Swiss Tony

I did something similar to the OP a couple of years back, BHX-DUB-JFK.

The connection was however only about 90 mins. On arrival I noticed the departures boards were telling passengers on my flight to go through immigration, but this seemed a bit OTT. I stuck my head into the Gold Circle lounge and they said I should take a seat and they would call the flight.

This was timed to perfection - as soon as the flight was called I left the lounge, and the moment I cleared the TSA security check, they announced boarding was underway.

Simon Schus

Seems like a well polished machine

Does anybody happen to know with the DAA lounge makes announcements for when when passengers should head over to preclearance (similar to the Gold Circle Lounge). My Priority Pass will only get me into the DAA and not the Gold Circle Lounge.

Simon

trustno1

See Irishguys28 comment. I have never used it but may I add that I would not recommend that you consider paying for Gold Circle access because this lounge is also a glorified waiting room.

starflyergold

They do not.

DELLAS

No they do not . If you don't want to pay for the GC lounge then I would maybe head to the Chocolate lounge for something to eat then head to the DAA for around 25 mins ( thats all its worth ) then head to pre clearance. The DAA lounge in T1 is actually nicer than the T2 one but not worth the treck.

soy

Preclearance is quiet at 2pm. You would be in plenty of time turning up at T-45mins at that time of day.

MDTyKe

AMEX Gold doesn't give you access to lounges. Amex Platinum does, but only if you request the Priority Pass Select add-on (free) for most Int'l ones. They'll mail you a separate Priority Pass card, which I believe can allow you take in a guest or two. If you do have Platinum, you also have access to the AMEX Centurion Lounge at LAS.

irishguy28

The OP is a UK card holder. The UK Gold card comes with two lounge passes.

Simon Schus

Hi all

Thanks for continuing the discussion.

I didn't mention the card type too much in my original post as I didn't think it'd be too relevant to the question However, I'm an UK-based Amex Plat cardholder which nicely gives me Priority Pass Select access to the DAA Lounge in Dublin. It also gives me the Cathay Pacific gold card (Oneworld Sapphire/British Airways Exec Silver). Alas, however, I don't think this can get me into the Gold Circle Lounge because I'll be flying into Dublin from London Gatwick on Aer Lingus which isn't a BA codeshare flight. I'm fairly fine with that as apparently the DAA Lounge in Dublin Terminal 2 has a shower which will be nice as I'll already have been travelling the day before so little comforts like that will make the general travelling more enjoyable... and break up the various journeys from place to place!

Thanks all

Take care,

Simon.

irishguy28

A BA Silver card (and it has to be issued by BA - any of the oneworld equivalents, such as your CX card, do not count) would actually grant you access to any of Aer Lingus's Gold Circle lounges when flying between Heathrow and Ireland on any Aer Lingus service which carries a BA codeshare number - even when the ticket on which you are travelling has nothing directly to do with BA or an onward BA journey (i.e when booked directly from EI or a third party and purchased with an EI flight number).

Aer Lingus doesn't have its own lounge in Gatwick, though, and I really don't think that the Number One lounge there (which is the one EI uses, I believe) would honour a BA Silver card for access. And a BA Silver card would not have gotten you into the Gold Circle lounge in Dublin ahead of an Aer Lingus flight to Chicago - the only time you would have access in Dublin is ahead of an Aer Lingus flight to Heathrow.

Simon Schus

Hi irishguy28,

Yes - I agree completely

Kindly, the Priority Pass that comes with the AMEX gets me into the No1 (and the ServisAir, but hmmm) in Gatwick South terminal which should be nice for some pancakes before the 915am flight over to Dublin. On the Boston leg, the Priority Pass gets me into the Air France lounge in Boston (which is nice enough... though there was a mouse last time I was there!).

Pity not flying with Virgin or BA this time They've got a lovely sale over between London and Boston direct - if only I'd waited another 48 hours to book and then I could've got a lovely deal with them - alas, bygones!

Take care everybody

Simon

pat jordan

Charlie,

the DAA lounge is a nice restful area with good views of the apron.

Food is soup, cheese, crackers, biscuits, crisps. Not lavish, but probably just enough to kill the hunger pangs.

Given that you have two teenage children, they might have a couple of soft drinks, coffee, or tea.

Allowing for the cost of buying a couple of drinks & snacks in the departures area, it is possibly a little more expensive to use the DAA Lounge, but if you balance this against the comfort of using the lounge, I would consider it worthwhile.

Hope this helps.

charlieduke

thank you for your replies. Most helpful. don't know whether to use the lounge passes in Las Vegas though. I don't know what the lounge is like. We will be flying in from Cardiff at 0920 and the flight to SFO leaves at 1215. I don't know how long the turnaround will be but 2 and a half hours is a long time to sit in the departure lounge so will probably use the passes in the lounge in Dublin. Shame they don't do bacon rolls !!

stifle

Correct, have tried.
Incorrect. Mrs. stifle and I were admitted to the Gold Circle Club on our BA silver cards at DUB before flying DUB-LGW earlier this month.

irishguy28

That should have read "Heathrow or Gatwick", aka any Aer Lingus flight that also carries a BA codeshare.