Thanks all for your responses - it's very much appreciated.

The whole trip is on one single 13 digit number so it looks like the whole route will be required.

However - I have just called Virgin and asked if they will route my bag just through to LHR on the return trip to LAX (I've said I'll want to drop my suitcase into my car and not lug it all the way to Dublin) and they told me that shouldn't be a problem at all (I did this last week with a BA flight back from Hong Kong via Frankfurt even though I did fly the final LHR-FRA-LHR leg) so it looks like I'll be OK.

As a precaution I have booked a return flight from DUB a couple of hours after landing just in case there are any issues (it was worth the £40 for the peace of mind).

Thanks again to all of you for your help and advice :)

If you're paying for the return DUB-LON flight anyway, why not just take the flights and earn the miles?

Since this post is off topic for the info desk, and because the OP appears to have decided on a course of action, this thread is now closed.

Please see the Read Before Posting announcement at the top of this forum for more detailed guidance on which topics are appropriate in this forum. Also, the http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/infor...ion-about.html sticky contains an index to help find the best forum for questions.

Thanks all.