Aer Lingus vs United
United scores 8/10 against Aer Lingus at 7.3/10 on seat, screens, lounge and fare.
By Jon Miksis · cabin data verified · fares for travel November 8–14, 2026
Best product each one flies
Scored on what can be verified. Service, food and ground recovery are absent deliberately: they need someone in the seat, and they live in the reviews rather than here.
One caveat on the Value line, stated rather than buried: the cabin scores describe a business product and the fares behind Value are economy. A carrier that prices economy aggressively generally prices business the same way, but they are different products. Read Value as how an airline prices against its competitors, not as what its business seat costs.
Aer Lingus
A330-300
- Seat
- 5/10
- IFE
- 8/10
- Lounge & bags
- 10/10
- Value
- 6/10
- Product score
- 7.3/10
United
777 / 787 (Polaris) · flown by Jon
- Seat
- 8/10
- IFE
- 8/10
- Lounge & bags
- 10/10
- Value
- 6/10
- Product score
- 8/10
Dimension by dimension
Seat: United
5/10 on the A330-300 against 8/10 on the 777 / 787 (Polaris).
IFE: level
Screens, connectivity and power: 8/10 against 8/10.
Lounge & bags: level
What the fare includes before you board: 10/10 against 10/10.
Value: level
Median premium over the cheapest carrier on the same route: 6/10 against 6/10.
Where both were priced on the same dates
Every fare is November 8–14, 2026, so a difference between two rows is a difference between two airlines and nothing else. These are economy fares, while the cabin scores above describe the business product — read them as how each airline prices against its competitors, not as what its business seat costs.
| Route | Cabin | Aer Lingus | United | Cheaper |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BOS → DUB | economy | $680 | $632 | United by $48 |
| BOS → BCN | economy | $698 | $639 | United by $59 |
| ORD → DUB | economy | $1059 | $759 | United by $300 |
| ORD → FCO | economy | $1152 | $783 | United by $369 |
| ORD → BCN | economy | $794 | $792 | United by $2 |
| ORD → LIS | economy | $1181 | $815 | United by $366 |
| BOS → EDI | economy | $852 | $839 | United by $13 |
| LAX → ZRH | economy | $996 | $857 | United by $139 |
| ORD → ZRH | economy | $1164 | $857 | United by $307 |
| ORD → CDG | economy | $1201 | $1034 | United by $167 |
| ORD → AMS | economy | $1172 | $1291 | Aer Lingus by $119 |
| ORD → LHR | economy | $1336 | $1678 | Aer Lingus by $342 |
Common questions
- Is Aer Lingus or United better to Europe?
- United scores 8/10 against Aer Lingus at 7.3/10 on seat, screens, lounge and fare. On the four dimensions we can verify, Aer Lingus wins 0 and United wins 1. Service and food are not scored here because they cannot be read off a spec sheet.
- Which is cheaper, Aer Lingus or United?
- On the 12 routes where both were priced for the same week (November 8–14, 2026), Aer Lingus was cheaper on 2 and United on 10. Every pair of fares is the same departure and return date in the same cabin, so the difference is the airline rather than the dates or the cabin.
- Does the aircraft change the answer?
- Not on seat: both carriers fly a consistent product across the aircraft we have verified.
- Has Jon flown either of these?
- United, in business on a Europe route. Aer Lingus has not been flown, so nothing here claims firsthand experience of its cabin.
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