{"id":629726,"date":"2026-08-10T07:12:12","date_gmt":"2026-08-10T07:12:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/629726\/"},"modified":"2026-08-10T07:12:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-10T07:12:12","slug":"a-cold-spreadsheet-driven-aer-lingus-response-to-a-young-womans-freak-accident-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/629726\/","title":{"rendered":"A \u2018cold, spreadsheet-driven\u2019 Aer Lingus response to a young woman\u2019s \u2018freak accident\u2019 \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

A reader called Treasa got one of those calls that every parent dreads recently. Her daughter, travelling in the US<\/a>, had suffered what she describes as a \u201cfreak accident\u201d and was being rushed into theatre for emergency surgery. <\/p>\n

The subsequent series of event prompted her to contact us<\/a> to highlight how hard it was to engage with Aer Lingus<\/a> \u201cthrough any appropriate private channel (email, phone, social media) during [this] family crisis\u201d.<\/p>\n

She said her correspondence with us was \u201cthe last resort of a customer who was left with no other way to be heard\u201d. After hearing the news of her daughter\u2019s accident, Treasa \u201capplied for an ESTA immediately and booked the earliest flight available, which happened to be with Delta.\u201d<\/p>\n

She says the ESTA \u2013 a digital travel permit required to visit the US for 90 days or less \u2013 didn\u2019t process in time \u201cand for three consecutive days Delta\u2019s staff held the check-in desk open until the last possible minute, tracked the ESTA status with me, and rebooked my flight each day at no charge, until the application was ultimately denied. That risk was entirely mine to carry, and I knew it when I booked. Yet Delta is now considering a partial refund on a flight I never took due to a risk I chose to take.\u201d<\/p>\n

She says she only mentions that as it stands in stark contrast with how Aer Ligus subsequently responded. <\/p>\n

Eventually the visa issue was resolved, by which time Treasa\u2019s daughter had had two successful spinal surgeries and was ready to be repatriated to Ireland to continue her recovery.<\/p>\n

\u201cAer Lingus was the only airline offering a direct flight from that city to Ireland, so I booked a flight out to bring her home. Her original return flight [date] had already passed by the time she was fit to travel,\u201d she continues. <\/p>\n

Aer Lingus had been told Treasa\u2019s daughter would not make that flight because of the accident and she had been told that \u201cgiven the circumstances, it could be rebooked. Once I reached the airport to fly out I tried to amend the booking to arrange her repatriation. I couldn\u2019t locate her booking reference, entirely my own error, but the staff member I spoke to showed no real interest in helping me work out how to resolve this despite my explaining the situation.\u201d <\/p>\n

[\u00a0An Aer Lingus customer trying to get \u20ac530 she is owed by airline: \u2018I feel like I\u2019m losing my mind\u2019Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

When Treasa landed in the US, her first priority was getting to the hospital and she figured that after that she would focus on the return flights. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat is when the real difficulty began,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Her daughter\u2019s return flight needed to be rebooked and upgraded to business class, so she could lie flat both in the airport and on board, as her recovery required. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat simple change proved impossible, despite hours trying: multiple phone calls, long periods on hold, dropped lines, and having to start the process over each time,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n

While staff on the phone \u201cwere polite throughout\u201d they \u201chad to repeatedly consult others and put me on hold, only for the line to drop and the process to begin again\u201d. <\/p>\n

Eventually she decided that booking a new flight would be the best way to proceed. She was quoted prices well \u201cbeyond what our card limits could stretch to. At no point did any of the staff I spoke with suggest an alternative. It was my sister, working it out independently, who told me that booking a new economy flex fare and upgrading via the app would save over \u20ac2,000 against the price of purchasing a business class ticket directly, and would bring it within our card limits.\u201d<\/p>\n

She says a \u20ac100 change fee on the app for her own return date and upgrading her girl\u2019s new flight \u201cshould have been the simple part\u201d. <\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

\u201cAn email arrived saying the booking needed to be confirmed by phone, and I could not get through on the number given. In the early hours of the morning, local time, I had to WhatsApp call home and have someone else phone Aer Lingus from another device.\u201d<\/p>\n

Treasa says that check-in and wheelchair assistance at the airport on the day of travel went smoothly but that was not the end of the story. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe had arrived at the airport over three hours before take-off, as advised, given the medical assistance she needed. As our card limits would not stretch to upgrading my own ticket [and] at check-in, I asked whether I could accompany her into the lounge, where she needed help simply to sit, stand, and use the bathroom, and pay whatever that cost. I was told the lounge was operated by Qantas, not Aer Lingus, but that it might be possible if I asked them. Qantas had no objection, on condition Aer Lingus approved.\u201d<\/p>\n

She says Aer Lingus \u201crefused when contacted\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cQantas staff said they would do their best to look after her regardless, and I was grateful she would at least have somewhere to lie down while waiting to board. Then they noticed, from her passport, that she was under 21, and under the state laws governing the venue\u2019s licensing, she could not be admitted to a lounge serving alcohol unaccompanied.\u201d<\/p>\n

Treasa points out that the \u201cbusiness class contract explicitly stated that passengers under 18 needed to be accompanied; she was over that age. So between the age requirement and her need for physical assistance no unaccompanied passenger could reasonably be expected to manage alone. Qantas again contacted Aer Lingus,\u201d she continues but says that when the airline was \u201cinformed again of this specific difficulty, [it] refused yet again. This went back and forth for 20 minutes while my daughter, in pain, sat in a wheelchair.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Paula was \u2018disappointed with Ireland\u2019s premier airline\u2019 but Aer Lingus followed the rulesOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

She says Qantas staff \u201cwere visibly shocked at Aer Lingus\u2019s position. One of them made the call herself: \u201cjust go in, she can\u2019t be left in that pain\u201d. Her colleague was more hesitant, worried about the rules and possible repercussions for herself. In the end, the first staff member insisted, and let us in. She later told me she\u2019d spoken to her own manager, explained everything, and had been told there would be no repercussions because her manager shared her concern for my daughter.\u201d<\/p>\n

She also points out that Aer Lingus \u201coperates a clear policy requiring evidence of fitness to fly for passengers in circumstances like hers, and it knew, from advance notice we had given that she was barely a week post-spinal-surgery. At no point, not at booking, not at check-in, not across the 53 hours of calls, not during the lounge dispute, did anyone from Aer Lingus ask me for evidence of medical clearance to fly. The only policy enforced with any rigour that day was a ticket restriction on lounge access. A safety policy that actually mattered to her recovery went unchecked; a \u20ac50 cost did not.\u201d<\/p>\n

Treasa argues that the whole story does not suggest one unfortunate week: \u201cIt reads as design. Every channel that might let a customer reach a human being quickly is layered with automated triage before a person is reached, and once a person is reached, they appear constrained from proactively telling a customer about a cheaper or faster way to solve their own problem, even when that customer is visibly in crisis.\u201d <\/p>\n

Addressing the airline directly, she says: \u201cMy sister found the \u20ac2,000 saving in minutes, from outside your company, with none of your internal information. Your own staff, across two days of calls, did not. That is not a training gap. That is a policy that keeps customers on the highest-priced path and makes it as hard as possible to reach anyone who could point them elsewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

She says that \u201cflight attendants, throughout, were kind and attentive, in stark contrast to the cold, spreadsheet-driven decision making we encountered from corporate Aer Lingus at every turn. That contrast is the whole point of this letter.\u201d <\/p>\n

In response, Aer Lingus said it \u201crecognises that this family encountered difficulties during their journey and we deeply regret that this occurred at what was already a very challenging time for them. Our Customer Care team has thoroughly reviewed the case and is processing a refund for our customer\u2019s daughter\u2019s original unused return flight.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Aer Lingus executives fastening their seat belts for a bumpy ride aheadOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

The spokeswoman says that \u201cin relation to lounge access, Aer Lingus is required to comply with the policies of third-party partner lounge operators. In this instance, the lounge operates a policy permitting access only to customers aged 21 and over. Our team advised that any exception to this policy would be entirely at the discretion of the lounge operator, as Aer Lingus could not override its access requirements. The lounge operator\u2019s policy was the only issue considered by Aer Lingus, and the cost of access was not a factor in any decision-making process.\u201d<\/p>\n

She concluded by saying that \u201cAer Lingus strives to provide support and assistance to customers travelling with special requirements, and we sincerely apologise for falling short on this occasion. We are continuing to engage directly with the family and we wish our customer well in her recovery.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A reader called Treasa got one of those calls that every parent dreads recently. Her daughter, travelling in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":629727,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[73],"tags":[79,2190,18,19,17,6641],"class_list":["post-629726","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-cost-of-living","tag-eire","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-pricewatch"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629726","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=629726"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629726\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/629727"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=629726"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=629726"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=629726"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}