Glad to be of service:

First of all, the Customs pre-clearance is very much still in operation at DUB. In my case, I checked my wife and myself in online the previous evening for our 7:40am flight. I had to print boarding passes, as no option for an electronic boarding pass was available. Got to the airport at approximately 5:45am and had my passport scanned while in the very short Skyteam Priority line. Then checked a bag with the agent and traded in my printed boarding passes for new ones from her. As a TSA pre-check, she stamped my new boarding passes with “Fast Track”.

Traveling with my wife, I did not take advantage of the Fast Track security lane. At 6:00am, the security line was short for everyone, but I could see that the Fast Track lane could save a good deal of time on a day when things are busy.

Traveling Business Class, we were allowed to use the DAA lounge. Pretty underwhelming, but did have coffee, juice, and some sweet rolls. We were told that a Delta agent would come to the lounge at about 6:30am to lead passengers for our flight to Customs. There’s no line skipping with this but at least you won’t get lost. In our case, we got a bit restless around 6:25am and followed the signs to Customs on our own.

We had three stops ahead of us. First was Irish Customs who did a quick check of passports and boarding documents. Then directly into a line to US customs where we were asked the usual questions of how long did we stay, purposed of trip, carrying any food, etc. A picture of my checked bag appeared on a screen and I was asked if I packed it myself, was it out of my sight at any time, etc. From there, we passed through another security screening where our carry-ons were x-rayed along with computers / liquids coming out and shoes off. The only place that I could see Global Entry making a real difference was the US Customs interview. No big deal today with very short lines, but it could be meaningful on a very busy day.
We were to the gate at 7:05am.

While it added some annoyance prior to boarding, I’ve got to say that it was delightful upon landing. Walked off the plane without all the usual scramble to and through customs and instead headed right for our connection gate.

Given a choice, I guess I like the Customs pre-clearance. Just wish it didn’t mean waking up and getting to the airport so early!