leelapa

Hi all,

I've got quite a few flights to the USA that are likely to happen next year and am looking into flying with Aer Lingus for them. I have a couple of questions:

1) I'd be flying from London and connecting in Dublin - some of the connection times look very short. I'm assuming I'd be doing the US pre-clearance in Dublin. Would an hour and a half or so be enough time for that (and would they prioritise connecting passengers in the line?) or is it safer to book a longer connection?

2) Are Aer Lingus understanding about hidden disabilities? I've usually flown long haul with BA and ask for disability assistance due to autism and some physical issues (back and shoulder pain from herniated discs and limited movement in one arm that means I struggle with my bag). This means boarding early and getting to select a seat for free. In most cases, this has been quite smooth (bar the time I walked up to the gate when they called for assistance passengers to come forward and the gentlemen barked "no, not you" at me - dreadful) and I'm wondering if it's the same with Aer Lingus? Are they understanding about disability not necessarily meaning needing a wheelchair and do they offer things like early boarding?

3) Has anyone ever had an issue with a passport expiring in under six months being a reason for denying boarding? My ESTA is still valid until late 2024, but my passport expires in May. Most of my planned travel is before May. I don't particularly want to renew my passport early, as I'd then be risking being left without a valid ESTA and unable to fly to the US (for example if I were to send it away in November and needed to fly that month and it wasn't back in time). US immigration don't insist on six months validity and allow you entry if your passport is still valid by your intended return date, but it seems some airlines have their own rules, and this makes me anxious. Has anyone ever had an issue? I do have a second nationality (Irish), and theoretically I could evade this entire problem by getting an ESTA for my Irish passport (and this is what I intend to do once the other passport expires and I need to send it for renewal), but from research online, it seems like having a valid ESTA in two passports could just confuse things and cause hassle? I can't really find a solid answer on this on the US embassy sites. Surely this issue must come up quite a lot for frequent travellers to the US - that their passport expires at some point and they need to get a new one (and hence a new ESTA) while the old ESTA is still valid?

alserire

1. Yes you preclear in Dublin. An hour and a half should theoretically be enough but if your plane is delayed then they won�t wait for you. You will be prioritised if your flight is closing but I�d look for two to three hour connections if you can.

2. Couldn�t really comment but a quiet word at the gate re boarding first and I can�t see there being a problem. Booking a seat for free? I�m not sure any assistance passenger gets that made available to them. You�d have to check with the airline.

3. I�m not sure an airline can deny boarding based on their own interpretation of passport rules. In any case you clear the US border in Dublin. After that you have been admitted to the US and at that point EI have no excuse to deny boarding. As US authorities have already admitted you to the country. So it won�t be an issue.

FlightDetective

You've come to the right place to ask!

1. I would recommend between two and three hours for the connection. It gives you peace of mind if there are any flight delays and means you can have a leisurely connection, rather than a stressful rush to get through the formalities. To answer your question, yes, it would be safer to book a longer connection. You won't need more than three hours. Also know that if you did miss your flight, Aer Lingus would be responsible for getting you to your destination, as long as all is booked on one ticket.

2. Aer Lingus, like most airlines, carry people with both visible and hidden disabilities all the time. There is a Disability Assistance page on their website here - https://www.aerlingus.com/support/sp...ty-assistance/ and there is a "Request Other Assistance" button there, where you can fill in a form to let Aer Lingus know of your circumstances. It does have a dropdown for "Other Disability Assistance Requests" and then in the other box, "Autism" is an option, plus you can add comments in the box below. You need to fill in this form at least 48 hours before departure but my view would be to complete it after you've booked, especially if you're certain you'll be taking the flight.

3. Aer Lingus has a webpage specifically for Travel to and from the USA here - https://www.aerlingus.com/prepare/pa...and-to-the-usa - and it does not mention any requirements around Passport validity, apart from saying it must be valid for the duration of your trip. Therefore, it seems Aer Lingus have no requirement when it comes to having six months validity on the passport for travel. For the rules for entering the USA, you would need to check on a US Government website to be sure. I do know that when your Passport expires, your ESTA also expires with it, as it's not possible to carry over an ESTA to another Passport (as you know).

Hope this helps!

mailliW

If your final destination is JFK or BOS you could look at connecting in SNN

leelapa

Thanks! Would you say it's likely that if I missed a tight connection, I'd get put on the next flight anyway, so it would be worth taking the risk, or do they tend to fly full and so I could potentially be waiting hours or even overnight? I appreciate this may be difficult to answer. I'm an experienced flyer, but I don't have a lot of experience with tight connections and don't think I've ever missed one (although I've come very close!)

I think I've heard of a few stories of people being wrongly denied boarding, so I'm anxious about that. A BA staff member did tell me when I flew last year that I needed six months on my passport, so I'm concerned that this is something many staff may think. I wasn't sure whether airlines had the power to set their own rules on this or not. Good point about clearing US immigration before getting to the departure gate - that's actually a huge plus of flying out of Dublin for me and cuts down on a lot of anxiety.

guv1976

OP: Is there a particular reason why you are looking to fly a connection with EI, rather than a nonstop out of LON? Is it cheaper? Do you much prefer going through U.S. preclearance (at DUB or SNN), rather than clearing immigration and customs upon landing in the U.S.? Some other reason?

leelapa

Thank you! This is all very reassuring. Leaving 2-3 hours means a long day of travel, but it's probably worth it to avoid extra stress and get to do the pre-clearance in Dublin. I really struggle to communicate in busy, loud places due to the autism, so I usually spend the entire long flight dreading the interaction with immigration on the other end, hoping they'll be understanding if I ask them to repeat or reword something..the pre-clearance in Dublin takes away so much of that stress!

The US government website says the same thing - no six month validity requirement, but it's surprisingly hard to find a way to contact the embassy in writing! I'd like to figure out the best way around my passport expiring before my ESTA does. Not sure whether it would be best to just wait for it to expire and immediately apply for a new ESTA in my Irish passport, then send the other passport for renewal, or what. Logistics isn't my strong point!

leelapa

The pre-clearance is a big one, and the EI flights do tend to be a bit cheaper, with some quite good deals on business class and fairly decent flexibility on flight changes, but also I've lost a lot of faith in BA recently for various reasons. I had very bad experiences with their Twitter and accessibility teams recently. Being humiliated at the gate on my last long-haul flight with them for not looking "disabled enough" for special assistance wasn't great either (the agent snapped at me for coming forward when special assistance passengers were called, and everyone at the gate turned around and stared at me), although I suspect this is likely to happen with any airline if you encounter a badly trained agent. I have also had many very good experiences with BA, but they seem to have really dropped the ball recently on the customer service front. It's impossible to do a lot of quite basic things online, so you need to call, and I can't really manage long phone calls on my own, especially for important stuff. This might well be the case with other airlines, too, though.

I don't find any of the American airlines great from a customer service perspective either (have not enjoyed flights with Delta or American over the years), Virgin is often very expensive, and Norse Atlantic seems a bit too cheap and cheerful in terms of comfort levels for a long-haul, with a lot of hidden costs (even moreso than Norwegian Air), so not sure what other options remain for direct flights. Always open to suggestions here, though!

ROKNA

The passport valid requirement for ESTA for a UK passport (and a long list of others) is simply to be valid for the trip duration and nothing more so no issue at all https://www.cbp.gov/sites/default/fi...2020220316.pdf

leelapa

I've had it suggested to me that airlines are allowed to set their own rules, so I'm very glad to see that's the case!

AJNEDC

3. An airline can certainly deny boarding. My airline did it when I worked for it years ago. The 6 months rule is pretty standard as airlines are only following the rules established by the country of arrival.

alserire

The difference here is you arrive in the country via preclearance before you leave. So the airline won't be denying boarding.

And when I say deny boarding I mean outside of the rules of the arriving country. Again in this case there is no 6 month requirement and therefore no issue.

FlightDetective

You will find the pre-clearance in Dublin very easy all round and the agents tend to be very nice. It makes the arrival at the other end a brilliant experience, just being able to collect bags and go.

On the Passport issue, I would advise doing your renewal when you have a gap between travel. Do the renewal and put the ESTA on the Passport you travel with all the time. I renewed my Irish Passport about 12 months ago. I got a photo place to do the photo on a Sunday in the shop, he e-mailed me the digital image, I applied for the renewal online and the Passport arrived in the mail two days later. While I know you're not renewing an Irish passport, I would hope it would be that quick. I also did not have to send my old Passport anywhere, so it may well be much easier than you think it will be

ROKNA

The Irish passport renewal via the online tool is world class experience and in most cases its 2 business days. Few if any countries can match this.

Airlines follow something called timatic which is an IATA tool which takes the flight, passport and visa details and spits out a yes or no. If you can get checked in you are good to go.

mailliW

Speed of online renewal is indeed very impressive, my renewal was processed in less than 24 hours