Aer Lingus Reviews 

Aerlingus cancelled this evening Friday 29-May 5:30 from Dublin to London and didn't make any attempt to explain, except for "operational reasons", which in my opinion could not be more vague. All passengers were told the next flight to London will be 13:30 this Sunday. Aerlingus made no attempt to assign another flight. Passengers were told by company representatives at Dublin airport we will not be reimbursed the cost of booking alternative travel, but only the cost of the original booking. I received an email telling me that I am booked on the Sunday flight but I did not make that booking, and therefore I needed to call their call centre to cancel that. Customer service on the phone were more positive and cordial, it was like a completely different organisation. I've just met other passengers who also booked the ferry as no other option was available tonight or tomorrow. Quite bazaar, a bad joke. I've just been told that Ryanair would always find another aircraft if they were forced to, they would make an effort to bring their passengers to their destination. Sadly aerlingus is not our national airline anymore and indeed fall short of the low standards of budget airlines. Beware!

Took off from Belfast knowing full well we couldn't land at East Midlands due to storm force winds (forecast from the day before). Ten minutes into the flight announced we'd be trying to land at either Manchester or Liverpool or would be returning to Belfast!
Landed at Manchester. Waited two & a half hours for a coach (promised in 30 mins). No drinks' voucher offered (European Regulation 261/2004). No management rep. Arrived at East Midlands at 7.45 p.m. nearly 5 hours late. It has taken 6 emails to get £6.30 drinks' refund (due to total bloody mindedness on my part!!!)
Will never use Are Lingus again.

I experienced involuntary denied boarding with Aer Lingus on 8 February 2026 due to overbooking at Dublin Airport, which resulted in a delay of over 12 hours and significant disruption to my travel and personal plans.

While I was eventually issued compensation, the overall handling of the situation has been very disappointing. As a UK-based passenger, I was given a euro cheque which I am unable to use, and despite being advised at the airport that an alternative payment method (such as bank transfer or GBP cheque) would be arranged, this has still not been resolved.

Since then, the compensation issue has remained open for several months, with only generic responses stating it is under review and no clear timeline or meaningful update provided.

Customer service interactions have also been unhelpful, with no clear answers or support regarding when the matter will be properly resolved.

Overall, while the disruption itself may have been due to operational overbooking, the lack of communication, delay in resolving compensation, and poor customer service have made the experience extremely frustrating.

1. Their technology is terrible. Was unable to access our reservation thru the whole period. Was unable to check in.

2 was harangued and the gate over carry on even though it was a “smart” fare. Either pay a fee or check it. We checked it.

3. Could not book our bags thru to our final destination I US. Even though it was one reservation. They couldn’t work around the system whatever that means. Even though it was one continuous reservation. We went thru customs here in Dublin, pre clearance,so we could just go to our connection in terminal three in Chicago, but now will have to go to street and get bags, go back through check in, recheck bags, and then security all after arriving. What a hassle. Already complained twice but they say it can’t be fixed.

4. Ridiculous and peculiar baggage policies.

5. Poor food.

What a useless airline.

Aer Lingus overall feels disappointing once you include all the extra costs. There is no free WiFi on board, and seat selection has to be paid for all flights in your journey, which makes the ticket much more expensive than it first appears. I only wanted to buy one seat.

Customer service is also very poor and unhelpful. We had to call multiple times, and the communication was frustrating and repetitive. I was once on the phone for an hour with customer service, and even then the issue was not properly resolved.

I did them a favour by checking my bag in at the gate in Amsterdam because the plane was full. They forgot my bag in Amsterdam, so when I arrived in Chicago I had no clothes or belongings with me. My bag arrived 5 days later. The damage only came to my attention more than 7 days later, when I needed the bag for a weekend trip. Despite explaining this, they kept repeating the same 7-day reporting policy and refused to take any action for my damage bag.

When I contacted customer service, they repeatedly stated it had not been reported within 7 days and said they are not going to reimburse my damaged bag.

Overall, the experience felt frustrating, expensive, and poorly handled from a customer service perspective.

Absolutely dreadful. I will never use Aer Lingus every again. Our flights originally were from Manchester to Orlando were changed by them to a 2 flight journey,Manchester to Dublin and on to Orlando. The plane was far too small for all the luggage on the connecting flight. Also a delay because they let a passenger on board on the wrong flight.When we arrived at Orlando waited an hour and a half at the carousel, our luggage didn't arrive. No Aer Lingus representative to speak with. I found a man from another air line who kindly phoned Aer Lingus. Aer Lingus Rep turned up and was useless. Just handed us a form to fill in. Next day I found a contact to send them an email. They were not even aware of the luggage going missing. Eventually got luggage a day and a half later. No apologies, not even a voucher to have a coffee, nothing. I have already booked our flights for next year to Orlando but it's not with you Aer Lingus because you do not give a damn about your customers. You are a disgrace!!!!

Our flight for Belfast to Birmingham was eventually re-scheduled for later in the day because the pilot decided head winds were too strong after two attempts to take off at Belfast Harbour.

Seats were reserved and paid up, but, on checking in fir rescheduled flight, I had to pay again for reserved seats on (same plane, several hours later, after waiting in departures).

Contacted Aer Lingus several times, with reminders, on advertised channels. No response, not even a single acknowledgement.

An explanation would have made it OK, but being ignored is the unforgivable part. Aer Lingus do not deserve to be doing business, despite the politeness and professional nature of the staff on the plane. Those running, or managing, systems behind the scenes are letting everyone down and will probably be ultimately responsible for the demise of the company.

Booked flights for July instead of June, in error. Cost me €230 to change them. More that the cost of original flights…. Shocking. Money gouging.

Emirates change flight details free of charge, because they know it doesn’t impact the company!!!

Flight was from Barcelona to Dublin and the plane was filthy. There was crisps etc on the aisle carpet, there were no covers on the headrests and the velcro damaged a top I was wearing. The tables were covered in coffee/tea stains and rubbish was still in the pocket of the seat.
The food, a cheese and ham toastie was disgusting, barely toasted and soggy.
Not my first time flying with aer Lingus but definitely the worst flight with them

Prebooked a golf week in Belfast 9 months ago.
Flight out was Sunday 7.40am and first golf day was Sunday afternoon.
Departed fro East Midlands into Belfast City.
On arrival no golf clubs had arrived,didnt board the plane.
Was told anything just stood there waiting to collect.
Was told lster they would arrive first flight Monday morning.
Sunday afternnon golf not possible,no golf clubs.
They arrived Monday moring but had to collect from the airport.
On the return flight same thing. Friday flught.
Golf clubs did get onto the aircraft.
Stood waiting to collect at East Midlands.
Finally arrived at East Midlands Sunday dinner time.
Having paid to transport golf clubs both ways they are not giving you the service which you have paid for.
Having pre paid 9 months in advance they should have been fully aware what baggage needed to board that aircraft.
Very dissapointed with Aerlingus..

I am a Private PA and I was asked to change a flight for my employer from today to later in the week. My employer flies with Aer Lingus all the time so is a very frequent customer. I was unable to make the booking on line due to a system failure from Aer Lingus. I then called them and as I am writing this I am still on the call trying to sort out the change in the flight - so far I have been on the telephone for 34 minutes and 10 seconds. I am just being kept on hold. I processed the payment and the agent has not returned to my call. This is just totally unacceptable customer service and it is extremely disappointing. Not only that but because I had to call Aer Lingus, they are charging me more for the flight change. Really unacceptable.
Regards,
Amanda Denny
Private PA

Recent problems with oil protests shut down and blockaded airport. Ticket therefore useless as no onward transport available. Still waiting for a refund. Beware airlines that do not guarantee flight (but also ask is the flight useless to you when you get there?) Very little consumer protection through regulators. No Ombudsman for airlines and only ATOL for holiday packages. Looking for alternatives to airlines for travel now.

Think twice before booking with Aer Lingus.

I booked directly through their website and later needed to cancel my ticket. Before canceling, I reviewed their refund information and reasonably believed I would receive a substantial portion of my ~$1,100 ticket back. Instead, after cancellation, I received only $215.83.

The biggest issue is NOT just the low refund amount — it’s the complete lack of transparency before cancellation. At no point was I clearly shown the exact refund amount I would receive before confirming cancellation.

Had Aer Lingus disclosed that my refund would only be $215.83, I would have kept my ticket and taken the trip instead of canceling.

After cancellation:
- My original ticket was gone
- No meaningful refund was provided
- No option to reissue or preserve value
- Customer was forced to make a blind financial decision

Airlines should clearly display the exact refund amount BEFORE customers finalize cancellation so people can make informed decisions.

Very disappointing experience and something travelers should be aware of before booking with Aer Lingus.

Aer Lingus changed the time of our flight from 1130am to 0720 am on a flight to Aberdeen from Dublin. We landed on an Aer Lingus flight into Dublin at 0845 making this change completely unsuitable. Alternative was waiting 24 hours and fly to Aberdeen the next day and have a hotel stay or to fly to another location and submit a claim for expenses incurred. This is where the trickery and deceit begins.

As the option to wait 24 hours was not an option due to personal commitments, we opted to fly to Glasgow. We were told all expenses in travelling from Glasgow to Aberdeen would be covered and to submit a claim once we had arrived.

Trains / Taxi for 4 people from Glasgow Airport to Aberdeen Airport was estimated to cost £420.

Hire Car and Fuel was estimated to Cost £250.

The cheaper and more efficient method of a hire car and fuel was selected.

Upon submission of the claim for the expenses the claim was rejected as this was "consequential expense" - expenses incurred due to the consequences of Aer Lingus breaching their contract with us.

We are now left £250 out of pocket due to Aer Lingus operating without any real care, thought or consideration for bookings that are already in place.

Extremely disappointing experience with Aer Lingus regarding delayed baggage and customer service.

Our suitcase was delayed for approximately 10 days after returning from Orlando, despite us having paid an additional £55 excess baggage fee for the third suitcase. To make matters worse, Aer Lingus only appeared to locate the suitcase after WE informed them where it was using an AirTag. It was sitting at Orlando Airport, yet nobody seemed aware of its location until we provided the tracking information ourselves.

Communication throughout was extremely poor. We were incorrectly told the suitcase would be on a particular flight, which later turned out not to be true. Even after the suitcase arrived back in Manchester, we then waited nearly another 24 hours with no updates before eventually receiving a text message at 1:30pm saying delivery would be between 1pm–3pm.

The most frustrating part is that, despite submitting both an email complaint and an online complaint form on 3rd May, we are now still waiting over 18 days later with absolutely no proper response or acknowledgement.

Travelling with family and children, this caused a huge amount of unnecessary stress and inconvenience. The complete lack of communication, accountability, and customer care has been extremely disappointing.

Sadly, based on this experience, I would seriously question using Aer Lingus again.

Be very careful when booking flights with them. I have had 2 flights cancelled last minute when in the airport in last 6 months. Interestingly both late night flights looked very empty. No staff on site and no accommodation organized. I have been chasing compensation and expenses for months now with no replies.

After making a routine flight as uncomfortable as possible including breaking the law by pushing back with an incomplete head count freezing the asses of passengers with broken air con they then refused to even look into a complaint kept closing the issue without resolving then after months of correspondence they offered a meaningless apology worse than ryanair for customer service but they lost all our business and seem ok with it
Once was my airline of choice now my no 1 airline to avoid shocking customer care staff

Awful customer service. Do not fly aer Lingus from Belfast city airport. If you do, pay for your cabin bag, do not check it for free. The small plane means they will offload already loaded bags on the tarmac without telling you, then treat it as delayed baggage. Took 3 days to return my bag from Edinburgh to Belfast. Customer service based in California didn’t have a clue

19:00 flight Dublin to London Heathrow.
No better than Ryanair. Half empty plane, but forced to stand in a stairwell for 15mins, then walk in the rain to board the plane, despite the fact that we could have walked through the plane to get to our seat without having to queue in the stairwell and walk outside. Utter nonsense and expected better from a fare price at least twice that of Ryanair. Won't be flying Aerlingus again.

Disappointing customer service. Found it hard to contact an appropriate Department. Long delay in actual response, got an automated email immediately. Had made a genuine mistake and found them inflexible and unwilling to help. Asked for escalation, none forthcoming.