When did Aer Lingus quietly remove free seat selection 48 hours before flight at checkin for green and orange seats. Turns out in December 2025, but of course they never publicly communicated this watering down of service further. Now asking for €10.99 min to €12.99 or random allocation. Best bit is once randomly allocates you, you cannot change seat, even if you pay.
Even Ryanair charges less for seats for most flights. These legacy carriers need to stop with llc service, but without the low fares to match.
Took a random allocation on a flight back from the states. Got assigned a 130 euro seat. Cabin was half empty.
Almost the same. I refused on principle to pay for seats the last time we flew, and the random allocation was the expensive ones they couldn't sell.
Could end up working in their favour. They get paid for seats that had been free but they also expose people to expensive seats that otherwise would have been empty, opening the chance for a paid use in the future.
Or people see they can get the seat they want without paying any extra fee. If you are flying off peak there’s no reason to pay for an assigned seat imo.
Except assessing what's truly off peak is difficult anyway. Yeah it might be a quieter time of year but if they've also dropped from 7 flights a week to 4 at that time it's likely much of a muchness. It's a bonus but nothing you can reliably bank on.
Probably depends on the route?
I just fly ORD > DUB with aer lingus, there are two a330 flights every day year round afaik, if it’s one of the east coast narrow body routes seating matters less anyway imo.
Exactly this, on long haul they also upgrade people to first class for the same reason. If you're not selling them anyway and premium economy is full you can offer extra seats in premium economy and bump someone up. Good will, more income for that flight and potential repeat income for upgrades.
Not sure if you won or lost?
I noticed that too last month but I thought it was because I was on a reward flight… Zero communication even on the AerClub mailinglist is pretty shady
Yes, I was literally shocked to see it and to find almost nothing online about this. They are definitely trying to avoid backlash from their latest money grab. Agreed lack of communication is very poor.
11euro min is way more expensive than ryanair or Vueling for example. Fairly sure their minimum price to pick a seat is 4 euro.
This crap, coupled with their vastly inferior website, is why I rarely fly aer Lingus.
Only if you buy when purchasing flight and up to 6 euro now. Would have done had I known they would remove free seat selection.
Agreed their website is shocking
And coupled with fact that I've been delayed more often with them vs Ryanair, is why I rarely fly Aer Lingus.
Officially for flights to/from Ireland, Aer Lingus currently lead ahead for on time flights vs. Ryanair. According to DAA stats
I’ve never been delayed with AL, only with RA. Weird
Got delayed by a Ryanair flight in November and they lied about their landing time to make it 2h59m for the delay when it was 3h06m meaning we couldn’t claim for the delay.
SUCH a shady practice!
Yup. I wasn’t the one who booked and paid, it was as my mother, so I couldn’t argue it and she didn’t want to. If it was me; you better believe I would have argued it to the bitter end.
This is shady. I think the formal way to complain is to go through the IAA.
So first of all go to the airline. If no joy go to the IAA.
The IAA will use the wheels-down time as the landing time to calculate if there was a delay.
However passenger egress from the plane is what REALLY counts. So if the stairs is delayed in getting to the plane - that's the airliners problem and not yours I.e. that delay is counted additionally. So if this happens - and it does sometimes - complain via the IAA's EU form (not online portal). Airlines bear the burden of proof of no fault.
Finally just to add Orla Delargy from the CCPC was on the radio recently and mentioned they have a helpline to call. Might be worth calling them.
Not what I expected this morning. But fuck it I have time to waste over the weekend. May as well do this.
Thank you.
That's your opinion and just that. Scutter. You hardly expect an airline to fire out compo because the destination airport ground ops is a shit show? Compo for maintenance or crew shortage delay only, factors that are caused by the airline. 2% is tight enough margins without dealing with clowns like you.
Ryanair don't do themselves any favours
No they don’t. I know it was 3h06m because I timed it. I felt the wheels hit the tarmac and checked the time. I had missed calls from the person collecting us because according to Ryanair’s arrivals we had already landed 25 mins previously. They did their absolute best to obscure it all.
I didn’t book or pay so no way I could have argued it, but if it were me, I would have argued it to the very end. There’s a reason I don’t fly with Ryanair and this adds to the list, I will use literally anyone else or even go to another airport out of my way. They’re a useless lying pack of cunts.
Been delayed in Barcelona previously with AL & in Orlando. Think once is all i ever got delayed with RA but was weather related
I think it depends on the route. I used to fly a lot to Stansted on a Sunday evening, never on time on the twenty or more times I did it. Guaranteed to be around an hour late. Ryanair run a tight turnaround which means less space to catch up if it is wrong.
For every reaction, an equal and opposite reaction!
I always fly Aer Lingus over Ryanair if possible. This race to the bottom is going to put them against a rival they can’t beat. They are removing the differentiators that result in people paying slightly more for a better experience.
Agree. I’m not sure on which servies they make the most money, but it feels like they are giving up on short haul flights to Europe aside from a few key routes and betting on medium/long hauls to North America.
I flew back home to Ireland at the end of November from Toronto for a week, the plane used for the Toronto route was a321n small plane. Couldn’t pick my seat had to be allocated or else pay. It used to be a case where a 22kg was always included in long haul. Now you have to pay extra. Now I know that has changed for a good few years. The plane was packed, they didn’t have enough room in the overhead lockers for all the bags they wouldn’t even let me put my big coat up overhead. Completely felt like a budget airline. So it might not just be the European routes they’re going downhill with
Oh yes I haven’t used those in a while but I can well believe the quality of service and market positioning is dropping on North American routes as well.
It might be an IAG thing, as I also see similar complaints about BA (I don't care how short the flights are, resorting to reducing food portions and removing hot English Breakfast for business class passengers sounds pretty desperate when you are an airline called British Airways).
But while I haven’t checked in details, my impression is that they are serving fewer and fewer destinations in Europe while the service to North American cities is stable or increasing.
Was on their website yesterday booking a flight to the UK. It was 160€
Selected and went on to payment only to get an error issue try again later
Tried again straight away, flight went up to €242.
I’ve experienced a lot of that this week too, though not as extreme. Very frustrating.
There was likely only a few seats left at that price and someone got them before you tried to book them.
Finally someone understanding how airfares work lol
No actually, not this time. I travel very frequently and there was loads of seats.
Not all seats are sold at the same price on a flight.
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I have not tried it, but apparently going on a clean browser (incognito tab) and a VPN set to Thailand nets you the best pricing for flights. Its all rigged :)
This has happened to me the last 3 times I’ve booked a trip with aer lingus, I can’t believe it’s a coincidence at this point
Because your first selection was still held in the buffer and you effectively were competing against yourself. You surge-priced yourself
Aer Lingus are just a glossier Ryanair.
Tbf for places like Paris Aer Lingus is worth it, Beauvais is not worth the trek.
You didn’t enjoy seeing the Czech countryside on the journey to Paris?
True, but Roissy Charles de Gaulle is also a pretty shitty airport (slow border check, long transfer time between different parts of the airport you have to go through, and seriously dodgy location with crime-ridden and unreliable train connection to the city).
If the flight times are right, I would recommend to fly Transavia or Vueling to Paris-Orly instead which is often cheaper (and overall a quicker and less poorly operated airport than Roissy, closer to the city, and now with a subway station just at the exit of the terminal).
As a side note, between Air France, Ryanair, Aer Lingus, Vueling, and Transavia, the Dublin-Paris route is pretty competitive with 5 airlines and 3 airports to choose from … so definitely worth looking at the different options each time (although obviously agreed that Beauvais isn’t really Paris).
The seats are comfier and that's really where the differences end for me. It's all just perception a lot of the time.
They seat you together automatically wherever possible and you get a free 10kg check in. If the price is anywhere close I always fly aer lingus, much nicer experience imo.
They got rid of the free 10kg carry on bag too:
https://www.aerlingus.com/prepare/bags/carry-on-baggage/
Edit: Apologies - I see you say "check in." It used to be that you'd get a free carry-on if you booked a seat.
Did they? Literally flew with them on Monday with a free 10kg bag and flying again this Monday with the same.
Edit: says it right there in your link... "Alternatively, drop your bag off at the check-in desk or bag drop kiosk (available in Dublin, Shannon and London) when check-in opens and collect it again at the bag carousel when you land. This option is free."
You only pay if you want to carry it on.
Yeah. Apologies. I misread your post. I thought you meant carry on
I've had problems abroad getting them to check the bag. It's a tiny backpack and they always say it's fine just a personal bag. No man I don't want to carry it around if you check it for free :D
Aer lingus gives you free checked In luggage. Pretty big difference tbh
Yeah to carry the same size back is normally about €16 per flight on Ryanair. It just depends on the pricing at the time as to which I got for
A lot more than that for 10kg check in with ryanair in my experience. Closer to 30 each way
Aye buy you can just carry for the €16 each way which I generally prefer so I can just walk straight out
Oh yeah I get you!
It's so annoying that Ryanair has switched to variable baggage pricing. Makes price comparisons much harder. But yeah in general, that 10 kg bag seems to make up a much bigger percentage of the fare than before.
I find if you don't add it till the last possible checkout it comes down cheaper. Last time I booked it was €20 at the start of the booking process and then it dropped it to €16 to add it at the final confirmation to try and push me to add it.
But yeah as you said, it could be entirely different if you went to book now. Both the airlines policies seem to be in such flux recently.
For me, Ryanair seats are comfier as they don't recline, so you don't end up with minus legroom (and no reclining my seat won't help as my knees and arese will still be in he same place)
I love no recline seats. Don’t mind them hard. Reminds me of when I used to go to mass.
Actually yeah the reclining is so annoying when you're only flying a couple hours.
The shorthaul aircraft are roomier too
Yes, they are indeed an air line.
Exactly. Always maintained this. Used to chose them when price was +10 quid vs FR, cause at least got free seat selection. Now will just opt for Ryanair, at least their app is with the times and works a lot smoother and functionally.
I flew on December 28th and still had free seat allocation 48 hours before the flight. Will not be happy if I have to pay for a seat!
This was posted a month ago so probably around then I’d say
https://www.reddit.com/r/ireland/s/kiaiuBAs3X
Aer Lingus is practically an LCC. People need to adopt that mentality when booking flights with them.
Avios is a big differentiator though. Even if you don't fly much, you can collect them from Tesco, Revpoints etc.
I booked family holiday flights for this summer (to Spain in august) using avios points, family of 5, total cost of flights to me €100. Paying cash would have been €1300.
Be good if they joined an actual alliance. I feel like I would fly them more if my status was recognised across an alliance, like my gold status is from Air New Zealand on Star Alliance
Leg room is still better, seats still recline, and if you need a 10kg bag, it's very competitive with Ryanair. LCC sure but still better than Ryanair
Yup, LLC with national carrier notions.
Hardly, since being taken over by IAG it’s lost most of its identity. Airlines like Air NZ, and others have much stronger national identity than Aer Lingus.
Wasn’t aware of this as I don’t fly often. Thanks for the heads up, OP.
Difference is Ryanair see to purposely split groups and give the middle seat. I've flown a lot with 5 people in last few weeks taking random selection each time and each time we've been given one full row all together. When I do it Ryanair we are spread all over plane
I wouldn’t be too fussed about Ryanair doing this if it didn’t cause annoyance during boarding and the beginning of the flight every single time with people who want to changes seats.
I know some people will blame passengers who didn’t pay and say if they wanted to sit together they had an option to pay for it, and to some extend I agree. But nonetheless Ryanair is fully aware that deliberately not sitting people together will cause annoyance for everyone on the plane at the beginning of each flight (including to those who paid for seats), and they do it anyway. On my latest flight I even had one of their flight attendant ask me if I was willing to give up my seat and go to the last row against the toilets so that they could reunite two passengers that their algorithm deliberately separated but clearly shouldn’t have been (an elderly woman who needed a bit of help from a family member traveling with her). Told them I was fine where I was sitting and that was the end of it, but I don’t really appreciate them trying to trick/shame me into moving to a clearly less comfortable seat to fix a problem they deliberately created.
I'm not too fussed where I'm sitting. It's only really people with kids that this is screwing over and they are inevitably creating problems for themselves when these people too cheap to pay for seat allocation still expect to be accommodated.
Actually this could be better for families The free seat selection allowed all random passengers to select random seats throughout the cabin. This often meant families and groups couldn’t get suitable seats together. Now, obviously more people will opt for the free seat selection, so the system will have more open seats to actually assign seats more effectively for families and groups. If that makes sense
Obviously it suits those that are willing to pay for it. Not all are willing to do so and if all those randomers who would usually check in as soon as it opens will still be checking in and assigned seats.
Yes, of course, only now the system will fill the seats as opposed to loads of random single travellers selecting random seats here and there throughout the plane.
Ues but those single traveller still exist and unless the system is programmed to prioritise families, it's still going to assign them seats.
Of course but they will be assigned where it suits the system to put them rather than randomly. Say in theory the system fills a plane from front to back, 3 single people could be placed next to one another in a row, leaving another full row free. Where’s before those 3 people could have selected random seats dotted anywhere in the plane, which in turn could have blocked a set of 3 or 6 seats being assigned to a group .
There's a reason Ryanair stopped doing this. It's a pain in the whole and delays departure.
Yes, and in theory this could reduce instances of groups and families being split.
As long as you force people to pay to sit together, you are creating a headache for yourself. Just assign everyone a seat and be done with it.
Fixed that for you.
Funny because it’s true :-)
Aer lingus have really declined in recent years in terms of customer service. It is very disappointing.
shite craic
I refused to pay and chose automatic seat selection for 2 adults and 2 kids under 8. We got 4 separate seats all over the place. Since under-12s have to sit with an adult a lot of reshuffling needed to be done (by the cabin crew! Check-in staff couldn't fix it, neither could gate staff).
They're banking on you paying extra to lower the stress of travel, which they themselves have introduced.
Happened to me traveling back after Christmas last year, flight oversold, kids scattered to the wind. Thankfully the crew on the plane were able to sort it out gate agents were already overwhelmed. Coming home to Ireland for Christmas this year I took no chances and pre-booked the seats months before. Flight again was oversold and they were looking for 10 volunteers, bad form, when people are about to fly for 11 hours to see their mammy, hope they all got home in time for Christmas.
How recently was this ? This issue was a big problem and the free seat option meant people would randomly pick any seats available when check in opened. Groups or families who were later at checking in then had little or no options of seats together. The removal of free seat selection should in theory mean more (the majority) opt for the free option and thus the system will have more availability to assign seats together.
I've done random allocation the last few times and have ended up seated together.
Are Lingus genuinely has the absolute worst customer service of any carrier I've ever flown with (narrowly edging out Finnair) and I've flown with most. Would readily choose Ryanair or any of the "budget" airlines over Aer Lingus, which somehow gives you a customer experience even worse than Ryanair for three times the price.
Didn’t know that.
Do they atleast seat passengers in the same ticket together? I can understand low cost airlines charging you for seat selection, even at check-in. Having a specific seat of your choice is worth paying for I guess.
But I find it pretty low handed that Ryanair seats passengers on the same ticket separately if you don't opt for it.
Nope, they don't guarantee that any more.
I chose Aer Lingus over Ryanair whenever the difference isn't too big so I have a less stressful flight. Bow they're adding in all the same stuff as Ryanair, what's the point. Especially as I usually fly with a small kid.
I'd be happy if they atleast did their best to seat people together, unless the plane is fully booked and it's not possible. Essentially how legacy carrier check-in works if you don't choose seats.
The thing which pisses me off about Ryanair is they actually make sure they randomize the seats and people in the same ticket don't sit together, unless they literally cannot do it because the rest of the airline is booked. They're basically selling the ability to sit next to your family/friends on the same ticket and ensure you don't get it for free. That's what pisses me off.
The free seat selection allowed all random passengers to select random seats throughout the cabin. This often meant families and groups couldn’t get suitable seats together. Now, obviously more people will opt for the free seat selection, so the system can actually automatically assign seats more effectively for families and groups. In theory anyway, time will tell
I thought it's been happening for a bit now anyways. If you do it when you're paying, it's usually less depending on where you choose to go.
Unfortunately most airlines now charge for seat selection
BA did it too so Aer Lingus just following suit.
Fuck's sake, mate! They've removed all the free seats?? I thought if I waited for the 48 hours countdown, it would allow me to choose free seats, but no.
Sorry. Ignore me. There's a discrete "complimenary seat allocation" checkbox during the Check-In now.
The worst part is this is also on trans Atlantic flights too! Booking onto an 8 hour flight and can’t even pick seats together. Shambles
Even if you are silver member you can’t pick a seat It’s a joke with them atm
Yeah their tiers are ridicilous. Takes twice as long as KLM to get up to bronze which idk what benefits even offers
That's a real shame. Not having to deal with shady pricing is why I'm willing to pay more for Aer Lingus.
Looks like the journal stalk these pages for ideas https://www.thejournal.ie/aer-lingus-free-seat-selection-6922066-Jan2026/
Haha when I am 50/50 on this. Wanted this to be acknowledged publicly so it is now at least
Ha! Just another nail in the Aer Fungus coffin, hopefully
Good luck getting through to anyone at Aer Lingus to complain, comfortably the worst customer support in the industry
I tried to book a flight last night and got an error. Tried again and got an error, so I left it off.
Checked my bank account later and saw I had been charged and then got a confirmation email like 30 minutes later.
Spent an hour waiting on the phone to speak to someone who said I could get a cancellation because it was less than 24 hours ago. Filled out the refund form but I feel like it’s going to be a struggle
It must have been after my flights. I was in Germany from the 1st to the 7th, flew aer Lingus and got free seat selection on both
Flew in December and I couldn’t pick any free seat and I refused to pay.
Anyone have an email to contact Aer Lingus. We are flying to France with an infant in May for the first time but I don't seem to be able to book a seat at all? Is this right or do they automatically keep you together?
Wait until the last possible moment to check in and you will get one of the decent seats for free
Aint flown aer lingis for years. Have a flight home from London with my 7 year old ..does anyone know if the random selection splits us up
You should have no issues just check in online as early as possible. This change will mean less random seats are selected for free throughout the cabin. It will therefore offer more options for the system to automatically assign seats for those traveling on the same booking when you check in online together. Hope that makes sense
No, children are always seated with one of the adults
Not in Ryanair’s case. Was left sitting beside two children - I had an aisle seat. Mother was in a row or two behind and father down in row 3!