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Ex Dublin to US/Canada/Mexico from £1337
The regular good price deal from Dublin to the US has returned, and there is even a reasonable price to Hawaii, but nothing like the good old days that were around £1500. Most of them do involve connecting in the US, but if you arrive from Dublin as a domestic passenger, it is very straightforward.
Some flights are still very cheap, but not in the six-month advance purchase with availability June to August, so it is worth a look, no matter what your travel dates are.
If you are not worried about tier points and flying back to Heathrow to start your trip, then flying from Dublin has a big advantage; you pass through US immigration and customs at Dublin. So there is no queuing up when you land, as you arrive like a domestic flight.
The main disadvantage for me from Dublin is that the lounges are generally pretty poor. The Aer Lingus one is extremely basic, although it looks OK. You will also be directed to the pre-clearance lounge at a set time before departure which is better but still has a poor food selection. You also need to be aware that you will be on separate tickets for positioning to Dublin, so I usually advise going to Dublin the night before to be on the safe side.
- Offer dates: six-month advance purchase fares
- Minimum stay: at least 24 hours and a Saturday-night stay
- Airlines: British Airways, American Airlines, Aer Lingus, Finnair, Iberia
- Prices:
- New York £1350
- Miami £1530
- Las Vegas £1514
- Los Angeles £1614
- San Francisco £1613
- San Diego £1643
- Honolulu £2180
- Vancouver £1623
- Toronto £1331
- Cancun £1566
You can check the prices and availability on ba.com here.
BA cuts back on Club Europe breakfast
You may remember a couple of months ago I reported a trial by BA to switch from the usual hot breakfast options to a cold set meal on shorter routes. Ultra-short routes like Jersey already had a reduced offering with a bacon roll, which was a reasonable compromise on a 35-minute flight.
BA has now announced to cabin crew that this trial will become a permanent feature from 7 January.
The change will affect the following routes:
- Amsterdam
- Belfast
- Brussels
- Paris
- Dublin
- Jersey
- Manchester
- Newcastle
Some of these flights, like Dublin, are scheduled for a flight time of 1 hour and 25 minutes, which seems plenty long enough to serve a hot meal. Other routes like Jersey and Paris, I can understand. This feels more like cost-cutting. As someone said on Flyertalk, where crew shared the information, if they just wanted to cut down on the crew’s workload, they would be offering a choice of something like the existing Continental meat and cheese plate or a sweet option like the new offering, or something like a granola bowl.
The new meal will consist of a fruit plate, yoghurt, and a warm pastry. Some people may welcome this. Others like me who don’t like sweet things, or who are trying to avoid excess sugar or carbohydrates, won’t be very happy. Since the changes to the BA Club, I’m guessing many readers fly Club Europe less on these shorter routes if they are not worried about tier points, but it definitely seems like another step back to have zero choice for breakfast.
What do you think about these changes? Let us know in the comments below.
London City’s new outrageous drop-off fees
In the UK, we have become used to drop-off fees at virtually all our airports, but in all my travels, I don’t think I have ever seen anything like it abroad. Even at busy airports, you usually get around 15 minutes free to drop someone off. While airports all try to make it about being environmentally conscious, that sounds like nonsense to me. If we take Heathrow as an example, if you want to travel to the south of the UK there are no train options unless you travel on the Elizabeth line to Reading and change there. If Heathrow really cared, it would invest in better public transport options. There are also always situations where public transport is just not practical for travellers with mobility issues or with lots of luggage, for example.
London City is the latest airport to introduce a drop-off fee from 6 January. From my experiences at the airport, I have never seen that many people being dropped off other than by Uber or taxi. Not only is the new fee £8, you only get 5 minutes. After that, you will be charged £1 a minute up to an additional 10 minutes. Blue badge holders and Black cabs will be exempt from the charge.
The airport says that “This move is part of our commitment to encourage more travel to and from the airport via public and sustainable transport modes, of which two-thirds of our passengers already use.”
16 comments
RE – BA breakfast.
I am ALL for getting rid of overcooked congealed eggs with greasy sausages providing the cold option going forward is good quality.
I guess BA can’t really be accused of ‘dumbing down’ with this cut as when you look at every other European airline I cannot think of any that offer a hot breakfast on short haul flights in Business Class.
WTF? Firstly, there are no train options at Heathrow unless you get the Elizabeth Line to Reading???? There are millions of options. Get the Elizabeth line into central London and you can easily connect to the tube to any of the major train stations incredibly easily – including those that serve the South of England such as Waterloo, Victoria, London Bridge, St Pancras, Charing Cross, Cannon Street, London Bridge and Blackfriars.
Secondly, I’m struggling to think of many people who would even think about being dropped off at London City Airport when the DLR goes almost literally right into the terminal
Maybe just accept you don’t need to eat for the 35-45 mins you’re in the air
As always, BA are simply cost cutting on the breakfast. There has always been plenty of time to serve a cooked breakfast on a 1 hour flight or longer………….but then if Lyin Air don’t serve it why should the all new BA?
You get 25% of total miles flown as BA tier points when flying Aer Lingus on a non flexi business class ticket.
As BA cannot serve a pastry without it resembling cardboard and the fruit is so cold it’s inedible, my vote would be to just serve a decent coffee / tea and take at least £10 off the ticket price.
Drop-off fees, imposed by airports but in effect mandated by government, are part of the Net Zero scam.
100%
Nothing to do with net zero.
All to do with profit and paying off the (loaded) debt.
Perhaps if LCY, having had their conscience pricked about environment concerns, they might donate a chunk of the fee to worthy charitable causes? On the other hand, I doubt it.
I liked the cooked breakfast , I opted for the omelet. It was often the only meal on a long working or travel day so much required. I think it should be brought back as like you I do not want more sweet food
As to drop of charges we should have a national campaign to have them banned as airports as just doing this a a way to print money and I have yet to have a better experience. It is just another travel tax and a total rip off for passengers as I am sure most people are unable to use public transport to an airport
Always hated the omelet so this is fine by me. No other airline offers cooked food for such short flights. As for drop off charges, Northern airports charge way more and if it truly is “drop off” and opposed to “endless hugs”, 5 minutes is definitely long enough.
It’s very simple it’s about cutting costs which is what BA are all about
I agree with Zx that the comment about rail links into LHR is wildly inaccurate. The Elizabeth Line doesn’t go directly to Reading from LHR, although there is a Railair coach, and less frequently to Woking. But the Western link into LHR should have been built long since.
BA has the biggest business class cabins of all airlines with sometimes up to 48 seats on very short fights. It is hard for the crew to serve a hot meal on such flights and a lot of times passengers do not have enough time to finish the meal.
The crew does it, but does looked and is rushed.
This is out and out cost cutting by BA, all hidden behind insufficient time to serve! This is utter rubbish.
Twenty years ago, I used to fly regularly on the two early morning flights from LGW to MAN. The crew managed to serve the entire aircraft (737) a breakfast and clear up even when the actual flight time could be sub 30 mins and the two flights were always full. On top of this, as I was staff at the time, I was on occasion served my breakfast last in case there were not enough. I easily managed to finish with plenty of time and I am not a fast eater!
Like you Michele, I hate sweet food. I will never consider flying Club on any of these routes early morning.
When will BA just do a little something to enhance the club experience?
To avoid the ripoff drop off fees , just get dropped off at long term parking and take the free bus.