I will be traveling to Ireland with 4 of my friends to honor my husband who passed away in August. Our intention is to fly sometime in June. While this is not my first trip to Ireland, it is the first for my 4 friends. We have a place to stay already in Ennis, we just need the plane tickets. Do we fly into Dublin or Shannon (40 mins. from where we will be staying)? We would like to fly during mid-week as it seems the prices for tickets are lower. I have looked at Aer Lingus and British Airways. Taking B.A. we would have to get ourselves to Ennis eventually, which would mean flying. Is there train travel between London & Dublin or? It's been awhile since I've traveled and I had more time to make arrangements. We're just trying to find something that won't kill us with cost. Thank you.
Posted by
Edmonds, WA
7 posts
Hi Dolly,
So sorry for your loss. I would suggest flying into Shannon if you are staying in Ennis. There is a bus that connects Shannon Airport to Ennis- it is cheap and runs frequently. See buseireann.ie for details. You could also hire a taxi, which might be worth it for 5 people. It is only about a 25 min drive. Where are you departing from?
Posted by
317 posts
Greetings from Ireland... Aine is right, try your best to fly into Shannon. I Live in Dingle mostly and regularly take trips over to the land of the free, and I always fly United from Shannon to Newark, NJ, and from there onward to anywhere and wherever.
Not suggesting United airlines are he best option but in fairness to them they do provide a safe reliable and affordable service form the US to Shannon which is a bus/taxi ride away from Ennis.
If you have any specific itinerary questions, just let me know.
le meas/with respect
Stephen McPhilemy
Rick Steves Ireland Tour-Guide
Posted by
OP
12 posts
Thank you for your responses. We will be flying out of Houston, TX We have discovered that flying into Shannon is a bit more pricey than flying into Dublin, possibly because the airport is bigger in Dublin? We are planning to rent a car anyway whether we fly into Dublin or Shannon. Still looking for reasonable air fares. One member of our group find some very reasonable fares on CheapOAir but I think that is a third-party broker, yes? Not sure how reliable those are........like Expedia and ASAP, sites like that. Any advice?
Posted by
Edmonds, WA
7 posts
I have also considered using Cheapoair, but be careful- sometimes their rates are too good to be true. You don't book through them, they kick you to yet another third party seller, like Expedia. Earlier this year I was booking tickets to Ireland and after I had chosen a flight and put in my credit card details, it told me the flight was no longer available and the price suddenly jumped several hundred dollars! I ended up booking directly through Aer Lingus, which was a bit more expensive, but it was a much more straightforward process. I do like sites like Cheapoair for researching options, but I almost never end up booking through them. Hope this helps!
Posted by
3 posts
I am also sorry for your loss. I think you will always wonder what the cheapest fare will be. Adding extra time to driving or taking a bus from Dublin takes time away from your trip plans. I would suggest flying into Shannon. It is a smaller city and airport but easier to get around and you are close to your destination . Western Ireland is so beautiful. Less hassle to go there directly and you will appreciate not having to deal with traveling from Dublin. have a great trip.
Posted by
OP
12 posts
A member of our party found some very good ticket prices on Aer Lingus for the dates we want to go. One of the couples will be returning earlier but the other couple & I will be staying a few days longer, which makes our return flight prices very good. They want to spend a couple of days in Scotland so now we're working on that. Thank you so much for everything. I know my husband would have enjoyed this trip.
Posted by
Bloomington, IL, USA
9363 posts
Your comment about "return flight prices" makes me wonder - are you booking this as two one-way tickets? That will always be more expensive than roundtrip. If some of you are continuing on to Scotland, you can still fly back from there on a single booking by using the "multi-city" option to fly into one city and out of another.