For the last international segment of my Iceland to The Residence via Cambodia trip, I flew Aer Lingus’ Airbus A330-300 business class on the 6hr20min flight from Dublin (DUB) to Boston (BOS). It had been some time since I flew Aer Lingus’ wide body business class, so I was looking forward to seeing how it was holding up.
I’d say that Aer Lingus’ transatlantic business class is squarely middle of the pack, and that’s probably a good place to be. Everything is pretty good, but not much is great. Given Aer Lingus’ positioning within the IAG portfolio (which also includes British Airways and Iberia), this kind of product probably makes sense.
All-in-all, I always have pleasant experiences on Aer Lingus, and would gladly fly with the airline again, especially how short most transatlantic hops are out of Dublin.
How I booked my Aer Lingus business class ticket
I booked my Aer Lingus business class ticket using Alaska Atmos Rewards points. Specifically, I booked the following for 45,000 Atmos Rewards points plus $41.43 in taxes & fees:
11/05 EI137 Dublin to Boston departing 3:00PM arriving 5:10PM
I’d argue that this is a deal that’s tough to beat, and best of all, you can even earn status points for award flights booked with Atmos Rewards. If you ask me, this is easily one of the best transatlantic award values, so I was very happy to find availability.
Aer Lingus business class lounge & boarding
Dublin Airport has a United States CBP Preclearance facility, meaning that you clear customs and immigration prior to boarding your transatlantic flight. I had a layover of a little over three hours, as I was arriving the same day from Paris (CDG) in Aer Lingus’ A321LR AerSpace product.
Ordinarily, passengers on US-bound flights are directed to use the 51st&Green Lounge, located within the Preclearance facility. However, that lounge is currently undergoing a refurbishment, and the airline has a bit of a lackluster makeshift setup.
Aer Lingus business class passengers on US-bound flights are specifically excluded from using the Aer Lingus Lounge, so that this can be reserved for elite members and others with passes (which seems a bit backwards to me, but I digress).
Instead, the airline has a “reserved seating area” by the food court, which consists of a bunch of chairs and coffee tables. There’s no food or drinks in the space, and instead, passengers are given a €20 voucher they can use at the food court. Honestly, I just found the communication and explanation around the whole thing to be poorly executed, but this is ultimately a temporary issue.
Eventually I decided to just head through the Preclearance facility, so that I didn’t have to worry about that anymore.
However, I sort of instantly regretted that, since the facility isn’t very big, seating isn’t comfortable, and food & drink options are also limited. So definitely don’t come here as early as I did.
My flight was departing from gate 403, with boarding scheduled for 2:15PM, 45 minutes before departure. Sure enough, that’s exactly when boarding started, with business class passengers being invited to board first.
Aer Lingus A330 business class cabin & seats
I boarded the Aer Lingus A330 through the second door on the left, where I was greeted by a friendly crew member, and then turned left into business class. Aer Lingus’ A330-300 business class cabin consists of 30 seats, spread across seven rows.
Aer Lingus A330s have staggered seats based on the Thompson Aero Vantage platform, and seats alternate between being in a 2-2-1 and 1-2-1 configuration, meaning there are either four or five seats per row.
In the center section, you’ll find that there are always two seats per row, with the only difference being how far the seats are from the aisles. There are no “honeymoon” seats here, but instead, the center seats are all equally far apart, so it just comes down to far you are from the aisle.
On the right side of the cabin, you’ll find seats alternating between pairs and solo seats.
The pairs of seats here would probably be my preference if traveling with someone, since I still like looking out the window. However, some people traveling with others may prefer the center seats, so that both passengers have direct aisle access.
Meanwhile the “throne” seats in this configuration are arguably the best seats onboard, given the amount of personal space they offer (though with some limitations in terms of the footwell).
On the left side of the cabin, you’ll find one seat in each row, and they alternate between being closer to the aisle or closer to the windows.
The seats that are closer to the aisle aren’t ideal, since you don’t have much separation from the aisle, and can easily be bumped.
Meanwhile the seats closer to the windows are cocoons of sorts. I assigned myself seat 6A, the “true” window seat on the left side, in the second to last row.
While this isn’t the world’s most spacious business class seat, I still find it to be super comfortable, especially for a short transatlantic hop like this.
There was a console area next to the seat, with a fully enclosed storage compartment.
This is also where you’ll find a panel with seat controls, the entertainment controller, AC and USB-A charging ports, headphone jacks, and a water bottle holder.
The tray table also folds out from right next to the storage compartment, and it’s a single, large surface, so you’re not going to be able to get up during the meal service, as there’s nowhere to slide it.
The seat featured a decently sized footwell — it’s definitely on the tight side, but not to the point of being uncomfortable.
Aer Lingus’ A330s also feature individual air nozzles, which is always a treat on wide body aircraft not operated by US airlines.
All-in-all, I consider this to be a solid business class hard product. It’s not cutting edge and likely won’t “wow” anyone, but it’s also not a seat that people should object to. For a carrier like Aer Lingus, that’s probably the sweet spot.
Aer Lingus A330 business class entertainment & Wi-Fi
Aer Lingus’ A330 business class offers audio and video on demand, via 16″ seat back monitors. It’s not exactly the most cutting edge or high definition monitor, but it does the trick. The system had movies, TV shows, audio, games, and flight information.
Due to how entertainment was sorted, it was tough to count exactly how many programs there were, but I found the selection to be solid, and I think most people should have no issues finding something that keeps them entertained.
Aer Lingus also has Wi-Fi on its A330s, in partnership with Panasonic. Ordinarily, the airline charges as little as €3.49 for a messaging pass, and as much as €20.49 for a streaming pass.
However, the airline offers business class passengers vouchers for free Wi-Fi, with no data caps. This simply requires logging into the portal, then clicking the “use a voucher or discount code” button, and then entering the code.
If you register an account, it’s easy to then switch between devices throughout the flight.
I found the Wi-Fi speeds to be decent — not Starlink or Viasat levels, but still good enough to stay productive.
Aer Lingus business class amenities
Aer Lingus offers all the standard amenities you’d expect in long haul business class, but with limited frills. Each business class passenger gets a substantial pillow and a cozy blanket, which I’d consider to be quite good.
Headphones were also placed at each seat, and they were on the basic side, and didn’t do much in the way of noise cancellation.
Also waiting at the seat upon boarding was the amenity kit, with socks, eyeshades, earplugs, a pen, a dental kit, and two products from Jo Brown (lip balm and moisturizer).
There was also a menu placed at each seat, which contained the drink list.
During boarding, the crew came around with pre-departure drinks, with the choice of champagne, orange juice, or water, and you can guess which I chose. 😉 For what it’s worth, Aer Lingus pours Jean Pernet Tradition Brut NV in business class.
Vouchers for free Wi-Fi were also distributed toward the end of boarding.
Aer Lingus A330 departure from Dublin
Since boarding took place through the second set of doors, the process was nice and calm for those in business class. Business class was only two-thirds full, with 10 seats remaining unocipued.
I enjoyed listening to Aer Lingus’ boarding music, and at 2:55PM boarding wrapped up and the main cabin door was closed. At that point the captain added his welcome aboard, informing us of our flight time of 6hr20min, and our anticipated 10-minute taxi to the departure runway.
At 3PM we began our pushback, at which point the manual safety demonstration was performed. The crew then quickly carried out safety checks — Aer Lingus has some quirky rules, like requiring passengers to not use pillows and blankets during taxi, takeoff, and landing.
At 3:05PM we started our taxi out to runway 10R, which covered quite a bit of ground.
There wasn’t much in the way of traffic, and by 3:20PM we were cleared for takeoff.
While it was an overcast day in Dublin, the views on the climb out were lovely.
Despite a smooth climb, the seatbelt sign stayed on for quite some time, as it was only turned off around 20 minutes after takeoff.
Aer Lingus business class meal service
After takeoff, it was time for the main meal service on this flight, which was dinner. You can find the Aer Lingus business class menu below.
And you can find the Aer Lingus business class drink list below.
I was very impressed by the pace at which service started after takeoff. Just under 30 minutes after departure, I was served my first drink. I had a glass of the Italian white wine, which went down easy, and that was served with some packaged onion and paprika biscuits with spiced apple chutney. I love Aer Lingus’ creativity with its drink snack, as it’s nice to see an airline thinking beyond nuts.
A few minutes after the first round of drinks, warm towels were distributed.
After that, the service pace became a bit more leisurely, which I was fine with, given that this was a daytime flight. The first course consisted of the choice of a soup or an appetizer. I opted for the tomato and red pepper soup with garlic and thyme croutons, which was served with a simple side salad and a bread roll. The soup was tasty, and the perfect temperature.
Once the first course was cleared, mains were brought out one-by-one. Of the three choices, I selected the mushroom and lentil casserole with lemon thyme mashed potatoes, roasted baby carrots, and sautéed garlic kale. While it wasn’t the nicest presented dish I’ve seen, it actually tasted pretty good, and I appreciated seeing a non-pasta vegetarian option.
Just under two hours after takeoff, the meal service wrapped up with either dessert or cheese, which was all brought out on individual trays. I ordered the dessert, which was an orange chocolate mousse dome with a milk chocolate drizzle. I also had a cup of tea to go along with it.
While nothing extravagant, I thought the meal was quite tasty, and perfectly sufficient. Like with the overall Aer Lingus experience, little delights, but nothing really disappoints either.
Aer Lingus A330 business class lavatory
Aer Lingus has two business class lavatories on the A330, located in front of the cabin. One of the lavatories is at the very front left of the aircraft by the cockpit, while the other is on the right side, in front of row one (there are two lavatories behind the cabin as well, but they can be used by economy passengers).
The lavatories were fairly basic, with the only noticeable feature being some Jo Brown hand wash and hand lotion.
Aer Lingus A330 business class bed
It had been a very long couple of travel days for me, so once back at my seat, I reclined into bed mode, and was ready to get some rest.
I fell asleep in almost no time, with just over four hours remaining to Boston…
…and I woke up around two hours before landing, as we were already making landfall in North America.
Aer Lingus business class pre-landing snack
As soon as I woke up, I ordered a cup of coffee, and was also presented with the snack basket, which had some sweet treats.
Around 75 minutes before landing, the pre-arrival service began, and you can find the Aer Lingus menu below.
Of the two savory options, I chose the chilled Korean BBQ-marinated tofu served with a quinoa and barley salad, and cucumber yogurt. There was then also a trio of sweet treats, including a petite carrot cake bite, a red velvet sponge cake, and an Irish cream profiterole with chocolate ganache I’ve gotta say, this was an above average pre-landing snack, especially for a flight of this length. To drink, I had another cup of tea.
Aer Lingus business class service
The crew on this Aer Lingus flight was friendly and informal, which is basically what I expect from Aer Lingus. Aer Lingus doesn’t offer the most polished or personalized service, but I find flight attendants at the airline treat passengers with respect and like humans, and often engage passengers in conversation. That’s more than many other airlines can say.
So my impression of service on this flight was generally positive — nothing particularly stood out to me, but instead, it was just an all-around friendly experience.
Aer Lingus A330 arrival in Boston
At around 4:05PM the captain was on the PA to announce that we’d soon be descending, and would be landing in around 35 minutes. Sure enough, a moment later we started our descent.
I guess there was a lot of traffic, because we ended up having to sequence quite a bit on approach. The views were beautiful, as the sun was just setting.
We ended up touching down at 4:40PM on runway 22L. From there, we had a short five-minute taxi to our arrival gate, where we pulled in at 4:45PM, 25 minutes ahead of schedule.
It was nice to arrive having already cleared immigration, as I could walk straight into the domestic departures area. From there, I headed to the nearby Hyatt Regency Boston Harbor, where I’d be spending the night, prior to flying home the following morning.
Bottom line
Aer Lingus business class is a reliable way to cross the Atlantic, especially with the consistency in seats between narrow body and wide body planes. Aer Lingus’ A330 business class offers friendly service, free Wi-Fi, and good entertainment, along with food, drinks, and amenities, that are good enough.
If the price or schedule are right, I’d gladly fly Aer Lingus again.
What’s your take on Aer Lingus’ A330 business class?