After months of planning a tour of the US East Coast with a friend, the day to depart Ireland for three weeks finally came to fruition. I decided to factor in a short few days in Chicago to meet with my family and friends before heading east. I am still in college so price was a major factor in influencing my travel decisions along the way. I found Aer Arann/Aer Lingus to be the cheapest option across the pond so booked the Dublin-Chicago and Boston-Shannon legs on Aerlingus.com and Kerry-Dublin on Aerarann.com in March. A few weeks later, it was announced that all Aer Arann mainline flights would be merged with the Aer Lingus Regional franchise so I just missed out on booking it all on one ticket. It wasn’t that big of a deal, however.
I was up at sunrise on the morning of Thursday, 24th May and set off on the 35-minute drive to Kerry Airport. This would be the first ever of my 33 transatlantic crossings that would not originate or terminate in Shannon so I felt a bit guilty. Still though, KIR is closer to my house than SNN so it cancels out in a way!
I arrived at KIR shortly after 06:00 for my 07:30 departure to Dublin. I was one of only three people in the terminal when I arrived.
Check-in opened at 06:30 and I approached the desk. “Oh Jesus you’re 10 kilos over!” was the response I got from the KIR check-in agent when I put my bag on the scales. It was overweight thanks to my mother’s stash of McVitie’s biscuits, Barry’s Tea and Penguin bars she was sending with me to give to my grandparents. Luckily, she hadn’t left yet so I emptied out some and gave them back to her. I went back to the desk then and I was informed I was still 6kg over the limit but she said “sure look, t’will be grand”; she slapped a “heavy” label on it and off it popped.
Most passengers who had now started to gather only had hand baggage but there was still six of seven of us that checked-in bags which incidentally cost €10 each to book. Security screening opened shortly afterwards; I said goodbye to my mother and went through to the gate area. The DUB-bound ATR 42 was the only aircraft on-stand this morning and it would depart from Gate 1 as flight RE3201.
A semi-handwritten boarding pass. Gotta love the Kerry way of doing things!
Boarding was called for rows 1-7 at 07:03 and all remaining seats after. I was onboard at 07:14. This bird was still wearing the most recent Aer Arann Regional livery and she had yet to receive her Aer Lingus shamrock scheme.
Date Thursday, 24th May 2012 Airline Aer Lingus Regional Flight RE3201 Aircraft ATR 42 Tail No. EI-BYO Aircraft Name St. Ida/Íde Scheduled Departure 07:30 IST Actual Departure 07:29 IST Departure Terminal & Gate Gate 1 Departure Taxi Route A, RWY08 Weather at Departure Mostly sunny, winds S Scheduled Arrival 08:30 IST Actual Arrival 08:21 IST Arrival Terminal & Gate Terminal 1, Gate 218 Arrival Taxi Route RWY28, E4, M2, H1, Link 1, stand Weather at Arrival Dry, sunny, winds SW Class – Seat No. 12A Captain Seán Flanagan First Officer (N/A) Cabin Manager Aoife, Nicholas Actual Flight Time 52 minutes
Captain Flanagan greeted us from the flight deck at 07:21 and the door was closed. He advised us of a rather bumpy flight but in hindsight, it was the smoothest turboprop flight I’ve ever taken. The engines were started soon after his briefing and we lifted off from Runway 08 at 07:31 after two minutes of taxiing. The load factor for this flight was 26/48 which I find to be about average for Kerry-Dublin flights in my own experience. At 07:36 the cabin crew were released with a “ding” and the inflight service started as the cabin lights were re-illuminated. There was no Cara Magazine in my seat pocket, just a SkyShopping one.
As we climbed away from KIR I got great views of West Limerick and the area around where I live. We followed the Shannon Estuary towards Limerick and flew right over the city. We reached cruising altitude around this time.
Many passengers chose to buy from the SkyDeli service (even though no hot food or drinks were available on this aircraft) but as usual, no one seemed to want any SkyShopping.
At 07:56 the first officer gave us information on our descent, which would involve approaching Dublin from the south, going out over the Irish Sea circling Dublin city and making a 180° turn to line up on Runway 10 at DUB.
Approaching the coastline of the Irish Sea over Co. Wicklow
South Dublin
On final at 08:14
Our on-the-ground time was 08:16 and we taxiied one engine (the left one) to our stand at Pier A.
We parked on a remote stand off Pier A at 08:21 and a bus was waiting for all passengers to take us to the terminal. This aircraft would depart about 30 minutes later to the Isle of Man as flight RE3212. I saw the Leinster Rugby CityJet livery but I couldn’t take a decent picture unfortunately.
A Ryanair 737-800 parked at Pier A – taken from the bus
When I got to GNIB immigration, the Irish passport queue was actually longer than the non-EU one which had no one in it so I whipped out my American passport and approached the officer. He asked where I was coming from and let me on my way without stamping it.
My bag was waiting for me on the carousel when I got to the baggage hall so I was out into the arrivals area in no time at all. I would have to re-check it in for my onward flight to ORD as the reservation was booked on two separate tickets. I did ask the agent at KIR but she said that it was not possible to check it through unfortunately.
Check-in for EI125 would not open until three hours before its scheduled departure time(09:50) so I had about an hour to get a bite to eat in the Eatery upstairs in Terminal 1. The Dublin Airport Authority was offering free Wi-Fi this month so that was nice.
I decided to head over to Terminal 2 at 10:00 so I could planespot and shop before my flight. The temporary tunnel between terminals was closed for construction of a more permanent one so I had to go around the long way. It was well-signposted.
Aer Lingus occupies over half the floor space of Terminal 2’s check-in area.
I checked-in using a FastPass kiosk and it asked me to scan the front page of my passport. I kept my chosen seat of 22A. I don’t bother checking-in online when I have bags to drop off anyway. Plus, I like to save the “real” boarding cards I get.
I headed to the Bag Drop queue which took me about 10 minutes before I reached the desk. There were no problems with my slightly overweight bag which still had the “heavy” label on it from KIR. The check-in agent told me I had to be at the gate and have cleared the US Preclearance no later than 11:35 and this was indicated on my boarding pass under the “Gate Closes” heading.
Off to security screening then and I was through after about 20 minutes. No Irish airports have the full-body scanners yet and I only realised this after my internal US flights that I would take later on.
South-facing side of Pier E taken from the Chocolate Lounge – the A330 at the top would be my aircraft, EI-EAV/St Ronan
AmricanShamrok From Ireland, joined May 2008, 2611 posts, RR: 0 Reply 1, posted (11 months 1 week 3 days 2 hours ago) and read 7873 times:
I sat down in the Chocolate Lounge to get my bearings after security and to take pictures. One of the staff asked if I was ready to order and I said I was waiting for someone. I hate that they hog one of the best views in the house and make you order something if you want to sit there!
Anyway I got a few things from the Loop and other shops around both terminals (you can easily transit the secure areas of both T1 and T2 after clearing security in either). I purchased a new “Titanic Irish Whiskey” commemorating the centenary of the ship’s sinking at the Loop for my uncle. The cashier stamped my boarding pass with “DUTY FREE, The Loop, Dublin Airport” and initialled it.
I browsed around some more and decided to go back to T1. The monitors show the gate numbers for US-bound flights as “USPC”, meaning US preclearance.
There was nothing much of interest here shops-wise so I returned to T2 as it was approaching the 11:35 preclearance deadline. I passed both the Aer Lingus and Etihad Airways lounges on the way. There was an overspill of a few EI A320s parked at Pier B which is technically Terminal 1. I think maybe Etihad and Emirates should be banished from Terminal 2 and keep the Aer Lingus birds together insofar as possible. It would cut down on walking for EI passengers from a customer service standpoint. All US carriers also use T2 as it houses the US Customs and Border Protection preclearance facility.
Entrance to the US CBP preclearance facility which is downstairs from the main non-US bound boarding gates. I think a similarly sized Irish flag next to the US one would look well
No photography is allowed once you get off the escalator as you are now in the preclearance area. I got my passport, boarding pass and Customs Declaration Form ready and got in the queue. There were two separate queues – one for US citizens and one for non-US citizens. I would be using my US passport and luckily the line for this one was shorter.
The immigration officer didn’t even look up as I got to the desk. He looked at my passport and customs form then looked at me and asked “what’s in there?” as he pointed to my plastic duty free bag. I told him it was whiskey and he asked how old I was. I felt like telling him “ahh, you have my passport – work it out for yourself”. Lucky for me, I’m 21. If I wasn’t, he would’ve confiscated it. He threw me a dirty look and handed back my passport and boarding pass then looked at the next person and waved her on without saying so much as a goodbye. I was slightly p***ed off with this. Could he not just be pleasant like his SNN counterparts?
Once you finish the immigration check, bags are security screened for a second time and shoes must be removed. You are then allowed into the gate area. There are monitors here showing the status of all US-bound flights and their respective gate numbers. I then found out that my flight would be boarding from Gate 405.
At this point, you cannot return to the departure lounge or other gates as you have already gone through the US preclearance and are in a “sterile” zone. There are one or two small shops selling newspapers, sweets, hot food, coffee etc. but not much else.
An Emirates Boeing 777-300ER arriving from Dubai as flight EK161
I could tell it was going to be a packed flight as the area around Gate 405 was extremely crowded. At 12:05 an announcement came that boarding would be delayed by 15 minutes as the aircraft was still being serviced. Then, at exactly 12:20 boarding commenced with Business Class, Gold Circle and special assistance passengers boarding first, followed by rows from back to front. I boarded at about 12:35.
We had to ascend one level to align with the aircraft door which was docked at an airbridge.
Date Thursday, 24th May 2012 Airline Aer Lingus Flight EI125 Aircraft Airbus A330-300 Tail No. EI-EAV Aircraft Name St Ronan/Ronán Scheduled Departure 12:50 IST Actual Departure 13:04 IST Departure Terminal & Gate Terminal 2, Gate 405 Departure Taxi Route F1, F2, F3, Link 4, M1, M2, B5, B6, B7, RWY10 Weather at Departure Mostly clear, light haze, winds SE Scheduled Arrival 15:15 CDT Actual Arrival 14:57 CDT Arrival Terminal & Gate International Terminal 5, Gate M5 Arrival Taxi Route RWY22L, S2, S, K, K3, F, B, Int’l Taxiline Weather at Arrival Hazy sunshine, gusty southerly winds Class Economy Seat No. 22A Captain Malachy O’Curry First Officer (N/A) Cabin Manager Geraldine Brennan Actual Flight Time 7 hours, 53 minutes
Shortly after boarding we heard from Captain Malachy O’Curry who gave detailed information about the flight. He expected a fast, smooth Atlantic crossing with an estimated flight time of 7 hours and 25 minutes. He said unusually light headwinds would cut an hour off the scheduled time of 8 hours, 25 minutes. We would be flying along 66th Parallel for the most part.
This would be my first Aer Lingus flight across the pond since 2008.
Pushback was at 13:04 and the posh, well-spoken Cabin Manager, Geraldine Brennan welcomed us aboard. The engines were started and safety video was played and we were soon on our way to Runway 10. There was no delay apart from an inbound Aer Lingus Regional ATR 72 that landed before we entered the runway.
Takeoff was at 13:22. It was smooth, powerful and relatively quiet. After takeoff we turned left and headed northwest away from Dublin.
Leaving DUB behind us
At 14:00 IST the first officer came on and gave us more details on our flight – we would be flying at an altitude of 38,000 feet for the most part at a groundspeed of about 430 knots. The bar service in the cabin began around this time. Soft drinks are free, alcoholic beverages are not. I opted for a Sprite; it came with spiced nuts of some sort which were nice.
The dinner service started then. The options were chicken or beef (surprise surprise). I got the beef which was served with pasta and salad. Dessert consisted of an oat cookie. I would describe it as “normal” for an Aer Lingus Economy class meal.
Duty free shopping cannot be sold on precleared flights so there was no SkyShopping service. We were encouraged to look through the SkyShopping magazine now and to buy on the return journey, however.
The flight was mainly uneventful after that. You had the choice of about a dozen TV shows and a dozen recent movies to watch on demand on the screen in front of you. In addition there were games to play, music videos and of course, the flight map which I was most interested in.
There was some moderate turbulence over Newfoundland, Canada but other than that, it was a smooth enough. A lot of American accents surrounded me. In fact, my seat mate was from Chicago and was in Dublin for a business meeting – it was his first time in Ireland. Aer Lingus competes with American Airlines on the Dublin-Chicago route – in the summer season at least.
About an hour before arrival at O’Hare, a scone with tea/coffee was served:
It was only alright. You could tell it had been frozen and thawed; it was far from fresh. Descent began at 14:12 CDT and the first officer advised us of this. With 30 minutes to go, the inflight entertainment system was shut off and all headsets that were in the seat pockets were collected by the crew. A promotional video for the Aer Lingus/UNICEF partnership was then played and we were invited to make a donation in the envelope in the seat pocket in front of us. The crew came around shortly afterwards and collected these.
The Chicago skyline making an appearance after crossing Lake Michigan
The autopilot was disengaged soon after and you’d know it from the swaying and powering up and down. The gear was lowered and straight away, Ms. Brennan advised us of our final approach into “O’Ha-ah International, Chicago” even before the ding.
We hit the ground at 14:48 on Runway 22L. Severe braking action meant I had to put my hands on the seat in front of me as my seatbelt wasn’t tightened hard enough. It looked like a windy day outside.
We were on-stand at Gate M5 at 14:57, 18 minutes ahead of schedule. Aer Lingus now uses Gate M5 at the international terminal as it is closest to the terminal’s sole domestic baggage reclaim.
An Iberia A340-600 arrives at Gate M4 moments after us as flight IB6275 from Barcelona via Madrid. It would later be towed to Terminal 3 for departure
We disembarked the aircraft into the departure lounge as this was now considered a domestic arrival due to being precleared in Dublin. Signs and uniformed Aer Lingus personnel guided all passengers from the gate, out of the departures area and downstairs to Baggage Carousel 10. This is the only carousel outside of the secure area and is used solely for Aer Lingus and Frontier Airlines “domestic” arrivals. This is where meeters and greeters met with passengers.
Had this been any other international flight, passengers would have gone downstairs straight after coming off the airbridge towards US CBP, baggage reclaim and then customs.
I spent four days in Chicago visiting family and friends before heading off to Florida to begin my travels with one such friend. Trip reports to follow.
MSS658 From Belgium, joined Oct 2010, 2212 posts, RR: 14 Reply 2, posted (11 months 1 week 3 days 1 hour ago) and read 7736 times:
Hi
Interesting trip report, thanks for sharing.
Nice to see some EI longhaul again.
SNN preclearence seems to work good as you are immediatly out once you land in ORD.
EI seems to have an ok product for the crossing
AmricanShamrok From Ireland, joined May 2008, 2611 posts, RR: 0 Reply 3, posted (11 months 1 week 1 day 8 hours ago) and read 6415 times:
Thanks MSS658. Yes indeed, Aer Lingus does the job - getting you from A to B across the Atlantic but nothing overly special about it. It is good enough value for the prices they usually offer though.
IrishAyes From United States of America, joined Jan 2008, 1731 posts, RR: 5 Reply 4, posted (11 months 1 week 23 hours ago) and read 5952 times:
I love how your TRs are so Chicago-centric. Especially enlightening tidbits such as the fact that a pre-border cleared flight can arrive into the domestic area of T5. I was wondering that throughout the TR and was glad you addressed it at the end. Thanks for the attention to detail!
To be truthful, that's actually a really interesting/unique way to circumvent long queues when arriving into the States. However, on the flip side of the equation, EI doesn't necessarily offer a competitive enough product to make this option compelling/attractive for premium fliers on TATL routes, IMO. Being unaligned with any major alliance groups is a turn off for some. However, for budget travelers, or people based in Eire, not a bad option. I loved EI when I flew them LHRDUB a few years back.
I was in YVR yesterday and the international terminal there is award-winning. I hope that ORD could/can transform T5 into something more like theirs.
Thanks for the TR! Enjoy your travels in the States and be safe.
AmricanShamrok From Ireland, joined May 2008, 2611 posts, RR: 0 Reply 5, posted (11 months 1 week 4 hours ago) and read 5438 times:
Quoting IrishAyes (Reply 4): I love how your TRs are so Chicago-centric. Especially enlightening tidbits such as the fact that a pre-border cleared flight can arrive into the domestic area of T5. I was wondering that throughout the TR and was glad you addressed it at the end. Thanks for the attention to detail!
Thank you for your comments IrishAyes. Yes, about 80% of my flights to date have been transiting either to or from Chicago which I consider to be my second home. In fact, I'm going back again in July with routing SNN-LHR-ORD with BA!
Quoting IrishAyes (Reply 4): To be truthful, that's actually a really interesting/unique way to circumvent long queues when arriving into the States. However, on the flip side of the equation, EI doesn't necessarily offer a competitive enough product to make this option compelling/attractive for premium fliers on TATL routes, IMO. Being unaligned with any major alliance groups is a turn off for some. However, for budget travelers, or people based in Eire, not a bad option. I loved EI when I flew them LHRDUB a few years back.
The preclearance is indeed very handy to have at this side of the pond and I would love to know if EI has picked up more transfer traffic because of it. On the Economy class side, I would put EI on par with pre-merger CO (whether they've changed at all since becoming UA, I haven't seen for myself yet).
Quoting IrishAyes (Reply 4): I was in YVR yesterday and the international terminal there is award-winning. I hope that ORD could/can transform T5 into something more like theirs.
lychemsa From United States of America, joined Oct 2009, 904 posts, RR: 3 Reply 6, posted (11 months 1 week 3 hours ago) and read 5390 times:
Aer Lingus 7 years ago served a nice cake with the lunch. I see they are now copying the US carriers with a measly cookie.
It was the US airlines that always start the bad habits like offering lettuce as a starter. At least Aer LIngus has not yet stooped down to that level yet.
Nice report! Interesting to hear about pre-clearance in T2, not many people have TR'd on that. Great to see the meal service hasn't changed I've had that same meal multiple times, it's getting so tired now!
AmricanShamrok From Ireland, joined May 2008, 2611 posts, RR: 0 Reply 9, posted (11 months 5 days 9 hours ago) and read 4704 times:
Quoting lychemsa (Reply 6): Aer Lingus 7 years ago served a nice cake with the lunch. I see they are now copying the US carriers with a measly cookie.
On my last transatlantic flight with EI back in 2008 they served cheesecake and mints for dessert so yes, it's a big step down! Very disappointing.
Quoting Phen (Reply 7): Nice report! Interesting to hear about pre-clearance in T2, not many people have TR'd on that. Great to see the meal service hasn't changed I've had that same meal multiple times, it's getting so tired now!
Thank you. The meal service may well be the only part that is still lacking on EI's longhaul Y product. I don't think it would cost much to spruce it up a bit? Even to offer a croissant or something eastbound flights for breakfast instead of just orange juice.
Quoting TWA1985 (Reply 8): Wasn't Aer Lingus charging for meals in international economy at one point?
I don't think so. They do charge for food on shothaul A330 flights but meals were always free in longhaul Economy. Now, there is the option to purchase snacks on transatlantic flights in addition to the complimentary meal like Pringles, KitKat/Twix bars etc. but soft drinks are free.
jwhite9185 From United Kingdom, joined May 2007, 721 posts, RR: 0 Reply 10, posted (11 months 5 days 8 hours ago) and read 4654 times:
Quoting AmricanShamrok (Reply 9): Quoting TWA1985 (Reply 8):
Wasn't Aer Lingus charging for meals in international economy at one point?
I don't think so. They do charge for food on shothaul A330 flights but meals were always free in longhaul Economy. Now, there is the option to purchase snacks on transatlantic flights in addition to the complimentary meal like Pringles, KitKat/Twix bars etc. but soft drinks are free.
Seems like EI are having a bit of an identity crisis to me!!
Although i must admit i wasn't unimpressed with them when i flew them shorthaul back in April.
CaptainRed From Germany, joined Oct 2010, 578 posts, RR: 19 Reply 11, posted (11 months 5 days 4 hours ago) and read 4523 times:
Hi AmericanShamrock,
great report, thanks a lot. Good to read something about Kerry airport. Have been there once and I really liked it, small, efficient and a somewhat relaxed atmosphere. Nice touch with the hand-written boarding pass.
Looks like you had a good experience on the EI trans-Atlantic flight. Service and food seemed to be ok, nothing special, but quite alright compared to other airlines. Good that you have the possibility to clear the US immigration already in DUB, even though the officer was kind of rude. But I guess still better that stand in line in ORD.
AmricanShamrok From Ireland, joined May 2008, 2611 posts, RR: 0 Reply 12, posted (11 months 4 days 2 hours ago) and read 4288 times:
Quoting jwhite9185 (Reply 10): Although i must admit i wasn't unimpressed with them when i flew them shorthaul back in April.
To be honest, EI are grand for the fares they offer. Oftentimes they are the most competitively priced - and that is what most people are watching.
Quoting CaptainRed (Reply 11): great report, thanks a lot. Good to read something about Kerry airport. Have been there once and I really liked it, small, efficient and a somewhat relaxed atmosphere. Nice touch with the hand-written boarding pass.
Thank you. Yes, KIR is a nice easy airport and I'm almost on first-name terms with the staff now! I have been using it more lately for connections through DUB as no nonstop alternatives are offered from either here or SNN.
Quoting CaptainRed (Reply 11): Good that you have the possibility to clear the US immigration already in DUB, even though the officer was kind of rude. But I guess still better that stand in line in ORD.
I would prefer not to brave the long lines at ORD...but sadly I will next month!
shamrock350 From Ireland, joined Mar 2005, 6102 posts, RR: 15 Reply 13, posted (11 months 3 days 21 hours ago) and read 4202 times:
Great report!
Not many transatlantic Aer Lingus reports so always good to read one. I was on EI-BYO earlier this week, thought it looked really well inside and out for an aircraft so old, just needs a lick of green paint to look even better. The long-haul offering from Aer Lingus isn't bad, I've never had a problem with it but maybe a new meal option would be nice. Overall I think they're on par with everyone else on similar routes.
Really like the photo of Limerick from the flight by the way!
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I've had that same meal multiple times, it's getting so tired now!
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I would prefer not to brave the long lines at ORD...but sadly I will next month!
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