View Full Version : Dublin to Orlando in October
MandyfromSheffield
17-03-2005, 01:25
Just booked with Aer Lingus Dublin to Orlando going out on 12th Oct for 14 nights at £295 per adult. Connecting flights with Aer Lingus from Glasgow Prestwick came in at £40 each. I've been looking for ages and it's the cheapest by far for October.
E. Cosgrove
17-03-2005, 02:23
Sounds like you've got yourself a good deal. I believe you can also clear US Immigration in Dublin which makes it a lot easier once you get to MCO, no hanging around.
linda allen
17-03-2005, 12:08
I booked my mum and dad for about the same price for this coming May.
Ray&Sarah
17-03-2005, 20:19
Sounds like a great deal.[msnsmile]
luckylady
18-03-2005, 12:37
We are back to Orlando in 6 weeks, counting every minute.
flight already booked
But after reading this thread I checked Airlingus out
They would have been a cheaper option
I will try next time Thanks for the tip
Barbara
We got their 149euro fare for October which totals about £241 return with taxes. Edinburgh to Dublin for about £35 return - going with Ryanair, back with Aer Lingus. There are 8 of us going so this was a mighty saving that we can spend on even more ice cream.
Drew
Just booked Aer Lingus for Christmas - they have released their flights up until March 2006.
€178 each way.
Was over at Dublin at easter and the inflight magazine on the Glasgow to Dublin flight had the prices for the food on the Orlando flight - do they not feed us?? (A sandwich was 4euros)
Drew
Yes they do....not a lot, but they do. One decent meal, soft drinks - alcohol has to be paid for- and a snack just ahead of landing.
:D
orlandodaze
07-04-2005, 01:42
There are six of travelling Aer Lingus to Orlando in June . Three are adult kids , I wonder because we clear emigration in Dublin do they have any problems with passengers taking food onboard , like crisps and fruit for consumption on board because snacks can cost a small fortune . No problems with my husband he sleeps for most of the journey. I can spend like crazy in the Premium Outlets but I hate paying for food onboard the plane.
floridadreamvilla.co.uk
07-04-2005, 02:13
You can take food on board but you will have to dispose of it prior to arrival in the US as you still have to clear US customs on arrival - it's just the immigration that is done in Dublin.
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by orlandodaze
There are six of travelling Aer Lingus to Orlando in June . Three are adult kids , I wonder because we clear emigration in Dublin do they have any problems with passengers taking food onboard , like crisps and fruit for consumption on board because snacks can cost a small fortune . No problems with my husband he sleeps for most of the journey. I can spend like crazy in the Premium Outlets but I hate paying for food onboard the plane.
[/quote]
orlandodaze
07-04-2005, 04:16
Thanks for that John , I probably sound like a sad old thing but I have my priorities , like spending money in Florida, but I dont like purchasing food on board airlines. Hopefully we will all sleep like babes between Dublin and Orlando, I live in fear and dread of those awful words "are we there yet ".
We're also going with them in October/November, not really looking forward to it as they won't pre-allocate bulkhead seating for disabled passengers, I really don't want to have someone recline into my knees for 8 hours :(
We're going this route next Tuesday and we've been given pre-assigned seats (we have a medical letter) but not bulkhead seats (so far as I know) but not on the Manchester to Dublin leg as these are apparently assigned at check-in I guess, from that, the bulkhead seats are the only ones they won't pre-allocate.
Does anyone know the luggage allowance - it looks very generous at 2 x 32kg per person? I thought that there was no food because the inflight magazine had a page on the "Orlando Skycafe". Are the flights back direct now??
Drew
On domestic/European 20 kg, 2 pieces each, 62 ins one bag, 55 ins the second bag. Transatlantic it's 32 kg per bag. So, unless you live in Ireland, on the way out it's 2 bags weighing 20 kg each = 40 kg as the domestic flight has a lower allowance.
Hand luggage is 9 x 14 x 18 inches and 6kg/14 lbs.
Although we were told our return flights were direct, the time of return to Dublin has been changed by 1 hour so I guess it's stopping at Shannon.
Looks like you either get one meal (dinner or breakfast) on transatlantic flights.
The info on their website has the following:
"The Transatlantic baggage allowance also will apply for all travel in Ireland and Europe for passengers originating in the U.S. on an Aer Lingus transatlantic flight".
Don't know if this applies to the Orlando flights because the luggage has to be checked in again in Dublin.
Drew
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by drew2
The info on their website has the following:
"The Transatlantic baggage allowance also will apply for all travel in Ireland and Europe for passengers originating in the U.S. on an Aer Lingus transatlantic flight".
Don't know if this applies to the Orlando flights because the luggage has to be checked in again in Dublin.
Drew[/quote]The important phrase there is 'originating in US' I think, ie not if you're travelling in the opposite direction!
Well, we always bring back more than we take out [msnsmile2]
We were given seat numbers on our confirmation email when we booked, seats A,C,D,E row 23 outbound and row 40 on the return, I've tried phoning their help line but it's like banging your head off a brick wall, they wouldn't even change us to two in front and two behind so i can have family in front of me that won't recline into my knees. I'll try them again next week but I'm not hopeful, I really don't want to take my wheelchair on the flight with me but (and I know it sounds awful) it may be the only way I can get a bulkhead seat allocated at checkin.
As for the luggage allowance, unfortunately we have to use Ryanair to get to Dublin from Newcastle, only a pathetic 15Kg allowance! but with 10Kg hand luggage as well we might just manage, a bit of strategic re-packing is in order when we get back to Dublin as I don't fancy paying £4.70 a Kilo for overweight baggage!, they do say you can pool baggage weight withing the same booking ref. though.
I am going on my own in May and travelling Edinburgh to Dublin with Ryanair so only 15kg - I don't think my toothbrush is that heavy so I will be OK. But on the way back I'm with aerlingus from Dublin to Edinburgh so I think I am allowed 64kg - who knows what I'll be tempted to put in my suitcase!
Drew
OK, well, we arrived in Florida! [8D]
We had a result with our seats on the Manchester to Dublin flight and got allocated seats in row 1 so lots of leg room! The chap at check-in at Manchester looked a bit amazed that we only had one suitcase between two of us and it weighed... wait for it... all of... 11.3 kg! Judicial packing gone to the extreme but we do keep our clothes in Florida. :)
It was an Airbus 320 (for those who know what that is!) with 2 x 3 seats and a central aisle and leather(ette) seats. The flight took just 35 mins. We did have to trot down the steps in the outside but a friendly person in charge kindly took our handluggage down for us to the bottom of the steps! Although if it's raining, you're going to get wet!
We stayed in the Holiday Inn overnight so just had a free phone call to make to arrange for the courtesy vehicle to appear (all the courtesy vehicles stop opposite the Taxi Rank BTW).
For someone who wondered about the large pig, it's to do with a hospice - I'll have a better look on the way back if I can without trying to find a courtesy vehicle parking area, although at first glance at the caption, I couldn't see the correlation with a pig either!
Flight to Florida was the next day so back to the airport again to discover our flight time was changed from 12 noon to 1.15 pm. We were told this was due to the clocks changing but as they were at the same time as the UK, I'm afraid this was rather lost on us, particularly as another 15 mins was added! [confused]
We went through US Immigration at Dublin airport but, as this has the heading of the desks of Ímmigration & Customs' it seemed a bit odd that we didn't do that bit too and it was just the Immigration part.
Our flight left late as one passenger was missing (there's always at least one and I thought we were in for a re-run of Airport!). Anyway, just as they were about to take his luggage off, he appeared, looking suitably embarrassed.
I thought the leg room was reasonable (I'm 5' 8") and we had a hot meal served about 2 hours into the flight - we'd fortunately managed to spend our extra time between check-in and our flight getting something to eat at the airport. Alcohol is charged but soft drinks are free. About two hours prior to arrival, a snack trolley did the rounds but anything required was charged (a sandwich was 4 Euros for instance).
We arrived at Orlando at around 5.15 pm and then went through US Customs and the double bag collection that's probably familiar to all by now. However, the place was empty (first time I've seen that!).
Collected our one (unheavy!) suitcase and then straight down to the car rental desks and Dollar was empty too so we got our car in double quick time and were out of the airport by about 5.40. :)
Blott, it sounds as if it was a good flight compared to your usual adventures - pleased that I can now be totally sure that I don't need to take a packed lunch. My son's patners' parents were on the same flight. When I was in Dublin at Easter the clocks went forward - but I put mine back and ended up missing a meeting I had arranged at 11am by two hours. So maybe thats why they add on an extra 15 minutes!
Drew
Well done Blott :)
A couple of questions if you don't mind [:I]
How was the Holiday Inn?, we're booked there for the night before our flight as well.
Did you see any disabled/wheelchair passengers on the flight and did they get allocated bulkhead seating?, I've tried repeatedly asking AerLingus but they keep saying it'll be done at checkin and we've never managed to do this with any other airline (except US Airways) so I'm a bit dubious to say the least!.
Our email confirmation from AerLingus says we can take 2x32Kg cases each in both directions, shame we're having to use Ryanair to get to Dublin and being limited to 15Kg.
The Holiday Inn was OK Phaedra, not much space in our room (smaller than a Travel Lodge) but OK. Food at the Bistro restaurant was good and the Breakfast Hamper was enough for two of us! The total bill, including meals for two of us was over 200 Euros. The courtesy vehicle to the airport runs every half hour on the half hour so 00 and 30. We got the 8.30 one but, had we known about the flight change, could have got the 9.30 one.
I ordered wheelchair assistance for myself anyway from Dublin and, as you already know, I already had my seat allocated when I booked and it wasn't a bulkhead one. No doubt if you ask at check-in, that's when these seats get allocated although I have to say that there were a lot of small babies on our flight who had skycots so they accounted for most of the bulkhead seats.
Thanks Blott :)
We've paid £74 (€106) for a quad room, no doubt plus the usual 9% tax when we get there.
Hopefully it looks like I won't be needing the wheelchair, all being well I'll just need the legroom or get my family seated in front of me so I don't get reclined into!.
Enjoy the rest of your holiday :D
Hi is there seat back screens on the flight?
aly
Not on our flights, sorry!
floridadreamvilla.co.uk
22-04-2005, 13:33
There are seat back screens on a limited portion of the Aer Lingus A330 fleet but these aircraft tend to be used on the Dublin to Los Angeles route as it's a 11.5 hour flight and so more need for them on that. Having flown the route, we did not rate the seat back entertainment at all - we hardly turned it on - just wall to wall cheesy US sitcoms like Friends etc etc which is not my taste at all.
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by aly
Hi is there seat back screens on the flight?
aly
[/quote]
tezz7628
25-04-2005, 15:22
when this route was first suggested on the forum i looked up oct nov dec which is when i usually travel
it was showing as not available, and i'm sure i saw on the forum someone mentioning it wasn't available in the winter
but i looked again with reading this and the dates are showing [msnwink]
It was only available in the winter and stopped just after we return in May but they've extended the service all year around Tezz as far as I can gather.
orlandodaze
26-04-2005, 03:52
The Holiday Inn at Dublin Airport is quite a nice hotel (lovely Chinese restaurant) and maybe 5 minutes walk to the terminal, a cheaper option may be the Great Southern Hotel across from the Holiday Inn (similar hotel). Cheaper again is the Travel Lodge on the Swords road about 10 minutes drive from the airport, very basic with a Little Chef attached. The nicest (in my opinion) is the new Crowne Plaza hotel, which is on its own grounds and about 10 minutes from the airport. Apparently Hilton are building a hotel this year close to the airport.
I've just remembered about the Holiday Inn that there's a compulsory 15% service charge on everything including room and meals.
rainyday
12-05-2005, 22:01
Unfortunately Aer Lingus have just announced that the Dublin-Orlando service will be s[bad language filtered out]ped with effect from early next year (late Jan /early Feb).