London to Ireland

Where Ryan Air nails you (as an international traveler who's say, checking one bag and taking a carry-on) is their VERY strict checked baggage fees. For someone based in Europe taking a long weekend this airline is GREAT! For you, maybe not so much. Check out the baggage fees etc. Also check out how much it will cost you in money AND time to fly out of Manchester etc. We finally settled on British Air since it flew out of Heathrow and the luggage allowance worked.

As long as you carefully read the website (and tell them you're checking a bag, if applicable, during the ticket-buying process), you will know everything that they are charging for, including taxes and fees. Overweight bags or excess number of bags will cost you. Make sure you check the rules for baggage carefully.

Stansted is just an hour or so by bus from Heathrow. A round trip bus ticket is about 28 GBP (one way is 21 GBP, last I knew).

After you factor in the cost of flying Ryanair, and the cost of getting to the outerlying airports of London, check out BMI. They have discounted flights from Heathrow to Dublin. Less baggage restriction. Less nickel and diming.

BMI

I'd recommend them, but as others said do pay attention to the baggage rules, and Stansted's a bit of a trip. However, compared to the 10hr bus ride.... :)

Since we are renting a car straight from Heathrow,It just makes to fly from there unless there's no extra fee returning to a different airport. Another option, I guess would be the ferry..hmm, something else to think about. Thanks for the help!

Return your car to any airport you wish. You will not pay extra. One more airline to check is Aer Lingus (LHR or LGW to Dublin).

Aer Lingus is an excellent airline. The only reason I didn't mention it is because they have a lousy carry-on policy--one bag only weighing less than 6kg. (about 13 lbs).

If you're checking luggage, then definitely include them in your comparisons.

The train from Stansted to downtown London is very expensive, sometimes it costs more than the Ryanair flight to Stansted. There is a but, too, a bit cheaper but it takes time. It's much cheaper to get into London from Heathrow than from any other airport.

My friends and I just got back from a trip where we flew from London Luton into Galway on Aer Arann. I've flown on other European lines (Ryanair, Easyjet, etc.), and thought this was the nicest. They have a supposed weight limit for bags, but the employees at check-in waived the fee for three of my friends who were over the limit, and generally were very helpful. We also flew on the same airline from Galway to Dublin, and had the same experience.

PS - I took the Stansted shuttle bus once (from Colchester), and it was pretty miserable. Train might be more expensive... but might be worth it.