Originally Posted by
petey2428
1. Abandon my one-night stopover in Dublin and flying to Faro immediately after arriving in Dublin. That means forfeiting my pre-booked RyanAir flight and my Dublin hotel. This also means I will have to book a new flight (probably on Aer Lingus). I will not be needing a visa since I will be transiting. The question is, would I get in trouble since I will be self connecting on two separate tickets?
Yes, booking another flight doesn't get over the fact that you are travelling on two separate tickets. You will still need a visa, even if you show a second ticket on Aer Lingus for DUB-FAO. You are still travelling on a first ticket that has you ticketed to DUB as your final destination. Therefore, you must meet the entry requirements for DUB or face being refused carriage.
In the "normal" case - meaning if you were travelling on a single ticket - the airline and the authorities consider you as a transit passenger, and if your first flight was delayed, the airline would still be obliged to get you to the final destination. However, if you travel on separate tickets - even with the same airline - you are NOT a transit passenger, but have two separate contracts and two separate tickets, and must meet the entry requirements for both an ORD-DUB and a DUB-FAO trip separately. You also run the risk of being "stranded" in DUB if you miss that second flight. What would happen then? You would not be allowed to enter the country, and would be sent back to the airline that transported you to Ireland, who would be required to transport you back to where you came from. The airline would also be fined - and they will attempt to recoup all these costs, and possibly additional penalites, from you. And be warned that the charge for a last-minute ticket on the next departing ORD flight, which would eventually be passed back on to you, will probably be many multiples of the price you have already paid so far.
This is why you must have an entry visa/a passport that allows entry on arrival, if you persist with the "separate tickets" strategy.
If you really don't want to get the visa, then the only watertight solution would be to contact Aer Lingus (or the agent that sold you the ticket, if you didn't buy direct from Aer Lingus), and have them change your ticket such that you add a new DUB-FAO segment to your existing ticket; thereby, you will be (legally, as well as technically) only in transit in DUB and won't need a visa. Beware, though, that as others have pointed out upthread, that this will likely be a very costly change to make to the ticket.