Good tax savings on long-haul Avios 241 redemptions if you start in Dublin

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• Jon says:

  9 May9 May 08:38

  If you go to Dublin and then come straight back on the same aircraft do you need to clear customs again or can you just check in online and stay airside? Also, am I right thinking you can have a stopover in London before the long haul leg as long as it’s no more than 48hrs?

  • memesweeper says:

    9 May9 May 08:44

    From Heathrow to Dublin I did this and stayed airside, having checked in on my phone, but this was a few years ago. You should check flyertalk for up to date information on ‘back to back’ at Dublin.

  • ChrisC says:

    9 May9 May 09:40

    Yes you need to pass immigration and security at DUB.

    Its no longer a get off and get straight back on again destination and hasn’t been for several years.

    • dougzz99 says:

      9 May9 May 09:44

      Definitely this. Dublin is not best choice for B2B, as in returning on same aircraft.

  • John says:

    9 May9 May 13:45

    24 hours in London otherwise you pay £180 APD (an actual tax), not sure of the effect on the carrier surcharge (which is the main thing you save by starting in DUB)

• Froggitt says:

  9 May9 May 08:52

  Alexa, design me a green tax that encourages people to fly more

• AJA says:

  9 May9 May 08:58

  I realise BA is trying to recoup losses from the last 2 years but those taxes fees and charges are beyond a joke. Almost makes it not worthwhile using Avios and the companion voucher only barely improves things. I think I’d sooner go for a WTP ticket and upgrade with Avios.

  It’s all very well saying how much you can save by starting in Dublin but how easy is it to get Avios tickets to Dublin? Or how much does a cash ticket and possibly a hotel cost in addition?

  Apart from the extra cost my biggest fear is that BA would cancel the DUB LHR flight leaving you in the lurch. Even with direct flights there is no guarantee BA will not cancel.

  I see yesterday Sean Doyle was blaming Heathrow for its woes by not opening T4 at the end of March which doesn’t explain BA’s staffing issues and baggage handling problems Until those issues are resolved I think I’ll pass on using BA for long haul.

  • NorthernLass says:

    9 May9 May 10:14

    AJA – You can fly to DUB from LPL or MAN for £20 with HBO on Ryanair! £45 with a checked bag if you book far enough out. I’m sure fares from other regions are comparable.

    • AJA says:

      9 May9 May 23:27

      Thanks, unfortunately neither LPL nor MAN are very convenient for me given I live west of London.

  • John T says:

    9 May9 May 11:32

    Dublin is one of the cheapest cities to fly to from the UK.

    • John says:

      9 May9 May 13:46

      But hotels are ridiculously priced

• Olivia says:

  9 May9 May 09:01

  Have a 2for1 flight planned to Boston planned next month – out in F, back in Business. Seat map when booking (last year) showed Club Suite but has since changed to Club World due to aircraft change. We realised there was F availability on the flight so called up BA to see what the difference would be to upgrade… 40k points and ADDITIONAL £636 for upgrade! Already had paid approx. £700 on original booking. Outrageous.

• lumma says:

  9 May9 May 09:16

  So, if I understand correctly, you need to pay £250 annual fee for a credit card, which you need to spend £10,000 on in 12 months, gain an additional 100,000 avios from somewhere, over and above what you would earn from the sign-up bonus and card spend. You then use these 140k points (worth £1116 at Sainsbury’s et al.) plus another £577 and the cost of getting to Dublin and the inconvenience of flying back to the UK, just so you can do the short hop to NYC in business class?

  And how does one explain this to their wife? “By the way, we’ll be hand baggage only it we’ll have to fly back to Dublin again after the trip”

  • CamFlyer says:

    9 May9 May 09:34

    I’m the point collector, and given a choice between non-stop VS PE to the US West Coast and connecting J (in AMS on KLM), my wife was far more willing to connect than I, even if it meant an overnight in DUB or AMS or longer total travel time. It all depends on the constituency.

  • NorthernLass says:

    9 May9 May 10:16

    NYC is just an example, you can do this with any BA destination!

  • Tom gold says:

    9 May9 May 11:04

    I once took the wife and kids all the way to Inverness overnight to make my long haul premium economy much cheaper.
    Everyone had a good time.
    Though not everywhere is there a loch Ness monster

  • vol says:

    9 May9 May 22:04

    …If the wife starts to complain, simply cancel her ticket and book it for your girlfriend instead 😉

• BA-Flyer says:

  9 May9 May 09:31

  Does the Barclays Mastercard voucher allow you to start outside the UK?

  • Rob says:

    9 May9 May 10:18

    No

• ChrisC says:

  9 May9 May 09:47

  Another article conflating proper government taxes and BAs egregious surcharges.

• dougzz99 says:

  9 May9 May 09:52

  The thing about the 241 Dublin option is that it compares badly to advance cash fares. Dublin is often a place with good price cash tickets to US. You have pre-clearance, which I personally didn’t rate, but I have GE so probably not best judge of value of pre-clear, and direct AA flights to Philadelphia and DFW with connections from those two to pretty much anywhere. Because of pre-clear your minimum connect time in USA is reduced from a normal international arrival, so journey time is often very good.
  In terms of dropping final leg, I wouldn’t promote that, but LCY-DUB flights widely available so you don’t need hand baggage only to drop final leg if you choose to.
  In my experience Avios flights to Dublin from LHR and LCY widely available if London is your starting point.

  • dougzz99 says:

    9 May9 May 10:03

    Just checked. I paid £1273 for a DUB-PHL-TPA and TPA-MIA-LHR/LCY-DUB. 400TP and a wedge of Avios to pay for the flights to and from DUB to begin and end, £100 for a hotel at Dublin airport the night before the first leg. Will start and end at LCY which works for me.

    • Rob says:

      9 May9 May 10:16

      I paid £1200 for Aer Lingus business class Dublin to New York for July. Importantly, this is NOT a ‘Saturday night stay’ fare.

      • dougzz99 says:

        9 May9 May 11:40

        Again that’s a nice fare.
        I’m happy to stay in Tampa (well Gulf Coast) any number of any day and nights. I think the point is that Dublin provides great cash options, and paying £850 TFC on a redemption from London suggests that flying direct from London is all that’s important to you. It values your Avios so low that Sainsbury’s has to be a better option. The Avios value looks respectable if you compare absolutely like for like and don’t factor in a willingness to live with other options. I get there are people that want direct flight and simplicity, but I’m not one of them.

        • PGW says:

          9 May9 May 11:54

          I’ve been considering TPA ex DUB for September/October and finding that by far the cheapest premium fares are those connecting to the direct service from London. The AA fares through the usual US connecting points are very high during that period and pretty much the same as ex UK fares. I’ve had great value from DUB in the past but at the moment the cupboard’s looking a little bare. Hopefully this isn’t a permanent situation.

  • joseph jordan says:

    10 May10 May 06:41

    PHL is the only year round route, other AA routes out of DUB are seasonal

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