We have never flown on Aer Lingus before, we will be flying from Washington Dulles to Dublin RT in September. Just wondering if Aer Lingus usually has sales, pondering when to book.

Aer Lingus has frequent sales, and the offers can be quite good. But they tend to be short (typically three days) and time-limited (travel within twelve weeks or so). That doesn't suit longer-term planning. But that's how it works: if you are committed to a certain time-frame, they don't want you to get a reduced fare that is designed to fill spare seats.

I have had no recent reason to check on their transatlantic services, so I can't make a helpful comment on that question. September is shoulder season, so you might not get too much of a deal.

If you look at aerlingus.com now, it might upset you to see how cheaply you could travel if you changed your dates!

Aer Lingus has sales all the time. Keep checking their website. Better yet sign up for newsletters.

I've taken Aer Lingus to Dublin (though from LAX) the last 3 years - 2 of those trips were in October ('05 & '06) and this last one was this past September. I checked my notes and it looks like I booked all of my trips in March. For this last trip I paid $559.43 total. In '06 I paid $498. I seem to recall Aer Lingus having sales right after St. Patrick's Day so that probably explains why I've booked in March. I'm really a bargain hunter so I know that I tend to check their website weekly, if not daily, when I'm planning a trip. Sometimes their specials pop up when you least expect it (and sometimes they only last 24 hours) so you have to be diligent. You also have to be flexible in your dates - mid-week departures tend to be cheaper.

We booked a RT flight from IAD to Dulles in September '07. There was a sale advertised in Sunday's Washington Post. We're traveling mid-Feb (Valentines Day thru Washington Bday weekend). We paid $375 per tix. I have seen sales advertised since then, but none with as good a fare.

oops -- that would be a flight from IAD to Dublin

Thanks, I've signed up for their emails and will check their site religiously.

We are pretty limited on our timeframe so those tempting off season prices probably won't help us

And yestravel, we don't get the Washington Post, so if you see it again, please post!

You might ewant to sign up for somethjing like Fare Alert in case somebody forgets to let you know about a "Post" ad...a lot more efficient and includes more than one airline.

Dukey, I chose Aer Lingus as they seemed to have the least expensive non stop flights from Washington Dulles
to Dublin, but that's a good thought, I'll check Fare Alert.

wrenwood -- since booking with Aer Lingus I have been getting regular emails from them on their specials which seem to occur fairly often. The special we got back in September for February has been the lowest fare that I have seen. Currently their specials have higher fares and exclude that holiday period in February. In this case, booking earlier paid off.

If I notice anything different in the Wash Post, I'll be glad to post back. But I agree that while Aer Lingus seems to offer the lowest fares from IAD and has a direct flight, signing up for a fare alert thru farecompare
http://www.farecompare.com/ or some other site would give you information on low fares be it Aer Lingus or another carrier running a special. Good luck!

There was a seat sale for fall 2007 in August last year. The September dates were pretty booked up so I guess they go fastest. We booked for the beginning of November and paid under $300 each return direct Dulles-Dublin (I think with taxes it was $311). I had heard bad things about Aer Lingus, but flights were on time, service was good and seat room was better than some. We had a fantastic time!

Aer Lingus still has the only non-stop from IAD to Dublin that I've found

What bad things have been said about Aer Lingus?

Basically I had heard that they are a discount airline with poor service, poor food and outdated planes. My experience was good from a service standpoint (good booking assistance, friendly attendants) and both flights were on schedule (which never happens when traveling domestically). The seat space was above average. Only down sides - no seat back entertainment and they charge for alcohol (usually complimentary on overseas flights). I would fly them again.

kireland writes: Only down sides - ... they charge for alcohol (usually complimentary on overseas flights).

Over the past 10-years I have flown TransAtlantic to Ireland more than a dozen times, mostly on Continental but twice on AerLingus. I've had complimentary soft drinks and beer or wine but never encountered complimentary liquors (in tourist/economy class) on any of those flights. I've also flown Iberia (to Spain) and British Airways (to the UK): same thing!
First Class and Business Class (on some Carriers) get free booze, but Tourist/Economy Class: Never!

As for Aer Lingus 'Sales:' not likely until after 20 Sep. As long as they have an 85% or higher rate of Aircraft 'full,' they're not likely to offer discounted fares.

Book early and fly midweek for their best fares.

Having a sale now for travel February through April

doesn't help me for September & October

So.............. St Patrick's Day is almost here..........I sure hope they have a sale, as prices have gone up as the $ has gone down against the Euro!

Aer Lingus has extended the range of American cities from which it flys to Ireland,having bought several new planes.In Feb 08 its flights had many empty seats and with the world economy generally poor it will probably need sales and competitive fares to get people to fly.Incidentally there are direct flights from Dublin to about 130 European cities and there are often bargains on www.aerlingus.com and www.ryanair.com

Our flights on aer lingus were maybe 2/3's if that full. IAD to Dublin on 2/13 and return on 2/18.

In April 2006, we flew into Shannon on Aer Lingus from Boston. Tickets were about $498 each. We booked the tickets in January '06 and that was about the best price we saw before or after booking. We were unable to be flexible with our flight times. In 2007, we booked our flights on Aer Lingus in March for our trip in October. We paid $520 for each ticket. Once again, flexibility wasn't possible for us. A couple travelling with us bought their tickets a month or so later and got them for about $500. Each flight, there and back was full. We were happy with everything at Aer Lingus except for the kind of cramped seating, but we haven't flown a lot lately so just going to Ireland made up for the conditions. By the way, we thought that the food was decent and the little $5 bottles of wine were fine.

Ouch, now $700.

Normally I would think that prices would come down for autumn flights, but this year, this economy, who knows?