Does anyone know if seats are assigned at the time of purchase or if you have to call for a later date.
I am always afraid with international flights and overbooking and want to make sure that we have a seat.

hi
i was able to pick my seats when i ordered my tickets online, but i bought mine months before the flight. not sure if it might change when you get closer to the flight?

I was able to call after purchasing in Feb, and got my seats assigned for LHR to SNN flights in June.

Also, how was the flight?
I have had very positive (South African Airways-19 hours-but a WONDERFUL, COMFORTABLE flight) and very negative (delta) experience on long flights....I took a flight to Ireland on Aer Lingus years ago and I recall it being great. Hopefully, it is still the same?

My experience on an Aer Lingus flight from Dublin to Munich was positive.

I was a little concerned when I heard Irish folks refer to it as Air Fungus, but that is just a play on words. Nothing wrong with the aircraft or the crew.
You do, as I recall, pay for everything you eat and/or drink.

And they did not accept US dollars.
€ and £.

Similarly, on an EasyJet flight from Geneva to Gatwick, I was trapped.
The accepted currencies were chf, €, and £. I had none of any of it. Spent all my chfs in the airport. My US green was useless.

We flew Aer Lingus from Boston to Dublin in April. Some planes have the built-in tvs in the seatbacks, but neither of these flights did. The food is okay (free), soda and juice drinks were also free, but the alcoholic drinks had to be purchased. On the overnight flights you used to get the dinner meal and then a little breakfast tray, but they have dropped that second meal in favor of juice, as I recall.

We paid for drinks with American dollars but could have used Euros. Maybe the Munich flights are different?

Aer Lingus is changing its model to become a LCC (low-cost carrier). Well, at least for its intra-European flights. So, you pay for even coffee there. And of course, they will not take US$ for those flights.

Trans-Atlantic is different. Even the cheapest carrier still supply you with food and non-alcoholic drinks.

I may have recalled incorrectly.
the EasyJet flights were pay as you go.
Aer Lingus at the time may have been different. But current practices have changed according to Mr. Kwan.

Seats are assigned when you check in. In Dublin airport there's a self-service check-in area where you can select your own seats.

I've found Aer Lingus average on most counts, when compared with US carriers. On the planes I've been on, the one area I've consistantly found lacking is the comfort of the economy seat itself. Could be they have some planes with better seating, but so far, no luck for me.

For international flights you can get seat assignments ahead of time by calling the appropriate number on the website. You will get an automated system with voice recognition that assigns you a seat or seats based on some preferences that the system asks you about. If you are unhappy with the assigned seat (as I was at first), you may stay on the line and a human operator will come on and allow you to choose a specific seat. You can't do this with the shorter flights, but as cailin points out, there are self-service kiosks at Dublin and a few other airports where you can check in and select your own seats at the time of your flight.

Our AAA travel agent booked the Aer Lingus flights for us, and she also got our seats assigned. Our trip is in July and we have had the tickets for a while.

I planned the rest of the trip on my own, but she often gets the airfare for me, as she is very knowledgeable. She said our seats won't "change" unless the entire flight is cancelled or changed. In that case, they would try to assign you seats similar to the original ones you had. Also if the flight changed she would get notice of it, and she could try to change the "new" seats if they weren't right.

As others have said, it is also possible to choose your own seats on-line. There is also a web-site showing the exact lay-out of seats on different types of aircraft, and it shows you which seats won't recline, for example. Does anybody remember where that web-site is? Is it seat guru? I have used it before but have forgotten where I found it.

Good luck everyone!

Melissa5, It's SeatGuru. We'll all be waiting to hear about your trip. Joan

Seatguru.com doesn't have Aer Lingus, and neither does seatexpert.com.