Originally Posted by
mik3bravo
Cityjet / Aer Lingus - fare costs on London City airport route
I am a frequent flyer, been a heavy user of Cityjet into Dublin. When Cityjet operated the LCY - DUB services, you could pre select seats free of charge, and automatically included 20 kg checked bag.
Since the ACMI service partnership between Cityjet and Aer Lingus, this has all changed. All checked bags are now charged dependent upon weight you select.
So the headline air fare initially gives you a perception of relatively cost effective but by the time you add in the extras the end price becomes something quite expensive, which is over and above the historical typical air fares on this LCY - DUB route.
Ripping off customers comes to mind. I've learned an expensive lesson in how Aer Lingus are trying to get passengers to purchase a Plus ticket. This will sadly be my last flight using this service, taking my business elsewhere. Buyer beware!
What you're describing (paid-for seat selection, charge for checked bag) sounds like the standard Aer Lingus short-haul business model (which makes sense given that Aer Lingus are now calling the commercial shots on this route and CityJet is just a contractor to Aer Lingus).
I note that BA Cityflier offers something similar (cheapest fare is hand baggage only, pay extra to choose a seat).
I'd absolutely agree with you that the CityJet offer (in terms of what was bundled in) was superior to this, but CityJet had (sadly) become an outlier in a headline-price-driven market.
I'm curious: when you say you are taking your business elsewhere, what other airline will give you a CityJet-type bundled fare between LON and DUB? Or are you proposing to take the train and ferry?
