Dirty Start to an ex-Eu!

I have been a bad bear and have just booked Ryanair LGW-DUB as the start of my ex-DUB trip to New York next month.

But needs must and other options, including other flight choices and a hotel in London were eating away at the savings so needs must!


So on the Wednesday it will be LGW-DUB then DUB to LCY then trains/tubes home to Brighton, night in my own bed and then train/tubes back to LCY the following morning.

I'm a grown bear and can take it though!

Do they serve gin on these planes?

We're planning on doing DUB - LCY as first sector of our ex EU to LAS next May. Easy trip back to LGW and BA Club Europe bubbly (& G&T) included!

I'm not quite sure I understand the logic of the Ex-EU trip.
You travel from Brighton to LCY
Fly to Dublin and back
Go back to Brighton
Come back to LCY
then fly off to the US in a comfy seat.

It seems an awful lot of discomfort and effort for a bit of extra comfort on an 8 hour flight.

I'm not knocking it. I love flying Upper. I guess I'm just too lazy.

Dick D

Well it's not for everyone and in the past I have been sceptical myself about some of the claims but the saving in ££ over flying direct is huge!

And it is a very comfy seat !

Tonty you're such a funny Bear

We start our ex-DUB trek today travelling from Lincolnshire to LHR, overnight, then the DUB (on a more respectable Aer Lingus) and back with BA, another overnight, and off to SFO on Thursday. I'm quite excited and just treating the extra bits and the 2 nights over 1 at airport as all part of the holiday. I'm on holiday as soon as I leave the house, and it's official when I'm drinking my first VAT on the train. y)

I'm not quite sure I understand the logic of the Ex-EU trip.
You travel from Brighton to LCY
Fly to Dublin and back
Go back to Brighton
Come back to LCY
then fly off to the US in a comfy seat.

It seems an awful lot of discomfort and effort for a bit of extra comfort on an 8 hour flight.

I'm not knocking it. I love flying Upper. I guess I'm just too lazy.

Well, not all of us go home.

For us direct, we'd go down to LHR/LGW the night before and stay in a hotel by train from Wolverhampton.

Now we get the train to Birmingham International, a 60 quid flight across (luggage in the hold), then DUB-LHR/LGW and into hotel. A few extra hours taken. Saves 2K per person.

I'm not quite sure I understand the logic of the Ex-EU trip.
You travel from Brighton to LCY
Fly to Dublin and back
Go back to Brighton
Come back to LCY
then fly off to the US in a comfy seat.

It seems an awful lot of discomfort and effort for a bit of extra comfort on an 8 hour flight.

I'm not knocking it. I love flying Upper. I guess I'm just too lazy.

Dick D

Put simply, for me it's totally logical: I have a choice of either paying £3900 for a VS flight LGW-LAS next April/May (booked in normal way) **or** flying on the identical VS flights on identical dates for £1300 (booked ex DUB). The astronomical saving of £5200 for a couple more than pays for the entire trip

I also must confess to a dirty start to an ex-DUB trip on Sunday - and it honestly wasn't all that bad!

It's many years since I flew FR and yes it's still very yellow and yes there's still lots of selling but the allocated seating really does improve the experience (even if I was a cheapskate and refused to pay for it, my reward being 19E). The CC looking after our section was excellent - American I think, very friendly and helpful. And NO FANFARE on landing, hallelujah!!!

For £23 (LGW-DUB) which saved me well over £1000 on a relatively short notice LHR-JFK ticket, I really have no complaints.

To be honest I feel dickydotcom has a made a fair comment but equally I can see that other folk can give examples why they consider ex-DUB fares work them.

One issue for me is that I hate travelling and just want to get from A to B as quickly as possible, even paying a bit more if I have to in order to do so. I would hate travelling to Dublin then back to where I started! and all before I have to face a long haul flight. After a restful holiday, then there's all the extra travelling all over again.

Over the years I've learnt to watch the fare prices very carefully. There is usually a good deal on flights every few months or so. A friend of mine has booked a direct LGW - Las Vegas UC at the end of April 2016 and the 'sale' price offered a couple of weeks ago certainly was not £3900

For me a reasonable alternative to the ex-DUB fare, is an upgradeable ticket. My m-fare to Orlando next year was £888 upgradeable with miles. The 'normal' ticket price for our dates is £2860 so that's a cash saving of nearly £4k for us two y) As a trial I've just priced out the same Virgin UC flight on Expedia and it was £1666 each and that did not include the cost of flight London-Dublin return with all that extra travel time.

It is so easy to accrue Flying Club air miles and personally I would never choose the
ex-Dublin route but it is all about personal choice. Basically there's no right or wrong method, just what suits each individual

Tonty you're such a funny Bear

We start our ex-DUB trek today travelling from Lincolnshire to LHR, overnight, then the DUB (on a more respectable Aer Lingus) and back with BA, another overnight, and off to SFO on Thursday. I'm quite excited and just treating the extra bits and the 2 nights over 1 at airport as all part of the holiday. I'm on holiday as soon as I leave the house, and it's official when I'm drinking my first VAT on the train. y)

Bretty - enjoy San Francisco and luckily the weather looks fabulous, which is a far cry from the dull dreary skies we had at the end of April 8D

For me on the LAS route using miles really isn't an option, I know some folk have struck gold but in years of checking I've never found reward seats on dates I need to travel on.

The ex EU method has been a real eye opener for me. Last time to LAS we did ex AMS and the "hassle factor" was minimal. We just hopped over to AMS at 4pm and came straight back - such a short flight too, 40 mins! Didn't even take hand luggage! Then a relaxing evening and on to the VS43 the following day. On that occasion we saved over £5K on the cheapest fare we could have booked non ex EU.

I've just double checked prices for dates next April / May and the cheapest VS flights to LAS offered by Skyscanner, Opodo etc are all around the £3880 mark. The moment DUB is made the origin it becomes £1300. So for me, a few hours of my time to save well over £5000 is pretty amazing Like most others I don't take the final segment so zero hassle after the holiday - just straight home from Gatwick. Even if the savings were half what they are now I'd still do it.

For me on the LAS route using miles really isn't an option, I know some folk have struck gold but in years of checking I've never found reward seats on dates I need to travel on.

Yep, Vegas has few reward seats. Orlando does have a different set of people, mostly with families. But Vegas often has people who are travelling in couples and are willing to pay that 4K for Upper... So you'll not be seeing that one with decent reward flights...

Anyone thinking of a cheeky little Vegas trip this summer might want to look at MAN flights.

Until September they're using an A346 instead of the normal 747 - and three times the normal UC capacity means more Gs than usual.

Yep, Vegas has few reward seats. Orlando does have a different set of people, mostly with families. But Vegas often has people who are travelling in couples and are willing to pay that 4K for Upper... So you'll not be seeing that one with decent reward flights...

Also with just the one flight from Gatwick (as opposed to 2 on MCO) demand for the 14 UC seats on each flight must be incredibly high. That said I see even the cheapest economy fares on VS to LAS are around the £1,000 mark! An enjoyable tea time jaunt to DUB or AMS becomes all the more satisfying when I know I paid only a couple of hundred pounds more for UC on the identical flight!

Yep I am also Doing the Same Thing. I am away to Vegas at the end of Nov this year and Will be taking my cheap ryanair flight from Glasgow to Dub then Dub to lhr where i will stay over night and then off on vs43 to Vegas in upperclass. All for just £1,040.

Ill take that anyday over the £4,000 + I have paid in the past before i new about the ex dub trick.

Yep I am also Doing the Same Thing. I am away to Vegas at the end of Nov this year and Will be taking my cheap ryanair flight from Glasgow to Dub then Dub to lhr where i will stay over night and then off on vs43 to Vegas in upperclass. All for just £1,040.

Ill take that anyday over the £4,000 + I have paid in the past before i new about the ex dub trick.

Do you mean DUB to LGW, as the VS43 goes from LGW not LHR

whats the situation if booked from DUB - LHR and onwards but not taking the DUB - LHR flight, just picking up the flight from LHR instead?
Will this cause a problem, my friends has booked this to Cape Town using BA and doesn`t plan on starting in Dublin

whats the situation if booked from DUB - LHR and onwards but not taking the DUB - LHR flight, just picking up the flight from LHR instead?
Will this cause a problem, my friends has booked this to Cape Town using BA and doesn`t plan on starting in Dublin

You should read other posts on the ex-EU trips (DUB, AMS etc) as not taking the first leg will normally cause the rest of the ticket to be invalid as the pax will be listed as a no show, and any connecting flights on the same PNR would be cancelled. Skipping the last leg is obviously fine.

Skipping the last leg is obviously fine.

Weeeelll, not always.

Skipping the last leg is obviously fine.

Weeeelll, not always.

Golden rule, always make the last leg from a different airport, then it's impossible for the luggage to be through checked to final destination.

Yep I am also Doing the Same Thing. I am away to Vegas at the end of Nov this year and Will be taking my cheap ryanair flight from Glasgow to Dub then Dub to lhr where i will stay over night and then off on vs43 to Vegas in upperclass. All for just £1,040.

Ill take that anyday over the £4,000 + I have paid in the past before i new about the ex dub trick.

Do you mean DUB to LGW, as the VS43 goes from LGW not LHR

No Ill Fly Dub to LHR then make my own way to LGW via Bus in the Morning.

On Mine I arrive one airport Thursday AM but my return to DUB is Friday from another.

I think I'll still be in bed Friday morning!

But seriously you cannot miss the first leg. I have seen reports where pax have been rebooked but these are rare and involve major disruption. Plus flights have been on the same airline.

whats the situation if booked from DUB - LHR and onwards but not taking the DUB - LHR flight, just picking up the flight from LHR instead?
Will this cause a problem, my friends has booked this to Cape Town using BA and doesn`t plan on starting in Dublin

Have seen people at BA check in desks being asked for several thousand pounds to re-instate their ex-ue tickets when missed the first flight.

For me on the LAS route using miles really isn't an option, I know some folk have struck gold but in years of checking I've never found reward seats on dates I need to travel on.

That does seem the case on BA also. There are a few Club reward seats available for April '16 but they do get snapped up very quickly. There are just 2 dates (return legs only) in BA First from LAS to LHR currently available (for November '15).

When I saw availability released in February for December I snapped 'em up pronto. The other dates released at the same time were gone within 48 hours. Hope this luck holds out at the Blackjack table

As I really hate driving to Heathrow
The thought sends me into one! I like the fact I can depart from gatwick and fly back to Heathrow for the vs flight, works for me