Hi guys, I wanted to reply to you collectively and say that was genuinely helpful. As well as some tips, it reassures me that Dublin airport for this quarter isn't going to feel like Mad Max followed by US-Spirit type flights afterwards (my only source of info has been online newspapers).

In particular, new to me was:

• Dublin T2 sounds quite civilised
• I didn't realise the higher end Aer Lingus fares offer J-like benefits, up to an empty middle seat (though sadly not on the Bristol route)
• The only downer is that Aer Lingus doesn't appear to fly to Poland, despite Warsaw being on various routemaps I've found online

Having had a thought, I'm going to do the following:

• I'm probably not going to try to requality as BA Gold. I'm behind on the year and BA seems to be particularly expensive and uniquely bad at the moment. Maybe I do a last minute tier point run, probably not
• I will buy the expensive tickets on Aer Lingus until I get Silver and then there don't really seem to be huge benefits beyond that so might or might not dial it back a level or two
• I'll fly Ryanair to Poland, but it is what it is

I had two more questions in case anyone is inclined to indulge me a bit more:

• What's Aer Lingus like with cabin baggage? My standard weekly commute is with a Rimowa Cabin bag (European size) and a Tumi shoulder bag. I've read here weighing isn't that much of a concern - What are the odds of being forced to check and is it dependent on status/ ticket type? If you have to check going into DUB, how long does it take to get it back?
• What is the taxi situation like at DUB? Again, the newspapers suggest there can be long queues which is not really for me. Are there options to have a man with a sign waiting which don't cost unreasonable amounts of money to get to the centre? Seems like nobody ever thought that fast public transport options would be a good idea

Thanks again. Maybe see some of you in person at some point in the future