The Holy Land and an Irish Wedding (AA/BA/EI J; DL Y)
Aug 20, 2023, 11:13 pm
#16
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: BTR/MSY
Programs: AA EXP, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott LTP, Hilton Gold
Posts: 1,258
We headed out after dropping off our bags. Our first stop was St. Patrick’s Cathedral, which was just a block away from the hotel.
There was a little pop up market at the Cathedral on Sundays that was pretty cool.
Our next stop was Dublin Castle.
There was beautiful little memorial garden adjacent to the castle.
We then headed to The Little Museum of Dublin, which was a fun and interesting experience. The museum doesn’t have a lot of exhibits, but they make up for it with story telling. It was a fun 90 minutes.
We took stroll around St. Stephens Green afterwards, which was beautiful.
My girlfriend was feeling under the weather all day and it hadn’t gotten better. So, we went back to the hotel so she could take a nap. As for me, I grabbed my iPad so I could watch the second half of the Saints game. In hindsight, I was glad that I didn’t make it to the game which ended up being a complete heartbreaker.
That night, we had reservations at Richmond Restaurant, which was about a 20 minute walk away. It was highly rated on Trip Advisor and recommended by Conde Nast.
It was a very pleasant walk over.
We started off with the mousse, which was delicious.
Followed by their daily small bite, which was good.
I went with the striploin for my main course. It was fantastic and perfectly medium rare. My girlfriend enjoyed the gnocchi.
On the way back, we stopped at a bar with a live one man band for a night cap and watch the late afternoon NFL games.
We did make it a point to get back to the hotel early as we had a big the day ahead of us.
There was a little pop up market at the Cathedral on Sundays that was pretty cool.
Our next stop was Dublin Castle.
There was beautiful little memorial garden adjacent to the castle.
We then headed to The Little Museum of Dublin, which was a fun and interesting experience. The museum doesn’t have a lot of exhibits, but they make up for it with story telling. It was a fun 90 minutes.
We took stroll around St. Stephens Green afterwards, which was beautiful.
My girlfriend was feeling under the weather all day and it hadn’t gotten better. So, we went back to the hotel so she could take a nap. As for me, I grabbed my iPad so I could watch the second half of the Saints game. In hindsight, I was glad that I didn’t make it to the game which ended up being a complete heartbreaker.
That night, we had reservations at Richmond Restaurant, which was about a 20 minute walk away. It was highly rated on Trip Advisor and recommended by Conde Nast.
It was a very pleasant walk over.
We started off with the mousse, which was delicious.
Followed by their daily small bite, which was good.
I went with the striploin for my main course. It was fantastic and perfectly medium rare. My girlfriend enjoyed the gnocchi.
On the way back, we stopped at a bar with a live one man band for a night cap and watch the late afternoon NFL games.
We did make it a point to get back to the hotel early as we had a big the day ahead of us.
Aug 20, 2023, 11:14 pm
#17
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: BTR/MSY
Programs: AA EXP, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott LTP, Hilton Gold
Posts: 1,258
The next morning, we were up by 5:30 and were out of the hotel after a quick breakfast before 6:30. We booked a bus tour to the Cliffs of Moher on the west coast of Ireland. That sounds far, but it was just a 3-hour ride from Dublin. Our meet up point was at the Molly Malone statue, which was about a 20 minute walk from the Hyatt Centric.
While everyone made it to the meetup point early, there was no bus to be seen. Finally at 7:30, the bus driver was running down a side street toward us. Turns out, the street was too narrow for the bus so the driver parked a block away off a main thoroughfare.
This was a self guided tour, though the bus driver gave us a rundown on places we passed through. Our first stop was a restroom stop in Moneygall about an hour outside of Dublin. Moneygall apparently has a strong connection with the U.S., and more precisely the highest office of the land. President Obama’s Irish ancestors hail from Moneygall, and he acknowledged this during a trip to Ireland by visiting Moneygall. In a very American move, a Moneygall businessman decided to capitalize on this and milk it for all it’s worth by opening up a gas station named after the 44th President of the United States and assembling a bit of a shrine.
Our next stop was the Bunratty Castle an hour down the road. It was a quick photo op and souvenir shop stop.
Finally, a little after 3 hours we pulled up to the Cliffs of Moher.
We went on the 2 mile costal hike, which was lovely.
After the hike, we stopped at a village pub about 20 minutes away. I ordered the Irish beef stew, which was absolutely incredible. The broth was rich and hearty, and the beef was spoon tender. My girlfriend’s fish chips was delicious as well.
We just happened to snag a table right under a cool vintage Aer Lingus poster.
Lunch including a couple of pints shook out to be a super reasonable €40.
We made one more stop at Kieres, which is a cute little fishing village.
The bus pulled back into Dublin just past 5pm. We walked back to the hotel for quick pit stop before heading out for dinner. We were both pretty tired from day, so we just headed back to the same pub the evening before. We really enjoyed the one man band, and it was just cool low key atmosphere.
And luckily the pub’s food was excellent. We both got the cheeseburger which was absolutely delicious.
Washed down by a few of these.
It was a perfect low key evening to wrap up our last night in Ireland.
While everyone made it to the meetup point early, there was no bus to be seen. Finally at 7:30, the bus driver was running down a side street toward us. Turns out, the street was too narrow for the bus so the driver parked a block away off a main thoroughfare.
This was a self guided tour, though the bus driver gave us a rundown on places we passed through. Our first stop was a restroom stop in Moneygall about an hour outside of Dublin. Moneygall apparently has a strong connection with the U.S., and more precisely the highest office of the land. President Obama’s Irish ancestors hail from Moneygall, and he acknowledged this during a trip to Ireland by visiting Moneygall. In a very American move, a Moneygall businessman decided to capitalize on this and milk it for all it’s worth by opening up a gas station named after the 44th President of the United States and assembling a bit of a shrine.
Our next stop was the Bunratty Castle an hour down the road. It was a quick photo op and souvenir shop stop.
Finally, a little after 3 hours we pulled up to the Cliffs of Moher.
We went on the 2 mile costal hike, which was lovely.
After the hike, we stopped at a village pub about 20 minutes away. I ordered the Irish beef stew, which was absolutely incredible. The broth was rich and hearty, and the beef was spoon tender. My girlfriend’s fish chips was delicious as well.
We just happened to snag a table right under a cool vintage Aer Lingus poster.
Lunch including a couple of pints shook out to be a super reasonable €40.
We made one more stop at Kieres, which is a cute little fishing village.
The bus pulled back into Dublin just past 5pm. We walked back to the hotel for quick pit stop before heading out for dinner. We were both pretty tired from day, so we just headed back to the same pub the evening before. We really enjoyed the one man band, and it was just cool low key atmosphere.
And luckily the pub’s food was excellent. We both got the cheeseburger which was absolutely delicious.
Washed down by a few of these.
It was a perfect low key evening to wrap up our last night in Ireland.
Aug 20, 2023, 11:15 pm
#18
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: BTR/MSY
Programs: AA EXP, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott LTP, Hilton Gold
Posts: 1,258
We were able to sleep in a bit the next morning and had breakfast at the hotel’s restaurant. My Globalist benefit covered one main course, a breadbasket, and drinks.
Since it was our last day, I decided to enjoy one more proper breakfast.
We popped back upstairs to finish up packing, and then we headed out to the Guinness Brewery for our tour. It took 20 minutes to walk there.
The first tasting room was pretty cool.
We really liked the classic ads exhibits.
The last stop on the tour was panoramic tasting room.
Guinness does taste better from the source!
I hoped we had enough time to go to the Old Library, but the Guinness tour took a little longer than I expected. So, I called an audible to go to the Marsh Library which was pretty much across the street from the hotel. It was still awesome, though on a much smaller scale.
We then went back to the hotel to grab our bags and check out. The front desk agent helped us call a cab, and one materialized a short while later and we were on our way back to the airport.
Since it was our last day, I decided to enjoy one more proper breakfast.
We popped back upstairs to finish up packing, and then we headed out to the Guinness Brewery for our tour. It took 20 minutes to walk there.
The first tasting room was pretty cool.
We really liked the classic ads exhibits.
The last stop on the tour was panoramic tasting room.
Guinness does taste better from the source!
I hoped we had enough time to go to the Old Library, but the Guinness tour took a little longer than I expected. So, I called an audible to go to the Marsh Library which was pretty much across the street from the hotel. It was still awesome, though on a much smaller scale.
We then went back to the hotel to grab our bags and check out. The front desk agent helped us call a cab, and one materialized a short while later and we were on our way back to the airport.
Aug 20, 2023, 11:16 pm
#19
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: BTR/MSY
Programs: AA EXP, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott LTP, Hilton Gold
Posts: 1,258
When I booked our homeward bound tickets a couple of months before, I joked that this could make or break our relationship. I wouldn’t bat an eye at three connections, including a relatively short connection at Heathrow, an overnight connection, and an airport change. But that would stress the heck out of anyone with a sound mind, including my lovely girlfriend who was feeling under the weather to boot. All of that just to accommodate premium cabin award space.
That said, it did sort of put things in perspective for me and how lucky I’ve been over the years. While my girlfriend traveled a good bit herself over the years, our Aer Lingus flight to Dublin was her first premium cabin experience. Other than a few outliers, I’ve been incredibly fortunate to have flown at least business class for the vast maturity of my long haul flights. I guess it’s a good of a time as any to toast to work travel, my credit card obsession, and FlyerTalk for making that all possible. Anyhow, I suppose my goal for all this is to turn her over to the dark side and maybe convince her to ditch her Southwest credit card for something a little more useful.
Anyhow, let’s see how this goes.
The taxi dropped us off in a designated area a little ways away from the terminal, and we had to navigate through a maze to find British Airways’ check in counters. Soon enough, we were relieved of our bags and had our boarding passes all the way to JFK in hand. Then it was off to the Fast Track for security and immigration. Seems like the Fast Track in Dublin has a sponsor.
Once through, it was off to The Lounge. And yes, it is really called The Lounge, which seemed to serve as the lounge for every airline operating out of Terminal 1.
The Lounge with plenty of comfortable seating and a very good selection of food and drinks.
We left The Lounge 30 minutes before boarding time as it quite the schlep over to our gate.
Naturally, a 30 minute delay was announced right as we sat down at the gate. 30 minutes isn’t too big of a deal, but it did eat into what was already a fairly tight connection in Heathrow.
Boarding finally began nearly an hour late, and the gate was actually a remote gate. Though luckily a bus wasn’t required and we were able to walk right over to our plane.
[b]British Airways 837
Dublin (DUB) – London (LHR)
Depart: 3:50PM
Arrive: 5:20PM
Aircraft: Airbus A320NEO
Seat: 4C (Business Class)]/b]
I assigned us seats 4A and 4C.
The powerports were a huge improvement compared to some BA’s older intra-Europe configured planes.
Boarding actually was pretty quick despite the full flight. The plane was pushed back pretty much the second after the cabin door was buttoned up, and we off. The captain apologized for being a few minutes adrift from our schedule and promised to make up as much time as possible.
Afternoon tea was served a few minutes after take off. The sandwiches were pretty tasty.
We actually landed on time, but another plane was blocking the alleyway and we ended waiting for 20 minutes for it to taxi out of the way.
Fortunately, we arrived at Terminal 5 so at least we didn’t have to transfer terminals. But we still had to clear transit security and immigration. Immigration was actually alright because of the e-gates. Security was an absolute pain. The line was long and moved at a glacial pace. People ignoring the 500 signs leading up to screening exacerbated the problem as bags constantly had to be rescreened as folks would forget to take stuff out. Eventually we made it through.
After we cleared security, our gate was posted and it was in T5B. So it was off to the train, and then up an escalator and then an elevator before we reached the satellite lounge. By this time, my girlfriend was a bit annoyed and understandably so. But our ordeal wasn’t over, despite being the first ones in line for the lounge. You see, there was a young lady (who was on the same flight to JFK as us) bugging the crap out of the lounge dragon asking her every (incredibly obvious) question under the sun. What time does boarding start? Where’s the gate? What seat am I in?
Finally, the lounge dragon politely asked young lady bugger off as there were quite a few folks waiting. And we were finally admitted. She shot me a look that said I don’t know if this business class crap was worth it. But it wasn’t anything that a class of wine couldn’t fix. And I did just that. We did have just enough time to catch our breath and get something to drink before it was time to board.
Gate agents were starting doc checks right as we got to the gate. Boarding started a few minutes later right on time.
British Airways 183
London (LHR) – New York (JFK)
Depart: 6:45PM
Arrive: 9:50PM
Aircraft: Boeing 777-200ER
Seat: 9D (Business Class)
Now the moment of truth arrived as we turned right toward our seats. I selected 9C and 9D, which were the two center bulkhead seats in the larger rear Business Class cabin.
After stowing her backpack and getting settled in, she smiled and said this is very nice. So far, so good!
Flight attendants came around shortly with trays of champagne, orange jioce, and water.
Menus, amenity kits, pillow, and duvets were at the seat already.
I may have patted myself in the back when what was supposed to be a small ten minute cargo loading delay stretched to over an hour as there wasn’t a tractor available. Fortunately, there was plenty of entertainment on-board. Behind us were parents travelling with a fussy infant, and somehow the baby wasn’t the most annoying thing sitting near us. Funny enough, the annoying lounge girl ended up across the aisle from me. She turned out to be an “influencer”, whatever those are, and just so happened to be sitting in front of another “influencer”. They spent most of the time on ground loudly carrying on.
I fired up the entertainment system and started watching Where the Crawdads Sing just as the flight attendants came about taking dinner orders.
Drinks were served about 30 minutes after take off. I went with a Coke Zero, which were served with packaged nuts.
Dinner was served after another round of drinks. As British Airways was still running reduced meal service at the time, dinner was an one tray affair. The appetizer and cheese plate were terrible, but the beef cheeks were very good.
After finishing up the movie, I closed the suite door and got some sleep. I’ve always thought suite doors were a gimmick, especially after my door was stuck on my Tel Aviv to London flight. However, I did find it useful this flight. it’s definitely not to the level of privacy like Singapore Suites or Etihad First Class. It blocked out just enough ambient light and aisle movements for me to nap a little more comfortably. The seat was again solid both in the upright and lie flat positions.
I woke up just in time for the second meal service, which was pretty terrible.
We ended up parking at JFK a little over an hour late. Immigration was quick, but it took nearly another hour for our checked bags to arrive. Afterward we hopped a cab to the surprisingly nice Four Points Flushing.
That said, it did sort of put things in perspective for me and how lucky I’ve been over the years. While my girlfriend traveled a good bit herself over the years, our Aer Lingus flight to Dublin was her first premium cabin experience. Other than a few outliers, I’ve been incredibly fortunate to have flown at least business class for the vast maturity of my long haul flights. I guess it’s a good of a time as any to toast to work travel, my credit card obsession, and FlyerTalk for making that all possible. Anyhow, I suppose my goal for all this is to turn her over to the dark side and maybe convince her to ditch her Southwest credit card for something a little more useful.
Anyhow, let’s see how this goes.
The taxi dropped us off in a designated area a little ways away from the terminal, and we had to navigate through a maze to find British Airways’ check in counters. Soon enough, we were relieved of our bags and had our boarding passes all the way to JFK in hand. Then it was off to the Fast Track for security and immigration. Seems like the Fast Track in Dublin has a sponsor.
Once through, it was off to The Lounge. And yes, it is really called The Lounge, which seemed to serve as the lounge for every airline operating out of Terminal 1.
The Lounge with plenty of comfortable seating and a very good selection of food and drinks.
We left The Lounge 30 minutes before boarding time as it quite the schlep over to our gate.
Naturally, a 30 minute delay was announced right as we sat down at the gate. 30 minutes isn’t too big of a deal, but it did eat into what was already a fairly tight connection in Heathrow.
Boarding finally began nearly an hour late, and the gate was actually a remote gate. Though luckily a bus wasn’t required and we were able to walk right over to our plane.
[b]British Airways 837
Dublin (DUB) – London (LHR)
Depart: 3:50PM
Arrive: 5:20PM
Aircraft: Airbus A320NEO
Seat: 4C (Business Class)]/b]
I assigned us seats 4A and 4C.
The powerports were a huge improvement compared to some BA’s older intra-Europe configured planes.
Boarding actually was pretty quick despite the full flight. The plane was pushed back pretty much the second after the cabin door was buttoned up, and we off. The captain apologized for being a few minutes adrift from our schedule and promised to make up as much time as possible.
Afternoon tea was served a few minutes after take off. The sandwiches were pretty tasty.
We actually landed on time, but another plane was blocking the alleyway and we ended waiting for 20 minutes for it to taxi out of the way.
Fortunately, we arrived at Terminal 5 so at least we didn’t have to transfer terminals. But we still had to clear transit security and immigration. Immigration was actually alright because of the e-gates. Security was an absolute pain. The line was long and moved at a glacial pace. People ignoring the 500 signs leading up to screening exacerbated the problem as bags constantly had to be rescreened as folks would forget to take stuff out. Eventually we made it through.
After we cleared security, our gate was posted and it was in T5B. So it was off to the train, and then up an escalator and then an elevator before we reached the satellite lounge. By this time, my girlfriend was a bit annoyed and understandably so. But our ordeal wasn’t over, despite being the first ones in line for the lounge. You see, there was a young lady (who was on the same flight to JFK as us) bugging the crap out of the lounge dragon asking her every (incredibly obvious) question under the sun. What time does boarding start? Where’s the gate? What seat am I in?
Finally, the lounge dragon politely asked young lady bugger off as there were quite a few folks waiting. And we were finally admitted. She shot me a look that said I don’t know if this business class crap was worth it. But it wasn’t anything that a class of wine couldn’t fix. And I did just that. We did have just enough time to catch our breath and get something to drink before it was time to board.
Gate agents were starting doc checks right as we got to the gate. Boarding started a few minutes later right on time.
British Airways 183
London (LHR) – New York (JFK)
Depart: 6:45PM
Arrive: 9:50PM
Aircraft: Boeing 777-200ER
Seat: 9D (Business Class)
Now the moment of truth arrived as we turned right toward our seats. I selected 9C and 9D, which were the two center bulkhead seats in the larger rear Business Class cabin.
After stowing her backpack and getting settled in, she smiled and said this is very nice. So far, so good!
Flight attendants came around shortly with trays of champagne, orange jioce, and water.
Menus, amenity kits, pillow, and duvets were at the seat already.
I may have patted myself in the back when what was supposed to be a small ten minute cargo loading delay stretched to over an hour as there wasn’t a tractor available. Fortunately, there was plenty of entertainment on-board. Behind us were parents travelling with a fussy infant, and somehow the baby wasn’t the most annoying thing sitting near us. Funny enough, the annoying lounge girl ended up across the aisle from me. She turned out to be an “influencer”, whatever those are, and just so happened to be sitting in front of another “influencer”. They spent most of the time on ground loudly carrying on.
I fired up the entertainment system and started watching Where the Crawdads Sing just as the flight attendants came about taking dinner orders.
Drinks were served about 30 minutes after take off. I went with a Coke Zero, which were served with packaged nuts.
Dinner was served after another round of drinks. As British Airways was still running reduced meal service at the time, dinner was an one tray affair. The appetizer and cheese plate were terrible, but the beef cheeks were very good.
After finishing up the movie, I closed the suite door and got some sleep. I’ve always thought suite doors were a gimmick, especially after my door was stuck on my Tel Aviv to London flight. However, I did find it useful this flight. it’s definitely not to the level of privacy like Singapore Suites or Etihad First Class. It blocked out just enough ambient light and aisle movements for me to nap a little more comfortably. The seat was again solid both in the upright and lie flat positions.
I woke up just in time for the second meal service, which was pretty terrible.
We ended up parking at JFK a little over an hour late. Immigration was quick, but it took nearly another hour for our checked bags to arrive. Afterward we hopped a cab to the surprisingly nice Four Points Flushing.
Aug 20, 2023, 11:17 pm
#20
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: BTR/MSY
Programs: AA EXP, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott LTP, Hilton Gold
Posts: 1,258
With revenue rates well over $400, the 33,000 Bonvoy points I burned for the night was a relative bargain. The location was just about perfect for us as it’s right by LaGuardia. The room was clean, spacious, and comfortable.
After a rare Marriott hot breakfast buffet that’s included thank to my Lifetime Platinum status, we headed to LaGuardia by Uber. It was a rainy nasty day.
This was my first time using Delta’s new digs at LaGuardia, which was absolutely gorgeous. Unfortunately, we were helped by a rather sour agent who seemed hell bent on collecting baggage fees from us. After a minute or two pleading, the agent finally got off her phone and looked at her screen to confirm I was a very lowly Silver Medallion who’s at very least entitled to a gratis checked bag for myself and a companion. Security was relatively painless.
Our flight to Houston was departing from the crappy un-renovated part of the terminal.
Our flight ended up delayed for about 2 hours. While I would have normally doubled back to the SkyClub, my girlfriend wasn’t feeling well and wanted to just stay put.
Eventually, the gate agent announced there was a gate change and that boarding would begin in five minutes.
Delta Air Lines 903
New York (LGA) – Houston (IAH)
Depart: 10:45AM
Arrive: 2:20PM
Aircraft: Airbus A220-100
Seat: 15B (Economy Class)
Nothing much to report here. I was able to get us the comfy exit row seats on the A/B side.
The ride was smooth. I ended up watching Angels in the Outfield.
Bags hit the belt well within Delta’s 20 minute bag guaranty, and we were heading home shortly after that.
Appreciate y’all reading about those fantastic couple of weeks! And sorry for the insanely late post.
After a rare Marriott hot breakfast buffet that’s included thank to my Lifetime Platinum status, we headed to LaGuardia by Uber. It was a rainy nasty day.
This was my first time using Delta’s new digs at LaGuardia, which was absolutely gorgeous. Unfortunately, we were helped by a rather sour agent who seemed hell bent on collecting baggage fees from us. After a minute or two pleading, the agent finally got off her phone and looked at her screen to confirm I was a very lowly Silver Medallion who’s at very least entitled to a gratis checked bag for myself and a companion. Security was relatively painless.
Our flight to Houston was departing from the crappy un-renovated part of the terminal.
Our flight ended up delayed for about 2 hours. While I would have normally doubled back to the SkyClub, my girlfriend wasn’t feeling well and wanted to just stay put.
Eventually, the gate agent announced there was a gate change and that boarding would begin in five minutes.
Delta Air Lines 903
New York (LGA) – Houston (IAH)
Depart: 10:45AM
Arrive: 2:20PM
Aircraft: Airbus A220-100
Seat: 15B (Economy Class)
Nothing much to report here. I was able to get us the comfy exit row seats on the A/B side.
The ride was smooth. I ended up watching Angels in the Outfield.
Bags hit the belt well within Delta’s 20 minute bag guaranty, and we were heading home shortly after that.
Appreciate y’all reading about those fantastic couple of weeks! And sorry for the insanely late post.
Aug 21, 2023, 4:09 am
#21
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: IAH
Programs: DL DM, Hyatt Ist-iest, Stariott Platinum, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 12,795
Always nice to see your detailed reports dat4life. You have reminded me yet again that I need to get back over to the UK since I haven't been anywhere there but Heathrow in 15+ years and never been to Ireland/Scotland. Too bad on the bad luck with the BA old seats, those seem up there with those old 2-4-2 United J cabins that you just have to wonder how somebody ever thought that was a good idea.
Aug 22, 2023, 1:44 pm
#28
Join Date: Mar 1999
Location: Alpharetta, GA, USA
Posts: 948
Great report. We are headed to a full week in Ireland and starting at the Centric for two nights. Also flying there on BA from EWR via LHR so this was very relevant! By the way, I think that was cottage pie not shepherd's pie. 
Aug 25, 2023, 10:59 pm
#30
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: BTR/MSY
Programs: AA EXP, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott LTP, Hilton Gold
Posts: 1,258
Always nice to see your detailed reports dat4life. You have reminded me yet again that I need to get back over to the UK since I haven't been anywhere there but Heathrow in 15+ years and never been to Ireland/Scotland. Too bad on the bad luck with the BA old seats, those seem up there with those old 2-4-2 United J cabins that you just have to wonder how somebody ever thought that was a good idea.
Thanks, Harper!
Appreciate the concern! She's good now. This trip actually took place in September 2022.
