U.K. and Ireland - Flights from midwest USA to Shannon

A group of 9 friends are planning a trip to western Ireland in March, 2013 and we prefer to fly to Shannon. Aer Lingus apparently only flies from Chicago in the Summertime. The only direct flights from Chicago to Shannon scheduled in March are via United Airlines (my least favorite airline). We are close to Cincinnati, Indianapolis and Louisville. Any thoughts about a better route to Shannon?

My main thought on this is that, whatever the airline, they are all pretty horrible in economy. So you either go for the cheapest, often with a weird routing that multiplies and prolongs the agony, or you go for the fastest, which is the nonstop option. If it's not too much more expensive, I would strongly recommend the nonstop.

As to United, I understand your thoughts. As it happens, UA is the only American airline flying my regular route, which is essentially why I stick with them. The other day, I thought I'd try US: the plane was much more modern and the experience was much less chaotic, but my trip took a good 6 hours longer - perhaps worth the $350 saving on the fare, but only just!

However, if you are really averse to UA, then try Air Canada - I've found them to be about as pleasant as it is possible to be in economy, which sort of makes up for the hassle of the layover in Toronto or wherever.

Since you are going to have to connect anyways (making an assumption based on saying you are close to IND and CVG) why not look for flights to the east coast and then connect to Shannon from there? Should be more options from JFK and BOS at the very least instead of limiting yourself to departures from Midwest airports.

Welcome to FT!

I'm not seeing ORD-SNN service loaded for next March. Looks like your options are BOS/JFK-SNN on EI (only one of those operates on any given day, with JFK getting 4x weekly and BOS 3x weekly) or EWR-SNN on UA. If I could make the EI flights work, I would, since they use a widebody on the flight and UA is using a PMCO 752.

You could fly ORD-DUB on EI which Is year round and rent a car and drive to Shannon which is only a 2.5 hour drive

You could fly ORD-DUB on EI which Is year round and rent a car and drive to Shannon which is only a 2.5 hour drive

I would definitely recommend leaving via Dublin even if you fly into Shannon because they have USA pre-clearance in Dublin. If you don't want to drive you can use bus/rail. It's not too bad to get from Shannon to Dublin if you don't mind a bus/rail combo. You can do a bus from Shannon to Galway or Limerick and then take the rail to Dublin. The rail/bus stations are the same so it makes transfers pretty easy. For me it's a pay now or pay later and I am usually always a pay now kind of person. Pre-clearing in Dublin is similar to pre-clearing for the US in Canada if you have ever done that. Your bags will be checked through to destination and it makes in very convenient coming home.

www.buseireann.ie
www.irishrail.ie
http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/toolbox/contacts/preclear_locations.xml
http://www.dublinairportt2.com/us-emigration-pre-clearance-at-dublin-airport-t2/

I would definitely recommend leaving via Dublin even if you fly into Shannon because they have USA pre-clearance in Dublin. If you don't want to drive you can use bus/rail. It's not too bad to get from Shannon to Dublin if you don't mind a bus/rail combo. You can do a bus from Shannon to Galway or Limerick and then take the rail to Dublin. The rail/bus stations are the same so it makes transfers pretty easy. For me it's a pay now or pay later and I am usually always a pay now kind of person. Pre-clearing in Dublin is similar to pre-clearing for the US in Canada if you have ever done that. Your bags will be checked through to destination and it makes in very convenient coming home.

www.buseireann.ie
www.irishrail.ie
http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/toolbox/contacts/preclear_locations.xml
http://www.dublinairportt2.com/us-emigration-pre-clearance-at-dublin-airport-t2/
There's also preclearance at SNN. This is part of the reason that BA's LCY-JFK service makes a stop in SNN. The other part is that LCY-JFK is beyond the range of the A318, so they refuel and change crews and have the pax pre-clear while that's happening.

There's also preclearance at SNN. This is part of the reason that BA's LCY-JFK service makes a stop in SNN. The other part is that LCY-JFK is beyond the range of the A318, so they refuel and change crews and have the pax pre-clear while that's happening.

Well you learn something new everyday! I guess I didn't consider/research Shannon because I was on AA points and Dublin was an easy booking to get back home.

Well you learn something new everyday! I guess I didn't consider/research Shannon because I was on AA points and Dublin was an easy booking to get back home.

well, i very much dislike AA domestic. i flew dfw-dca a number of times without status, and they really did not want me on their airline. talk about second class citizenship. my sister flys them dfw-florida, and they are terrible. are you judging UA domestic also?

ua codeshares with air lingus, about whom i know nothing. i do know that the ua iad-mad flight is on air lingus. is the back of their plane that much superior to the back of an intl ua? i have heard that air lingus biz class product is inferior to ua, but have not flown on air lingus, while the ua biz class is an excellent product.

I'd rate EI's new hard-product up front as far better than UA/CO and a little better in Y. Service is also better to my mind - but CO are nonetheless pretty good on TATL, usually.

Also consider EI uses A330s, while the CO ops are on 757s. For me that is a more comfortable ride and a more spacious environment.

The other part is that LCY-JFK is beyond the range of the A318, so they refuel and change crews and have the pax pre-clear while that's happening.

To be ultra-pedantic, it's not beyond the range of the A318, but the short runway at LCY imposes a maximum take-off weight which does not allow it to carry enough fuel for the full journey. It's within the range, which is why there's no stop on the way back.

To be ultra-pedantic, it's not beyond the range of the A318, but the short runway at LCY imposes a maximum take-off weight which does not allow it to carry enough fuel for the full journey. It's within the range, which is why there's no stop on the way back.
Ah, yes. It sure is close to the maximum range fully loaded, however, as GCMap reports that it's within 128mi of what Wikipedia reports as the maximum fully-loaded range of an A318.

To be ultra-pedantic, it's not beyond the range of the A318, but the short runway at LCY imposes a maximum take-off weight which does not allow it to carry enough fuel for the full journey. It's within the range, which is why there's no stop on the way back.

Well, it's a longer flight going West than it is going East so there may be more than one thing at work here.

There is also preclearance in Shannon. The nice thing about flying out of Shannon is that there are few enough flights that one only has to be at the airport 2 hours early, even with pre-clearance.