Window Seat Preferred

I rarely wade into actual news stories, but today's Aer Lingus announcement got me thinking about the wider strategy behind where the airline finds itself today.

Has Aer Lingus expanded across North America faster than it modernised the product and customer experience supporting that growth long-term? Could premium economy seats, better ancillary merchandising and a more consistent premium proposition have helped strengthen its position before today became necessary?

I've put together a personal opinion piece exploring those questions. I'd be interested to hear your thoughts.

Aer Lingus Is Shrinking – Does That Fix What Made It Vulnerable? | Window Seat Preferred Aer Lingus says cutting jobs and routes will secure its future—but did years of rapid US expansion expose deeper product and strategy issues now coming home to roost?

Everyone talks about Bavaria's castles, beer halls and mountain scenery; hardly anyone talks about the train back from Salzburg to Munich - perhaps they should...

Check out how our seemingly simple 2-hour journey turned into a 7-hour multi-stop voyage involving much walking, two trains, a bus through several rural towns to destination unknown, and being abandoned at a restaurant; https://windowseatpreferred.com/2026/07/the-great-bavarian-rail-adventure-that-nobody-asked-for/

Having never visited The K Club before, a friend's wedding finally gave us the perfect excuse for a two-night stay at one of Ireland's best-known luxury hotels.

The grounds, event spaces and breakfast were all excellent, and it's easy to see why the resort enjoys such an outstanding reputation.

However, several smaller issues—including housekeeping, room maintenance and the lack of air conditioning during an unusually warm weekend—meant the experience wasn't without a few faults.

Read the full review here:
👉

The K Club Review: Beautiful, Luxurious… But Details Matter | Window Seat Preferred The K Club review: An honest look at the rooms, breakfast, leisure facilities and whether this iconic luxury hotel lives up to its reputation…

✨ June Review 🗓️
June - No crazy hols or travels away, but featuring;
- Some amazing weather. Too hot for some, including me by Day 5, but wow 🤩
- A mad spaniel staring awkwardly out of cars and on beaches 🐕 (And ripping beds, but that's another story...)
- My new passport picture in which I look like the Ghost of Christmas Past...or Ebeneezer Scrooge, you pick 🤣
- Beach days ⛱️
- Cycling the Wicklow Mountains on almost the only horribly rainy day the whole month... 🚲
- What must surely be Irelands smallest cinema...
- My pizza oven attempts in which the neighbours probably thought I'd elected a new pope 🍕
- Home improvements? It's almost as if we were planning to sell up and move 👀

🤩✈️ Window Seat Sunday
Any guesses where this is? And to where?
(Hint - the airline logo on the wingtip should help narrow down the options 👀)
Taken December 2022, after a looong overnight flight from London, on our 3 day weekend extravaganza to Asia - not recommended 🤣

The EU's new 'free' 7kg cabin bag is getting great publicity. I'm not really convinced for a number of reasons...

The time for this rule probably was a decade ago, most intra-EU aircraft couldn't possibly fit all these free bags in-cabin, boarding and security is almost certainly going to get slower and more chaotic and - let's be honest - no airline is going to just abandon this revenue.

More clearly-articulated thoughts here, keen to hear what others think;

The EU’s Well Intentioned New 7kg Cabin Bag Rule – I’m Not Convinced | Window Seat Preferred Free 7kg cabin bags sound great in theory, but Europe’s new rules could mean slower boarding, packed overhead bins and more passenger confusion.

☘️ 6 Years Ago, The Move Home... 😱
Yes, 6 years! I was actually horrified it's already that long since I packed up my life, said goodbye to a long, mostly enjoyable, and significant chapter, and moved back home to Ireland after nearly 8 years in Malaysia.
I'll be honest, there's still occasional days (rainy ones, especially) I think what a terrible mistake 🫣 but anyway, here's a hilarious throwback to one of the most chaotic 24 hours in my life, including;
- A super flashy mid-Covid stay at the Shangri-La Kuala Lumpur for myself & Isha (not knowing when we'd next see each other)
- ...Ordering every single breakfast menu item the room, as in-room breakfast was complimentary given the situation 😁
- Packing up and cleaning the condo that became a 3-person effort for the entire day
- Then doing one last drive around KL and those beautiful towers and that skyline one last time (at the time for I had no idea how long...)
- The loooong drive to the airport, in frequent bouts of silence...
- Then my 'pandemic travel, but make it luxury' Qatar Airways business class flights home. Enough champagne drunk to kill any virus... 🥂
- Having to wear sunglasses landing because of the sun and eh...the above. Thankfully the flight only had 36 fellow passengers so no judgement 🕶️
- Home! Breaking cloud cover off the coast of Howth, and the familiar cows at the side of the runway welcoming me back 🐄
- Ugh, those locator forms! And those rules - masks on except bizarrely not when eating or drinking, all passengers at the same time 🤷‍♂️
- Chaotic unpacking...that I'm not sure I ever really finished?!

✨ Window Seat Sunday ✈️
Let's try see who can guess where a different window seat shot was taken, every Sunday until I run out, by which time we'll all be about 5 years older 🤣
(Also, no cheating by looking at tags!)
So, guesses? This should be an easy one for quite a lot of followers, notwithstanding the unusually beautiful sunny day ☀️
Also here's a fright - to me especially, this pic is actually from one of my many trips home during my 8 years living in Malaysia, and is from 2017 😱 Where did that 9 years ago, it's disgusting 😁

Munich / Salzburg Thoughts...🇩🇪🇦🇹
(I would do the whole "save these tips for your trip" but this is all part question, part ramble 🤣)
- Hallstatt was beautiful, but why does the whole town aggressively only take cash? It felt like I was playing along in a giant tax dodge...
- I'm still unsure why double beds on the continent are always split with separate duvets? It's so consistent.
- Bring money for toilets. Or a strong bladder. I frequently had neither 😂
- Be ready to sing on the Sound of Music tour. I was not, and consequently had to go to Spar and buy a mini 4-pack of sparkling wine to really get into it 🥂
- Having said that, it's immense how beautiful the scenery is so consistently 👀
- DB Bahn / German rail has, I have to say over successive trips, a highly undeserved reputation for greatness. Ever heard of Traunstein? Neither had I until we spent 4 hours there unexpectedly 🚆
- Munich was interesting - beautiful downtown, a touch gritty near the hotel. Keep that in mind when booking accommodation.
- That 2nd last pic is a 100% accurate stone recreation of me finishing PTO and checking my work e-mails the night before returning.

🍷✈️ A Pleasant Surprise - Airport Lounge World, Munich
I never expect much from airport-run (or Priority Pass) lounges, but this one very pleasantly surprised me...
👍 Great views, plenty of seating, decent food selection, self-serve bar upstairs to satisfy my insatiable thirst - and surprisingly peaceful.
👎 Slightly hidden behind a restaurant, and our boarding passes initially refused to cooperate...
A tip for your visit - head upstairs. Quieter, great views, and all the wine required for an hour of aircraft watching 🥂
Full review now live (link in bio); windowseatpreferred.com/awlm