Flying Cork to Dublin

Rollo Tamasi

Hi guys,
Has anyone flown Cork to Dublin and back in the same day recently?
I'm looking into the possibility of living in Cork, while working in the Dublin office two days a week.

If you have travelled, how long did it take from arrival at Cork airport to getting into the Dublin City center?

Booking a flight about two weeks in advance on RyanAir costs about 25 euro. I'm just checking the cost and viability of the travel.

alpha2zulu

If its any help in the opposite direction off peak times, from Dublin city cente to Cork city centre, I usually manage in less than 3hours (usually around 2:45). Thats with a 1hr prior to flight check in and bus from Cork airport to the city. You can usually get away withcutting another 20min off that time with online check-in and by useing the domestic security channel at Dublin airport. I know with Aer Arann on line check in they ask that your at the departure gate 20min before deparure. With Ryanair its 30min.

While it doesent work out that much quicker than the train, at least if your unfortunate enough to get stuck seated next to a skoby etc, its only going to be for 40min as opposed to 3hours on the train..and the south coast looks mighty fine from 17000 feet!

Heisenberg.

This post has been deleted.

Rollo Tamasi

The family home is in Ballincollig, so it's not too bad to get to the airport. Probably 15-20 minutes via the south link at around 7.00 in the morning. Most of the RyanAir planes leave Cork at 7.45. So it would be approx 8.45 arrival in Dublin and then the AirCoach down to outside the School House pub on Northcumbland Rd would take 25-30 minutes-ish via the tunnel?

So arrival at work (Pearse St) at around 9.30? Sounds good to me

Aer Arann are quite expensive (nearly 4 times more) than RyanAir for the flights I checked from Cork - Dublin.

If I were to get the train to Dublin I would have to be in the station for 6 to get the 6.30 train which then arrives at 9.10-ish and get the Luas to Connolly and walk to Pearse St which would bring me to around 10 o'clock. The train costs about 65 euro return.

So for 40 euro less I can arrive about a hour earlier at work. (obviously figure doesn't include petrol for car / short term parking cost / bus cost from Dub Airport to City Center).

dahamsta

I did this once recently for a conference, never again. The time should work out better, but it's just a pain in the hole. It's back to the car for me in this case.

adam

CantGetNoSleep

Why do you need to be in the train station 30 mins early? Are they making us check in and go through security for a train now as well?

hunnymonster

I get the train a couple of times a month. I usually book seats in advance but sometimes the ticket collection machine doesn't work and I have to go to the desk. There is one woman who works there who always gives me a hard time and points to a sign "we would like to remind passengers to take their seat at least 20 minutes before departure". It's madness. The others who work there are fine.

I can work on the train so it suits me better than the plane. If you;re getting the plane, I would imagine the main block would be the bus journey from Dublin airport. Depending on traffic there are a number of potential hold-ups.

lostinsuperfunk

If it was me, I'd travel by train and stay over in Dublin one night a week. I think the train is more reliable and less stressful than a flight/bus combination. There's a train every hour and as far as I know your ticket remains valid even if you miss the train you've booked. If you miss your Ryanair flight your wallet is going to be considerably lighter after a last minute rebooking on either Aer Arann or Ryanair (remember, no internet bookings allowed by Ryanair on day of travel).

I'm a former long distance commuter and from my experience I would always prioritise comfort and speed over price. Looking at your calculations the flight may indeed be slightly faster for you, but I'd test it out once or twice before committing to it, and bear in mind that if if goes wrong, it goes badly wrong.

deRanged

I prefer the train over flying up. The train is more comfortable, you can book seats, there's less hassle in general.

You can indeed switch trains even if you've booked a different one.

alpha2zulu

A little piece of information I just found on the Aer Arann website which may swing you from the train to the plane. (Well to the Aer Arann plane at least)

Zero change fees on Dublin-Cork route – all tickets can be changed for free on the day

Certainly would take the hassle out of rushing back to Dublin airport in the evening.

Tree

i would prefer the train over the plane anyday but as a studenty type id take teh aircoach. by far the simplest way is to drive though. it's a bit boring on the m7 so you get a bit tired but the rest of it will certainly keep you awake

BanzaiBk

I tried the flying thing for 3 mths. I work in Dublin 2 days (Chancery St) and Cork , which is my family home, 3 days. I personally found it a nightmare. It took me on average 3 hours 15 minutes to get to either desitination, getting from Dublin to Cork was worse.

Obv, getting to Cork Airport is easy. Fifteen minutes max really. Then 45/60 mins waiting for the plane and the 35 minutes the plane takes. THEN you get to Dublin, and whenever you actually get to your destination is totally random. Sometimes it took 20 minutes, other times it took 2 hours. Most days it took me about 50 minutes though. The return leg is similar except getting to the airport takes about an hour to an hour and a half.

In the end, it was driving me distracted. Rushing for planes, being late etc just wasn't giving my clients or my employer a good impression. I've gone back to the train now. It takes about 2 hours, 35 minutes (depending on stops) and takes me to a endurable trasport system to get me to work. It can be slightly "Calcutta express ish" but if you book your ticket online and get a seat it's fine. I get there for around 6.15 and rarely have issues with my seat. If someone is sitting there then I show them my ticket and ask them to move. I know some people don't like this but heck you went online and booked it, not them. There's no rushing for trains as I know there is going to be one to Cork at 6, 6.30 (Tralee), 7, 8 and 9.

All in all I much prefer it to flying. It's all personal choice though.

craichoe

I'm from cork but looking at commuting from Den Haag and Dusseldorf.

I have 3 options.

1. Train from Den Haag to Utrecht and then ICE train from Utrect to Dusseldorf, total travel time around 3 hours.

2. Drive.... with normal traffic its 2hrs 45mins, but can be up to 5 hrs with a tailback on the Autobahn.

3. Fly, total travel time is about 3 hours too ..

I think the driving option will end up being the choice, but going to try out the train first and see how i get on.

daveyjoe

Keep an eye out for the 1 cent flight offers.

I worked in Dublin last summer (Pearse St. too) and when Ryanair were offering 1 cent flights, I book return flights for every weekend (leaving on a friday evening, returning early on Monday morning) of the whole summer, I think it cost me a grand total of 30 cent or something. I got the Aircoach from Dublin airport which dropped me off at TCD and it's a 10 minute walk to where I worked from there.

Had a nice little system and it wasn't much hassle. Only annoying thing was the pre-recorded 'Another Ryanair flight has landed on time' used to always shriek across the speakers just as I had dozed off on the Monday morning flight, I hated that, used to scare the hell out of me every time.

By the way, flights on a Monday morning were very reliable for me. Friday evening flights were a different story though, I found that they were often delayed.

daveyjoe

Oh and definitely do the internet check-in thing. I would often arrive 20 minutes before a flight and wouldn't have a problem. Even had time for a croissant! I never bothered queueing, I would just wait until the queues were gone and then stroll up to the gate. Never understood why people were so impatient to get on the plane. This was in Cork airport, I always arrived in plenty of time at Dublin airport because it suited me given the time of the flight; I suspect Dublin airport would be less leniant.

MJOR

I do on a regular basis..... its a good service but you can expect the occasional delay.... you can get a skylink to the city which takes around twenty minutes upwards depending on traffic

MJOR

MJOR wrote: »

I do on a regular basis..... its a good service but you can expect the occasional delay.... you can get a skylink to the city which takes around twenty minutes upwards depending on traffic

also in dublin they have a domestic departure in dublin and you can be at your gate fairly quickly:eek:

dudara

Definitely use the domestic departure option in Dublin airport.

I frequently fly between Dublin and Cork for personal visits home, but to be honest, the train is less stress on a work basis. The only main annoyance is when the seat reservation system doesn't work.