xenophile

Hello, I'm arriving at DUB from BOS on EI 136. Scheduled arrival is 5:05. Would like to take RyanAir (FR 7238) to LIS departing 6:45. Would this be doable? We will not have any checked luggage. At least we hope not anyway, should probably take a closer look at carry-on limits for both airlines.

I read another thread that said there's a separate area for Immigration for connecting flights that usually isn't as busy as the main one. Any thoughts on this plan are greatly appreciated. Thanks!

irishguy28

It should be loads of time but on separate tickets you are always taking a risk. if you miss your Ryanair flight (and don't forget to check in online and print your boarding pass) that's it, you're on your own.

There is a transfer channel, but I'm afraid you won't be able to use it. Assuming you are not travelling on an EU/EEA passport, you will have to report to the Ryanair document check desk - which is landside - in order to have your boarding pass stamped for travel. If you attempt to board any Ryanair flight with a non-EU/EEA passport, and your boarding pass does not have this stamp, you will be turned away. You cannot remain airside and travel onwards with Ryanair unless you have an EU/EEA passport. it doesn't matter how straightforward and simple your immigration status is, or whether you have a current valid visa in your passport that you can show the boarding agent - a non-EU/EEA passport always requires a document check stamp on the boarding pass - this is non-negotiable. So you must go landside first, clearing immigration and customs en route; report to the Ryanair document check desk; then clear security.

Aer Lingus flies to Lisbon; you could book all travel on a single ticket; meaning that Aer Lingus would protect you in case of irrops; and you could follow the transfer channel and remain airside. (Document check is a procedure used only by Ryanair. And Ryanair applies this procedure on ALL flights - even domestic flights!!!)

If you check luggage, this connection is not viable. You will have to wait for your luggage at DUB, clear security, and check in with Ryanair. Ryanair stick rigidly to the luggage check-in deadlines, and it is almost certain you will miss the cutoff.

Aviatrix

My rule of thumb (which, admittedly, I have broken once or twice) is to never attempt a connection on separate tickets with less than four hours in between flights - more if there is baggage to collect and re-check.

I would definitely NOT attempt this connection.

ag99251

Definitely NO. As irishguy28 says, you have to leave the secure area to get a stamp on your boarding pass at the Ryanair check-in counter. There's truly no way around that. The security line to get back in the secure area can be quite long at DUB even that early in the morning. The airport is larger than you might expect, with long distances to walk between the gates. I would leave 1.5 hours just to exit, get the stamp, and get back in.

It's hard to imagine a scenario where it's worth risking a same day transfer to Ryanair from a different airline, since the prices will go up extraordinarily if you miss your connection and there's really no chance they would honor any value from your original ticket. It's better to pay more up front for a protected connection and not run the risk, imo.

xenophile

Wow, am I ever glad I asked. Thank you all so very much for weighing in with really excellent advice. My new plan is instead of taking the RyanAir flight to LIS to travel directly to Faro via Aer Lingus departing DUB at 6:20.

So my window for connection has become even tighter, eek! But given that I won't have to go landside, this is probably doable, correct?

My BOS-DUB flight was booked on EI via BA using Avios. If the connection to Faro is feasible, would I be able to pair the two flights on a single ticket or add the second leg to my existing ticket? I'd like to get the protection from a delay on the first leg mentioned by IrishGuy, but not sure how to go about this. My strong preference would be to pay cash for the flight to Faro.

Thanks, you guys rock!

irishguy28

I really don't think you can "combine" the tickets in any way. I know that some airlines appear to give the impression that you can, but this is usually just putting a note in the PNRs which doesn't in any way materially "join" the tickets. And I know that airlines like AA protect you on separate tickets as long as they are both AA/Oneworld.

But you don't have that benefit here.

Personally, that connection would be far too tight for my liking. If you are prepared to take a gamble, and are willing to pay for a new flight, on the day, at the walk-up rate, if the gamble fails, then go for it. You should buy the DUB-Portugal and Portugal-DUB tickets separately - this won't cost (much) more as EI charges one-ways at the same price as when they are combined into a return (this is to avoid your return being cancelled, should you miss the outbound. The last time I deliberately missed an outbound - several years ago - I was assured by the EI call centre that my inbound would not be cancelled. This applied only to shorthaul-only tickets, and the policy probably still applies, but just in case, book each direction separately).

But beware that buying a ticket to Portugal on the day could be very, very, very expensive. If it is peak holiday season, there may not even be any seats left on any direct services that day. You really are taking a huge risk, I think.

You could request your bags to be checked through at the EI checkin at BOS and normally this would be no problem - but I wonder if they may baulk at the tight connection. Be sure to check in online in advance on the Aer Lingus website for the DUB-Portugal flight, and bring along that boarding pass. Without it, you will likely be turned away from the transfer channel and be sent landside - which would effectively kill your chances of making the flight. (The transfer channel is at the extreme left when you reach the end of the corridor leading you from the arrival gate into the airport proper. Keep your eyes peeled for the transfer/connecting signs; also look at the airport arrivals map in Cara, the inflight magazine).

But the transatlantics often arrive early so you might actually end up comfortably making the connection on separate tickets.

If you are arriving in business, and you have time, your J boarding pass/stub from BOS/DUB should get you into the Gold Circle lounge.

I would, however, advise that you consider a later flight to Portugal!

Please let us know what you decide, and how it works out. Good luck!

xenophile

Thanks so much for the thorough examination of what I'm considering. I am soooo tempted to give it a shot but you have really put the fear of god into me.

I just checked flightstats (not sure how accurate that site is) and for the last 60 days EI flight 136 has only a 66% ontime rate. The average delay for the rest of the flights was 60 minutes with the maximum being over 5 hours late!

But there were a lot of flights cancelled out of Boston in Feb and March due to weather, right? So that's probably skewing the on-time rate for the window I see.

Oh decisions, decisions. Making that flight would mean almost another whole day at the beach....

Horror stories of missed connections at DUB are welcome! Thanks irishguy28, I will let everyone know what happens.