Which airline: Aer Lingus, Air France, Continental

We are almost ready to book flights for Feb 2012. However, there are some issues.

There are 5 of us and so far prices (some already for Feb, some Jan 2012) are way out of control. This is what we can choose from:

We travel from Paris (CDG) to MCO and back from NYC to Paris again. All based on 6 seats as we intend to buy one extra for more space.

Aer Lingus: 2833 euros
Air France: 4230 euros
Continental: 4345 euros

Now, looking at prices we would say that no sane person would go for anything else but Aer Lingus. Last year we fles Continental for a lot less and were not too impressed, food for one was horrible but we don't care as we intend to take some sandwiches.

We do care however about seats, room, comfort, entertainment (films). We do not drink alcohol and bring 1 suitcase each.

So, what would you choose?

Has anyone recently flown Aer Lingus to MCO or JFK. We are not familiar with Air France (except an internal flight) so all help is appreciated.

Knowing that all airlines over sell their seats are you gauranteed the extra seat if there is not actually a person to sit in it?

I'm not so sure that your plan to buy an extra seat will work. If there is nobody sitting on the seat they may put a standby passenger on and you have wasted your money.

How much extra would premium economy or upgrade cost you? That might be worth looking into or paying for extra legroom.

I have only flown with Continental out of the three above and they were ok but not brilliant.

Bernadette

Christine, I think you will find the Aer Lingus trip is via Dublin where you will do US Customs and Immigration. Have you looked at the actual timetable of these flights you could find yourself with a long layover.

I have flown Continental many times as it was convenient from our local airport and I didn't mind the indirect flight via Newark. That flight no longer exists and to go from local airport means Aer Lingus via Dublin but timings and horrendous cost has made it an impossible choice.

Timetables are all okay, that's not an issue.

You will get an extra seat but you need to book by phone.

An upgrade to premium economy is not possible for Aer Lingus and Continental as they don't have premium. Air France premium economy is over 5200 euros, not really an option, or do you disagree?
But what would you choose??

What are the routings on those airlines? Air France do operate a direct flight but some of their itineraries use Delta on a codeshare (usually through Atlanta).

Is there a compelling reason why you want to book so far in advance? I'd say there was a good chance that better fares might appear in the coming weeks and months and it might be wise to hold off for a while. Having said that, the saving you'll make by using Aer Lingus looks hard to resist and the others would have to be an awful lot better for me to justify so much difference in fare. While there are minor differences between them, I honestly don't think that any of the economy offerings of the major airlines stand out that much.

Finally, paying for an extra unoccupied seat is fraught with danger - the airline might honour it but they'd be very unlikely to absolutely guarantee that it will be adjacent to where you're sitting. It looks like a very expensive risk you'd be taking.

Thanks Katy's Grandad.
Aer lingus: Paris - Dublin - Orlando and back JFK - Dublin - Paris
Continental: Paris - Newark - Orlando and back Newark - Paris
Air France: Paris - Orlando and back JFK - Paris.

For the extra amount of 1400 euros, we don't mind changing planes in Dublin [msnsmile].

Why do we want to book so far in advance? Well, some people say the cheapest flights are booked earliest. We just want to have the tickets so we can book carhire, tickets, NYC hotel etc. There is no guarantee princes will be lower. I think is these 3 fares would all cost the same we would go for Air France, but AF is quite expensive, whenever you book.

If only we could get Virgin premium flying out of Paris, but they don't. [msncry]

Aer Lingus now have business on Orlando route and is sometimes only 200 extra each way
Good service on all my times flying with them
ALison

Unfortunately, business is over 7000 euros. Not an option :(

Flew to MCO with Aer Lingus (via Dublin) in November. Good flights - would have no hesitation in using them again.

One point though - the ability to do US Immigration in Dublin is restricted to certain destination cities (Boston, New York, etc). Orlando flights are not included or at least they weren't in Novemeber).

Well, flights have been booked. [msnsmile2]
From Nantes - Paris - JFK, we got the tip to fly there on the Airbus 380, which has 19" seats. Since the price was right and it gives us the possibility to fly from "home" (40 minutes drive) instead of from Paris (5 hours) for the same amount, we decided to do that.
Instead of booking a hotel near Paris, we now booked a hotel near JFK and fly to MCO the next day. On the way bak we are spending 3 days in The Big Apple and fly the A 380 again.
Oh Air France it is now.[8D]

Thanks for all your help!

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:[i]One point though - the ability to do US Immigration in Dublin is restricted to certain destination cities (Boston, New York, etc). Orlando flights are not included or at least they weren't in Novemeber).[/quote]I think now that Terminal 2 has opened at Dublin Airport, all Aer Lingus flights will clear immigration in Dublin - plus they now clear you through customs too so the flights land as domestic flights in the US (you are so clear that there is no duty-free shopping on the flight to the US as you have passed US customs). I haven't flown to Orlando yet since T2 opened but Aer Lingus have switched terminals and gates at MCO so I think they are covered by the total pre-clearance at Dublin.

Aer Lingus to Orlando do clear customs and immigration in Dublin

Judy

That's great to know - thanks Judy. Do you know if you still have to collect your bag once and then put it back on a conveyer belt to pick up in the main arrivals area, having gone through security screening again? It was always a huge pain for the Aer Lingus flights - I once got off the plane at 4pm, got through immigration and had collected my bag by 4:15 - but then had to put the bag back into the system, go through security again and wait a second time for the bag in the arrivals area. I was waiting there by 4:30 but the bag didn't appear until 5:15 - sooo annoying. Please tell me this has changed now... Thanks.