Aer Lingus - Tight Connection in Dublin

Hi,
I had a similar concern/layover time except our connection was to Malaga. We arrived from ORD about 6 am on Aer Lingus. It was on time. We breezed through security in 10 minutes. Our connecting flight gate was literally upstairs via escalator from our arrival gate. From gate to gate it took us 15 minutes tops.

Yes, it is tight, but doable. Last year, had a 1 hour 45 minute connection and made it with time to get EUR from ATM, buy coffee and 10 minutes waiting at the gate for the boarding call. We bypassed passport control because we were transferring to a Schengen destination and there are people there to direct you to the proper gates. It is about a 10 to 15 minute walk from where the Chicago flight unloads to the Schengen gates. If you are in the back of the plane, figure 20 minutes before you are off the plane. So if your flight from Chicago is on time, it will be OK. If you miss it, there is an evening Aer Lingus flight to Barcelona.

Thanks for the quick responses! This is very helpful.

We flew Aer Lingus from O'Hare connecting through Dublin last year, and by coincidence are taking the same flights back and forth next May for our trip to Italy. Our connection last year was a bit over two hours each way (as it will be again in May), but as long as your originating flights are on time you shouldn't have any problem. I know we had to go through security again in Dublin outbound to London, and we went through U.S. Customs in Dublin returning from Paris. Each way, we had plenty of time to kill waiting at the gate for our next flights. Again, as long as your first flights are on time, the tight connection should be OK.

Are there other Aer Lingus flights to Barcelona after yours? If so, they would try to put you on the next flight if you were delayed getting into Dublin. If we would have been late into Dublin, there were probably a dozen more flights to London that day, so we would have been fine.

If you're returning on Aer Lingus, it's really handy that you go through U.S. Customs in Dublin. So when you land in Chicago, you can just head for the exit.

EDIT: Actually, I just looked back at itinerary from last year. We had about an hour and 45 minutes to connect each way, and as I said earlier we ended up with plenty of time to kill.

I posed a very similar question on this forum not too long ago. We are flying as a group of 10 next year from Chicago to Rome. The most reasonably priced flight that I've found so far for our dates is on Aer Lingus. However, I was worried about the 1 hr. 15 min. layover in Dublin. That seemed too tight to me. If our first flight were late, and we missed our 6:20 a.m. departure from DUB to FCO, we'd have to wait until 4 p.m. for the next Aer Lingus flight, and hope that 10 seats would be available. Those appear to be the only two flights per day on Aer Lingus from Dublin to Rome. Too stressful for me. People who replied to my post seemed to agree. We're passing on that option and waiting for lower fares on other airlines.

Steve, first I'd suggest contacting the airline and discuss your plan and its EXTREMELY tight connection time. A couple of years ago we connected thru Dublin on Aer Lingus (JFK to DUB to Vienna) and were routed through DUB as a transit connection - passports, customs, etc. were all handled in Vienna. BTW - we had 2 hours and I had time for a snack. Also, what is your Plan B if you miss the Aer Lingus flight to Barc? Are you certain that the airline could re-book you for a flight later that day, or you may be spending the day on a Dublin pub crawl.
Cheers.

We've made connections in Dublin a couple of times, and it was very quick and easy. Of course there's always the issue of a flight being significantly late.