Ireland Flight Quesions

You will need to get a fully flexible fare on Southwest in case your Shannon-Boston flight is delayed (it happens). That will eat into that $1000 savings.

You could also go back to Dublin as it is only about 100 miles between them.

What time do you get into Dublin? If it's early, reverse your itinerary, start in Shannon and end in Dublin, and fly round-trip Dublin.

Unless you are gamblers. Most of the time, there won't be a significant delay, but if you are unlucky, it will be costly. Besides weather, mechanical problems and air traffic congestion, there's also the possible lengthy delay in off-loading baggage. Even with fully flexible, later flights may not have availability and you may be stuck overnight in Boston on your own tab. If the delay is unexpected, and you can't contact Southwest before the flight departs, what is your recourse? If your luggage goes astray between Dublin and Boston, you may have some problems (and expense?) getting it from Boston to Columbus. I have no idea what the airline regulations are for that.

We were in Ireland in May and yes you do go through US Customs in Ireland but when we came back through Minneapolis we had to go through Customs again so it doesn't save you any time. I like the above suggestion to go and come through Dublin but if you do decide to do this, on your departure date you need to get to the Dublin airport 2.5-3 hours early because it takes a long time to get thorough the airport. (Trust me on this!)

Came back on Aer Lingus last summer, and by passed Chicago customs by exiting the plane into the boarding area, just like a domestic flight.

Since it's your homeward leg, a delay (or late luggage) is not a big deal - at least, not as big a deal as it would be heading out. I think you should be fine. I have flown with Aer Lingus several times and never experienced a delayed flight. For the price difference, I would do it.

In Boston you'll need to:

• wait for your luggage
• clear customs & immigration
• exit security
• use shuttle bus to change terminals from E to A
• check in at Southwest
• go through the full security screening in Terminal A

I would not personally trust a 3 hour connection to do this.

Concur with Nancy. For the cost savings I'd go for it.
If you're at all worried about connecting thru Boston you could always opt to stay overnight at Logan on your return and just fly home refreshed the next day. You'd still be money ahead, plus you'd have a built-in stress reliever if anything did go awry on the flight back.

My rule of thumb on a non protected connection is 4 hours. So I would want a slight longer conection then you have.

There is always the possibility (likelihood?) of delay, but on the ground the biggest source of delay can be Customs and Immigration, and you will NOT have to go through that in Boston, as it will be done in Ireland. I've gone through Dublin to Boston a couple of times; I did US Customs and Immigration in Dublin, then when I arrived in Boston it was like arriving on a domestic flight.

Robert - thanks for the reminder that they've started putting you through US Customs in Shannon - I'd forgotten that!

So that leaves in Boston:

• wait for your luggage
• exit security
• use shuttle bus to change terminals from E to A
• check in at Southwest
• go through the full security screening in Terminal A

Barring any significant delays that should be possible in 3 hours