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.

That sounds like you had the most awful day and I'm very sorry, how stressful. i hate travelling and i always allow an extra day ahead of a meeting for this reason, there is always potential for delays.

I'm even sorrier to inform you that there is in fact a fast track or priority lane through the first two bits of US customs, ( see where business class and pilots go through security and then to the left lane in the next area) i was put through it in May when i was delayed through no fault of mine, and a sensible kind member of Aer Lingus staff realized that i would not clear security and customs in time, she took my printed boarding pass that i had done at home brought it to a machine -came back with an airport one that had a red priority stamp on it and i was whizzed xray etc, , the only place i had to wait was the final desk where only us citizens could be passed through quickly i have always found the pre clearance in Dublin is brilliant and i always try do it this way as nothing worse than getting of a 9 hour flight to stand for hours to clear customs the other end

Have gone through Dublin several times from LHR to USA and it worked well but find the Aer Lingus flights too expensive now.

On a recent trip we used the MPC app - Mobile Passport Control - to get through Orlando. If you have an ESTA, you pre-register then take and submit a photo on arrival then go through the MPC/Global Entry gates. It's not widely known but can be very useful. I believe they have it at JFK too.

Indeed! My niece flew out of Manchester on Monday, connecting at Heathrow for Dallas and then Albuquerque. Except she didn't make the connection at Heathrow, BA had to put her in a hotel and give her an entirely different route the next day (LHR-Denver-Albuquerque). She arrived at Denver to find only one of her 2 suitcases had made it, neccessitating a load of faffing both there and when she arrived at Albuquerque. Still waiting to hear if her bag has been delivered to her flat at the university.

My brother and my niece realised the hard way what I'd been on about when I pulled a face last week on hearing the turnaround times...

Meant to add you are right about the times they say needed for transfer- if you fly mid week say in November they will allow the same time as August when they know airports are mad busy so many people are going on holidays - it's madness. and if they say to flyers starting trip allow a 3 hour check in for USA flights - how do tehy expect you to do it in 1.5 hours , i've seen the same things though in other airports remember once a 20 minute run through two terminals to get a flight connection in Chicago when running ( well at my age Jogging) it took us 40 mins after we had cleared security and teh airport was saying 40 mins including security

I don't know why you've had shitty responses from some, Morris, reading your post reminded me of John Cleese in 'Clockwise'. I can't watch that film (although I love it), it's too stressful.

Solidarity. I missed a work flight too and stressed about it. It was EU not transatlantic but I get it. Good plan going forwards, get as close to the airport as you can, several days in advance...

Ignore the twats. Home and abroad.

It’s not just Dublin or Aer Lingus - ANY flight with a connection is riskier. And going to the USA - well, even worse.

As a general rule Aer Lingus are fantastic. And I’m proud to live here, there is no where in world I’d rather live.

Just curious OP. Why did you check a bag when you were only going for 1 meeting?

One time when I arrived in Dublin, I came out of the doors into arrivals and was met with a huge cheer. Not for me, sadly, and not returning Olympians, but a large number of soldiers returning from deployment being greeted by their families. ❤️

Missing a flight is horrible, and it is extremely stressful. I'm not surprised you're pissed off! The first time my mum flew transatlantic at the age of 75 she missed her connection at Heathrow because her BA flight from Glasgow left an hour late. Fortunately Air Canada were great and looked after her, but she ended up with another connection before she got to us. And her luggage took a whole week longer!

I've encountered some of the most rude and horrible men in my life at US immigration, second only to an experience in Cambodia. I don't understand why they have to be so downright rude, but you have to play along with it!

Sensible to the witchy bone. If I'd have had a handy branch nearby, I'd have slapped a Renault Reliant with it.

OP has said “NY court rules prohibit online testimony.” so it’s not an individual or company choice.

Sorry you went through that OP, I agree I’d find that really stressful. Does the appearance in court need to be rescheduled?

Schiphol is awful. If I'm booking my own flights with a Schiphol connection, I always pick a later second leg than the one they suggested... Because otherwise KLM and partners honestly do think you can get off a flight, through a massive immigration queue and onto your next flight in 45 minutes 🙃.

Wrt flying to the US via ROI it IS often a decent option. I agree with others that Shannon is better than Dublin for travelling to the US, but Dublin is fine if you have plenty of time. You really do need to leave a good two to three hours to clear Homeland Security (although it is, usually, quicker). And it's always a relief to land in the US and not have to queue there.

All airports and all security/immigration queues can be nightmares when they're busy and you're in a rush; I wouldn't jump to ditch ROI connections just yet!

Because I didn't think not to. I was due to stay two nights and dare I say, smash Target etc.

I love Schipol Airport! For silly reasons. They sell a delicious drink called Orange Mama and the train ticket guy looks like John Malkovich. So very elegant and erudite.

Chaos for connections though, luckily our onward was via train.

I feel you OP. I've missed a connecting flight on an international trip 2 years ago and it makes you feel like everyone thinks you are incompetent even when none of it was your fault.

I almost missed a work flight recently because I misread the flight time 😳 and my train was massively delayed. Saving grace was that flight was also massively delayed so in the end I made it. It felt like karma was repaying me for the last time.

Hope your testimony goes well when it eventually happens!

Yes! Of course nobody is really blaming me for a thunderstorm in Edinburgh but the fact remains, I missed an international flight and this caused mayhem for multiple stakeholders. All they know is 'the UK representative has missed her flight' and I can't help feeling like an absolute knob.

There are a few things that I (as a Dubliner) would like to clarify here in relation to our Pre-Clearance option with particular reference to the OP's situation here.

1. Weather is outside of the control of any airline and any airport. It's terrible that your flight was affected from Edinburgh.
2. You were travelling from outside the EU to an EU airport and then onwards to the US - did you think you'd be waved through or fast tracked simply because your flight of origin was delayed? Why would you think that?
3. US Pre-Clearance is great and it means that at the other end of your flight you simply collect your bags and head on with your journey and you don't have to do immigration control again. It is 100% run by US Homeland Security staff who have nothing to do with Aer Lingus or Dublin Airport Authority.
4. It's not Aer Lingus' fault that the weather delayed your initial flight
5. It's not Dublin Airport Authorities fault that the weather delayed your initial flight
6. Yes, you have to collect your baggage (if you checked any in) and then return landside to discuss with Aer Lingus (if that was the onward airline you selected) what your options are at that point once you discovered that the gate was closed.

While I'm sorry you missed your onward journey, the issue started in Edinburgh with the weather and was further compounded by US Homeland Security. I genuinely don't see why Aer Lingus or DAA are getting such a hard time in your message @MorrisZapp.

I should clarify I don't work for DAA or Aer Lingus or any part of the journey that the OP took. I do find it very frustrating when people point the finger and say "Look! They are the ones that caused my misery" when they had fuck all to do with it. That is all.

It's not Aer Lingus' fault that US customs and immigration is such a palaver.

US customs and immigration takes hours. There is no getting around it.

I flew Dublin to US recently and arrived at 8 for an 11:30 flight. I didn't spend any time in the shops or restaurants, and security was pretty smooth. Arrived at my gate with just under half an hour to spare. Snaking back and forth along the lines through security and then immigration, I passed the same people doing the same thing as me 30 times before I stopped counting.

Sorry you missed your flight - it's probably no consolation to you, but the US customs and immigration clearance used to be much faster, fewer hoops to jump through, etc. With so many more travelers and so many people from all over the world using Dublin as a hub as opposed to original point of departure, probably attracted by the chance to do customs and immigration before setting out instead of JFK or ORD, etc, it seems the process has slowed a lot. I don't think the new layout adds to the smoothness of the process either.

It's unlikely that the OP could claim for compensation because she was offered a flight the following day to the US and accommodation overnight but availed of a return flight to Glasgow airport instead. Afaik, under EU legislation the airline provided all they had to under the circumstances.

If the OP or her fellow travellers try to claim for more, I think they'd be wasting their time.

1.5 hours is normally plenty of time to negotiate Dublin Airport and get through Pre-Clearance. The issue there is that your original flight was clearly delayed longer than that and you wouldn't have had 1.5 hours to negotiate the airport and pre-clearance - see my earlier post about the weather...

Wow I'm in awe that so many people would be completely blase about missing an international flight. I've missed a train before and that cost me an additional £150 - I know this was probably covered by the court OP mentioned but I would be so upset if as a family we'd missed flights.

Wow, there are some very unsympathetic people on here! You've been through something genuinely stressful. (OF COURSE there are worse things in life but you don't need keyboard warriors to tell you that.)

I used to travel a great deal and missing/nearly missing a plane, particularly with checked luggage is really exhausting. And it's worse when linked to professional responsibilities. Glad the expensive pint helped!