Aer Lingus Vacation Store Reviews 259

ZERO STARS-Avoid at all costs. There are many reputable tour companies for Ireland, this is not one of them. We found out the hard way, “Aer Lingus Vacation Store” is not affiliated with Aer Lingus airlines in any way, which is incredibly deceptive.
We booked the Self-Drive Ireland with Cottage stay Killarney upgrade. The itinerary was disorganized and impractical , we ended up redesigning most of the trip ourselves and never used the final two excursion vouchers. Thankfully Ireland is amazing and we had a great trip despite this company, not because of them.
The first hotel (Absolute in Limerick) was great. The 2 bedroom “upgrade” in Killarney at The Brehon, however, was a shocker. Instead of a 2 bedroom hotel room we were booked to the long-stay apartments out behind the building, no breakfast included, and we were treated differently at the spa because we weren’t in the main hotel. Worst of all, although the trip was clearly booked for two people, the company inexplicably booked TWO of these huge two bedroom apartments (each could sleep 10+) for just the two of us, for four nights. The Brehon staff were as shocked as we were and even tried to relocate us, but couldn’t due to renovations.
I CALLED THE TOUR COMPANY to report all of this, NO ONE EVER CALLED ME BACK, NO RESOLUTION, NO ACKOWLEDGEMENT.
We ended the trip by skipping their last two vouchers and planning the rest on our own, which was the best decision we made.
If you book a vacation package clearly for two travelers on one reservation, and the operator then books two separate apartments for just the middle portion of the trip, especially after placing you together in all other hotels, any competent customer service team should have:
Caught the inconsistency at the time of booking,
Flagged it as a likely error, and
Reached out to you to confirm before issuing final documents.
That is a basic quality-control expectation for a tour company. Booking duplicate rooms with no reason, without notifying the traveler, is either a major clerical error that went unchecked or negligent oversight.
Even if it was intentional (e.g. some “package quirk”), they still should have communicated it clearly, because it affects cost, logistics, and expectations. Failure to catch or communicate it is a customer-service failure on their part.
Bottom line: deceptive branding, disorganized itinerary, ridiculous lodging “upgrade,” zero customer service for their overbooking of one couple. We had an amazing trip to Ireland, in spite of this company. DO NOT USE AER LINGUS VACATION STORE to book your vacation.

Edited to add after an immediate resonse due to my review here and with the BBB: Your quick public reply here is ironic, it’s the only response I’ve received. No call, no email, no actual communication. I first contacted you on October 14 while still in Ireland, giving your team four business days to fix the error, plus three more since I’ve been home. Nothing.
You’ve had a week to address a $500+ booking mistake. Telling customers to “be patient” after total silence is insulting.
If your quality control and customer service were as fast as your Trustpilot replies, none of this would’ve happened. The reviews speak for themselves, this is a two-star company with deceptive branding and negligent oversight. I’m just another one of your many victims of shoddy, unscrupulous practice.
Thank you for the clarification, I stand corrected that you ARE affiliated with Aer Lingus Airlines. How unfortunate, and frankly, how embarrassing, for Aer Lingus to have their name attached to such a disorganized, tone-deaf, and unresponsive operation. DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY

Very easy to book, great bang for the buck, not easy to get a hold of customer service when problem arises, itinerary was pretty tight not leaving enough leeway between locations, some of the hotels were not 4 star as promised but they were all good enough.
It included upgrades at some hotels and breakfasts at all hotels. Overall worth it.

We were looking to book a trip to Ireland and Scotland and came across what we thought we were looking for with Aer Lingus Vacation Store. We booked the trip based on the price presented on the screen for flying out of Toronto Pearson airport. When we saw the amount on our credit card, we were shocked as it was $3,000 more than what was presented on their website. After many attempts to get an explanation from them, it was determined that the amount quoted was in US dollars and not Canadian. We were told if we checked the small print on a different page, you would see it mentioned there.
The package we purchased included hotels in Scotland with a point value of 1 through 5 (out of 10 being the most expensive). When we went to book in Scotland months in advance, there were absolutely no hotels in any city in Scotland that was not a 6, 7, 8 , 9 or 10 and for every number above a 5 you could book, but would be required to pay 10 pounds per person for each increase above 5. So for example if you wanted to book a 7, it would be 20 pounds per person per night. We could not believe that they include accomodation that basically didn't exist. This was very frustrating.

Mixed Experience – Beautiful Castles, Poor Communication, and Misleading Marketing

We recently booked the "Castle Stay" tour through Aer Lingus Vacation Store, which was supposed to include three castle stays and one hotel. While parts of the trip were truly wonderful, the overall experience was a mixed bag—and the customer service left much to be desired.

Let’s start with the positives: Cabra Castle and Lough Rynn Castle were exactly what we hoped for—rich in history, stunning architecture, and a memorable experience for the whole family. These truly felt like castle stays and received glowing reviews from us.

Hotel Woodstock, although not a castle, was a very nice stay. The service and accommodations were great—but let’s be clear, it’s not a castle. Including it in a “Castle Stay” package feels like stretching the truth a bit.

The biggest disappointment was Dunboyne Castle. This is not a castle stay in any real sense. There’s an old building at the front with no access and no history shared. The rest is just a generic hotel. If you’re going to market something as a castle, it should feel like a castle. Dunboyne doesn’t.

Booking was another frustrating part of this experience. We booked in August for a family of four. Somehow we ended up with the dreaded "bathroom seats" on the flight over—uncomfortable and noisy. We tried to add an extra day to the trip and were met with weeks of radio silence, broken promises, and three different calls before someone finally stayed on the line long enough to help. By then, we were told it would cost $2,200 to make the change. It felt like if we had been helped promptly the price might’ve been more reasonable, but who knows? Once your payment is processed, their customer service basically disappears.

We made the best of the trip and enjoyed Ireland itself, but if you're booking the "Castle Stay" package, just know that only two of the four places are truly castles. The rest either don't qualify or are misrepresented. I’d strongly recommend they rethink the name of the package to better reflect what’s actually being offered—and drastically improve their follow-up support.

Kerrie Morrow helped me book my trip with my sister. There were so many changes I had to make at such short notice and Kerrie was absolutely amazing. Not only did she take the time to help me fix things, she called me back promptly, and did everything she could to make my experience as easy as possible. If you need help finalizing your trip she’s the one to ask for!

Just booked a trip to Paris, London & Amsterdam and was for 3699 each after being told the original quote of
3199 each was no longer available, I booked it anyway only to find out 3 days later that they are still selling the trip at the 3199 price. Hopefully the trip will be worth it , but I feel like I was taken . So be wary

I just got back from an 8 day" Scotland by Rail" trip through the AerLingus Vacation Store and it was beyond perfect - not even a hint of a snafu in the entire experience. Our flights, pickup from the airport, hotels, train vouchers, and ride back to the airport went off without a single hitch. My sisters and I are ready to book our next trip, We were booked into very central (and very comfortable and clean ) hotels in the cities we stayed in and all hotels included huge breakfasts. Our train vouchers were easy and accurate and the train rides were comfortable with gorgeous viewing of the countryside. I went on this trip with my 2 sisters and we've all agreed that this was probably the most snafu-free trip we've ever taken. Can't wait to take another trip through AerLingus Vacations

I was unable to travel because of a fractured hip. Aer Lingus was not very accommodating but after a lengthy dispute it agreed to provide a voucher minus $388.00
insurance deduction to which I agreed. When I attempted to redeem the voucher,using a coupon sent to my e-mail. I was told by this travel agency that because I had a voucher that I could not use the coupon. Aer Lingus Vacation Store has my money but refuses me to get the discount provided by the coupon.
I wouldn't use this agency. I don't understand why the coupon can't be used by those whose money it already has but offers this discount to those whose money it doesn't have.
My advise would be not to deal with it. Lots of reputable travel agents with whom you can book.

Very affordable!! And everything went great! We flew to Ireland from Boston in early December of 2023. We had a group of 8 people (four couples). We were all surprised at how nice the hotels were and how smoothly everything went. We will definitely book through this company again.

We choose a AerLingus Rail Pkg out of Boston. Flight an hour early into Dublin. Six nights in four star hotels. Yes we had to figure logistics to rail stations. Great to go our own pace for almost 80 year olds. We went to Cork and Killarney. Took a Viator tour of Ring of Kerry, extra but worth it. November 1-8, 2023. Great value

Despite anxiety over reading poor reviews about Aer Lingus Vacation store, our entire vacation to Scotland was perfect from beginning to end with no problems at all. The Market Street Hotel exceeded our expectations, our hotel transfers were prompt and the drivers were helpful and very informative, all of our chosen activities were great, the trip vouchers were all accepted, our airline seats were fine, and that would be the only advice I'd offer, after AerLingus airlines established our confirmation/number, a few days after booking through the vacation store, I called the airline directly, they looked up our locater number and they were able to assign us seats next to each other on our main flight and our connecting flight- and although we couldn't pick a specific row, she told me what seats were together, that were available to us, there were a few, and she let me choose from that- so we had alittle say in that and most important, we sat together- you just need to plan and be proactive- if you dont do this, you will just randomly be assigned to any available seat.

We are still in Ireland and left the Limerick City Hotel which was dirty, loud and no hot water. We purchased the vacation package with a bunch of activites it was all good until we realized the Hotel locations were hours drive away from the scheduled activites. Because of this were only 2 activites were possible. We payed for this package and are unable to go to the Moher Cliffs, Kilkenney Castle, Ring of Kerry Tour. Tonight we are at a Hotel in County Mayo for 2 days and 2.5 hours from Moher Cliff, over 3 hours to Ring of Kerry. We are not close to any activites we paid for and are the reason we came to Ireland. Thanks for ruining our once in a lifetime vacation!!

This company is not aer lingus. After a booking made for flight, car and b and b we realized within 10 minutes that we had included the car and b and b for 10 days not 6. The flight we wanted to keep for 10 days. I immediately called, and e-mailed. Everything was closed for the "holiday". I finally got hold of an aer lingus operator who told me that they could only address the actual flight. She gave me a number to reach the "store". Message machine full. No response from e-mail. Today I received an e-mail saying that the vouchers had been issued and I could call (yet another number) with any questions. The operator told me as rudely as possible that there would be no refund. I could return the car and not use three vouchers but no refund as I had not met the 24 hour limit. When I explained that I had been unable to reach anyone, she told me that that was untrue!!! Basically, she called me a liar!! I am stunned. I sent another e-mail asking for help, but I am not expecting much. This is not what I expected after seeing the Aer Lingus name.
Update
Upon reaching the company through the above mentioned e-mail, I received a very prompt and polite reply. They were able to make the changes that we requested/needed.
I have used the company before and had good results. If the vacation you want fits their specific offer, they are very trustworthy. I do, however, have to repeat that they are not Aer Lingus, and your vacation is not really open to the changes that you might usually expect to be able to make (even choosing seats on the plane). I am changing my rating from 1 star to 4 with the caveat that users should be absolutely sure of what they are booking.

My main complaint is that this is a travel agent and not connected to Aer Lingus. They are travel agents to several airlines. It is very deceptive to advertise travel deals on the official Aer Lingus website only to have the trip booked through a travel agent that does not have the same abilities as the airline nor give you the same rights as a passenger. If there had been an obvious disclaimer (or any disclaimer) that I was being redirected to a 3rd party I would not have made my reservation through Aer Lingus Vacation Store. I was tricked into buying the travel insurance even though I later learned that my fare class allows for cancellations already. Also I was not able to choose my seat. Due to a medical condition I will not choose a flight unless I can sit in the aisle. After booking I went back in to select my seat only to discover that the "best available" seat had been assigned to me by the window. You cannot undo this unless you pay $50/seat (which is $10 more than the current rate if I were booking today). Or you can wait until just before the flight and hope that there are some aisle seats that someone at the airport can assign to you. This is my 4th Aer Lingus flight this year. It is the second time I have booked with the Aer Lingus Vacation Store but only the first time I have realized what it is. I may have to fly another airline next time.

If I could give them 0 stars, it's what I would do. I have had nothing but problems since I booked our 10 day trip back in August 2021. You don't know what their "cancellation" policy is until after you've booked the trip & taken out the trip insurance. I had to change my original date of departure due to surgery. I rebooked for 7/23/2022. Our flight 114 from Philadelphia last night was cancelled. When I called the Vacation store today to change the trip to August or September 2022, I was told they need 72 hours before the flight to make any changes. I'm not the one that cancelled the flight, I was then told my trip is now only 9 days, not the 10 I paid for. This is the worst company to deal with. They've got their money & you're stuck with nothing, If you cancel the trip altogether, you get nothing back, no matter what the reason. Hope anyone who has booked a trip with these morons doesn't have a travel partner that dies, because you are really screwed without a kiss. Hopefully we will fly out tonight & not lose another day in Ireland.

Terrible experience - with no resolution in sight. We have been experiencing difficulties with the vacation store postponed travel itinerary for 2 years - trying to reschedule our trip and have not been contacted with any flight or trip confirmation - and NO ONE to contact directly for more information. We’ve been told that “operations” or “airfare” departments will get back to me by the end of the week or within the next few days - and they don’t. How do we end this nonsense and get a refund? Even disclosing a personal health matter did not lead to any resolution. We are VERY frustrated, to say the least. Looking for guidance on this matter… thank you.

I have had to rebook my trip several times due to COVID concerns. I have kept a record of each time I called, and each person I have spoken to. While all were nice, Lexi stands out. She is pleasant and very efficient and follows through. She understands the issue or request I have immediately, which makes the whole procedure much more efficient. Lexi deserves a bonus!!!!

Hello,I'm backed from my holiday in Barbados since the 14th of Feb, hotel and flight perfect. When I landed no transfer to be seen so I asked one of the local taxi guys to call the transfer guy who arrived with a van with other people in it. I had paid for a private transfer so more standing around with my mother who was getting stressed.

Transfer to hotel all good after the drama. I got the hotel to ring 2 days before I was due to leave to make sure my transfer was booked to airport, it was confirmed for 2.30pm for 13th.

So no pick up came left stranded so had to get a taxi which was hard to get as island was busy on a Sunday with cruise ship.

Totally unacceptable service, I paid for and did not get.

I have contacted your office still waiting on Sharon to update me .

Can you please come back to me on this I'm getting annoyed I have to keep ringing and sending emails,I spent a lot of money going on this trip to treat my mother after an operation and I won't this closed out by end of the week.

Regards
Denise

I'd like to give -* if that was possible. Do not book a trip with this company. The travel protection insurance is a joke. Three of our party cancelled and got no money back, just a credit which had to be immediately rebooked. When we got to the Edinburgh airport there were no cars available for our party. The list goes on. TERRIBLE COMPANY. THE ABSOLUTE WORST.

I like to give a big shout out to Claudia Bombeck from customer service. She went above and beyond to make me feel confident that my trip would go though without a hitch in the uncertain travel times. Not only was she professional but personable at the same time. I've had other Aer Lingus agents take my calls in the past but Claudia is the best.
Thanks,
Maureen F