US pre-clearance Dublin queuing time question

Gekko

I'm travelling on the Delta flight to Atlanta next Saturday morning and just wondering how much time I should allow for check-in and getting through pre-clearance?

There are 5-6 US flights departing in the hour preceding mine ( departure time 10.10am) so I'm conscious there could be a few thousand people going through.

My plan was to arrive at the airport around 7.45 - 8am, allowing half an hour to check in and about 1.5 hours to get through US pre-clearance...

hatchetshop

Last year I gave it three hours and got there about 8am for a flight that was at 11ish. Check-in was fine and then I bought a breakfast and ate it as I figured I was ahead of schedule. That took 20-25 mins.

But getting through pre-clearance took at least an hour - because of queuing, not because of me personally or any questions I was being asked.

Then I had to queue for another hand luggage security check before boarding, which I hadn't anticipated. I made it to the gate and boarding was well underway. It was tighter than I would have liked and a bit stressful.

Next time I will get there at least 3.25 hours in advance and worry about breakfast some other time.

Ilovelucy

3 hours here too and it was just enough. We were on the 12.30 Orlando flight.

Gekko

Thanks - I might give myself another half an hour then to be safe. I live in Wicklow so it's a very early start anyway.

Dublinflyer

A lot of work has been done in the CBP area and the queue times have dropped. I think the Dublin airport app gives times for CBP queue times in the morning, in real time.

rockonollie

2 hours is too short for a US flight........2 and a half minimum......get checked in and through security first, then you'll have to wait until they call you to pre-clearance (last time I travelled, they still called flight by flight to stop it getting too crowded with people going down their too early)

DM addict

When I flew in March to Boston we gave ourselves three hours - actually ended up having enough time for food/coffee/wandering before going through pre-clearance. But we might have been lucky with the time of day.

I'd say three hours to be on the safe side. And follow the notice boards as to when to go down.

trellheim

The CBP queue moves fast, the post CBP rescan adds another 20 minutes on. What really annoys me is there is only a coffee shop post all the scanning

1huge1

3 hours is more than enough in my experience, get food etc once your through all the security checks so not to put yourself under any pressure.

If using pre-clearance at Shannon. 1.5 hours would be more than enough. Gotta love that airport :-)

trellheim

there is nowhere but a coffee shop and a small sweetshop in dublin at the CBP departure gates, its a pain in the hole especially as for most USA flights you are looking for breakfast and you cant go back to main departures as this part of T2 like all parts of T2 was designed by baboons.

Dublinflyer

trellheim wrote: »

there is nowhere but a coffee shop and a small sweetshop in dublin at the CBP departure gates, its a pain in the hole especially as for most USA flights you are looking for breakfast and you cant go back to main departures as this part of T2 like all parts of T2 was designed by baboons.

Ah the armchair aviation experts who know it all. The same people who said t2 was too big and not needed, but let's not have that conversation again. There are a few small places to wait after CBP where you can have a drink or a sandwich but as with all airports facilities at the gates are limited. If you really want to get something substantial to eat its best to do so in the main passanger lounge before you clear CPB. The baboons as you call them that prevent you from going back into the main area are CPB themselves. Once you clear them you are considerd an internal us flight, that's the whole point of having it there.
The whole area has been rearranged now so you go through the tsa check first then CBP. It can be busy this time of the year.