My husband, son and MIL are traveling from Boston, MA to Dublin the end of July, we get in at 8:30 a.m. and need to catch a bus to Galway so that we can get to Inishmaan where we are staying. Does anyone have an estimate of how long it takes to get through customs and out of the airport in Dublin?
Posted by
Freedonia
16283 posts
Customs shouldn't take anytime at all as most of the time it's just a walk through.
However, passport control/immigration is another story. There are too many variables to be able to predict how long it will take.
How much time are you giving yourself from touchdown to bus departure?
Posted by
Tacoma, WA, USA
604 posts
I’m following as I have a similar situation: We have 1 hr and 10 min to get from the plane to the bus. We are not checking bags (US citizens).
Posted by
OP
17 posts
I was planning on giving ourselves 2 hours from touchdown to getting out of the airport. Do we need to plan for longer?
Posted by
1588 posts
As Frank II mentioned there are a lot of variables. But assuming your flight is close to on time and your checked bags also arrive in a timely manner 2 hours should be fine. The longest I've waited at Dublin immigration is about 1 hour.
Posted by
OP
17 posts
Thank you! Yes I totally understand there are variables, just trying to get a rough idea of time, this has been very helpful!
Posted by
6 posts
If you’re arriving early morning from Boston like I have, it didn’t take very long at all to get through immigration.
Posted by
Freedonia
16283 posts
Two hours should be fine......but have information on later buses just in case.
Not sure if you are flying back to the US from Dublin, but if you are....give yourself extra time as you will do US immigration and customs in Dublin rather than in the US.
https://www.dublinairport.com/flight-information/travelling-to-usa/usa-preclearance
Posted by
OP
17 posts
Thank you Frank II and Barbara, this has been very helpful! So should we give 3 hours for flying out of Dublin to Boston or more than 3 hours?
Posted by
1588 posts
Three hours should be enough for your return to Boston. But don't be tempted to spend a lot of time shopping at the duty free stores. US immigration is after the stores and the US immigration lines can be long. There are a small number of duty free stores (mostly alcohol, cigarettes and perfume) after US immigration. There's also a few restaurants in that concourse.
I just checked and it appears that Mobile Passport Control exists at Dublin. It's a US Customs and Border Patrol app that allows you to clear US immigration much faster. https://www.dublinairport.com/flight-information/travelling-to-usa/mobile-passport-control