I'm not an expert on intercontinental flights, I have just two assets, but the shopping and travel experience was so different between the first and the second that we decided to post.
In 2009 I was in California, flying with British Airways. In 2010 I was in East coast, flying with Aer Lingus. Upon returning from this last trip, the feeling was that of saying British Airways for life. In fact, while I described the two experiences I listened to travel and understood that what I thought was not what I described. Let's try to put together a few points.
1. Choice
I say this without too many hesitations: in both cases I chose the flight based on the price, i.e. the lowest in relation to the departure airport. If with British Airways the choice was made directly on their website, for Aer Lingus I found the offer through lastminute.com.
2. Purchase and account management
British Airways provides the customer with a rich, orderly and precise section with the history of the actions already carried out and those to be carried out, such as enter the number of ESTA application, choose seats, enter passport data. Aer Lingus puts at your disposal a section that you don't remember (and does not remember you) what you have entered, what you have not entered and if you have already chosen seats. Type: I entered passport numbers in compulsive manner at least once every two days.
3. Choice of seats
The choice of seats is fundamental. For me. British Airways automatically allocates seats but offers the option to change them. For free. Aer Lingus for the choice of seats asks for 5, 7 or 10 €, depending on the seat you want. All this is not clearly specified when purchasing the ticket. We decided to pay and choose seats other than those assigned for a simple reason: the seats that were automatically assigned to us were, coincidentally, separated.
4. Check-in online
Same story: with British AirwaysBA no management problems. With Aer Lingus bad luck wanted the browser to crash during the online check-in process for the second flight (Dublin-New York), preventing me from accessing my boarding pass. Fortunately, at the check-in desk in Dublin they immediately understood what had happened and proceeded to print everything necessary (without creasing, as if to say "Yes, we know, our online check-in sucks").
5. Comfort
British Airways second class is uncomfortable, indeed no, very uncomfortable, and puts on the 3-4-3 formation. Aer Lingus' second class is fabulous, and absolutely winning with the 2-4-2 formation. With this lineup, Aer Lingus is equalizing the score with British Airways, in my opinion. On board about the same things: blanket, headphones, newspaper, British Airways actually also offers a package with a light mask, toothbrush and travel toothpaste.
6. Drink & Food
During the flight British Airways offers a first round of free drinks, including even alcohol. With Aer Lingus, everything beyond the "fruit juice" grade is subject to a fee. During the meal, British Airways offers passengers, in addition to the usual drinks, wine and bitters. Aer Lingus throws the tray at you, and please, make a move to get it and not dirty. Thanks. Of the food on board I think it is better not to talk. In both cases, bad stuff, but you don't choose a flight based on the meal offered, do you? No.
7. Quality / price
I cannot compare the price of the ticket because in the first case, with BA, I booked with 7 months in advance while with Aer Lingus I booked one month before departure. The curious thing is that I paid practically the same price (approx € 20 difference) for an Italy-California flight (British Airways) and an Italy-New York flight (Aer Lingus).
Then, who to choose for the next trip to the States? I don't know, I still have to decide. British Airways and its flawless service are easy to win on paper. In fact, the comfor factort, an absolute winner for Aer Lingus, makes the choice much more difficult. I think the best solution is to try a third airline (Alitalia? Lufthansa? KLM?) In order to make a three-way comparison. Yes, I will sacrifice myself and I will update this post again next year.
