Overnight: Travelodge Dublin Swords.
Price paid: €19+€5 for 24 Internet access
Yes, we’re back here. Why? €19 says why we’re back here compared to the HIX at €70 up the road near the airport. So lets quickly review.
A room with...
After signing the guest agreement in for the evening and purchasing my Internet access I went to my room, operated the key lock (with a real key) and settled down for the evening.
Yup - a real key
Double bed and a single bed
Bathroom
Sealed with a sticker
Forget the mega-amenities that you have in a posh IC or a Hyatt. This is bare bones. And you know what – I didn’t care. There was power, an Internet connection, a TV and the room was warm.
And the bed didn’t feel like a rock or a marshmallow. In other words, enough for a nights sleep. And with great respect, sometimes that is all you need. And it suited me to a tee.
Overall: Good value is hard to beat. And €24 for everything I needed… I’m not objecting.
Alas, 5:30 in the morning comes around far too soon alas, and it was time to pack the bag down, and check out. By 6:00 I was outside the hotel, and by 6:06, the shuttle bus had arrived. Another €5, and the bus took its sweet olde time winding its way round from another hotel, a couple of car parks, and finally parking up in Dublin Airport Coach station. Why they cannot route these buses through to the actual terminals is still beyond me still.
Anyway, another morning hike around the back end of Dublin Airport before entering T2.
I headed to the ICTS security check, and was let through to flight check-in, where I confirmed the route and seats. I was warned to get to the US Pre-Clearance checkpoint by 7:30. With an hour to go, I wandered off to find a lounge – Whilst BusinessFirst could use the DAA lounge, the Star Alliance lounge for me was… the BMI Diamond Club Lounge in the old T1
Lounge Stop: BMI Diamond Club Lounge.
I made my way in, and woke up the poor lounge attendant to find… near enough no-one there. I swiped in, logged on and settled in for a morning coffee – and a pre departure vodka and orange
It was just quiet. Which compared the chaos below, is not a bad thing. In some ways, a bad thing least of all it shows people aren’t using the facilities, and that Aer Lingus is caning BMI on the Dublin to Heathrow run. That or I missed all the LHR people.
As the clock ticked past 7:20, I packed up my trash and left her back to her magazine, and headed back to the 400 gates, and towards US Pre-Clearance
I was expecting the worst when I arrived, but there were no queues. My passport and customs form was checked as clear, and I was sent through to the agent. The agent took my form, confirmed what I was doing and what I do in the UK, and stamped my passport into the USA.
Now this is the way to travel kids. Immigration in seconds, rather than hours. Looking behind me, my timing again was perfect a queue was starting to form at the checkpoint.
Another x-ray scan of shoes and bags, and I was pre-cleared and headed to the gate. The gate pen was filling up nicely with what was looking like a full flight. I took advantage of the Eirecom “10 minutes of interwebs for free”, which filled up the time nicely to boarding – which started early.
The plane resting before the long TATL slog.
A final boarding pass check, then the escalators to Irish departures level where ICTS were waiting, asking questions. A few questions asked, and I was allowed to board the plane.