Questions on flying trans-atlantic out of Dublin
 

Hi all,

Pretty new to following these forums but having seen the many posts on how much cheaper it is to fly transatlantic ex-Dublin than ex-London, going to try it for a trip to NY in a few weeks. Route is DUB-LHR-JFK (and then return) but I live in London so will make my way to DUB first. Traveling just with hand luggage.

Price flying with BA is £1000 cheaper ex-Dublin than flying direct from LHR, but couple of questions for those that have flown via Dublin before.

1) I'll have to fly into Dublin on a separate booking. When I land there do I need to pass out through passport control/customs and then come back in through security, or can I just stay airside and check-in online?

2) On the return leg I want to finish the journey in London so won't take the connecting flight from LHR-DUB, just having hand luggage so will just exit the airport there. Anyone encountered problems with doing that, for example do they still credit the miles/tier points for the longhaul route even if you miss the connection?

Thanks a lot!

You'll get your TPs and Avios for the LH return (some have even reported getting the SH credit as well, but that's rather unusual. Since your positioning flight into DUB is on a separate ticket, make sure that you allow plenty of time between that and your return flight to LHR. You will not be the first person to have been subject to a delay, and then missed the start of their journey, for which you'll have no protection.

Welcome to FT benjones250, and check out the BA forum (where this question should be moved to), where you'll find plenty of help.

You may find this thread useful:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/briti...tinations.html

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"Since your positioning flight into DUB is on a separate ticket, make sure that you allow plenty of time between that and your return flight to LHR. You will not be the first person to have been subject to a delay, and then missed the start of their journey, for which you'll have no protection."

That's true, unless the credit card the OP uses provides such protection.
On the other hand, if the OP were able to find a good DUB-NYC fare using AA on the outbound, he would would be protected in the event of IRROPS into DUB, even when traveling on separate tickets. (And might even be able to fly into LGA instead of JFK, on a routing like DUB-PHL-LGA.)

But he's doing an ex-EU trip on BA, already booked. The common wisdom is that back-to-backs on the LHR-DUB flights are ok, but not guaranteed because the of the requirement to go through passport and security.

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It's not clear from the OP that the ex-DUB trip has already been booked. If it has not, then it might be worth pricing DUB-PHL-LGA on AA, and JFK-LHR-DUB on BA. The OP would then have protection in the event of a BA/AA mis-connect at DUB, and would have the benefit of U.S. pre-clearance at DUB. ;)

If the ex-DUB flight has already been booked, then perhaps the OP can consider that strategy for future trips.

Thanks all for the comments.

I've ended up using BA on DUB-LHR-JFK routing, J class return for £1100 which seemed pretty reasonable. On the positioning flight I'm trying back-to-back on BA as figured if the LHR-DUB is delayed, at least I know I'm not going to miss the DUB-LHR first leg (unless they pull in another plane of course!) There's a good hour between the arrival and departure times which should be ok to get through fast-track security etc (I hope!)

Thanks again for the help.