Flying to Dublin from Pacific NW - Portland

Thanks Ron. I'm glad to get feedback on JFK. You hear horror stories form many of the airports.

I'm inclined to take the shortest possible flight/trip times non-stop or with one stop. Dublin requires one stop. I've had a couple of friends take the PDX - Amsterdam via NW/KLM. Apparently there are several flights to Dublin from Amsterdam. However, I do worry about connection times . . . want two hours minimum.

I would take Lufthansa if I had more time in the Frankfurt airport to shop for my favorite items but to do that I would have to fly to Heathrow and then to Dublin.

Thanks again!

When booking flights, I look at the following:

1) Total travel time

2) If connecting, is there a change of terminals (I try to avoid it. If I can't, I leave extra time for the connection.)

3) Time between connections

4) Type of aircraft

I first look to see if my preferred airline flies the route to either use or gain FF miles.

From what you wrote, I'd forget about the LUfthansa flight. Two changes instead of one, change of terminals, and why fly all the way to Frankfurt and then double back.

while JFK can be a nightmare, if you don't have to change terminals, I'd take the flight going through there as it is probably the shortest travel time.

And remember, a lot can happen between now and next September. Airlines will be cutting back on flights after the holidyas so you might want to wait to see what the plans are after the first of the year. My guess, and it is only a guess, is that with the economy the way it is, and fuel prices coming down, airlines may be offering some great deals in the next few months.

Aer Lingus has one-stops from PDX to Dublin that connect in Chicago.

Thanks Jeff for the Aer Lingus tip. I knew Aer Lingus had a non stop flight from San francisco but only on certain days of the week. The last time I checked that route it wasn't feasible flight days even with my fairly generous flexibility.

Like most everyone, the first thing I check besides cost is the number of stops and where, flight duration, and time between flight changes. I too would like to gain ff miles.

I see a lot of posts here where people want to know what to do with 8-10 hours between flight connections. I want to avoid those situations. I want to know about the airports where connections can be fairly easily if that is possible. :-)

Thanks!

You didn't mention United...

They have some really good flights that I think you might prefer--like changing planes in London. They do codeshare flights from London to Dublin on both Aer Lingus and BMI. All three airlines utilize Terminal 1 at Heathrow.

You could either take UAL to LHR and change to either BMI or Aer Lingus...or take UAL to Chicago and change to Aer Lingus. If it was me, I'd transfer at LHR because there is no change of terminal and both BMI and Aer Lingus have lots of flights between LHR and DUB.

Yes, people complain about changing planes at Heathrow because changing terminals can be a pain. But not having to change terminals, as in this case, is easy.

Thanks Frank. This is the type of info I need. I don't mind going to Heathrow if I don't have to change terminals...ditto with Frankfurt.