't you roll out this program last year. He says yes it's been a year. So, no interlining, no boarding passes and a lot of stress. Why bother with Aer Lingus, the national carrier. Delta or Continental could do a lot better with their eyes closed.

Last spring after a several year wait to get back into shape after these illnesses, my wife and I booked a flite to Ireland to visit her homelnad. A full physical before leaving resulted in my Doctor advising me not to attempt such a trip at that time. Since I am not all that computer savy, when I booked the flite, I paid an extra fee to have the Aeringus floks do it for me, rather than online. At that time, no mention was made about cancellation insurance and I did not think of it.

After receiving my Doctors advice, I tried to cancell the reservations but was told "too bad" I did not have cancellation insurance. I explained it was never offered. I had my Doctor write to Aeringus to explain the situation but the cojmplaints from my Doctor and I were rejected by Aerlingus. Had the insurance been brought to my attention, I surely would have purchased it. (I purchase lost baggage insurance, and trip delay insurance from American Express on every flight I take) American Express tried to interced on my behalf but they too were rejected. This Corporate Greed on the part of Aerlingus certainally is in stark contrast to the advertising which lures you to the "Land of 1000 welcomes". Well, I got screwed for 1100 dollars.

I had some trouble getting hold of my regular taxi service when I phoned them fromDublin Airportrecently. Seems that the DAA (Dublin Airport Authority) are rather desperate for 3 euros. Lots of 3 Euros! Thats how much it costsa taxi man to go into the car park forfive minutesand pick up a customer who has called a radio taxi , instead of using one of the 2,400 incumbent dedicated taxis, who pay them big money to sit out there for half the day waiting on a fare. There are 400 parking spaces and 2400 drivers forking over 600 Euros yearly for the privilege of using the local overcrowded DAA taxi rank.

My driver used to drive up to departures and meet me there as nobody is allowed into the arrivals are except buses and taxis using the local airport rank. There are check points now mounted by the so called "Airport police"(no police powers as such). these uniformed security men are stopping empty taxis from accessing- and picking up- clients at the arrivals level! The drivers are being forced into the car park to hand over 3 Euros. No other airport in the world molests taxi drivers collecting waiting passengersin this manner. Not sure if this is a conspiracy between the disgruntled local drivers and the DAA. Many of the radio cabs are now 20% cheaper than getting a taxi at the airport rank so maybe the locals are using muscle to stop other taxis competing and picking up fares

Maybe I am being paranoid, because the DAA really needs every Euro they can get from poor taximen. They have recently lost 20 million Euros gambling on the property market with some of the Fianna Fail developers. They have a 700 million Euro white elephant new passenger terminal which has to be paid for by travellers( who are decreasing in number every month) and anybody else they can screw for a bob.

Their rip off long term parking charges are coming under pressure from newbies who spot an opportunity to get rich on the backs of the insatiable and grasping DAA (Whose board is stuffed with Fianna Fail appointees drawing huge salaries)

All in all they have a problem and three Euros extra from every radio cab picking up at the airport, will help buy cigars for the depressed executives who have ****** up another state owned enterprise. Question: Is this kind of aggravation and obstruction of self employed entrepreneurs in the taxi business anti competitive? Are the DAA seriously obstructing the free competition which now results in radio taxis being 20% cheaper than the boys who are parking and being milked, at the Dublin airport taxi rank, by the DAA? The DAA should stop hassling the radio companies. They are glad of their service when divertedplanes (Or busloads of diverted passengers) arrive at the airport at three o'clock in the morning,and there no taxis parked there. Security are quick to phone the radio companies to come out and help. It works both ways boys. Perhaps a boycott of such calls for aid by the airport police, would now be in order.?

They canceled my flight, denied compensation and I took them to court and won big. I lost over $700 because I had to re-book on another airline (I won back over $2,000 in small claims court).

My boyfriends dad was turning 60 and so had booked for the entire family to go away for a week to Southern Ireland. My partner booked the flights and got a good deal. The week before we were due to fly I checked the confirmation and realised that my partner had booked the wrong week. I phoned Aer Lingus to see if there was anything they could do. After a bit of wrangling they waived the admin charge, transfered our luggage over free of charge so all we had to pay for was the change in cost of flight - this was 400 but seeing as the flight was for the weeke before I felt we had done quite well.

when we arrived in Cork our luggage did not arrive with us, it seems a similar story with Aer Lingus that we were greeted with rudeness and unhelpfullness in the airport. Was told to go home and wait for the bag apparantly and i quote 'it happens all the time' The phone number they gave me for contact is impossible to get through to and when you do get through I was spoken to so rudley it made the whole situation worse. i was told that it wasn't this guys fault that my bag had gone missing and what could he do about it! Granted it wasn't his fault but he's paid to make it his business.

we eventually got our bag 2 days later after being lied to and spun a yarn by the staff.

when we arrived back in the UK I wrote a letter to Aer Lingus the response I go beggered belief - I had taken time to compliment the call centre staff and then question the other staffs behaviour, the response I got simply directed me to insurance and stated if I had more reciepts I could send them in.

I will never fly with Aer Lingus again, I think they are truely a disgcrace

I booked in,on line, one piece of luggage for the outbound and return journey to Cork. Your litterature clearly states: Baggage: "If paid on line before departure the fee is 5Euros per bag" One bag each way amounts to 10Euros. Can you please explain why I was charged 20.00. I booked my flight today 16/07/09 to travel to Cork on 10/08/09.

emirates flight EK03 was delayed leaving dubai international airport was leaving 30 minutes for me to get to my aer lingus flight at london heathrow, i made the connection however my baggage did not, at baggage claim in dublin airort i made Aer Lingus aware of the situation, i was given baggage file refrence number. i rang in the morning to check my bags progress ringing the number provided i was told by automated teller machine that it was still being traced, i was advised by the aer lingus employee at the desk on the 5.5.2009 at approx 9.40pm that if i had not heard by 1pm the next day i was to phone them, i did this and again my baggage was being traced,

i then rang emirates airline at london Heathrow and was told by the missing baggage department that my suitcase had been put on to flight EI157 departing from Heathrow at 11.15amto dublin however this was delayed and did not leave till 12.02 and was scheduled to land at dublin airport at 13.15pm which it did. i then rang the aer lingus baggage line and spoke to a man (with a foreign accent) at approx 3pm who told that he didnt know if it had been on this flight. he told me it had been delayed. i said that it had landed. i had checked on the internet. he then said it may be with customs. i asked him if he could check with customs and he said no he could not and that i should ring back at 5pm,

i was told on the friday night that it would be couried down to me in wexford when it had arrived in dublin at the aer lingus desk, i then asked if it was there would it be sent to me in wexford that evening. he said no that courier left at 1pm and wont go again till the next day, which contradicted the previous information given, i thanked him and ended the call. at 4.55pm i rang back and when i was eventually put through i was hung up on by some one and then when i rang again i was told that the office had now closed.

i urgently needed the bag as it contains a phone charger for an internet and computer like phone that i need for work and university, i spent a considerable amount of phone credit on these phone calls and was dealt with in a rude, impolite manner and given wrong information, they did not know what was happening or how to find out what was happening and was brushed off and told to ring back and when i did i was cut off and the office had closed at 5pm at the time i was told to call back at.

i have a suspicion that i was told to ring back at 5pm when the office was closed so that hey would not have to deal with my enquirey.

since writing the letter BA US AIRWAYS AND E DREAMS all emailed saying it not their fault ... AER LINGUS ... of course have not replied but i have edvience that they are saying weather was the problem.... not true as there was no fog in heathrow at 12 noon ... please read letter....will never use AER LINGUS again....

Below I will give you a brief account of our two day trip to Philadelphia from Dublin, a short description of the week spent there and the return trip home.

We depart enthusiastic and fully prepared for the World Irish Dance Championships which were to be held in the USA for the first time ever. Children had prepared and trained for over a year for this challenging competition and were ready to compete against children from all over the world. We, Parents and friends, had fund raised for the childrens travel expenses for over six months and were delighted to be able to fund all the children who qualified to compete. Hopes and dreams were soon to be shattered by the incompetence and mishandling of our flights.

Parents chose who they would book through and I decided I was getting the best deal from EDREAMS.COM. My first flight, EI164, was to leave Dublin at 12.10pm and my connecting flight, BA69, was to leave Heathrow at 1615. Other parents and children had left on the earlier flight had just left one and half hour of a stop over but we didntt want to rush so we thought our longer stopover was a better idea,

a stop over of nearly 3 hours, plenty of time you might think.

Hundreds of children were leaving Ireland, England, Scotland and Whales to travel to the worlds so when we arrived at the airport we were not surprised to find we knew many of the passengers on our flight. While booking in I received a rather disturbing call from a friend who was on the earlier flight, she was still sitting on the runway and was told they were not departing because of fog at Heathrow. She had asked to leave the flight but was refused. We were upset for her but were confident that our flight would be fine as we were not to leave until 12.10pm and we had that long stopover. Check in and ready to go we sat at our departure gate, when staff changed our gate three times we were starting to get worried as we are seasonal travellers and knew this was an indication that there was something wrong. I approached the Aer Lingus Rep and inquired what was the problem. This young lady was quite aggressive and told us she could do nothing about the fog in London, I then informed her my friend had landed in Heathrow and there was now no fog. Within moments of reseating myself the lady in question called the flight and we were boarded. On board we found that there were thirty one people from the Irish Dancing fraternity and we inform the air hostess of our need to be off loaded immediately when we landed as we had to make the connecting flight.

Landed in Heathrow in Terminal one we immediately set off running for terminal five, catching a subway along the way. We arrive, a band of women and children, racing to the security gate as we knew time was of the essence.

Along the way I text my friend, who as you may recall was on the earlier flight, to keep tabs on what was going on, she met us and ran along side us shouting there was no point in us running as they had already informed her they were not going to let us board as the people who had missed the earlier flight had been boarded onto our flight. We still were in time and we hit security, I believe, 10 minutes before the allotted time only to find we would not be let through. The reason we were given for this is our boarding cards were coming up Red. We demanded a BA rep and she in turn told security to check all our passes again, this took some time and when completed she then told us, Well your late now anyway.

We informed the BA rep that we knew people were sitting on our seats as we knew people on board but they told us to join a queue to lodge a complaint. We duly did as requested and stayed in that queue for nearly four hours, taking turns. The children were given water in that time and after demanding food we were given dinner coupons but told not to tell anyone else as no one else in the airport had got them, this was untrue as the party which had arrived earlier, of which my friend was a member, had also got coupons.

All thirty one of us decided we would stay together as a group even though we were from different schools and competing against each other in the competition. At approx six o clock we decided half of us would go back to Aer Lingus and see would they help us and were delighted when they immediately began to try and find us alternative flights. All the times and details are recorded on my phone as I text family and friends as to what was going on and have kept these as a record of events.

The Aer Lingus rep was amazed to find that when she had 25 of us booked in that BA was now booking us on the same flight when they realised that Aer Lingus had taken the matter in hand. The two desks conferred with each other and it was decided that as Aer Lingus had the matter in hand they would complete the booking. We were to return to Shannon the next morning then onto Chicago and onward to Philadelphia. Handing out dinner tickets and accommodation vouchers and dispensed to a hotel for three hours, we had to be back at the airport at 4;30am.

In the clothing we had left home in and with some very tired and disgruntled children we arrive back at the airport, checking in we enquired if our baggage was on board and were assured it was. Onward to Shannon where we had to off load and we explained to staff what had happened to us. They were extremely courteous and offered us breakfast coupons and booked us on the flight to Chicago again assuring us our bags were on board. We at this time heard two Reps talking to each other and they said our baggage was in the basement, I now understand that this term is used when luggage is left behind or lost.

Tired and dirty we headed off to Chicago knowing we had to break up our party when we landed as they had booked us on various internal flights to Philly. On landing we were shock and horrified to find we had no luggage and my party had only 40mins to get to the next flight. Duty free which was bought on board the international flight was refused through security but we worked this out by putting it in hand luggage and booking in it at the check-in desk. To add to our misery and distress we were sent to the wrong terminal and nearly missed the flight and had to run to the next terminal and onward to the boarding gate. By this time my legs were swollen so badly my shoes would no longer fit and I had to run bare foot. I could hardly walk yet alone run. We had become that good at security we were through the queue in no time.

Landing in Philly we had to give full details of our lost baggage and did not arrive at our hotel, which we had now lost one full nights stay at, until 11.30pm. Our luggage was never fully returned to us and the pieces that were delivered were both looted and very badly damaged. We spoke to at least a dozen representatives USAIRWAYS, the company we reported our lost luggage too, and had so many diverse and conflicting reports of where our luggage was and what had happened that we began to record what each rep said so we could had a proof as to their incompetence in handling the matter.

Over the subsequent week we had to beg, borrow and buy clothing and more importantly costumes and shoes for our children to dance in. We used all our expenses money on goods that we had packed in our luggage that was now lost stolen or damaged. We had some very upset young people entering competitions, some of them the very next morning, where they should have been going in calm and confident.

To add to my problems I personally also broke my glasses and took a toothache and spent even more time getting both fixed.

As to our return trip, well thats another tale, we decided that with all the confusion on our outbound flight we would ensure we check-in online 24 hours before hand only to find we could not all do so. On advice from hotel staff , who also tried to check-in for us, we arrived at the airport 4 hours early. We explained to the BA staff on the desk what had happened to us on our outward journey and begged them to guarantee we would all be on this flight as we really couldnt take anymore. We overheard the staff discussing the fact that the flight was over booked and we began to panic but were relieved when the lady on the desk told us she would upgrade three of us to World Class therefore ensuring we were all on the said flight. We were delighted and relieved and observed the seats which she had just given up being snatched up by two other reps who had other passengers who had found themselves in the same situation as we had.

Boarding this flight we were exhausted after a long hectic week but I could not sleep as my legs which were still swollen from all the previous flights and had to ask the flight attendant for assistance. Landing in Heathrow and staying on airside we set off for terminal one only to be amazed to find we had to go through security yet again. Two of our party had bought duty free and I declined to let them hand it over when it was refused through this check. I had just about enough by now and was near cracking. On inquiry security told us that if we run we could make check in at the Aer Lingus desk, I told one of the ladies with us to escort the children to the gate and myself and another passenger, Mrs Carson, headed off for the check in using our old trick of storing the goods in a piece of hand luggage which we now had to check in.

Running through the airport like people possessed and with my legs killing me I fell along the way, we had our photo taken four times. On reaching the terminal we flew to the help desk and were told to go straight to check in one. Reaching this desk a rather rude young Aer Lingus rep told us we were too late and it was web check in only. I was in tears by now, my legs were killing me, I had hurt both my knee and hand and really couldnt take much more of this. I, as quickly as I could, told her what had happened to us and her only reply was, Well I didnt lose your bags, and with that she turned away. I stood there in shock only to be approached by another Aer Lingus rep who had over heard our story thankfully and booked us in straight away. We then had to run to gate 83 and by the time we got there we were sore, hot, sweaty and exhausted only to find the rest of our party had not reached the gate. I was by now very distressed as my daughter was one of this party, they arrived just before the gate closed and told us that went they reached the Aer Lingus check on the other side they were told by a member of staff that they were too late for the gate and it had closed. He then went on to tell them that they would have to go on stand by and the lady in charge of the children refused outright relying to him what had happened to us. He, the rep, refused to even check if the gate was still open and it was when my daughter said, But they check us in when we were in Philadelphia, that he then decided to check his computer and said, Oh yes thats ok then, on you go. Only that my daughter had asked him to check the boarding passes he would have made them miss that flight and go on standby.

i am not letting this go i will continue the fight....

On the 3rd April we set off from Dublin for our dream holiday to Florida, specifically Tampa where we would be meeting our in-laws from the U.K. We had booked with Aer Lingus about six months ago because we believed that our state airline would look after us the best. All was well until we landed at Boston where we were informed by an Aer Lingus supervisor by the name of A. OBrien that our connecting Jet Blue flight to Tampa had been cancelled. She was extremely dismissive, refused to acknowledge that Aer Lingus had any responsibility for us despite the fact that we had booked flights with Aer Lingus to Tampa. Her attitude was quite frankly bewildering and she obviously had no training, experience or sympathy dealing with distressed passengers.

There was another couple from Cork with three young children also involved who were very upset indeed. We were informed that Jet Blue had cancelled our flight because of weather and we would have to go into Boston and stay in Boston at our own expense for the night and then ring the airport in the morning to see about flights to Tampa. No guarantees of a flight! We could not believe her attitude, in turn,condescending, belligerent and rude. She then vanished for an hour after we asked her to find the operations manager. (This mans name apparently was Des Farren. He did not meet with us, I dont know why.) We got the impression that she hoped we would go away, and she left her ground staff alone to try and keep us calm! These girls were in fact pleasant although they could do nothing for us.

After an hour Ms. OBrien returned and surprisingly let it slip that the flight had actually bee cancelled twenty four hours earlier! We had not been informed in Dublin before we left although Im not sure what we could have done about it if we had known. We did not want to travel in to a strange city to find accommodation and no help was offered in finding such a place. I then asked if it would be possible to fly to Orlando (strange that the Air Lingus staff hadnt thought of this!) knowing it wasnt that far from Tampa and after several calls we were told this might be possible although this plane was likely to be delayed. It would be necessary to hire a car in Orlando to get to our eventual destination in Hudson.

When I rang Hertz they quoted be $175 dollars for one day and as I had no choice I accepted. Extraordinarily enough no other flights from Boston were cancelled but our flight to Tampa. When we went to check in for the Orlando flight at the Jet Blue desk we were informed that the Tampa flight had indeed been cancelled twenty four hours earlier because of bad weather in New York at that time and that was where the plane was coming from. Unbelievable! How did they know the weather would be so bad the next day and in fact we know for a fact that flights did get out of New York that day-3rd of April (our in laws flew out of New York.) Obviously there were other factors involved in this cancellation.

Of course our eventual flight to Orlando was delayed and we did not fly out of Boston until 21.30.(No refreshments offered despite the fact that we were in Boston Airport for 5 and half hours.) We didnt arrive at our eventual destination until 4 in the morning. We had been travelling for twenty four hours, an exhausting start to our dream holiday. Basically Air Lingus should pick up the cost of our car hire and I will enclose copies of receipts with the copies of the letter I will send to [them] by post. I am also sending copies of this letter to the C.A.A., my solicitor and The Irish Times. In these days of recession I cannot believe that an Airline could be so callous to the needs of their customers. Negative word of mouth is the very worst thing a company can afford in this day and age.

bad start to holiday and out of pocket for car hire

Our flight to Turkey is due to leave at 1710 and my parents group were due to land in Heathrow at 1325.

Today i received an email saying that their flight had been given a later time so they would now land at 1455.

I called Aer Lingus and explained that i had a take-off time of 1710 to make and explained the difficulty of making it across terminals for my elderly travel companions in a short time...if the flight is delayed or the plane is waiting to get a stand at the gate,then it will be very difficult to make the 1710 flight.
Gavin from reservations was absolutely no help.He told me he could change to an earlier flight time but it would cost money.I asked him if it would be possible to put us an hour and a half earlier rather than later and he said it would cost money...i asked why it hadn`t cost money to have the flights put an hour and a half later and he told me that this was within their rights and i had agreed to a two hour change when booking my flights....IF I DON`T AGREE TO THIS I CAN NEVER FLY.

When i asked for the complaints department he told me i couldn`t call them but only write or fax them.

Basically now if i want to be sure of making the 1710 flight to Turkey i will have to pay more money...if this is legal then i guess i am not surprised but i am writing to you because there is nothing else i can do

there may be no consequences or we may miss our flight to Turkey,possibly ruining our holiday as there are not frequent flights to Antalya from London

My son was scheduled to fly to Dublin from Paris on 3/16/09. He arrived at Charles De Gaulle airport to find that he had forgotten his passport. He attempted to reschedule his flight for a later departure time, only to be told that it would be an additional $200 Euros to do so. He anticipated paying a fee to reschedule but this amount was almost as much as his entire round trip fare! He called me and I called Aer Lingus from my cell phone while sitting alongside an interstate highway. The CSR, whose name was Mary, was quite pleasant but was absolutely no help at all. She just continued to quote the rules and the contract. I eventually gave up and my son was unable to make his trip.

We lost the price of his tickets for the flights, his housing and other associated fees. We have really stretched oursleves to give him this opportunity and the arrogant attitude of the people at the Aer Lingus counter in Paris was shocking. My son made an error in forgetting his passport but their total lack of empathy and unwillingness to help at all was very disappointing. I have made a compaint to Aer Lingus through their customer service site but do not expect to even get a reply.

I have purchased tickets for travel to Europe on-line with AerLingus. Before the purchase I talked with sales people about pricing and availibility, and was assuered that the prices reflect seat availability for the travel dates requested. Today I looked on AerLingus web site and the price is almost $200 less per person for the same travel dates. It is the difference of $377 for myself, wife and a baby. The sales department doesn't even want to consider the price adjustment. I could understand $50~$100 drop, but $377 is a lot of money for me. I am very upset by handling my rare case, especially that the price drop just happened within 2 week period.

In short, I just regred to take advice from aerlingus that prices reflect seat availability. I thinks this is a non sense, that rare cases like mine is not considered well.

My son travelled to Ireland fro UK on Saturday to attend a family event (Christening) he brought with him my other 2 grand children. This morning he arrived in good time to board his return flight with Aerlingus in the infamous area 14 (might as well call it Area 51) Carrying one tired and sleeping child and another in hand for the London Gatwick flight they were made to queue for 45 mins because of insufficient staff in attendance at check in. when he approached the desk as next in line he was told to go back as the petulant individual at check in 'was not ready for them'.

when he was eventually allowed to step forward he was told they were too late for the flight . 75 euro x 3 was demanded despite the fact the flight had not been called. Over the telephone (I am in Dundalk and booked and paid for the original tickets) I tried to pay using the original card to be told by an unhelpful aer lingus women she could not do it. 'and really should not have accepted the call to even talk with me', cutting me off in mid sentence. But not before she told me I must pay through a different office an a different telephone number - but it will not be open yet!

It costs sometimes a little bit more to fly with the UK and french based airlines but I do not believe the so called national carrier deserves my custom. I can and will spend my money elsewhere. Maybe this is not what Newstalk want to hear and my email is possibly heading for the trash but when will the 'ailing' part national body start to do the maths in a time of recession when the buyer reviews his choices, when will our native 'fatcats' who run the national joke with wings start to show concern for those feeding them. thanks for the time

My Son Anthony, Sophie and Steven are now booked on an 11 am flight to Gatwick and so my son and his 2 very tired children must hang around Dublin Airport till them. Tried to ring customer services at Aer lingus and Aer Rianta to get him some assistance but those numbers either don't exist and not allowed in to the hands of customers easily.

Euro 75 x 3 penalty and a 4 hour wait from early morning till 11 AM with 2 very tired little ones,

I write to you with great disappointment- I purchased airline tickets last week to fly with your airline on May 12, 2009; I originally purchased these tickets through Cheap Tickets.com. Today, January 15, 2009, I was looking on your website (aerlingus.com) and found the exact same flight for $306.14 cheaper. Cheap Tickets.com reports that at the time of my original purchase (01/05/2009), I purchased my tickets with Aerlingus at the cheapest sale price.

We are a single income family with (4) small children, I feel rather foolish and very disappointed in this airline, which I placed my trust. It is rather unfair and I am deeply saddened. I am a good, hardworking Christian man and I wouldnt have taken advantage of you.

Good Afternoon,

We are a single income family with (4) small children, I feel rather foolish and very disappointed in this airline, which I placed my trust. It is rather unfair and I am deeply saddened. I am a good, hardworking Christian man and I wouldnt have taken advantage of you.

I was flying Minneapolis-Glasgow.I had the misfortune of boarding Aer Lingus from Dublin to Glasgow. I was flying alone and I dont know anyone in this cold city. I was shocked to see that none of the passengers like me travelling from chicago had their baggages at Glasgow.

I had some very expensive gifts and all my warm clothes in my bags.I am now left in this city to fend for myself without any warm clothes .I dont have any other clothes to wear. CHEAP IS ALWAYS CHEAP. DONT FLY AER LINGUS AGAIN

We were due to take off on flight ei110 from JFK to Shannon Ireland at 6:30 on the 15th september 2008.We boarded the plane and proceeded to take off. The plane could not take off as there was an engine problem. The plane was being looked at by an engineer and we taxied 3 hours on the runway, people were obviosly very worried at this time as we did not know what was going on. It was announced at aprox 10:45 that the flight was cancelled and we would not be returning to Ireland that night.

We got off the plane, and there was chaos, the first fifty people who checked in were put on an alternative flight, i could not understand how we didnt make the list as we checked in aprox 2:30. We were told that somebody would assit us and to wait downstairs, no body came near us, we had to look for an aer lingus rep who basically had no idea what was going on. We were then told that they they would put us up in a nearby hotel at aprox 11:00. We waited outside in the cold for about an hour for a bus that could only take fifteen people at a time. It was ridiculus.

At arriving at the hotel we were given food vouchers and a calling card . The food had been sitting there for most of the night and the calling cards did not work, also the hotel would not authorise a phone call home to explain our delay. Our room in the ramanda hotel was dirty, had bugs and was generally not fit to sleep in. We were appalled at this hotel.

Next morning we tried to find a rep to try and get home to be told she was still in bed she also stayed at the hotel. At 11:30, she finally got up and basically could nt give us any more information. when she finally called the airport she told us that we had a flight at 6:30 the next night. We had no money left and were just given food vouchers for the hotel lunch, the food was disgusting so we just went to the airport and sat and waited for our flight.

We were so upset by this whole incident from start to finish. I thought the whole holiday was ruined and a shambles. We had no money left we had to go back to work the next day and i was so exhausted, i also had to pay an extra day for my dog in kennels, my car cost extra money at the airport in shannon. My partner also missed aday of work which he was not be compensated for.

I was booked to fly to Sudan, the first leg was with A L, departure time 6.45am, arrived and qued at checkin, at 6.10 I was told the flight was delayed and to go to the sales desk. At 6.25 I was informed flight was delayed until 10.30, I was booked on BMI Dublin heatrow dep 10.55, even allowing for traffic I could not have made it by road. get back home get the car and then drive, no hope. They told me hire a car but we will not refund you.

As my flight to sudan was leaving h/row at 14.35 they said they could get me to h/row by 13.25 if I wished to purcahse a ticket, after soliciting an answer in the affirmative that my bags would make it and there would be no problems with luggage and the would prioritise it, But the flight actually left shannon at 11.00 and arrived 11.30 giving me 45 minutes to get the london flight. I arrived at the boarding gate with 15 minuts to spare and asked the boarding attendant if my bag from the shannon flight was on board, they asked the ground crew supervisor who answered in the affirmative, they were loading them now.

Arriving on time in london I had 75 minutes to check in for my last leg, imagine to my surprise no bag arrived and then spent more time tracing it, it was coming on a later flight, 1 hr later, even though I had explained my situation in shannon and receiving catagorical assurances from Aer Lingus my bag would be there. It was only through the good grace of god that I met a sympathetic person in BMI because they reopened the gate for me 10 mins after closing.

I am now in sudan where malaria is endemic , all of the kit to help protect me is in my luggage along with my anti malarials. Therefore as a result of their lies annd misinformation I am now at greater risk of contracting because of them. If they had told me there was a chance it might not make it I could have removed it and brought it in my hand luggage.

Six members of Aer Lingus staff, 4 in Shannon and 2 in Dublin lied to me, if I contract malaria as a result of this where do I stand.There is a religous festival here and no pharmacies are open also my prescription is with the anti malarials and I can not a Doctor until monday. The distress and worry this is causing is making me very angry. And as many others have said here no person to contact and mylostbags.com is next to useless. I will never fly Aer lingus again.

it is causing immense mental stress worrying that I am exposed to contracting malaria considering the precautions I put in place before embarking.

booked a hotel with aer lingus search engine and two days later had to cancel as flight times had been changed by ryanair making my trip worthless. rang to cancel hotel but despite protestations was told that as well as 20 pound administration cost i woull have to forfeit the cost of first night accommodation. told them booking was over six weeks away but told that was policy and clearly stated. out of 141.75 euro i paid i was getting back 54 euro and some pennies if i proceeded to cancel.

took it on myslef to ring hotel in question direct ie beech mount hotel in liverpool and asked their policy re cancellation. if it is done at least 48 hours in advance there is no charge. rang back to aer lingus and told this and why were they stating this in their terms and conditions when it was simply not true and if the hotel was not seeking penaly charges where were they going to. every hotel i have ever stayed in has the same cancellation policy as this. the aer lingus receptionist put me on hold whilst he rang same hotel and when he eventually came back i was told the charge for first nights stay did not apply and i only would be charged the 20 sterling or 25 euroi.

i asked what about other people who were need lessly paying that charge to be told this was the policy of the company. who gets the money then if hotels are not seeking it i asked. did not get an answer. i would at least like the public to be aware of this practise and that we really do not have to put up with it. really disappointed in the attitude of aer lingus company as i always praised them as an airline and try to fly with them if possible.

On July 30, because the departure of our flight from Nice to Dublin was delayed by nearly an hour and a half, my wife and I arrived for our Aer Lingus connecting flight from Dublin to Boston (flight EI 137) approximately 55 minutes before our flight was scheduled for boarding. Concerned that we might miss our connection, my wife and I went directly to the Aer Lingus transfer desk for our boarding passes. My wife had a pocketbook and a single piece of carry-on sized luggage that she had decided to check in on the previous flight because one of the straps on that piece of luggage had broken. I had only a carry-on bag. We had decided, if necessary, that we would retrieve my wife's check-in bag at a later date rather than miss our connection.

While requesting the boarding passes for our flight, my wife spotted her checked-in bag at the baggage claim carousel and joined me at the transfer desk. I told her that we needed to obtain our boarding passes at the transfer desk and forego checking in her small piece of luggage. The Aer Lingus agent at the transfer desk checked her watch and said that that would not be necessary _ that we had enough time to check-in my wife's bag upstairs at the check-in counter. After dashing upstairs to check-in, we were denied boarding.

It was 40 minutes before the flight was scheduled to depart and the Aer Lingus agent at the check-in counter brusquely informed us that the flight was closed _ that boarding passes for that flight could not be issued less that 45 minutes before the flight's scheduled departure. Although the flight had not yet even begun to board, she told us that there was only forty minutes before the flight was scheduled to depart and she was therefore not allowed to process my wife's one piece of luggage. I told her we would forego that piece of luggage if necessary and I explained that we had two pets stranded at home with no food or fresh water (our cats' caretaker had returned to her home in Austin, Texas the previous day).

The Aer Lingus agent turned to the woman who was standing next to her (I assumed she was her supervisor) and explained the situation to her. The supervisor punched in something on her keyboard and asked whether we had come into Nice on that morning's Aer Lingus flight. I told her we had come in on the delayed Ryan Air flight. Well, I'm sorry, there is nothing we can do. It was too late, she said, to handle my wife's luggage. It was, by now, still at least one half-hour before the flight's scheduled departure.

I asked the supervisor if she would at least issue me a boarding pass _ that I had only my carry-on bag and needed to get home to the pets. That flight, she repeated dismissively, is closed. My wife and I then proceeded to the ticket counter where the Aer Lingus agent there charged us an additional $1,250 to give us our boarding passes for the next flight to Boston.

She said the additional charge was for change fees and differentials in the price of the ticket. I explained that our scheduled flight _ the one we had tickets for and still wanted to board _ had not yet even opened its gates for boarding. Could she at the very least, I asked, waive the change fee. She said she could not and sent us on our way.

$1,250 to purchase tickets for the next flight from Dublin to Boston

On July 30, because the departure of our flight from Nice to Dublin was delayed by nearly an hour and a half, my wife and I arrived for our Aer Lingus connecting flight from Dublin to Boston (flight EI 137) approximately 55 minutes before our flight was scheduled for boarding. Concerned that we might miss our connection, my wife and I went directly to the Aer Lingus transfer desk for our boarding passes.

My wife had a pocketbook and a single piece of carry-on sized luggage that she had decided to check in on the previous flight because one of the straps on that piece of luggage had broken. I had only a carry-on bag. We had decided, if necessary, that we would retrieve my wife's check-in bag at a later date rather than miss our connection.

While requesting the boarding passes for our flight, my wife spotted her checked-in bag at the baggage claim carousel and joined me at the transfer desk. I told her that we needed to obtain our boarding passes at the transfer desk and forego checking in her small piece of luggage.

The Aer Lingus agent at the transfer desk checked her watch and said that that would not be necessary _ that we had enough time to check-in my wife's bag upstairs at the check-in counter.

After dashing upstairs to check-in, we were denied boarding. It was 40 minutes before the flight was scheduled to depart and the Aer Lingus agent at the check-in counter brusquely informed us that the flight was closed _ that boarding passes for that flight could not be issued less that 45 minutes before the flight's scheduled departure.

Although the flight had not yet even begun to board, she told us that there was only forty minutes before the flight was scheduled to depart and she was therefore not allowed to process my wife's one piece of luggage.

I told her we would forego that piece of luggage if necessary and I explained that we had two pets stranded at home with no food or fresh water (our cats' caretaker had returned to her home in Austin, Texas the previous day). The Aer Lingus agent turned to the woman who was standing next to her (I assumed she was her supervisor) and explained the situation to her.

The supervisor punched in something on her keyboard and asked whether we had come into Nice on that morning's Aer Lingus flight. I told her we had come in on the delayed Ryan Air flight. "Well, I'm sorry, there is nothing we can do." It was too late, she said, to handle my wife's luggage.

It was, by now, still at least one half-hour before the flight's scheduled departure. I asked the supervisor if she would at least issue me a boarding pass _ that I had only my carry-on bag and needed to get home to the pets. That flight, she repeated dismissively, is closed.

My wife and I then proceeded to the ticket counter where the Aer Lingus agent there charged us an additional $1,250 to give us our boarding passes for the next flight to Boston. She said the additional charge was for change fees and differentials in the price of the ticket. I explained that our scheduled flight _ the one we had tickets for and still wanted to board _ had not yet even opened its gates for boarding.

Could she at the very least, I asked, waive the change fee. She said she could not and sent us on our way.

I left my camera bag on board aer lingus flight IE125 july 30,from Dublin to chicago. I called as I was heading home from the airport, and they said they were cleaning out the plane while I was on hold, she came back on line and said, no camera was under my seat. That's IMPOSSIBLE. The ground crew in Chicago I believe is responsible for stealing my camera, For one: because we had our business card in the bag. For two: I know it was left there because on the flight from Dublin we took the still camera out of the camera bag to look at photos. So it was there when we were on the flight.

Fortunately we took the small camera out, because those are the only photographic memories we have from a trip of a life time. I have called several times to Aer Lingus, but as of today still no video camera and bag has been turned in. My camera was a Cannon HF10 high definition video camera and assessories in the bag. This camera was brand new and bought especially for this trip as my daughter played fiddle in Ireland and we were videoing the events.

Awaiting an Aer Lingus flight at cork for around mid day, it flashed up on the board the plane was delayed by 2 hours. No big deal, it happens, but 4 hours later we were told a replacement plane was being sent (apparantly our plane had been used to cover a previous delayed flight). Around midnight the plane arrived, switched off its lights and we saw the pilot exit. He had flown too many hours so was not allowed to fly any more.

After going back to claim our baggage, we were told there were two flights and that the midday flight was fully booked and the next flight was five in the afternoon. We were also told all the hotels were fully booked, but there was a peaceful corner to sleep in in Cork airport. Finally we managed to get a room through a cancelled hotel booking. By now it was 3am and having only had airport food for sustinence, my sens of humour had failed.

Finally flew back (after another 2 hour delay) and then as told in their complaint fact sheet, made a complaint in writting to their office on June 3rd. A month later we received an acknowledgement letter saying please be patient whilst we deal with your claim. Another month passed by and we tried calling, but the complaints department has no phone. We tried faxing, but the one fax macine for the whole company did not work and upon calling back to say this, the lady said thats the number for the fax, if it doesn't work, I can't help you. Sent another letter and await reply...I have a feeling though that we will receive nothing. Is there anyone out there who has actually received compensation/expenses?

A recorded message telling people who have been seriously upset and unconvenienced by their dreadful "service" to write not even an email, but a letter, is not just a sign of the inexcusable absence of customer services in their company, it is also a ill-mannered and disrespectful in the extreme and shows a real contempt for customers. The outsourcing of operations at Gatwick Airport to Menzies, and to the agents who sell tickets in the Departures area means that almost 100 people today were faced with an endless array of ill-informed, rude and inept staff who, as is typical, use the fact that they are "not working for Aer Lingus" to avoid taking any responsibility whatsoever for incidents such as the one that occurred this morning.

This morning, I was booked on the 8.45am EI 243 flight from London Gatwick to Dublin which developed a technical problem "something to do with the computer systems linkage to the breaks on the aircraft." Although I would have imagined that a major problem such as this might have been picked up in the technical checks prior to passenger's boarding the aircraft, I accepted that this sometimes happens. Having boarded the aircraft, the pilot tried to restart the airplane to alleviate the problem, hardly inspiring confidence in passengers. When this didn't work, and after almost an hour sitting on the plane, he announced that a part for the plane was being sought at Heathrow and that this could take up to an hour to fix. He advised all passengers then to leave the aircraft and that someone would be waiting for us in the lounge and would take us back to the departures area where information on other available flights, refreshments etc could be had.

On leaving the aircraft no members of staff were in the lounge area, and there was a general sense that nobody was taking charge or responsibility for the situation. Eventually, somebody brought us up to the already hectic Information Desk in the Departures Lounge where Menzies staff clearly hadn't a clue what was going on, despite what the captain and crew had promised on the airplane, and presumably the fact that this is not the first time such a problem has occurred. Eventually, after many hostile exchanges between passengers and a group of staff, who made it clear that we were a serious inconvenience to them, some passengers who wanted to cancel their flights were escorted back out of the airport, and some presumably were given advice on other flights they could purchase.

Since we had been told it would only be an hour, I opted to stay around and just get on our delayed flight at 11am. No announcements were made, the Board continued to show an 8.45 departure time at Gate 14 Boarding Now, as passengers got increasingly confused and upset about people waiting to pick them up at the other side, business meetings missed and holiday makers transferring from the US and elsewhere looking at their ever shortening vacation time.

I queued all over again after 11am or so at the Information Desk and asked the Menzies representative if he would at least have the manners to make an announcement to update passengers on what was happening or input information to the board and talk us through options and variables. He replied that people were free to come and queue at the desk and ask if they wanted and that they didn't make announcements! When we could get a Menzies agent to actually speak to us, we were told so many contradictory things about a new plane coming from Manchester at 12, that the current plane was nearly fixed, that we could take the 1pm next scheduled departure etc etc. As the delay went on, people who decided they wanted to leave had to wait up to an hour to have a member of staff escort them back through security. This in itself is despicable considering the amount of our time already wasted by Aer Lingus. Others were sent back to BUY new tickets, and occasionally the board went back to saying "Boarding Gate 14", making people run back down to the gate, only to find it empty again.

Staff were rude throughout, ill-informed, keen to shirk responsibility for the situation, and perfectly willing to fob off customers with any story or excuse, making the situation worse by the minute. Eventually, several people were told that there would be a plane for us at 1pm. I decided I would continue to wait, even though I had now been in the airport over 6 hours, my friend in Dublin airport for the almost the same, and that I was only due to stay one night in Dublin, hardly making the trip worthwhile. The Board then showed 1.15pm, making everybody uneasy and feel that information still couldn't be trusted and that this was going to go on forever. A new set of staff were now on the Information Desk and they hadn't a clue what was going on, and again told people different contradictory stories. By almost 2pm I gave up.

There was no further information and I saw that the latest group of people who had been waiting 45 minutes to be brought out of the airport were leaving, so rather that have to wait again myself to be let out, I joined them. A group of us went to the Aer Lingus desk in the departures area on the other side, again to be told that they weren't responsible, were only handling agents, that it wasn't their problem, and all they could do was sell us tickets etc. There are no words to describe how aggrevating passengers who had by now been in the building over 7 hours found this "service". When I arrived back in my home in South London, I checked the Gatwick website and saw that the plane had taken off eventually at 14.52, over 6 hours late and with no indication throughout our period of delay that this was what we were looking at.

An old friend in Meath had bought me this Aer Lingus ticket over a month ago, to come and see her for one night before she moved to South Africa to work for good. I heard far worse stories from fellow passengers on the flight this morning, but for my part, Aer Lingus have caused me great distress and ruined a trip that although short, was personally very important to me. In addition, I had taken 2 days off work: I am paid at 150 per day--and so I have lost 300 for a trip that now hasn't taken place, not to mention my friends parking fees at Dublin Airport (over 30 euros), train fares, and the coffee etc that your 5 voucher doesn't cover.

I accept that there are sometimes technical problems, and that they cannot always be resolved easily. But the way in which this situation was handled at Gatwick this morning was beyond atrocious. Your irresponsible sub-contracting method means that customers have no access to Aer Lingus staff and everyone gets to repeat the mantra that they are not responsible for the situation. Indeed, I am sure you will happily say all of this was Menzies fault. However, making sure problems are dealt with efficiently is your responsibility. Making sure you work closely with agents and subcontracted ground staff is your responsibility: not the customers problem. Surely problems such as the one that occurred this morning aren't such a rare occurrence? Why, for example, could we not have been transferred to BA or other airlines? Why could information about the situation have been announced regularly (in the end there were one or two announcements, but only after we asked the staff to make them)?

Why was a member of Aer Lingus staff not to be seen after we left the plane? Why is there absolutely nobody who has the first clue about what is happening for customers to talk to? Why is the small amount of information given, incorrect, contradictory? Why do ground staff and Aer Lingus staff (by their absence) treat passengers who have paid a great deal of money for peak time flights with such contempt? I have in the last year started to book Aer Lingus flights on my many journeys back and forth to Ireland to precisely avoid such appalling and despicable service regularly meted out by Ryan Air. Today, Aer Lingus have made Ryan Air look efficient and friendly in comparison.

Looking even briefly now on various consumer affairs websites with pages and pages of complaints about Aer Lingus, and thinking as an Irish person living in the UK, I am embarrassed that this is what our so-called "National Carrier" has come to. In times of economic hardship in Ireland, presumably the economy will begin again to rely on tourism as a source of income. God help us if Aer Lingus is the tourist's first point of contact with the country now. It is a disgrace and embarrassment to us all. It is my view, and that of the many other passengers I spent many hours talking to in Gatwick today, that customers are willing to pay an extra 20 or 30 pounds for a decent service, friendly and professional staff and to travel with an airline that has links with other national carriers and can be a bit more flexible than the budget airlines. Rather than recognise this, it seems that Aer Lingus have taken the cheap option, outsourced all of those areas of customer service that matter so much to the cheapest and worst bidder, developed a culture of contempt for the customer and has actually sunk lower than Ryan Air.

AER LINGUS AIRLINE It is impossible to know how much a flight is going to cost until one has completed the on-line transaction

I booked two trips on KLM/Northwest from London to San Diego (NW103) for May 2nd and June 21st. KLM/Northwest advised me verbally to use Aer Lingus to book my Dublin-London connection because of being part of the same airline alliance. I did so and on 2nd May had 80 lbs of luggage in two suitcases which were accepted by Aer Lingus. In Dublin for the additional cost of a bag (9 euros). Yesterday, I returned to the same ticket counter and had pre-booked 3 bags for checking into the planes hold. I had paid an additional 36 euros for these additional bags on my ticket. When I got to the ticket counter the representative told me each passenger was only allowed 20 kilos of luggage in total. I explained I had an international flight and was referred by KLM/Northwest. She told me Aer Lingus was no longer a partner and the ticket was to be treated as an independent segment therefore I had to pay 340 additional euros for my bags Each additional kilo of baggage in excess of 20 kilos was to be charged 9 euros. This means I have paid 376 euros in addition for my airline ticket to London.

I spoke to a supervisor who informed me I had to pay it and there was a marked contrast between the cost and service I experienced on May 2nd and June 19th. The price of this ticket is more than I actually paid for the London-to San Diego leg of my journey. I understand the need to raise luggage prices and had no objection to paying for additional bags. However [their] website is misleading in that it is assumed 20 kilos per bag would be a reasonable expectation to pay an additional cost, but why would any customer want to carry 20 kilos in three bags when 20 kilos would fit into one bag?

It is not a rational system and assumes customers will be further charged at the airport. At that point, we have no significant means to redress what I consider unfair trading and contract practices which appear as gouging to me. How was it I did not have to pay additional charges on May 1st and was gouged yesterday? It was the same flight and route and I was making a transatlantic crossing on the same carrier. I have no intention of ever flying Aer Lingus again and will make that known in my circle of acquaintances and professional relationships.

In treating us in this way, I believe Aer Lingus will ultimately loose passengers and I hope government will intervene to protect the public from these draconian measures that appear to be giving passengers incentives to fly at discounted rates, when in fact very sophisticated schemes at check in counters leave us no options but to pay outrageous costs that are well in excess of the cost of passenger travel. Why in my right mind would I ever agree to paying a 400 euros airfare for a 50 minute flight?

My camera went missing after I went through security. They were never any help in answering phone, emails, messages to even make inquiry.

My wife and I were recently scheduled to travel from Paris to Dublin on flight 521 on May 25, 2008 at a departure time of 10:40 AM. We purchased our tickets some time before on the Orbitz.com website, along with many other legs of our journey through Europe and back to our home in Orlando, Florida. Having left our home many weeks prior to our Paris to Dublin flight, we had traveled on approximately 10 flights without benefit of a printed ticket since we were not at our residence to receive our mail.

We arrived at the Charles Du Gaulle airport in Paris approximately 3 hours prior to our departure time. We were directed to the Aer Lingus counter in section 5 of the airport where the agent checked our 4 bags and asked for our printed ticket. We informed him that we had not been at home to receive our tickets, but showed him our confirmation number, credit card receipt, confirmation email from Orbitz.com and passports. We were told that we had provided sufficient proof of our identity and that our reservation was in the computer. We were promptly issued boarding passes and baggage claim receipts. We arrived at our gate for more than an hour and a half. As we were standing in line to board the flight, we were approached by the same young man who had taken our luggage and issued us our boarding passes. He told us that we could not board the flight. He informed us that someone in Dublin had spoken to him and given him orders to deny us access to the plane.

Based on these instructions, we were prohibited from flying to Dublin. We were told to accompany him back to the check-in counter and were informed that our flight would be leaving without us. Needless to say, we were horrified by such an action. Once we were escorted back to the Aer Lingus ticketing counter, we asked the Aer Lingus agents about our connecting flights and how we could possibly get home. We were informed that this was neither our agents, nor Aer Lingus problem. We were rudely told that it was a problem we would have to solve on our own and that issuing tickets or finding flights was not the job of the Aer Lingus representatives.

We asked if we could catch the next Aer Lingus flight. We were told we could not. We asked top speak to a supervisor at Aer Lingus in Dublin. We were given a phone and spoke to a young lady in Dublin who said the young man should have allowed us onto the flight. The woman we spoke to in Dublin was unsure from whom the young man had received the instructions to keep us from getting on the flight. She reiterated that it was our problem and we would have to solve it on our own. After we hung up the phone, we asked for help with finding our luggage, which we had hoped was not on its way to Dublin. My wife was given directions to a general area of the airport. After my wife left, I asked the employee for his name or employee ID number so I could have a record of who had caused us to miss our flight. He covered up the ID that was hanging around his neck and told me that the information was confidential. We asked to speak to his supervisor at which point he said that such information was also confidential and walked away quickly, never to come back!

Meanwhile, my wife was forced to wait in a general area for 3 hours, unsure when, where or if our baggage would ever come. She was not assisted by anyone or treated with any concern. She was in tears when she called me on my cell phone to tell me that we might never retrieve our baggage. We were in shock and disbelief that this could happen. Eventually, we found each other and began searching for internet access since no employees at the Aer Lingus counter would give us any consideration in obtaining a way back to our home. Our connecting flights were impossible to make at this point and we were told that we would have to, at our own expense, finance our own way back to our own home.

We were abandoned and stranded by the actions of the Aer Lingus representatives at the Charles Du Gaulle Airport. There was absolutely no concern for our plight by anyone at the Aer Lingus counter. We proceeded to purchase minutes for internet access and go online with our laptop computer to search for flights to return home. We found that the prices for flights ranged from approximately 3,000 Euros to 8,000 Euros. We decided that these prices were outrageous and proceeded to the Air France counter. There we were able to secure flights home for 2,553 Euros. This was the least expensive flight combination that we were able to find and required us to spend much more time in less convenient airports due to long layovers.

We returned home a day later than we had originally anticipated and were greatly inconvenienced as a result. This issue, we thought, could be handled under the lost ticket protocol which frequently is used under such circumstances. If there was a problem that couldnt be overcome using this protocol, we should have been informed before our baggage was checked and our boarding passes were issued. We have yet to have anything resolved with Aer Lingus. Apparently, they are not worried about responding to compaints in a timely fashion.

2,553 euros, around US$5,000

This complaint concerns Aer Lingus, the Irish airline; and in particular, the personnel at Paris Charles De Gaulle airport. I suppose complaints about extortionary charges for excess luggage are fairly routine at this point, but I have a new wrinkle to add to the situation: outsourcing of airline personnel! I am a seasoned traveler, and I checked Aer Lingus's website for the baggage allowance when I made my reservation. Admittedly, I may have gotten the numbers wrong. I believe the website itself was not very clear, and in particular, did not clearly warn that there are different baggage policies for intra-European flights than for transatlantic flights.

Anyway, I carefully weighed my check-in luggage and my carry-on luggage, and showed up at Paris Charles De Gaulle airport expecting little trouble. However, I was informed at the check-in gate that my luggage allowance was half what I had expected it to be. I asked what the penalty would be, and was told it was 10 euros per kilogram in excess of the limit! Thus for 10 kg (about 22 pounds) above the limit, I had to pay 100 euros ($150 at current exchange rates). This doubled the price of my ticket. At this point I asked to speak to a supervisor, because I felt that the company had misrepresented the baggage allowance on their website. I was told there was no supervisor to talk to - and in fact, there were no Aer Lingus personnel anywhere within Charles De Gaulle Airport!

It turns out the checking-in process had been outsourced to another company, and this meant that there was no discussion possible on the fairness of the excess luggage policy. At this point I considered my options: I could go back to my hotel and find another airline. Cost: another night in the hotel, and another plane ticket (since I knew this one would not be refunded). I could unload a bunch of gift items I had bought and leave them on the airport floor, lowering the weight of my luggage. This probably would have been the smartest option, but in the heat of the moment I didn't take it. I decided instead to pay the 100 euro and get on the plane.

But my troubles were not over, because to do this I had to go upstairs to ANOTHER company - another outsourcing job. This time it was a company that specialized in collecting money. This company's job was to collect money from me and give me a receipt to take back downstairs to the check-in company, saying I had paid for the excess weight of my luggage. But it turned out I needed a receipt from the check-in company in order to be allowed to pay the collection company! So I had to go back downstairs again (taking my luggage each time of course), then back upstairs again, then back downstairs again, before I could finally get my boarding card. Upon arrival I told my story to Aer Lingus personnel, but of course they reacted with complete indifference, suggesting I write to their customer service department. Which I did.

Price of plane ticket doubled. Humiliation. Hustling around for about an hour in Paris Charles De Gaulle airport with a trolley full of luggage, taking elevators up and down.

Aer Lingus lost my bag on route from Paris to Dublin to Gatwick Airport in London. I paid 90 euro for this bag since Aer Lingus allows only one bag /passenger. I have called the Aer Lingus LA baggage claim number four times and told that the bag arrived at gatwick airport that I would need to contact gatwick Aerport in London to solve the problem. they sent emails to gatwick and that was the extent of their responsibility to me. I called JFK baggage claim number three times and left a message. the recording said that someone would return my call. I received no calls from Aer lingus.

So I called Aer Lingus and was told I could I could fly standby on earlier flight and that the cost would just be 45 Euros if I got the flight (nothing if I didn't) well before I left for my trip. I then got to Shannon airport more than 2 hours before the flight departed (@ 6.30 am) and am told that there are no standbys for this flight (the same one I had inquired about) and that I must proceed to pay twice as much as my ticket (in addition to the original ticket) just to fly on an earlier flight which they told me had ample room. Never was I told I could check this in advance.

I've been lied to by someone at this airline, and if I miss my flight from Heathrow, which they don't seem to care about as historically this airline is NEVER on time, then I'll post an additional review. I was told by Aer Lingus and another airline that 2 hrs. 30 mins., should be fine, but let's see.

None yet, but if I miss my business class ticket from Heathrow, it will be about $4,000.

I was staying with friends in Boston and was due to fly back to Shannon on Friday 5th Jan. Before the leaving the house,we called Logan only to find that our flight had been delayed and a recorded message said to call back after 5. We called again and spoke to a customer service agent in New York who eventually told me that the flight was cancelled until the next morning at 8am. We never even got a call from Aer Lingus.

So we spent the extra night with our friends and got up at 3am to be at the airport at 5am the next day. We called the airport again to check the flight was going and there was no mention of it on the recording. There was no one in customer service until 8am. So on arrival at the airport, I was told our flight was once agin delayed until 12 noon. This meant that we had to go back to our friends house and wait 8 hours!! We flew home with about 300 teenagers who had been skiing. You may as well have been at a teenage disco.The air stewards took no control. We arrived back in Shannon at 11pm, 17 hours late. We missed out on a full day at home to get over jet lag. HAve sent 5 letters since 9th January. Got a response on 25th, to say someone would be in touch shortly. Well if you call 51 days shortly...

My wife and I travelled to Brussels from Dublin in December 06. We flew Aer Lingus and enjoyed a fantastic weekend until it was time to leave on the Sunday. On arrival at Bruissels Airport we were informed our flight was cancelled due to bad weather in Dublin and they would fly us back on Thursday, a full 4 days later. I stated that this was unacceptable and what did they intend to do for us. They said nothing, no hotel, no alternative flight, nothing. I made alternative bookings with British Midlands who had no issues in flying to Dublin, but it did cost an extra 600. After that we found out you cannot contact them by telephone, they refuse to take calls and will not accept any complaints in anything but writing. We sent letters, 6 now in total, but have still had no reply.

Checked four bags in with Aer Lingus on Friday 7 July at Heathrow for a routine flight to Dublin, but only three arrived in Dublin. Usual stuff from Aer Lingus baggage clerk - will definitely be on next flight..will have it delivered to you within 24 hours etc etc blah blah. The bag never shows up. Next comes the check in with us procedure. Total nightmare. The bag had approx 1,000 euros worth of clothing and other items, but Aer Lingus, of course, won't pay. You have to wait three weeks, and keep checking in with us to see if the bag turns up.

Checking in with Aer Lingus turns out to be a nightmare. Nobody answers phones. you are directed to a website (mylostbag.com, which is totally useless. From there you can send emails but nobody answers. Eventually get through to somebody on the phone. She confesses to me that they don't actually look for missing bags, but hope that the system may find it. She sends me out a form in which I am to list the contents of the bag. It comes three days later. I fill it out and return it. A week later, while still checking in with them, they reveal to me that they don't have the completed form. Lost, perhaps ? They send me another one. I fill it in and return it. again, nothing happens.

Fortunately, I have travel insurance, but the insurance company tells me I need a letter from Aer Lingus declaring the bag has bee nlost (this can only happen after 21 days). I wait the 21 days, and send Aer Lingus a letter by fax asking for this declaration. nothing happens. I phone after three days, but get the answering machine. After a further three days, I send them a second letter by fax. Again, nothing happens. I check in mith mylostbag,com. nothing new. I send an email from the mylostbag.com site, but get no reply. This is now four weeks since I checked in my bag at Heathrow. No wonder Waiting for Godot was written by an Irishman. He mus thave worked for Aer Lingus.

I traveled June 21st from Boston to Dublin via Shannon on Aer Lingus. My bag did not arrive. I filed the report and was told that the bag would most likely arrive within 24 hours. It did not, and repeated attempts to contact Aer Lingus in Dublin led to disconnects and voice mails that went unreturned. Six days later, I finally received word that the bag was in Milan, Italy and that it was being returned to Dublin.

As I was flying from Dublin to Edinburgh the next day I resolved to pick my bag up from Aer Lingus at the airport the next day. It was not there. In the meantime, I was informed that I might purchase up to a 60 euro per day for my lost luggage of items I needed and to save the receipts. Back in the USA my family was trying to trace my luggage through the Aer Lingus lost luggage web site. My mother emailed twice on a page that promised a reply within 24 hours (she never heard from them). Contact with the JFK airport headquarters for Aer Lingus led to voicemail and finally a reply of " we cannot find it in our system". My bag did not ever arrive while I was in Europe- though I was there until July 7th.

Aer Lingus never again told me that my bag was not anywhere in the system. Upon my return I began the process of trying to file with Aer Lingus. What a joke.....30 days after my lost luggage report I was sent a form letter stating "they could not process my claim until 15 days had elapsed". I had to purchase new clothes upon my return for work and for my running for my soccer club.

Believe it or not, the bag was returned to me 67 days later. The problem is, Aer Lingus will not pay me for anything above a 60 Euro/180max that they say is there policy. Funny that none of the Aer Lingus employees ever stated this to me. Further, the only missing item from my bag was a new digital camera which I had purchased 10 days before.

During my trip to Ireland, Belgium, France, and originally Itlay, I fell and was seriously injured. Due to the injuries I was unable to proceed with my travels. Instead, I had to phone Aer Lingus, cancel 2 flights for 2 ppl and rebook a flight home to NY. I was told that I would receive a refund, but would have to pay for the new flight immediately. I sent a follow up letter to Aer Lingus regarding my refund. They would not apply the money that I had paid for the two tickets to the new ticket. I trusted that they would be true to their word. I've not received a letter, phone call, nor a refund.

I booked a one-way flight with aer lingus for the 19th August 2005 leaving from JFK/NYC for Dublin on the 6pm flight. A lady in New York questioning my departure on that day asked her sister-in-law working for aer lingus at the NY offices I believe, to check my departure details. This woman received my 'private' information and could relate back to me the day I purchased my ticket, amount paid, and type of card used in the transaction.

As you can imagine I was shocked and upset, later angry at my information being given out. This as you know is a total breach of security both personal and national! The card used in the transaction has since been cancelled of course and I shall never fly your airline again. The woman in question who gave out my information is called 'Budgie' or something to that effect I believe. In this day and age with all the terrorist activities and your airlines supposed stepping up of securities how could this be allowed happen? I would expect an inquiry into this and will also be reporting the incident to the FAA.

On 13th of july, me, my partner and our 8 year old daughter took a flight from Orlando to Dublin via Shannon. It was supposed to depart 7.30 pm but was at least an hour late. As some one who I would class as an extremely nervous flier the state of the plane disturbed me. The overhead lights were broken so wouldn't turn off, there was no inflight entertainment as that too was not working and my daughter couldn't sleep as the food tray was broken and kept falling on her.

Nobody could sleep and there was nothing to do on such a long flight. There was minimal refreshments offered and what was given was warm as there was no ice. People were vomiting, probably from lack of food and dehydration. Thought nightmare would end when we got to Shannon but the pilot refused to fly the plane for undisclosed reasons so after nearly 2 hours sitting on the runway we were taken off the plane in Shannon and told a different plane would take us to Dublin at 1pm.

Aer Lingus desk in Shannon refused to take any formal complaints and gave us a voucher for 7 euro for food which was just enough for a water and bread roll. We were told our luggage was flown to Dublin without us on our plane. Why they would fly the luggage and not people was not made clear, was it a safety issue with the plane?

Anyway after more delays we eventually flew on to dublin where our luggage was delayed, despite the fact they promised it would be waiting for us. We got out of the airport about 4pm, nearly 24 hours travelling.

I was left with the impreesion that there was more to this incident that wasn't disclosed. I would like to know if our safety was at risk and am extremely angry that we were nearly 12 hours on one plane without food, drink or entertainment, or even the chance to sleep through it as the lights wouldn't go off.

I purchased tickets on Aer Lingus website because they are partnered with American Airlines and I am an AA frequent flyer member. I tried to ascertain my booking class to determine what mileage I would earn and was not able to do so. When I returned home and submitted my boarding passes to American for milege credit they told me I would get zero due to Aer Lingus' policy. I was surprised because Qantas another of AA's partners did give me 50% mileage credit even though I got a deep discount ticket to Auckland in November of 2003. An American rep told me Aer Lingus purposely does not reveal this when customers book through their website. I will not fly Aer Lingus again.

Call me lucky but, in the 42 years of adult flying I’ve never had a bag mislaid until the past year. In that time I’ve had my baggage lost three times. The first wasn’t so bad as the bags were home almost before me. But twice in the past two months? On both trips it’s taken 4 days to get them back.

I have this idea that lost luggage has become a kind of job creation scheme for handlers and agents who purposefully lose them in order to justify their being needed. I know that an aircraft now is just a bus with wings and that prices are fantastically low but, surely one should be able to expect one’s bags to get there also. That of course applies only if the airline needs to make a profit.

On a recent trip with Aer Lingus from Shannon to Florida (cattle class) my bag went to Chicago. It was discovered by Maria 41 hours after leaving Shannon and it was going to take up to 48 hours more to get it to me in Florida where I was still in my winter clothes. I offered to fly to Chicago to personally pick it up but, was talked out of that one. I offered to go to any airport to pick it up but, Maria advised that airlines weren’t to be trusted with suitcases and that Fedex is best. (Why don’t we all Fedex our bags from home before we leave and do away with baggage handlers and their agents altogether and maybe further reduce flight prices).

The only problem with Fedex is that it’s an overnight process and not much use if your bag is found after 7pm in the evening and their last order went out at 5pm. But, never mind Aer Lingus allows you up to $50.00 expenses per day after 24 hours (if you keep receipts and if you make a claim within 7 days of luggage retrieval which is rather difficult if you get it day 4 of a two week holiday abroad). In lieu of all this cash and paperwork I suggested an upgrade on my return trip would be preferable to which Maria said she’d see to it.

Now, there’s the ruse. Most people at this point would discard all receipts. But , worse was still to come. Mine is a designer suitcase and in the highly stressed world of baggage it’s an object of relief and a means of striking a blow for freedom by repressed baggage handlers. When I got mine back it looked like it had just been released from a serious detention centre where it obviously hadn’t talked.

Broken handle, corners ripped and badly stained from being carouselled for several days…a pale shadow of it’s former self , I accepted it and consoled myself with the fact that at least I had an upgrade on the way back from Boston. A week later I arrived at the Aer Lingus desk to discover that not only had I not been upgraded but, that Maria had not put anything on file or contacted them in any way. Not getting an upgrade is not so bad but, being lied to as a means of placating is infuriating.

I realised that while my suitcase was important to me, to Maria it was just another chore between doughnuts. She can afford to be faceless behind a phone where she probably draws cartoons of characters like me with little d***s and big suitcases. Who cares really? All this will probably go on her CV as an accolade and she might even get promoted for her imaginative client handling.

What is to be learnt from it ? Firstly if you must fly, don’t fly Aer Lingus. Gone are the days of fashion models in green uniforms nursing whims. Now they’re liberated unionised feminists who huddle in gaggles and don’t like to be interrupted during a conversation on flight unless you are family or a single eligible male other than Daniel O’Donnell that has a party at the end of the flight. And secondly if you must travel Aer Lingus and you come across Maria in baggage, be wery wery aware.

I have been travelling Aer Lingus for numerous years, only to discover that this company doesn't give a s*** about its customers. Due to bad weather conditions on the 26/12/04 (1 cm of snow, not even that!) all flights were delayed. As a consequence all flights on the 27/12/04 were also delayed, despite the fact that the weather had totally improved. But the flow of traffic had been interupted the previous day, so my 12 p.m. flight from Cork to Paris was announced an hour an a half late.

I had a connecting flight with Air France and requested a document from Aer Lingus, nothing too complicated, just a few words on official paper, which would have helped me to change my next flight. However in order to obtain this document, was inevitably too much to ask. Aer Lingus desk office member 'Hilary' was so unhelpful regarding this. I just can't believe how Aer Lingus staff can be so incompetent and unhuman. I was informed that Aer Lingus is only responsible for getting me to my contract destination, and that I should have allowed myself more time between flights. Basically, the attitude was more or less - It's your problem.

In fact I had allowed three hours between flights, which was sufficient. The hour and a half delay, turned into 1 hour 45 minutes, and the eternal wait for my luggage to arrive meant that I had missed my connecting bus hence also missed my flight. I hope that Aer Lingus is proud of the way it treats it's customers, I have contacted them by phone today and what an attitude. I just so amazed. The cabin crew were always fantastic, pity about the ground and office staff. I was informed that I needed to write a letter and wait 8 weeks for the reply, which wouldn't change anything. 8 weeks is a long time in my opinion, there must be a lot of unsatisfied customers. Next time I'll fly Ryanair!

Loss of 120 Euro - purchase a second ticket for my connecting flight. A complete day wasted hanging around an airport for my second flight at 9.35 p.m. And I was so stressed and exhausted.