Aer Lingus addresses seating and compensation complaints

Rosemary, a reader, shared her experience with Aer Lingus regarding her family's travel needs. Rosemary and her husband often take their son, who has special needs, on trips to Madrid. This year, when booking their flights, they faced challenges with seat selection. Rosemary's son uses a wheelchair and feels anxious when staff use a narrow chair to transport him. She prefers seats at the front of the plane for comfort and safety. However, when she booked tickets in March, the Aer Lingus website didn’t allow her to choose seats together. After being on hold for 45 minutes, Rosemary was directed to Iberia Airlines, but they told her to return to Aer Lingus. She repeated her request multiple times, only to be told she couldn’t select seats until 24 hours before flying. Despite her clear explanations and willingness to pay extra, the situation remained unresolved for her. In a follow-up, an Aer Lingus spokesperson apologized for the miscommunication and confirmed that the issue had been resolved. The family looks forward to their trip in May. Two others, Dave and Paul, also reported issues with Aer Lingus. Dave has been trying since June to get compensation for a cancelled flight but faced repeated automated responses and difficulties reaching customer service. His claim was lost in a system change, but the airline has now prioritized processing his request. Paul booked a business class seat and was bumped from the flight, which frustrated him. He sought a refund and explanation for the incident, as it had happened before. Aer Lingus apologized and refunded him for the seat fee, acknowledging the error. Aer Lingus is working to improve its customer service based on these experiences.