Warning for anyone connecting out of Dublin to fly to USA, don't be me!

[MorrisZapp]

I'm a broken human and it's all Aer Lingus's fault. Business trip yesterday Edinburgh to JFK, connecting through Dublin.

Due to weather, my Edinburgh flight was delayed and we landed late in Dublin. Still in time for connection but all travellers to the USA have to go through US Homeland Security in Dublin, and there is no fast track option for late incoming connections.

It took well over an hour to clear US customs, the queues were horrendous and there are four levels of security to clear.

I think ten different people beeped my boarding pass but this means nothing as US security exists to protect the USA, not to help people catch flights.

After a horrific race to the furthest gate in the terminal, I arrived to a closed gate and the staff clearing up. They were kind and sympathetic but I was absolutely not getting on the plane. My bags had been taken off. Other people were in the same situation.

We could not approach Aer Lingus ticketing until to got landside, and we couldn't get landside until we had our bags back, which took an hour. Once we arrived at the ticketing desk there was a queue of desperate and upset travellers ahead of us, all trying to get to the USA. There were further flights out but we couldn't get them because going through homeland security again would have taken too long, and many flights were full anyway.

All they could offer was overnight accommodation with onward travel the next day. This didn't work for me as I'd missed my meeting anyway so I had to get a flight home instead. Edinburgh was full so I took a teatime flight to Glasgow. I got home at 10pm having been in transit from 6am.

I can't explain what it feels like to miss a transatlantic flight, I'm still processing it now. Seeing that closed gate was like the most stressful scene in a film, but it was real and actually happening to me.

Catching connections works until it doesn't. How the fuck Aer Lingus thought I could negotiate their huge, multi level airport and the whole of US security in the time allowed even had my incoming flight been on time was baffling to me. Why they haven't set up support airside for all the people held up like this is a mystery for the ages. Entire families were crying, the staff were helpful but there weren't nearly enough of them and they can't offer solutions that don't exist.

People who don't live near hub airports have no choice but to use connections. I've learned my lesson. I've informed my company that my next journey to the USA will require me to catch a train to London the day before (early, in case of train shenanigans) a night in a Heathrow hotel and a flight out of Heathrow next day.

Don't be me. Don't trust airline's own itineraries for connecting flights, and never fly Dublin to USA unless you are able to arrive at Dublin many hours in advance.

And an extra fuck you to the last US security guy I dealt with. Your utter nastiness made one of the most stressful experiences of my half century on this earth even worse and for what, sir? If you want your country to be safe then ban gun ownership and be civil to middle aged ladies who obey every rule and command asked of them.

Last moan, a pint in Dublin Airport costs seven pounds thirty. Most needed pint of my life. Just.... don't be me.

But Aer Lingus sell flights with a connecting time of 1.5 hrs. Thinking back I think ours was actually 1 hr 20 mins.

@Plump82

But Aer Lingus sell flights with a connecting time of 1.5 hrs.

Yep they do indeed - for example currently they are offering a 0935 arrival at DUB followed by a departure for JFK at 1105 as a single (connected) booking.

Thats means they are happy with 90 min or less as the minimum connection time and are happy to pick up the tab and admin involved responsibility in sorting it out if the link doesn’t work.

To be honest it was upto you to work out how much connection time you needed, particularly if you knew there was US Pre clearance in Dublin. Dublin airport is not that big but it is the height of summer holiday time so significantly busier than other times of the year.

TBF to the OP the official line from the Aer Lingus website is that Minimum connection time is …

• “75 minutes - from Aer Lingus Europe to Aer Lingus US flights”

So somebody not familiar with the foibles of Dublin would possibly be quite happy with, say 90 minutes. More importantly Aer Lingus themselves advertise and sell sector pairings with 90 minute connections…

However Aer Lingus then cover their arse with:

“Note: The above are general guidelines and may be subject to change or may differ on specific routes. It is your responsibility to ensure sufficient time to collect baggage, travel to next terminal, check in for your onward journey before it closes, clear security and arrive at your departure gate at least 30 minutes before your connecting flight departure time for short haul flights and at least 50 minutes before your connecting flight departure time for long haul flights.”

It would be interesting to see Aer Lingus stats for failed connections…I guess they’ll stop selling 90 minutes when/if it hits their bottom line.

Why do they allow such unrealistic bookings? Etihad once gave me a 45 minute turnaround at Paris CDG… it involved three buses! I made it back to Newcastle but my bag “failed to make the connection” and arrived by taxi two days later. Tho I did once make a 35 min Heathrow connection purely because everything was delayed by fog 🙄

I would never book with such a short connection. I always look for at least two hours, especially if I have to change terminals, go through security etc. I prefer at least 3.

Probably £££.

I don’t think they should be allowed to sell unrealistic/impossible connections. But then they wouldnt make big enough profits I suppose.

I wont use anything with a short connection time now. Too much trouble.

Pre clearance in the UK might be in place by 2027 and the first UK airport to implement it could be.... Edinburgh!

www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/preclearance-travel-us-flights-dublin-uk-b2513405.html

@Choux

Thanks for that, so the rumours I mentioned upthread were true…

“Heathrow was working towards the goal, because it has far more US flights than any other airport in Europe.”

..and I think the following would indeed be a stumbling block: “ there are large costs involved. Heathrow’s transatlantic flights are spread across terminals 2, 3 and 5, with duplicate facilities required at each.”

I think practically it’s not just a matter of cost, gate space at Heathrow is already at a premium and if the plans went ahead you’d have to designate and then equip a sizeable number of presumably adjacent gates at each terminal as “US only”… which would really reduce operational flexibility.

@notimagain yes but someone upthread mentioned that the Shannon pre clearance happened on the plane.

With the introduction of MPC for ESTA travellers as well as US and Canadian citizens where details are submitted to the app it should be possible to move away from a desk based pre clearance to a more portable stick a desk up and use an iPad to process it right by the gate. Or is there another reason why facilities need to be ringfenced and separate?

That would be revolutionary, yet no mention of longer runways? Not much point of pre clearance in Edinburgh when all we can fly are Ryanair sized planes.

My trip has been rescheduled, will I need to update my ESTA status?

And you are extremely sensible. Yet the actual airline, who you'd think would be the very most knowledgeable about turnaround times, sold me this option, requiring me to get the first flight out of Edinburgh. I literally couldn't have taken a longer connection, I'd have needed two separate flights to include an overnight in order to guarantee enough time. Aer Lingus are at fault and I am receiving a full refund.

Flying to the US just for a meeting?? Have you heard of Zoom? Lot less hassle, and cheaper

Are you kidding? You've read what OP was travelling for, which she has explained REPEATEDLY, and you still suggest Zoom?

Please, explain how that would work with what she was out there for.

Edit - (Apols if that was a humourous post Middleagedspread !)

😂

I do this flight fairly frequently- and with young children- because doing immigration clearance in Dublin is significantly quicker than what can be a 2/3h queue in the states. However I’ve learnt to give myself a big (3h) layover in Dublin and to try and get the first flight of the day to Dublin as aer lingus are notoriously terrible at being on time.

Ah yesssss. Assuming he goes home after his job he has to rub elbows with "non-Americans" and not be a complete and utter twat in his host country. You'd think. Maybe he just folds up at night with his stupid high and tight haircut right into a big old box behind the airport security labeled "box of dicks". I know the type.

Sorry that’s super stressful!

I fly a lot. 50+ flights a year.

there is no airport experience which is as variable as Dublin pre clearance. It can be ten minutes or 3+ hours.

I’ve literally walked straight down the (2nd) escalators into fast track queue (it does exist for the scanners) through security and into immigration without stopping.

on other occasions I’ve walked down that first escalator into a sea of people only to be told the line starts from behind the escalator and be hit with a switchback queue of thousands.

there’s no rhyme no reason to it often.

Exactly! Do they all live in a compound, endlessly tipping each other and wondering what actual cheese is?

We flew from Dublin last year. Our US pre clearance man was from San Diego. His wife and child was with him in Dublin. They were having problems getting a nursery place. It was a very unusual experience.
Mostly they seem to suspect that you have criminal intent.

From the ESTA FAQ:

Once an application is approved, you can still update any one of the following fields:
• Email address
• Address in the U.S.

So you should update the ESTA with where you are staying - for you it's easier to stay in same hotel as previously declared - but I am not sure I have ever updated my US address when making multiple visits on one ESTA. I recall BA ask for your US address so perhaps they give that to the US authorities.

The ESTA is valid for 2 years from application but is linked to your passport so if you get a new passport in 6 months you will need to get a new ESTA.

Sounds mega stressful OP. I'd be moaning to all and sundry if it happened to me. You were just trying to warn other travellers of the potential pitfalls.

I've only travelled to the US once. We flew from Dublin - JFK and then JFK - Orlando. No issues flying out. Coming home we were a tad disconcerted when we got to NY and discovered that the airport staff in Orlando had taken our flight tickets (all of the flight tickets) meaning that we had boarding passes for JFK - Dublin but no flight tickets. Try explaining that to the 'friendly' airport staff in JFK.

I’m not saying it’s your fault, I know they sell it but with most routes there are usually options and I never take anything under two hours. I’ve been caught before with this in the US.

They’re all US government employees on a temporary overseas posting — I think it’s a maximum of six years, after which they’re recalled.

Yes to criminal intent. I got one of the Morrison visas in 1993, and was entering the US on a visa that had required me to be interviewed, vetted and pass a medical exam including a chest x-ray, so I was as legit as could be, but I remember the apparent rage and desire to intimidate of the immigration official who took my fingerprints in Dublin.

Years later (I didn’t stay long in the US) I was taking a group of UK university students to NY on a study trip, and one of my Asian students had the same name as someone on a no-fly list. It must have been the best part of an hour I sat there with burly uniformed armed guys and this harmless second year, who’d never before left the UK and was terrified he was going to get dragged off to Guantanamo, trying to calm the situation down…