flying to US from dublin airport

clairefontaine

By the way, you are going to die in the Florida heat at the end of June.

Stheno

clairefontaine wrote: »

By the way, you are going to die in the Florida heat at the end of June.

You mean the humidity ? I was there a while back on a work secondment, an it was disgusting

40 degrees plus with dreadful humidity and I'd to wear tights with skirts.

I'd literally lie down and wait for the sunscreen to dry then get dressed in the morning.

As regards immigration officials, I have never had a problem with them, dealt with them a few times and always found them polite, professional and easy to deal with

I have a very distinctive suitcase, and on showing me the picture, one said "I really like that bag, where did you get it?" and we'd a convo about how good it was to have an unusual looking bag

Even the TSA guys I find ok, just do what you are supposed to and you'll be fine, I've had the horror of setting off security in US airports and on every occasion they were exemplary in dealing with it

owenc

athtrasna wrote: »

The plus side is you can sleep on the plane!! Terminal 2 is well set up for pre-clearance but you'd definitely want to be in the airport by 6am. It's probably the busiest time for pre-clearance & security. Yes it's early but surely your holiday is worth it BTW America isn't five hours behind us, the East Coast is...there are multiple time zones across the US.

Almost 50 percent of the population live in the Eastern time and I would bet most visit the eastern time.

owenc

clairefontaine wrote: »

By the way, you are going to die in the Florida heat at the end of June.

It was fine the last time. Loved the rain.

athtrasna

owenc wrote: »

Almost 50 percent of the population live in the Eastern time and I would bet most visit the eastern time.

There are plenty of popular destinations outside of ET, the OP on this thread was going to San Francisco. Personally I find the timezones fascinating, how neighbouring towns can be in different zones etc

owenc

It is fascianting but I think California should put itself forward by an hour. Too far behind.

iusedtoknow

owenc wrote: »

It is fascianting but I think California should put itself forward by an hour. Too far behind.

The same argument could be made about most places. I know that some people want to move Spain back by one hour, and Ireland forward by an hour

I love the time difference with California. Though it is weird I am pretty used to it.. I am currently working in Europe, and call my wife before her nightshift starts. I need to be at the office etc for around 8 and talk to her at 6am while it's 9pm there (She starts work at 10).

theyearof2010

rockonollie wrote: »

It's true.....Homeland security staff are only on duty in Dublin until lunch time.....not sure of the exact cut-off....but any flights past 1 or 2pm don't clear in Dublin

Good news for the future...
"his positive news regarding extra transatlantic capacity is further boosted by the confirmation that US Customs & Border Protection will pre-clear all US-bound flights from Dublin Airport to the United States this year."

Source: https://www.dublinairport.com/gns/at-the-airport/latest-news/14-02-20/North_American_Traffic_Set_For_Another_Record_Year.aspx

clairefontaine

iusedtoknow wrote: »

The same argument could be made about most places. I know that some people want to move Spain back by one hour, and Ireland forward by an hour

I love the time difference with California. Though it is weird I am pretty used to it.. I am currently working in Europe, and call my wife before her nightshift starts. I need to be at the office etc for around 8 and talk to her at 6am while it's 9pm there (She starts work at 10).

I'm on the west coast too and often have to either stay up until 2 am or set an alarm to get up if I have to call Ireland.

It gets really weird when you have to refer to yesterday, today and tomorrow in conversations.

popepaisley1

op back

made it to dublin airport in heaps of time. got the 6.15 bus. airport wasn't busy at all. breezed through security and immigration. in fact there was very few people there for trans-atlantic flights. probably at other times of year you'd need to make it up that early but we definitely could have left galway later.

as for immigration they could not have been nicer, but that was probably due to it being so quiet. i'm sure if there were crowds of people lining up they'd get fed up

anyway, san francisco was class. weather here is unseasonably fantastic. there is actually a drought at the moment....good for me i suppose!! crossing the golden gate bridge was great but the ferry back was the highlight so far. the skyline at night was awesome!!

me and my wife are in monterey right now, hitting south on highway 1. anyone been....any tips? whats the best beach round here? i know shw is keen on visiting the hearst mansion/castle/estate. not sure about going to LA. there isn't really anything that is drawing me there. thinking about going to vegas, the hoover dam and the grand canyon before hitting back up north to san francisco, and maybe seeing the giant redwoods in muir woods and some of napa valley. dont think ten days is enough tho. would like to see the sequoias too. yosemite has always been somewhere i wanted to go too. so many things so little time!!!!!

oh ya....and we'd like to relax a bit too

what do i do???? any recommndations?

owenc

We are going to book the flights in the next hour or two.

We searched and we found American arilines to be the cheapest at £2,000 for 4 and then United were £2,200 for 4.

So after a bit of a debate we decided we will go with United Airlines. I have seen the American airlines seats and I just thought to myself that it wasn't worth it because they have no personal televisions, they have no internet and apparently their service is awful.

I am sure the extra £200 is worth it.

Evan DietrichSmith

Snickers Man wrote: »

Hope it keeps well for you. US immigration officials? Basically think of the most obnoxious, self important, unreasonable, my-way-or-the-highway nightclub doorman you've ever met, multiply it by a thousand and you're still nowhere close. Give an otherwise unemployable cheeseburger arse a job with a little bit of power and watch it go to their head.

Been to the US many times in my young life but am unlikely ever to put myself through the pride-swallowing zero-guarantee lottery of dealing with their gruesome DHS/immigration people ever again.

Horrible people.

Nice when you get there though. Mostly.

Very harsh critique there mate.

What these guys and gals don't tolerate is the auld "ah shure it wil be ok, shure isn't uncle Thady in Pelham going to look after me"

The coming the auld soldier and the plawmaus doesn't work with them.

For good reason.

iusedtoknow

Evan DietrichSmith wrote: »

Very harsh critique there mate.

What these guys and gals don't tolerate is the auld "ah shure it wil be ok, shure isn't uncle Thady in Pelham going to look after me"

The coming the auld soldier and the plawmaus doesn't work with them.

For good reason.

exactly, these guys take their job really seriously, and why shouldn't they? Getting into America is not a right (except for americans obviously)

Evan DietrichSmith

iusedtoknow wrote: »

exactly, these guys take their job really seriously, and why shouldn't they? Getting into America is not a right (except for americans obviously)

Yeah,that's how it rolls.
Have done a fair bit of travnelling to the US in my time and it mildly amused me to see those D4' rebels' travelling over on the J1 trying to put one across them.

Never worked.

owenc

I have to ask... When you fly from Dublin to ewr and you arrive do you still haveto lift the bags to put them on the connecting flight or has that changed?

Oh yes and what is the backage allowance?

Evan DietrichSmith

owenc wrote: »

I have to ask... When you fly from Dublin to ewr and you arrive do you still haveto lift the bags to put them on the connecting flight or has that changed?

Oh yes and what is the backage allowance?

Last time I went thru there was a spot for connecting bags, I collected and left them there, airline then handled the transaction.

Arrived PHX in good order.

Hope that helps.

owenc

Are you sure? I thought because dublin is not the first entry point you son't have to?

steve-o

The purpose of collecting your bags and handing back is so that you can clear customs at your point of entry to the US. You don't need to do that when flying direct from Ireland as you complete all US customs formalities in Ireland before departure. You bags will be checked through to your final destination.

owenc

Ok thats good because I find that a nusance. It is good going from Dublin, takes away all the hassle and Belfast is such a rip off as per usual!

I have to ask though if we don't change the bags who does?

Thoie

Stheno wrote: »

You need way more time for immigration and security i was there recently at six thirty for a nine am flight queue quadrupled while i went through. You get photoed and fingerprinted too

I have a 9am flight in a few months, and was going to aim for 6:20/6:30 too. Was that enough time for you - were you stressed in the queues, or did it all move nicely?

Nelly 21

Thoie wrote: »

I have a 9am flight in a few months, and was going to aim for 6:20/6:30 too. Was that enough time for you - were you stressed in the queues, or did it all move nicely?

Id always arrive at the airport at least 3 hours before an international flight. Depending on when you go the queue s can be very big. I remember going one year and everywhere we went we met a long line. Sometimes they will have extra people on to cope with big lines and sometimes they don't. You really can't tell.

For me personally I like less stress when i get to the airport and time to relax. There's nothing worse than queueing when you might be in a hurry!!!!

Nelly 21

owenc wrote: »

Ok thats good because I find that a nusance. It is good going from Dublin, takes away all the hassle and Belfast is such a rip off as per usual!

I have to ask though if we don't change the bags who does?

I think when you the connecting flight is booked with your airline you don't have to worry about your bags. They'll tell you when you check in in Dublin that your bags will be at your final destination. However if you booked yourself dub to Newark and then booked a connecting flight yourself then you'll have to worry about collecting your own luggage

spideog7

owenc wrote: »

I have to ask though if we don't change the bags who does?

The same people that put them on and off the plane and bring them to your conveyor belt in the end.

owenc

Thoie wrote: »

I have a 9am flight in a few months, and was going to aim for 6:20/6:30 too. Was that enough time for you - were you stressed in the queues, or did it all move nicely?

Yea three hours.

My flight is ual131 at 12:55 I think I might come at 9am just so I can get on with it and not be stressed as it is my first time out of Dublin airport. I have never been..

coylemj

owenc wrote: »

Yea three hours.

My flight is ual131 at 12:55 I think I might come at 9am just so I can get on with it and not be stressed as it is my first time out of Dublin airport. I have never been..

Aiming to get to the airport four hours before your flight may sound like a stress-free plan but it means you will hit the worst of the morning traffic. Do yourself a favour and aim to get there by 10. I appreciate that it's your first flight out of Dublin but we've all had countless experiences departing from foreign airports for the first time and most of us made it home ok.

owenc

Well we will be staying in a hotel so we will just walk over.

coylemj

owenc wrote: »

Well we will be staying in a hotel so we will just walk over.

Have you allowed for the fact that you will be putting your watches back 5 hours when you fly to the east coast? You've mentioned a connecting flight from EWR so you may even be travelling to the Central (6 hours) or Pacific (8 hours) time zone. To make the most of your first day in the US you should get as much sleep as you can the night before you travel. Hence I would stay in bed an hour longer than you were planing and aim to get to the airport terminal at 10 a.m.

It's your choice - stay in bed an extra hour or sit in an airport for an extra hour. I know which I'd go for, especially when the time shift means it's going to be a very long day.

owenc

Well no i'm going to Florida.

Can you not just sleep on the plane lol?

Thoie

owenc wrote: »

Well no i'm going to Florida.

Can you not just sleep on the plane lol?

I'm insanely jealous of people who can sleep on planes. So jealous, I always want to wake them up and ask them how they do it.

owenc

Ugh i'm sure i'll get over it getting up at 9 and going to bed at 3 is fine, I do it on the weekends every few weeks.

Its really not that bad. Its just maybe i'll wake up early.