For our 3-night pre-Christmas US extravaganza, I booked us initially onto the Aer Lingus A321 business class service from Shannon to Boston, and back from New York JFK.

Not that I’d particularly advocate doing the same thing, especially if your nerves are weak, but I went on to change this booking several more times as the cost reduced and I continually rebooked using the voucher refund option (which does take a few days, so risky unless you're willing to take chances) – ultimately saving €700. That did however mean now flying to and from Dublin, to Boston and back from Newark.

Presumably as the larger Aer Lingus aircraft are in maintenance and with weakening winter demand to the US, both flights were to be operated by the far smaller single-aisle A321LR’s; my first time being on such a compact plane for a transatlantic jaunt, and I was keen to see how the business class experience would match up.

The Aer Lingus priority check-in desk area in Dublin could really use an expansion at this stage – the two counters, only one of which being initially staffed, is far too low for the continuous flow of both business class and AerClub passengers trying to use it; although once a second agent joined, we were seen reasonably promptly.

Dublin Airport is in the midst of renovating its pre-clearance lounge, 51^st & Green, which I reviewed previously – leaving Aer Lingus premium cabin transatlantic passengers in the unenviable position of having to try and find somewhere half-decent at which to use the provided €20 voucher, or use the Aer Lingus lounge before preclearance if they happen to have AerClub status (as we do).

Once again, as with my trip to Chicago back in August, preclearance was a breeze and we found ourselves routed back upstairs to the end of the 400 pier for our flight.

The Aer Lingus A321 business cabin is largely identical (if a little more compact) to its larger cabin, with alternating rows of 2 seats either side of the aisle, and single, very spacious 1 seaters. This seems to work itself out as folks travelling by themselves get all the space in the world, while those travelling in groups or a couple can still be seated across from each other.

It does however mean that your seatmate may need to climb over your seat, or vice-versa, if using the washroom during the flight – not that that should be much of a concern if travelling together.

Unfortunately, on these single-aisle flights, pre-departure beverages appear not to be served due to the constant flow of passengers working their way down the aisle. Not a problem, as we’d managed an early morning mimosa at the Aer Lingus lounge and so my ever-unquenchable thirst had been momentarily satiated.

Instead, lunch (and first drinks’) orders were taken while on the ground – a festive menu, given the time of year, waiting for us at our seats as we boarded. I, in particular, was elated to see the disappearance of the horrible gyoza proffered earlier in the year as a pre-landing snack.

Once airborne, our cabin crew member (whose name I forget, as usual, though we did exchange some humorous commentary about both being from Dublin and finding ourselves both now living in Limerick) sprang into action, tearing through the cabin to provide an initial round of drinks and the infamous drink biscuits, chatting with passengers, making proactive suggestions, and even providing top-ups to everyone without anyone waiting too long.

If I was to call Aer Lingus out for one thing during this flight (which I noticed also on the return flight, EI100 from Newark too) it would be the absolute pressure our sole crew member had to be under throughout the meal and drinks service – interacting with passengers, providing drinks, then top-ups, starters, main courses, etc. all by himself. He (and the lady crew member on our return) did incredibly well to provide the level of service they did, but it was a visible hustle.

That and on both the outbound and return, alcohol catering seemed to be an issue as varying types of wine ran out fairly sharply. It felt like there had been maybe two bottles of each type loaded at most, for a 16-person cabin that was largely full on the outbound. Not a problem I ever like to be confronted with, as we all know.

The meals were high quality, and given that we didn’t do turkey for Christmas in our house, it was nice of them to offer this pre-Christmas Christmas dinner as a main course, so I didn’t have to feel like I missed out.

In terms of seating, arguably, the two-seater row we sat in (4A & 4C) has wider, better footwells than the single seats in the odd rows, where the footwell tucks in between the centre console of the two-seater in front.

When the time came to sleep later on in the flight, I had no difficulty getting comfy and didn’t feel the ‘foot coffin’ experience others occasionally talk about. Similarly, the seat goes fully flat (so much so I wound up not reclining the seat the full way…it gave me dentist chair vibes).

Before long, there was just time for the pre-landing snack – accompanied by a glass of champagne, of course, given the non-existent supplies of the wine I’d been drinking earlier; before we arrived right on time into Boston.

Overall, despite the tight cabin and the occasional small wait (thankfully it never got too wild) for the lone bathroom for our cabin, Aer Lingus’ A321 business class offering was perfectly enjoyable, the food and service was great – albeit the extra crew member felt like they wouldn’t have gone amiss – and I was able to get some much-needed rest ahead of our hectic US weekend break.