Friends (married couple) and I will be in Ireland from June 25 to early July. We live in different cities in the US so our return to the States is to different airports. They are leaving Friday July 5th from Dublin back to where they live. I am planning on staying a few days longer. We will have a rental car; I'm not sure if the reservation is already booked; if it is, I assume it is a Dublin pickup/dropoff with the dates for when they leave on July 5th.
I'm still trying to finalize my flights back to Washington DC area -- mostly likely to IAD (Dulles). Dates to return are somewhat flexible.
I am considering flying out of Shannon airport instead of Dublin. I'm trying to use as little $$ as possible while using more frequent flyer award miles (on United). Dublin has nonstop flights to IAD with higher $$ / miles cost; Shannon doesn't have nonstop to IAD but the miles for nicer service class (Business / Premium Economy) are lower.
Here's what I'm trying to figure out -- is there a way to get from Dublin to Shannon airport via public transportation. I found the Expressway bus from Dublin airport to Shannon Airport at a cost of $51+ and it takes 7 hours (approx). I'm okay with the cost and the time however I wanted to see if others had different suggestions.
Thanks!