Anyone flown to US from UK via Dublin?

[Stroopwaffels]

Looking at a city break to New York next spring, one of the options is to go Scotland - Dublin - New York rather than the usual Scotland - Heathrow - New York. Not much difference in price (less than £30) and you can clear US immigration in Dublin. Has anyone done this and does it really save you 2 hours as they claim on the Dublin airport website?

I don’t know about the time-saving, but it’s certainly very civilised going through customs in Dublin.

Yes we did it, much easier than doing it in NY. I would definitely do that again.

It does save you time in immigration but probably not overall. It is much more pleasant going through US immigration in Dublin, the queues are predictable, the staff are generally friendlier, although in some places in the US they have got noticeably less unpleasant in recent years. It is very nice to arrive in the US and walk straight out of the airport at the end of a long flight. I have been in the immigration queue in New York or Chicago for what felt like an eternity. What I don't like about that route is arriving back in Ireland in the morning and having to wait for a connecting flight rather than getting straight home. I lived in Boston for a while and the Ireland routes were my preferred routes from Edinburgh (except for the glorious period when Norwegian flew to Providence).

I do it Canada. Its great going through a smaller airport.

We don't have direct flights to NYC from Glasgow so we'd either have to go to Edinburgh, park and drive home, or go through another airport like Heathrow, Schiphol, Dublin.

We had a very bad experience with immigration in Florida last time we went to the US, we waited hours and the staff were not pleasant.

I fly from Dublin to the US all the time and doing immigration in Dublin is very civilized. And I suppose it’s a time saver but I’ve been doing it for so long, I don’t even know what immigration at a US airport is even like!

It's absolutely brilliant. No queues in NYC.

And you can stock up on taytos and club orange at Dublin on the way home. 😁

And regarding the return flight, you can get a flat white from Butlers that comes with a free chocolate of your choice.

I'm a total fan!

It is very nice indeed to arrive in NY and just walk straight off the plane and out of the terminal. If you have to fly via somewhere else anyway then I'd definitely go via Dublin

Dublin it is! Like the idea of maximising time there by not navigating immigration at JFK.

Yes - we’re in Belfast so just drive down to Dublin any time we’re flying to America. So much less stressful than having to go through customs in the US!

It’s SO much easier! The last time we went straight to JFK, we queued for 2 1/2 hours in immigration on arrival, really not nice!

@Stroopwaffels

In terms of New York and customs in general whilst JFK is notorious it's usually more straightforward going through Newark (EWR).

There are several LHR-EWR flights a day and it's very straightforward to get from the airport into Manhattan.

Have done it a few times from London and totally recommend it. Love the atmosphere at Dublin, and immigration is civilised.

I usually book a decent margin between outbound flights to allow for delays. Coming home I'm not so fussed as Aer Lingus have lots of London-bound flights so will get you on the next available if your transatlantic flight is late.

Yep going via Ireland is fantastic and the queues are shorter and it's so much less hassle!

Another vote for it, much quicker and a better experience than clearing customs in NY which can be very unpredictable.

There is only one small restaurant/bar after US clearance in Dublin and it can be busy.
If you have a few hours there pre book the 51st and Green lounge.

Booked flights last night. Out through Dublin, back through Heathrow. We arrive in Dublin at 9.30 and the flight to JFK leaves at 11.10 so not too much time to hang around.

That seems a tight turnaround to me, are you sure you have enough time? I take it your bags are going straight through to US with the same carrier so you just need to get to the pre clearance/US customs area?

It’s great. I did it last month.

But I think your timing is a bit tight. My flight out of Heathrow to Dublin was delayed and it was nerve wracking. Thankfully only by 20 minutes in the end but it could well have been more and it could have been an issue.

Also depending who you fly to Dublin with you may have to change terminals. Which is a bit of a walk and you have to go through security again.

My friend does it. Says it's much easier and customs are nicer!

My sister did it to Florida. She said that it was much nicer given she had the kids in tow as the queueing was less than in the US.

I wouldn't worry about the timing, if you have booked a through ticket with a single carrier then they will have accounted for the time you need to get through Dublin. Also, if you are going to NY there are bound to be several later flights anyway, I flew last year to Washington DC with a similar turnaround and even if had missed the flight I made sure that there were two more the same day.

Well yes @AlohaRose but it’s stress you don’t really need at the beginning of a holiday. Especially as most trips to NY tended to be for just a few days. You don’t want to be losing too much time. I will admit though that mine was possibly more stressful as I was travelling from Dublin with family from Ireland and we were meeting before going through US Immigration.