Worth having an ex-eu offers thread of the moment?

Bah, they've managed to choose dates which meant that I can't upgrade my next flights at beginning of December...

Hope virgin matches the ex-DUB fares, they've dropped now, can get LAX 1100 and JFK 969, all club.

VS sale fares now loaded, but their ex-DUB fares for UC have not changed like BA disappointingly.

DUB - BOS Club Europe/UC booked in December £1200 return, yippee!

Did notice that BA CW was £950 ish but poor connection times though

Hi there, my first post on here. I am about to book flights to IAD from LHR and normally we fly out UC and back PE but the fares this Christmas seem astronomical compared to last and pre years. The quote i got from VS yesterday went up by £550 overnight! So I tried the Dublin route and was really impressed with the quotes I received BUT, I couldn't find a flight to Dublin that didn't completely make the whole exercise pointless as they were so expensive (3 of us). How do most of you do it? Fly out of Heathrow that morning and then fly back in and then head on VS to your final destination?

Also, Expedia told me that my luggage would go all the way through to Dublin on the return leg so I wouldn't be able to get off at LHR so again, couldn't see how this could be practical...

Sorry if this is all sounding naive but I would love to take advantage and only live 15 mins from Heathrow. Any advice very welcome.

Ams

Well I hate to say it but we have gone over to the dark side. Booked BA First to SFO on the A380, returning in Club. Managed to grab it ex-DUB for the grand total of £1700. Very excited to lose both my A380 and First virginity at the one time!

That's amazing jmacconnacher. Would you mind telling me how you will manage the Dub leg of the trip. Where are you based? And were you able to book cheap flights to Dub for the start of your trip? thanks/ I'm right in the middle of all this now for the first time but can't fathom how to get the Dub leg of the flight sorted.

[honey lamb]

So I tried the Dublin route and was really impressed with the quotes I received BUT, I couldn't find a flight to Dublin that didn't completely make the whole exercise pointless as they were so expensive (3 of us).
Ams

What airlines have you been looking at the for the flight to Dublin? Aer Lingus seems to be the DFS of the skies as they always seem to have a sale on and don't rule out Ryanair. You could always leave your bags in the left luggage place in LHR and check them in there rather than schlep them over to Dublin. Just board the flight at Dublin with whatever hand luggage you have, exit T2 (if on EI) and make your way landslide to T3 (easy-peasy) and check in your luggage there. Several of us have done it that way.

Also, Expedia told me that my luggage would go all the way through to Dublin on the return leg so I wouldn't be able to get off at LHR so again, couldn't see how this could be practical...

Ams

The reason that Expedia told you that your luggage would go all the way through is that the Republic of Ireland is a Common Travel Area with the UK and therefore bags that have connected through LHR are deemed to have been customs cleared there. What you do is tell them at check in at IAD that you want to check your bags only as far as LHR and that you need to access them there before your onward flight. If you can, arrange that your onward flight is from a different LON airport such as LGW or LCY so that you would have to collect to transit.

Hope this helps

That is wonderfully helpful honey lamb . Thank you very much. I was looking at AL and Ryanair for the flights to Dub which were coming in at £450 for the three of us. I guess being so close to Heathrow I was naive to expect flights out of there to be competitve. Thanks for the tip at IAD. I just had a fear they would say no and check it through to DUB thus cancelling out all the benefits I had gained from flying ex-eu. Will look into it further. thanks again

[honey lamb]

That is wonderfully helpful honey lamb . Thank you very much. I was looking at AL and Ryanair for the flights to Dub which were coming in at £450 for the three of us. I guess being so close to Heathrow I was naive to expect flights out of there to be competitve. Thanks for the tip at IAD. I just had a fear they would say no and check it through to DUB thus cancelling out all the benefits I had gained from flying ex-eu. Will look into it further. thanks again

You're welcome. Don't forget to look at BA for a LON-DUB flight also even though it pains me to say so.

I'm slumming it on Cityjet for my LCY-DUB positioning flight.

[mitchja]

Mine is EI's MAN>DUB flight. I did contemplate the LPL>DUB FR flight for about 0.00001 of a second but then changed my mind as I will be traveling with checked luggage to DUB.

A note of caution for those considering flying transatlantic with BA and dropping the final leg to Dublin (or wherever): there have been anecdotal reports on Flyertalk that BA check-in staff at some locations in the US have been told they must tag luggage through to the final destination and say no if asked to check it only to London.

The guaranteed way round that is to fly into one London airport and make sure the EU flight you intend not to take leaves from another.

The guaranteed way round that is to fly into one London airport and make sure the EU flight you intend not to take leaves from another.

Or ensure your final sector to EU is the day after you land at LHR/LGW