My husband and I are flying into Dublin next month from Chicago, and want to fly on to England for a short while before returning to Dublin for the end of our vacation. Our flight, is scheduled to land at 5:15 AM. We want to fly on to Gatwick still that morning. There are a couple of good morning flights, but question is, What is a realistic time to land, do customs, get ticketed for a small flight to London, and deal with baggage. How spread out is the airport. Would there be much price difference if we wait until we arrive, or should I book something now, and hope that our plane will not get delayed. I do hope for some help on this. Like to get past this stressful part and on to the fun of planning our time there. Thanks.
Posted by
1172 posts
I would leave at least 4 hours between flights and I would for sure book before leaving. Have you looked at flights directly to Gatwick from Chicago? or is it that your Dublin flight is already booked?
Posted by
OP
Lancaster, WISCONSIN, United States
10 posts
We have already booked our flight to Dublin. There is a flight that leaves at 8:40, with the same airline, and a flight on Ryanair that leaves at 11. I do not think that there is much else.
Posted by
Pantego, NC, USA
1014 posts
Ryanair is a bus with wings. Nothing is free. Boarding is a free-for-all. Luggage allowances are minimal and excess is expensive. Carry on is limited to one item, I think. Look at their web page and read everything. The extra time is needed because if your aircraft is late, you are in trouble because you are booking separate flights, instead one flight through Dublin with the same carrier. Do around 4 hours. You will be happy you did. Sitting in the waiting area to fly is much better than trying to get through customs and security in a hurry. Booking on the day you arrive will be the most expensive way to do it. Book it 12 weeks out or so.
I went to skyscanner.com and looked at some flights. You do not say what day you are flying, and that can make a big difference in price. So, I picked Sept. 21. Ryanair and Air Lingus are the cheaptest. Ryanair is 24.00 and Air Lingus is 36.00. For the difference, I would fly Air Lingus at 12:40. Ryanair has earlier flights, but it is Ryanair.
Posted by
Seattle
191 posts
I agree to leave at least 4 hours between flights and choose Aer Lingus. I am not a Ryan Air fan and they will charge you 50 euros for airport check in (if you get their base fare) so you would have to plan for having boarding passes printed. Plus, Aer Lingus leaves from Terminal 2 which is the same terminal international flights arrive in.
Plan lots of time and you have extra time, enjoy the Irish tradition of a morning pint at the airport:)
Posted by
East Peoria, IL
786 posts
We've flown Aer Lingus twice, on that same Chicago flight, with connections under two hours (also Aer Lingus) to Gatwick and a bit over two hours to Venice. We had absolutely no problems and ended up with plenty of time to kill. The airport is very easy to manage, all Aer Lingus flights are in the same terminal and airport personnel are stationed to point you in the right direction.