Originally Posted by
carraher
We have a 10:30AM flight booked to JFK. Wife is always anxious about getting to airport extra early. Is this place suitable for our last day in Ireland given that fact or should we chance it and stay a bit further out but closer to the action in town? TIA
Although I think you could stay in Dublin--there isn't a whole lot going on in the vicinity of the airport--measure what you do by my most recent experience flying from DUB to PHL on Sunday, 4/24. I got to the airport exactly two hours before my flight departure. I had to check a bag but BA Silver status got me into the priority check-in lane so I didn't spend a lot of time there or during boarding since I skipped the waiting line. Nevertheless, given the need to do US pre-clearance (something else in my equation that was sped up, this time by Global Entry), which means completing a Customs card and two security checks, one to get to the gates, one to get through pre-clearance, I was in constant motion, with my only deviation a one-minute toilet stop, and just barely boarded the plane in time before closing (bypassing a dwindling waiting line since I'd already missed the initial boarding call) with the plane taking off no more than 25 minutes later. For your anxious wife, while you're standing in line at pre-clearance, monitors with information on flights departing after you've cleared Customs will show that certain upcoming flights have already closed or are approaching closing for departure.
I wouldn't consider getting to the airport any later than 7:45 a.m. Then factor in whether you're headed to the airport on a busy weekday or a quiet weekend. I did the trip in about 25 minutes on the Sunday of my departure, but that was with virtually no traffic on the streets in the early morning (and since you mentioned a Radisson property, I was staying at the Radisson Blu Royal). To be safe, you'd probably want to leave for the airport by 7 a.m. on a weekday. If you're staying someplace where you'll need to call a cab--the Royal has a taxi stand out front--then throw that into your calculation.
I'd still rather be in the city my last night in Ireland so I'd travel to the airport in the morning. But I guarantee you you'll probably hear an "I told you so" or two if you leave any later than 7 a.m. for a 10:30 a.m. flight. If you stay by the airport, then consider a cab ride over to the small town of Malahide where there are a couple of pubs and decent restaurants and a nice coastal boardwalk that will let you walk off dinner.