I am traveling from the states to Scotland this summer. I am looking to book my flights but have some questions. My options include flying from US to Dublin to Glasgow on Aer Lingus which is far cheaper. However, the connection in Dublin is only 90 minutes. Will I have to clear both Customs and Immigration in DUB, including collecting and rechecking bags? Since Dublin is EU and Scotland is UK? If so I'm sure this time will not be long enough.
Posted by
Oxford, United Kingdom
5458 posts
You will go through immigration in Dublin. Go through the transfer immigration and not arrivals (follow signs). You will then go through security and go to the gate area. You will not go through immigration again in Glasgow (Common Travel Area). Technically you will go through customs there but unless you are picked out for a search you won't notice anything since you will arrive in the domestic area (customs will know where your bags originated from and may have screened them etc). If you have anything to declare you need to use the red customs telephone.
Posted by
New York City, NY, USA
5678 posts
You didn't ask, but the Glasgow Airport is a great little airport. I really like flying in and out of it. FYI it is very easy to get from the airport to Glasgow on the bus. It connects easily with the train station where trains head north to the Highlands or east to Edinburgh. Or if you're renting a car and headed north directly, it's not a bad place to start your driving on the left rental.
Have a great trip.
Pam
Posted by
New York, NY, USA
11294 posts
"Since Dublin is EU and Scotland is UK?"
There are several separate things, and you've gotten them confused (easy to do).
1) Both Dublin (Republic of Ireland) and Scotland are in the EU.
2) Ireland uses the euro and Scotland uses British Pounds. This has no effect on where you go through customs and immigration.
3) Neither Ireland nor Scotland is in the Schengen Area (no routine immigration checks within this area). But they are in their own Common Travel Area, as Marco said.
Careful: Norway and Switzerland are not in the EU, but are in Schengen, while the UK and Ireland are in the EU, but not in Schengen. And many countries in the EU do not use the euro (Sweden, Denmark, Poland, Hungary...)
By all accounts, a 90 minute connection in DUB is fine. In addition, if there's a problem and you're all on one ticket, they will put you on a later flight, and there should be several more that day, so one will have space (a big issue these days; they put you on the next available flight, and with flights being much fuller than before, it can take some time).
For most but not all flights from DUB back to the US, you clear US immigration and customs in DUB (called "preclearance"); your arrival back in the US is like a domestic flight. So in this direction, you want to allow more time for the connection in DUB.