Airfares between London and Dublin--Why so high?

You should be able to find a cheap RT fare London to Dublin on a carrier like Ryanair for 25 GBP. Check their website. But be careful...they have lots of restrictions and fees for not following them.

Wayne, unfortunately, RyanAir is your best choice on that route. BE ABSOLUTELY SURE that you read their Terms & Conditions carefully! Tickets are normally non-refundable and non-changeable once booked, and they charge for just about everything (including check-in as I recall). Also be VERY careful with the baggage you take, or you'll get nicked with an expensive overweight luggage charge. You might consider storing some of your travel kit in London and picking it up on the way back. ¶ The "good news" is that they have fares listed on the dates you'll be travelling, from London Gatwick to Dublin as low as £12 each way! They also operate out of Stanstead and other London airports. Check the website for details. ¶ With RyanAir, you'll have to be prepared to fly "sardine class" and you won't have a choice of seating. However, they will get you there and back very inexpensively. Happy travels!

As the other posters have mentioned, Ryanair is probably your best bet. However, it is possible to take the train from London to Holyhead in Wales and then a 2 hour (approx) ferry to Dublin. The ferry runs about 64 pounds round trip, and the rail ticket shouldn't be too costly. Granted, flying would be faster, but you do have an alternative if the flight just can't be worked out.

Roe, I really appreciate your info. I hate flying and your alternative sounds a lot more fun. Thanks!

While Ryanair is the cheapest, I checked the dates you mentioned. Aer Lingus has R/T flights for $99 and BMI has R/T flights starting at $110 (That's US dollars). Ryanair's R/T fares start at $38.

Just go directly to those airline's websites to book.

The train/ferry will take all day. The flight is a little over an hour.

I don't mind paying even $150 or possibly more if the restrictions aren't so tight. I'm really traveling light. I have a Rick Steves back pack. I doubt that I'll go over 30 pounds with it. A Canon Rebel DSLR camera, DVD player (LG, 10" screen?), and 8-10 DVDs are the hard stuff. Soft stuff is socks, sweaters, cap, gloves, jacket, etc.

When I talked to my credit card mileage people, and looked at bestfares.com, there was no mention of Ryan. I know of them, but thought maybe they went out of business.

Read the restrictions carefully I will do, if I go Ryan.

Years ago I was up in Wales near the ferry to Ireland (some historic castle whose name escapes me was there. The name was associated with one of the explorers who opened Tut's tomb. Cartha...). It looked inviting but it wasn't in my plan at the time.

Wayne, you didn't see anything about Ryanair on bestfares.com because you can only book Ryanair on their website. They don't list their flights on other sites. FYI, www.whichbudget.com lists every budget airline and where they fly to/from. There are many that don't list their flights with travel sites.

Wayne...BMI and Aer Lingus have nowhere near the same restrictions as Ryanair which also loves to add charges here and there .By the time you add the additional charges, the other airlines mentioned will have fares in the ballpark.

Aer Lingus is the national carrier of Ireland and BMI was the old British Midland. It's been around for decades.

I checked Bestfares and contrary to their name, they're not offering the "best" fares. Go directly to the airline's website to book. As an example, I booked a r/t flight on the days you mentioned on Aer Lingus, midday flights, for 93 GBP. That's $149. Bestfares quoted me $242. If you want to pay nearly $100 more, feel free.

Actually, Bestfares was showing $12 on some airline. I think. Good. I'll be fine with the airline that you got for $149. An fortunate thing about this "wall" is that when one tries to post, they can no longer see what was posted above it. I guess the $149 is Ryan. I'll look at their site.

I think I can now rest during the next three weeks, after getting the Ireland ticket out of the way, and concentrate on the content of my trip.

The "fare" on Aer Lingus was 14 GBP. By the time you include taxes and fees it becomes $149. That's one of the secrets of airfares...they're not always what they seem. The same is true for Ryanair.

I did a screen capture. The $149 is Aer Lingus. OK, I'm working out of Heathrow, Nov. 15-22. GBP 121. 121/0.7 = $170 (about). Looks good. I need to get to LHR before 9:30 am to catch a plane to the UAE. Earliest flight out is 6:40 depart and 8:05 arrival.

What are the Low and Flexi columns?

I'll play with some other Irish Airlines to see how matters work.

You want the "low" column. The Flexi is the fare plus the fee for two checked bags, plus lounge access, plus fully refundable. You don't need Flexi. Just go with the "low" if you only have carry-on.

And if you have a 9:30 flight out of LHR...arriving at 8:05 is too late. You won't have enough time to transfer. You might want to think about taking a flight back to LHR the night before, staying at a local hotel, or at the Yotel in Terminal 4, and then catching your flight to the UAE the next morning. Where are you flying to in the UAE and what airline?

You need to sack your agent!

Thanks for the reference to the Yotel. I was wondering about some nearby hotel. Yes, definitely a bit too tight on the connecting times.

Flying to Abu Dhabi on British Airways.

I took the price I mentioned from the bottom of the schedule not knowing what low and flexi meant. I now see that there was a default button for 49.99 checked, and it went into the total that gave GBP 121. Under Low I see prices from GBP 4.99 to 49.99. Why such a large variation?

Sack my agent? Why? do you mean because they were unable to supply a low cost airfare to Ireland?

The range of 4.99 to 49.99 are the fares for each flight. Some are less, some are more depending on demand, time of day, etc. That fare is not the total price. You still have to add in fees and taxes.

Why did you want to know the city destination and airline? Is the airport so big that there may be hotels or whatever situated around it that give easier access to BA?

A few years ago I stopped at a travel agency in Dingle, Ireland. I found out there were hourly flights from Dublin to Luten (sp?), London's business airport for $40.