A couple of options to go Stateside...

Fabio

Hi all,

I'm not sure if this is in the correct forum so if it is I'd like to apologise to the mods and you all!

Myself and my girlfriend will be going to Boston at the beginning of April and have two options for getting there which come in at around the same price and I am not sure which to go with.

Option One:
Fly Cork to Schiphol with Aer Lingus and then on to Boston with KLM (flown by Delta).
Advantages:
I get to see a load of nice plans in Schiphol which I would very much enjoy!
We arrive in Boston at lunchtime!
I also get to show my girlfriend that switching flights is easy and no need to go searchinf for bags as they are put straight through (she's too used to Ryanair).
On top of this we get to fly from Cork so there's no bussing it to Dublin.
Disadvantage:
Gotta clear US customs in Boston which I have no idea about and was wondering if people here could help me with!

Option Two:
Fly Dub to Boston with Aer Lingus direct.

Advantages:
It's a direct flight with no waiting around another airport.
We get to do pre-clearance in Dublin.

Disadvantages:
Don't get to see as many planes in Dublin.
Would have to take the bus to Dublin and back again afterwards.
We would also not arrive in Boston until dinnertime.

What would you guys do? We really want to maximise our time in Boston...

LoonyLovegood

If you can get to Dublin for the early Boston flight, you're in for around 1pm, which gives you plenty of time to see the city that day. You could drop the bags at the hotel, go look around.

knockon

Why go all the way to DUB? Have you tried out of SNN as a matter of interest? Direct flight to BOS on M W Fr & Sun arriving at 14.20. Upside you clear US Immig and Customs. Its 1.5 hours from Cork by this crowd www.butlers-buses.com/airport-bus

Fattes

Option Two:
Fly Dub to Boston with Aer Lingus direct.

Advantages:
It's a direct flight with no waiting around another airport.
We get to do pre-clearance in Dublin.

We took the early EI flight to Boston last year, there was no clearance in Dublin and we had to Q for clearance in Boston a wonderfull 2 hours and lost the chance to get out early.

Apparently it had something to do with the Gate that Aer Lingus were using for the flight.

Fabio

Thanks for taking the time to read through and give me opinions guys.

I think the price is after swinging it for me - for the price of the Aer Lingus flights for us I can get the flights from Cork with hotel included through ebookers. The money has made the decision really!

Fabio

CTYIgirl wrote: »

If you can get to Dublin for the early Boston flight, you're in for around 1pm, which gives you plenty of time to see the city that day. You could drop the bags at the hotel, go look around.

That'd be great but there's no early flight on the Tues Apr 2. Thank you though....at least I know it's there now!

Zonda999

OP, if you factor in the cost and length of time needed to get the Aircoach or whatever to Dublin airport from Cork, there may not be much in it in terms of total travel time. As well, the trip back down from Dublin would be four hours at the end of the trip, which is nasty enough, especially if youre tired. Going via Amsterdam, the second flight on the way home is only a hour.

I reckon I;d go via Amsterdam, I'd be surprised if it isn't cheaper than Aer Lingus from Dublin, and obviously you get the chance to see some nice jets in Amsterdam during the stopover too, which is nice

Fabio

Thanks Zonda. I've done the four hour trip from Dublin before and it's a killer with the jet lag. Going through AMS I got the package for €1500 including hotel for the two of us whereas I would have payed that for flights alone with EI from Dublin.

So now we're flying from Cork to Schiphol with Aer Lingus and then from Schiphol to Boston with Delta. The great thing is I have no idea who to check in with!!!!

MuffinsDa

You will check it at Aer Lingus desk in Cork, assuming your flights are all on one ticket. You may not be able to use online checkin but you can still select seats on both flights if you wish to do so.

Fabio

I was wondering would it be possible to check in online in order to snatch a good seat on the Delta flight as it says on their website that all of their window seats are "unavailable"...maybe they become available later?

Fattes

Plus there is a brothel in Schipol airport if you are bored or delayed

MuffinsDa

Fabio wrote: »

I was wondering would it be possible to check in online in order to snatch a good seat on the Delta flight as it says on their website that all of their window seats are "unavailable"...maybe they become available later?

Seat availability changes regularly, you should check often and something might open up.

I would personally rather not go the route of online checkin on a ticket like this. I've done that a few times and it always ended up in all sorts of complications!

Fabio

Fattes wrote: »

Plus there is a brothel in Schipol airport if you are bored or delayed

Are you serious? I suppose being Amsterdam I should not be suprised...must get a lot of business from pilots etc passing through! The cargo pilots at night get lonely!

Fabio

MuffinsDa wrote: »

Seat availability changes regularly, you should check often and something might open up.

I would personally rather not go the route of online checkin on a ticket like this. I've done that a few times and it always ended up in all sorts of complications!

Yeah you are probably right...best to speak to a human and make sure it is all ok. The ticket is complicated enough as it is - fly out with Aer Lingus and then on to KLM except that it is actually Delta who are operating the flight.

I can still check seat selection though I suppose. A good few aisle seats free...have read on airliners.net that some carriers now say the window seats are unavailable evn though they are not in order to get some pax to pay extra for economy-comfort or whatever. Apparently come midnight the day before the flight it's all released.

Preset No.3

Why would anyone fly 2 hours 'backwards' to cross the atlantic?

Fabio

Cheaper....waaaay cheaper. Plus if you like flying, which I do, it's not a big deal.

donvito99

There was a time when people had to fly Dublin - Paris - Zurich to get to certain parts of Spain that are now accessible direct from Ireland, nevermind New York or LAX...

And in the grand scheme of things, people will fly to AMS and connect onwards if they can save €'00s, Irish in particular.

MuffinsDa

Fabio wrote: »

Yeah you are probably right...best to speak to a human and make sure it is all ok. The ticket is complicated enough as it is - fly out with Aer Lingus and then on to KLM except that it is actually Delta who are operating the flight.

I can still check seat selection though I suppose. A good few aisle seats free...have read on airliners.net that some carriers now say the window seats are unavailable evn though they are not in order to get some pax to pay extra for economy-comfort or whatever. Apparently come midnight the day before the flight it's all released.

This kind of ticket itself is straight forward enough for airlines anyway, it's just that their individual online checkin systems don't work together terribly well.

I flew on a similar ticket (DUB/AMS/IKA) last summer at it went perfectly fine with Aer Lingus desk checkin in DUB. And did I mention that AMS-IKA leg was on MD-11? :D

Fabio

I'm just impressed that you were in Tehran! On an MD-11 too...nice!

Fattes

Why would anyone fly 2 hours 'backwards' to cross the atlantic?

To avoid Aer lingus shocking service and overpriced flights, once you have flown with Lufthansa/KLM/Swiss and realise what a real air line does it is hard to go back

paulhardman

Preset No.3 wrote: »

Why would anyone fly 2 hours 'backwards' to cross the atlantic?

Because if you want to go direct from Cork it's your only option.

OP, most likely you will be on KLM tickets all the way (codeshare with Aer Lingus and then codeshare with Delta), so when you get to Cork Airport at a most ungodly time in the morning, you can check in using their touchscreens in the terminal - you shouldn't need to queue! (I've done this plenty of times flying KLM to ORD and SFO)

Zonda999

Preset No.3 wrote: »

Why would anyone fly 2 hours 'backwards' to cross the atlantic?

The same reason there are 4x daily departures from ORK to LHR, 2x daily departures to AMS as well as a daily departure to CDG. These are three of the biggest hubs in Europe and offer connectivity to most countries on the planet.

Remember Cork is three hours from DUB and two from SNN. In terms of total travel time in going to the states from ORK, it is probably more pleasant to go via LHR or AMS than have to get a life or the bus to DUB, or travel by car to SNN

And AMS is just over an hour from ORK in fairness

Fabio

Nice debate going on here! The only thing is...is the lack of a journey to SNN or DUB worth it as regards the lack of pre-clearance?

Fabio

paulhardman wrote: »

Because if you want to go direct from Cork it's your only option.

OP, most likely you will be on KLM tickets all the way (codeshare with Aer Lingus and then codeshare with Delta), so when you get to Cork Airport at a most ungodly time in the morning, you can check in using their touchscreens in the terminal - you shouldn't need to queue! (I've done this plenty of times flying KLM to ORD and SFO)

What time do you normally turn up for your flights there? I'd like to leave it as late as possible so I can get some sleep at home!!!

Fabio

Fattes wrote: »

To avoid Aer lingus shocking service and overpriced flights, once you have flown with Lufthansa/KLM/Swiss and realise what a real air line does it is hard to go back

Never did long-haul with any of them but will be with Delta...I've never found EI lacking for anything in long-haul but maybe that's because I'm just not used to anything else.

MuffinsDa

Fabio wrote: »

Nice debate going on here! The only thing is...is the lack of a journey to SNN or DUB worth it as regards the lack of pre-clearance?

Yes it's worth it IMO. You'll still have to queue for clearance in DUB and SNN, it's not as if it's completely hassle free! Last time I flew to the states the queues were insanely long! Took us about 40 mins to clear. I'm sure formalities in the US wouldn't have taken much longer than that!

Fabio

It's a case of getting off the plane as quick as possilbe I suppose. There was life before pre-clearance too I suppose!

Fattes

lack of pre-clearance

Not all of Aer Lingus flights are pre cleared at Dublin, 3/4 flights I have taken with them in the last 2 years to the USA have been cleared in Boston!

donvito99

Fattes wrote: »

Not all of Aer Lingus flights are pre cleared at Dublin, 3/4 flights I have taken with them in the last 2 years to the USA have been cleared in Boston!

This arrangement will change for the summer I have heard.

highlydebased

Fabio wrote: »

It's a case of getting off the plane as quick as possilbe I suppose. There was life before pre-clearance too I suppose!

Well, the thing is if you land at a peak time you have far more than just your own flight to worry about!

Fabio

highlydebased wrote: »

Well, the thing is if you land at a peak time you have far more than just your own flight to worry about!

Very true...landing at lunchtime...we'll see!