Quandree

Good morning V flyers I have a decision to make as I have just obtained some tickets to see the script in New York.

I live in the north west and to keep this short trip less expensive I may have to travel from Manchester. I see on sky scanner Air Lingus are doing a nice price in October £495 which is in my budget and looking at Virgin prices are starting £535 since only getting 3400 points I don't think the extra expense to fly to London is worth it, I have never flown Air Lingus so any comments would be appreciated.


Jurgen

[honey lamb]

I've never flown Aer Lingus transatlantically - yet! However one of the major benefits -if not THE benefit - is that in Dublin you will be pre-cleared for Immigration and Customs so that you don't have any delays when you arrive in JFK

Oh and T2 is Dublin is very new and very nice

And the Aer Lingus staff in Dublin Airport are also very nice - well one is :w

I flew EI on a short haul trip recently and had no complaints. As Honey Lamb says, T2 at DUB which EI use is a nice terminal - almost up there with T5 at LHR.

And if you pay an extra £20, you can get into the Gold Circle lounge at DUB too which is a very nice place to wait for a couple of hours. Although its not quite the same standard as the Clubhouse.

I would rate the service provided by Aer Lingus to the US as good. I have flown from Dublin several times to the US with them. If we are talking economy, I dont see VS as any better than AL. In some ways I think AL are maybe better. I certainly wouldn't pay an additional sum to travel on VS over AL.
The AL flight from Manchester likely connects via Dublin. If going to New York I would try to be on the 10:45 out of Dublin (EI105) as you clear immigration in Dublin and land in New York as a "domestic" US flight. To me this is a massive plus.

I've never flown Aer Lingus transatlantically - yet! However one of the major benefits -if not THE benefit - is that in Dublin you will be pre-cleared for Immigration and Customs so that you don't have any delays when you arrive in JFK

Oh and T2 is Dublin is very new and very nice

There are two flights from Dublin to NYC. Only the 105 pre-clears immigration I believe.

I agree, Dublin T2 is great. IMHO, way better than any London terminal - including T5. Unless you are big into shopping at the airport (which I am not).

I've never flown Aer Lingus transatlantically - yet! However one of the major benefits -if not THE benefit - is that in Dublin you will be pre-cleared for Immigration and Customs so that you don't have any delays when you arrive in JFK

Oh and T2 is Dublin is very new and very nice

There are two flights from Dublin to NYC. Only the 105 pre-clears immigration I believe.

I agree, Dublin T2 is great. IMHO, way better than any London terminal - including T5. Unless you are big into shopping at the airport (which I am not).

Just found the link
http://www.aerlingus.com/travelinformat ... migration/

Many thanks for all your comments, looks as though the sky scanner flight is the 105 so I think that might be the flight we choose. The connection times seem to be only 1 hour between flights is that normal and achievable?

just had a peruse on skytrax.. cough cough... and the reviews are on the whole v positive with are lingus you do pay for drinks tho.. xx mainly short haul reviews but for the price difference and ease of immigration is a huge bonus. and that £40 saved like others said could pay for drinks.. extra snacks or that merchandise they sell at the concert! have fun!

[honey lamb]

There are two flights from Dublin to NYC. Only the 105 pre-clears immigration I believe.

I'd forgotten about the second flight. My bad!

Many thanks for all your comments, looks as though the sky scanner flight is the 105 so I think that might be the flight we choose. The connection times seem to be only 1 hour between flights is that normal and achievable?

Definitely. You will arrive in and depart from T2. Here is the information about transferring within T2 (ignore step 2) When you exit the arrival area you merely keep going straight ahead to the escalator and then up one floor to Departures. Your bags will have been checked through and you should have been given boarding passes for both legs of the flight. The Immigration place is post security to the right past the shops and the bars. There will be both airline and DAA staff to hand to answer any queries