Flying via Dublin

[jackieleanne]

Hi

We usually fly from Manchester though at Christmas we flew from Gatwick due to the price difference with BA over Virgin from Manchester.

Atm looking for the dates a month before our dates are released Manchester to Orlando via Dublin is £271 per adult. My question is do you think 1hr30 is enough time to leave for the stopover given doing US immigration in Dublin or should we look at paying a little extra for the earlier flight from Manchester to Dublin to give us more time.

Just seen it was only for the one leg of the flight so far. Still its about £500 cheaper over Manchester atm.

 

[alanandline]

Personally before the transatlantic leg I’d want a longer layover, maybe as much as 3 hours, certainly more than 2. This is because what if the shorter flight is delayed. When you do longer leg 1st if late likelihood is they’re are more rerouting options if delayed.

 

[ABZDisneyFan]

If your flight from Manchester is not delayed then in theory, yes you will have enough time, however if it's delayed by even a small amount of time then you are going to be pushing it to get off the flight & onto the next one.
Do not underestimate how long it may take you to get through pre-clearance as well, if I were you I'd book an earlier flight.
We are travelling from London via Dublin in November & have allowed ourselves 5 hours from landing in Dublin to the departure of the Orlando flight.

 

[BadPinkTink]

Im from Dublin and I fly transatlantic every year. A few questions

1. What terminal does your Manchester flight land at?
2. What airline is your Manchester flight with?
3. What airline is your Orlando flght with?
4. Are the flights on one booking or do you need to collect your bags in Dublin and then check in for your Orlando flight?

There are 2 terminals in Dublin. They are connected both airside and landside. Its about a 20 minute walk between the two terminals.

When travelling to America from Dublin, you will do passport check with American Homelands Security in Dublin, ie get your passport stamped. This is a second security check after the regular normal security check.
The American Homeland Security check is located on the lower level of the normal gate area in Terminal 2. It is called Pre Clearance. It opens approx 2 hours before flight departure.

It can get busy down there, as everyone on your flight ie approx 300 people all need to go through. If there is more than 1 transatlantic flight departing in the same time period, then thats another 300 people added.

At American pre clearance, you first need to do a bag scan, they will ask you to remove shoes and electronic equipment. They may ask you to remove liquids, You then go to the passport check area. There are self service kiosks and the security agents. Depending on the amount of people you may be directed to either line.

Once your passport is stamped, you then go to the gate area. There is limited shops and food in the gate areas, so make sure to buy your duty free, gifts etc before going down to Pre Clearance.

 

[jackieleanne]

Thanks everyone. As it's going to be our honeymoon ill probably stick to flying from Manchester then unless Air Lingus also do Sunday flights. We get married on the Friday so If we did the earlier flight then that Saturday morning could be very rushed.

I think I'd want to spend the night before in Dublin tbh if I did use it as a base to fly from.

 

[saintrob]

We do it often but stay overnight in a hotel at the airport.

We get a one way flight with Ryanair to Dublin and then the starting trip to the US is from Dublin. This massively reduces the price so that we can travel in business class.

If you are doing all of the flights on the same day I'd allow three hours for the connection.

 

[Obi Wan Kenobi]

We use Dublin every tine we can, first of all we can get to it much easier than London or Manchester airports,
Secondly, the ability to go through US border there saves so much time and makes arriving into MCO so relaxing.

Have you thought about flying to Dublin the night before?

 

[Woodview]

Another Thought for you to have extra Time.

When you Transfer to Terminal 2 , after walking for 10 min or so , AND BEFORE you go downstairs for Pre Clearance you have the chance of

Buying Duty Free Goods . ( Of Course you have your EMPTY rucksack with you to hold your Duty Free ??? )

You can some Food there as well .


The Tesco ( Cork ) Price for a 1 Liter of Jameson whiskey is €42.50

a 1 Lt of Paddy Whiskey is € 40

a 1 liter of Powers Whiskey is € 32

And Baileys Original a 1 Liter of Baliey's is € 28

as of 3rd May 2019

I am flying out from Dublin to Orlando with Aer Lingus on Monday 6th May

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

We do it often but stay overnight in a hotel at the airport.

We get a one way flight with Ryanair to Dublin and then the starting trip to the US is from Dublin. This massively reduces the price so that we can travel in business class.

If you are doing all of the flights on the same day I'd allow three hours for the connection.

Just curious @saintrob do you book your dublin-orlando flight direct with aer lingus?

 

[Tony Toon]

We flew from Glasgow via Dublin for the first time last October and have to say based on that experience wouldn't be keen to do so again. I've never queued for such a long time at either MCO or Sanford for immigration as we did in Dublin (and we have done some lengthy waits in the past!) - just short of 3 hours! Thanks goodness we had a long stopover! My next gripe was the lack of facilities once we had done pre clearance. DD is gluten and dairy intolerant and as a result follows a mostly vegan diet. There was absolutely nothing in any of the coffee shops for her to buy to eat. We were told our best option was to pay an extra 38 euros for access to the lounge but even then there was no guarantee there would be anything. The return journey she managed to get some beans on gluten free toast in the other terminal. We had preordered a vegan meal on the flight and had noted her dietary issues at that point (which I know guarantees nothing). Unfortunately the only option for her in flight meal was a vegetable pasta (gluten) . The vegetarian option had cheese. The return flight they were able to give her all the crew fruit salads (thank you crew) but not great on a nearly 9 hour flight. We had brought dried food for her to eat but all the notices whilst waiting in the queue said it wasn't allowed and with memories of sniffer dogs in US airports checking hand luggage we binned the lot. Having now done pre clearance they were not nearly so strict and we reckon we could have taken it through. Also now that we know how poor the facilities are if we were to go again by this route we would argue to be able to hang on to her food.

Mrs TT

 

[tweenie]

Just curious @saintrob do you book your dublin-orlando flight direct with aer lingus?

It depends on where I can get the best price. Next time we're flying with Delta but have to change in New York. No big deal for us as it's upper class all the way for the same price as we would have paid for economy!

 

[Obi Wan Kenobi]

We flew from Glasgow via Dublin for the first time last October and have to say based on that experience wouldn't be keen to do so again. I've never queued for such a long time at either MCO or Sanford for immigration as we did in Dublin (and we have done some lengthy waits in the past!) - just short of 3 hours! Thanks goodness we had a long stopover! My next gripe was the lack of facilities once we had done pre clearance. DD is gluten and dairy intolerant and as a result follows a mostly vegan diet. There was absolutely nothing in any of the coffee shops for her to buy to eat. We were told our best option was to pay an extra 38 euros for access to the lounge but even then there was no guarantee there would be anything. The return journey she managed to get some beans on gluten free toast in the other terminal. We had preordered a vegan meal on the flight and had noted her dietary issues at that point (which I know guarantees nothing). Unfortunately the only option for her in flight meal was a vegetable pasta (gluten) . The vegetarian option had cheese. The return flight they were able to give her all the crew fruit salads (thank you crew) but not great on a nearly 9 hour flight. We had brought dried food for her to eat but all the notices whilst waiting in the queue said it wasn't allowed and with memories of sniffer dogs in US airports checking hand luggage we binned the lot. Having now done pre clearance they were not nearly so strict and we reckon we could have taken it through. Also now that we know how poor the facilities are if we were to go again by this route we would argue to be able to hang on to her food.

Mrs TT

I can only give you my experiences.
Every time we have used Dublin, the customs and security have never taken more than 10 mins, that’s in August and in November.
We use the 51st and green lounge once through, plenty of food and drink choices.

 

[BadPinkTink]

We flew from Glasgow via Dublin for the first time last October and have to say based on that experience wouldn't be keen to do so again. I've never queued for such a long time at either MCO or Sanford for immigration as we did in Dublin (and we have done some lengthy waits in the past!) - just short of 3 hours! Thanks goodness we had a long stopover! My next gripe was the lack of facilities once we had done pre clearance. DD is gluten and dairy intolerant and as a result follows a mostly vegan diet. There was absolutely nothing in any of the coffee shops for her to buy to eat. We were told our best option was to pay an extra 38 euros for access to the lounge but even then there was no guarantee there would be anything. The return journey she managed to get some beans on gluten free toast in the other terminal. We had preordered a vegan meal on the flight and had noted her dietary issues at that point (which I know guarantees nothing). Unfortunately the only option for her in flight meal was a vegetable pasta (gluten) . The vegetarian option had cheese. The return flight they were able to give her all the crew fruit salads (thank you crew) but not great on a nearly 9 hour flight. We had brought dried food for her to eat but all the notices whilst waiting in the queue said it wasn't allowed and with memories of sniffer dogs in US airports checking hand luggage we binned the lot. Having now done pre clearance they were not nearly so strict and we reckon we could have taken it through. Also now that we know how poor the facilities are if we were to go again by this route we would argue to be able to hang on to her food.

Mrs TT

Dublin local here and I have to defend my home airport.

I have been flying transatlantic from Dublin for nearly 15 years. If you research Dublin airport and terminal 2 specifically, you will see there is very limited food and shops after American Homelands Security Passport Check. Transatlantic passengers are only called to Pre Clearance 2 hours before their flight. Transatlantic passengers are held in the main concourse restaurant and shopping area until their flight is called to Pre Clearance. You say you had a long stop over, therefore you should have had PLENTY of time to avail of the multiple food facilities in the main Terminal 2 concourse. You should only have gone to Pre Clearance ONCE your flight was called.


99.9% of transatlantic passengers are originating from Dublin airport. @Tony Toon you are the .1% who are transfer passengers. This is the page on Dublin Airport website which explains about connecting flights. https://www.dublinairport.com/flight-connections/information oh look it even has a VIDEO especially for passengers connecting to Transatlantic passengers. Did you not find this information BEFORE your flights??

I travel in June every year to California. I have NEVER experienced such huge wait times as you are describing at USA Pre Clearance in Dublin.

ok so you have food issues, well then you should not have been so hasty in binning your food. Thats your fault.

sorry, not taking your excuses for a negative experience at Dublin Airport. It mainly YOUR fault for not researching the airport terminal,, for being too hasty in dumping your food and for going to Pre Clearance too far in advance before your transatlantic flight!

 

[Tony Toon]

Have to agree with you @Obi Wan Kenobi - everything we had read prior to going led us to believe that we would have an easy passage through Dublin and indeed the day we waited in our lengthy queue the lady in front of us commented that she had been through pre clearance many times and was flabbergasted at the scenes. Had it just been DD, DH and I we would have paid for 51st and Green entry but as there were 8 of us we didn't want to ditch the rest of our party or make them feel they had to pay to join us.

Ouch @BadPinkTink Sorry - didn't mean to upset you. I had researched our route and had watched the video several times prior to booking and going. I was merely reporting our experience on that particular day and acknowledge that it does not appear to be that of others. I'm guessing there was an issue although we weren't informed of any. The queue for the Pre Clearance Hall was snaked multiple times round the hall, up the stairs around the corner and way down the hallway for all passengers and as a result we were advised when we got off our flight that we should head straight there. The multiple notices we passed whilst waiting (with bins placed beneath) informed us that the dried food we had would not be allowed and had to be deposited in the bins provided so, not wishing to fall foul of the immigration officers, we did as instructed. Strict USA immigration experiences in the past where we have seen officers taking away passengers who have been identified as carrying banned foods by sniffer dogs influenced our decision here. We have always managed to find something in airport cafes on the 'other side' elsewhere so would have hoped that there would have been something that would have suited DD's restricted diet. There were no menus available for us to check online before going. The cafes were apologetic but unable to help. Again as I said we managed to find food in the main terminal on our return, but we were lead to believe on the way out that we didn't have time to go there. I'm sure Dublin is an excellent alternative route for many: - just wasn't for us on that particular day and if the price was right we would give it another go.

Mrs TT