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#940525 by TravellingTechie
05 Jan 2018, 19:31
Hi all

I am looking at travelling to the states later this year taking advantage of the ex-dub fare sale. However I don't live in Ireland so will have to position there first.

For reasons I won't bore you with I can't pop over to Dublin the night before (which would be the sensible option) so I will have to get to Heathrow and do a back to back . Obviously this can't be done with luggage, so I wonder if it would be possible to turn up at Heathrow first thing, check in for the VS sector and drop bag (before having taken the DUB-LHR flight!). Then nip over to T5 and do the B2B on BA. This way it won't matter if the LHR<>DUB plane is delayed, as I would already be checked in for the next flight and covered as DUB>LHR>USA is on one ticket.

Cheers
TT
#940528 by Kraken
05 Jan 2018, 20:11
To the OP, the answer to the scenario you describe is "I'm unsure". I don't know if the VS check-in system will allow you to check in before the coupon on the e-ticket for the first flight sector has been used (hence why it's generally suggested doing the first leg the day before if at all possible). You can definitely check-in very early for a VS flight at LHR - I know of people who have checked in early morning for a late evening HKG departure then cleared off into London for the day having left their bags in the safe hands of Virgin / the LHR baggage system. (These were on journeys originating at LHR though, not DUB).

Assuming you can check in for the VS leg before you've taken the DUB-LHR flight, there is still quite a significant risk. If you get to DUB and something goes wrong affecting the DUB-LHR flight (be it weather, aircraft going tech etc) then the problems start. Your ticket is a contract of carriage from A to B (in this case DUB-USA). If you're being rerouted then you don't have to be sent via LHR, you could get put on an Aer Lingus flight from DUB-USA with an internal connection to your final airport if needed.

If you don't make the LHR-USA flight because something has gone wrong, your bags will be offloaded at LHR for security reasons & you will end up in the USA with no checked luggage. I can't see any travel insurance (or indeed airline) paying out for emergency essential items due to your offloaded bag, as the airline have got you from A to B, exactly as the ticket says they have to.
#940531 by TravellingTechie
05 Jan 2018, 21:29
Yikes! Thanks for the warnings, will have to see if I can get over the evening before. Starting and ending at DUB saves about 400 quid (Upper Class) so even with connecting flights and hotel it's still cheaper!
#940535 by Bretty
05 Jan 2018, 22:13
Provided you leave yourself plenty of time for potential delays doing your DUB-LHR back to back on the same day you shouldn’t have too much problem with making your connection, which I know isn’t what you asked. As for luggage, why not leave it at the Left Luggage Co, they have branches in each terminal and you can collect when you get back from DUB and go check in at T3 with VS. I highly doubt you’ll be able to check in before taking the other flights
#940539 by pjh
06 Jan 2018, 00:03
TravellingTechie wrote:Yikes! Thanks for the warnings, will have to see if I can get over the evening before. Starting and ending at DUB saves about 400 quid (Upper Class) so even with connecting flights and hotel it's still cheaper!


Out of interest, how much will it save per person? I think the hotel prices in Dublin are quite high, and then when you add on the positioning flights what's the net benefit?
#940540 by DoomWolf
06 Jan 2018, 00:19
As Bretty says, there is a Left Luggae Co. in T5 near to the domestic (including Ireland) arrivals. We did ex-Dub to SFO in 2015 (flying to DUB the previous afternoon) and left our cases there. It cost around £15-£20 if I remember correctly. It's worth popping over the day before is possible and an evening in Dublin is certainly worth it and makes a good start to a holiday.

I'm fairly sure you wouldn't be able to check in for the VS flight until the first leg is taken, for the same reasons that dropping the first leg would result in the whole ticket being cancelled.
#940541 by Kraken
06 Jan 2018, 00:23
pjh wrote:
TravellingTechie wrote:Yikes! Thanks for the warnings, will have to see if I can get over the evening before. Starting and ending at DUB saves about 400 quid (Upper Class) so even with connecting flights and hotel it's still cheaper!


Out of interest, how much will it save per person? I think the hotel prices in Dublin are quite high, and then when you add on the positioning flights what's the net benefit?

Whilst I haven't been to Dublin, are there not operators like / similar to Travelodge & Premier Inn near the airport? Back in the UK I've frequently bagged great deals on Premier Inn rooms close to LHR (Bath Road one) & MAN (Runger lane ones & Heald Green). Can often get a room for about £30 at MAN & under £50 at LHR if you book at the right time when the offers are on - they are, of course, pre-paid & non-refundable rates. If you want the flexibility to cancel, then the rate can & does double.
#940543 by honey lamb
06 Jan 2018, 00:47
OK, the DUB expert here - well as far as DUB is concerned.

Bretty's suggestion of leaving your luggage in LHR is an excellent one. I did it myself on a Cork-LHR- USA fight when I was transporting an extra bag for a friend's son (which I had packed myself but didn't want the hassle of lugging an extra bag to the hotel).

I can't answer the question of checking in at LHR for your VS flight before your flight to DUB but I would say your chances are slim to nil. Equally trying to do OLCI is small. I had a Cork-LHR-JNB late last year and I couldn't do OLCI for any of the legs. The only thing that worked was that check-in in Cork checked me through to my final destination.

Hotels at DUB. I am the guru. There are two hotels within the Dublin Airport complex - the Maldron and and the Radisson Blu. They both offer shuttles to the terminals but the Maldron used to charge €1 to the terminal which I consider a huge cheek! Outside of the airport there are plenty of hotels all of which offer a free shuttle to the airport. My favourite it the Carlton but near it is the Crowne Plaza and the Holiday Inn Express next door (I have used the latter when travelling with my son who lives a couple of doors down and has no room at the inn for me!) There are also other hotels north of the airport and entirely satisfactory such as Travelodge and Premier Inn.

Please do feel feel free to contact me about anything regarding DUB and its environs and enjoy your trip
#940548 by pjh
06 Jan 2018, 10:33
Kraken wrote:Whilst I haven't been to Dublin, are there not operators like / similar to Travelodge & Premier Inn near the airport? .


&

honey lamb wrote:Hotels at DUB. I am the guru. There are two hotels within the Dublin Airport complex - the Maldron and and the Radisson Blu. They both offer shuttles to the terminals but the Maldron used to charge €1 to the terminal which I consider a huge cheek! Outside of the airport there are plenty of hotels all of which offer a free shuttle to the airport. My favourite it the Carlton but near it is the Crowne Plaza and the Holiday Inn Express next door (I have used the latter when travelling with my son who lives a couple of doors down and has no room at the inn for me!) There are also other hotels north of the airport and entirely satisfactory such as Travelodge and Premier Inn.


My question clearly shows my lack of experience in this whole ex EU thing as my mind was turned towards staying in the city rather than close to the airport. :-O
#940564 by chrisfinch_2000
06 Jan 2018, 14:25
As someone who has done ex dub before, I wouldn’t bother with the stress and hassle if the saving is only £400 pre additional costs - as another post says, by the time you’ve factored in a night in a hotel, the positioning flights, and your time, it hardly seems worth the effort / stress in my opinion.

Ex-Dub can offer savings well into the £1000 (which of course makes it worth the positioning flight, hotel and time) but I would seriously ask yourself if it’s worth it for what feels like a couple of hundred pounds (considering your ed-dub ticket is likely to cost in excess of £1K!)
#940568 by seany
06 Jan 2018, 15:21
Don't know how far from LHR the OP lives, but I fly out to DUB and back the day before, as early as the fare will allow, go home, have a good nights sleep, then head to LHR again the following morning. No hotel cost involved, and the positioning flight can cost as little as £15 with Ryanair, or Aer Lingus do it for under £30 ex-LGW.

Also means you don't have to worry about luggage, just take your bags in the morning and check in with VS like normal.
#940574 by Smid
06 Jan 2018, 17:25
chrisfinch_2000 wrote:As someone who has done ex dub before, I wouldn’t bother with the stress and hassle if the saving is only £400 pre additional costs - as another post says, by the time you’ve factored in a night in a hotel, the positioning flights, and your time, it hardly seems worth the effort / stress in my opinion.


Well, I read that as £400 per person saving, plus it's really costing you if you are paying £400 (for two) in additional costs anyway...

Last time I did it (on BA), I booked into a hotel in London (like I always do), and flew £120 per person (business plus, so priority, luggage, extra legroom, flexable) Ryanair from Birmingham, thus eliminating the costs of the train down (estimated about 80 quid). So I'd say my additional costs were around £160, piece of mind and saved about two grand total.

But if in London, hand luggage only over to Dublin to start and back same day, and even drop the last leg, and it won't cost you much at all.

The ones who seem to burn the cash are the ones who _need_ to fly to Dublin after work (or don't know you can fly day before), and thus have to stay at an airport hotel in Dublin, and then fly back in the morning. Most of us regionals would have booked a hotel in London anyway, and locals would come from their home.
#940577 by stuart_f
06 Jan 2018, 19:25
Over on FT your question had a second part:

b) on the way back it would be more convenient if checking in with VS in the states, the bag could be checked all the way through to DUB. It would save going landside, waiting to collect it at T3 and then lugging it to T5 to check in again !


Do you actually want to go to DUB on the way back?

If not then book the return legs as USA>LHR then either LCY or LGW>DUB forcing a change of airport. This will prevent through checking and you can collect your luggage at LHR and just head home.

One final thought on the outbound... You rightly say you can't do a B2B with luggage but if a B2B would take the worry out of all of this have you considered using a baggage service such as https://www.sendmybag.com/ to deliver your luggage to your hotel in USA? That way you also save the wait at baggage reclaim in USA and can just get on with your holiday.
#940946 by TravellingTechie
18 Jan 2018, 18:50
Evening all

Thanks for your input. We've managed to juggle things and go to Dublin and back the day before, and have booked the main tickets. The saving is around 600 per person over the fare direct LHR-JFK so it is worth the effort of going to and from Dublin twice.

One thing that isn't clear is how to find the PNR number for the BA flights. I've tried entering the PNR for VS into the BA manage my booking section but it is rejected. Will it be the same reference but taking a while to get through the system. Or will VS send out another number later? Or do I need to call BA and ask them to search their booking system for my name ?

Cheers
TT
#942296 by catsilversword
21 Mar 2018, 13:21
Can I just check something? If doing an ex-Dub and flying BA (sorry) for Dub to UK and also the connecting flight to the US, will online check-check in be necessary for both flights? They’re under the same booking ref.
#942380 by gumshoe
23 Mar 2018, 22:25
DUB only tends to be cheaper for US flights.

If heading east, these days the best fares tend to be from Scandinavia (ARN, CPH, OSL, HEL) but try AMS, BRU or even Spain or Italy.
#942385 by Vegascrazy
24 Mar 2018, 07:51
catsilversword wrote:Can I just check something? If doing an ex-Dub and flying BA (sorry) for Dub to UK and also the connecting flight to the US, will online check-check in be necessary for both flights? They’re under the same booking ref.


Yes, check in for both sectors on the BA app or online, then drop your cases as normal at DUB checkin. We often have no cases as overnight it at LHR or LGW after the first sector, then do the transatlantic the next day. Have a great trip!
#942387 by tontybear
24 Mar 2018, 11:14
gumshoe wrote:DUB only tends to be cheaper for US flights.

If heading east, these days the best fares tend to be from Scandinavia (ARN, CPH, OSL, HEL) but try AMS, BRU or even Spain or Italy.


Yes some start points are better for some parts of the world than others. It just needs some patience to sit down and use something like google flights to see what's on offer.

Recently my ex-EUs have all started in Inverness and there are sometimes deals for EDI and ABZ !
#942389 by catsilversword
25 Mar 2018, 11:59
Vegascrazy wrote:
catsilversword wrote:Can I just check something? If doing an ex-Dub and flying BA (sorry) for Dub to UK and also the connecting flight to the US, will online check-check in be necessary for both flights? They’re under the same booking ref.


Yes, check in for both sectors on the BA app or online, then drop your cases as normal at DUB checkin. We often have no cases as overnight it at LHR or LGW after the first sector, then do the transatlantic the next day. Have a great trip!


Thanks Vegas!

We were talking about trying to do that another time - overnighting in London after the first sector, and thus not having cases to trudge about, but doesn’t that need mkre specific timing, doesn’t it all have to happen within 24 hours or something?
#942390 by gumshoe
25 Mar 2018, 12:44
catsilversword wrote:overnighting in London after the first sector, and thus not having cases to trudge about, but doesn’t that need mkre specific timing, doesn’t it all have to happen within 24 hours or something?


It doesn’t have to be within 24 hours but if it’s more it no longer counts as a simple “in transit” stopover in the UK and you’d have to pay APD on the ex-London flight, thus reducing your savings.
#942450 by catsilversword
29 Mar 2018, 00:57
gumshoe wrote:
catsilversword wrote:overnighting in London after the first sector, and thus not having cases to trudge about, but doesn’t that need mkre specific timing, doesn’t it all have to happen within 24 hours or something?


It doesn’t have to be within 24 hours but if it’s more it no longer counts as a simple “in transit” stopover in the UK and you’d have to pay APD on the ex-London flight, thus reducing your savings.


That makes sense. Longer travel time then, but for smaller savings.
#942459 by cheesebag
29 Mar 2018, 13:09
I've done MCO ex DUB from BHX... it was a breeze... get the TSA bit out of the way at DUB and it's sooooo much easier when you land at Orlando.
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