Dublin Airport Check-in Times

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Round Tuit

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Any seasoned travellers out there advice would be appreciated.
I'm travelling on Continental Airlines to US for first time (Continental, not US) anyway have noticed my etkt says 3 hr check-in. Having checked the DAA site it says most check-in desks only open 2 hrs before flight so there’s no point in coming earlier. Then I thought I’d check the Aer Lingus site to see what they said - for US they have 3.3hrs check-in listed!! As my flight leaves at 9am I really don’t want to be there any earlier than 7am unless someone out here in AAM land advises me otherwise.
 
We went with Continental last year to Newark from Dublin and as far as I know 2 hours before check-in was advised, which we did and didn't have a problem. Although since then and the recently security breach it will take longer to get to the boarding gate, this is probably prompted the longer check-in time. I'd say you should be ok being in the queue at 7am
 
Will you be clearing US immigration in Dublin? If so, don't forget to allow 20-30 minutes for this.
 
Queues for security are better than they used to be .. still pretty bad between 5.30 and 6.45 in the morning... I'd say turn up for checkin around 7.00 .. you should get through security pretty quick then .. there's no point in turning up much earlier ... as the desks may not be open .. and even if they are you'll only get stuck in the queues to get through security for the early morning flights.
 
Check-in will be open at 6.30 for that flight and I'd recommend aiming to be joining the queue no later than 7pm. There's often long delays to get through security at that time of morning and then you have ins to deal with.
 
Continental opens the desk 2.5 hours in advance and since the new rules of APIS are in effect with check-in takes longer these days (amazing how many people forget where they are staying in the US even that they must enter it into the forms).

But as EvilDoctorK says between 5.30 and 6.45 the security queues are a nightmare.

So if you have a machine readable passport, know your 1st point of call in the US (including ZIP) and don't have the same name like a person on the no fly list you should be able to make it if you are there latest at 07:00 to check in and than the security queues are not that long anymore.
 
Thanks to all - so between 6.30 and 7am it is then. I don't mind being there early so much when I know the check-in desk will actually be open. I have the readable passport, have the addresses of where I'm staying. Am still surprised that no-one has asked me for all this in advance - as I read on a different thread that Aer Lingus had been emailing people for this info. Anyhow - there's still time for that I suppose.
 
In case it's of interest ... The Continental Check In Desks - in Area 13 - appeared to be open at 0550 this morning (there was a staff member there though no punters!)

Though there is no need whatsoever to be this ridiculously early for your filght :)
 
EvilDoctorK said:
In case it's of interest ... The Continental Check In Desks - in Area 13 - appeared to be open at 0550 this morning (there was a staff member there though no punters!)

Though there is no need whatsoever to be this ridiculously early for your filght :)
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Not uncommon at all. They should be there by 6.30 at the latest (which is when the ticket desk also opens) but are often open earlier than that in an attempt to dampen the queue build-up later.

Overall though I reckon aiming to be at the desk before 7 is fine. You're building enough time into that to allow for unforeseen problems getting there and if you do check-in at that time you'll be under no stress waiting in the security/ins queues.

Obviously not aimed at anyone here but as someone who travels a lot I never cease to be amazed at people who figure "flight leaves at 7 sure getting there at 6.15 is plenty of time", end up getting delayed somewhere and get to the desk at 6.45 with the subsequent wobbly directed at the staff. I'll happily bring some reading material and kill an hour or more waiting to board then face the stress of legging it through an unfamiliar airport trying to make a flight :rolleyes:
 
It's an old thread, but then it's an old problem.....

Does anyone know how early I should aim to get to Dublin Airport tomorrow morning (Sat.) for an 8:30 flight?

It's been a couple of months since I've flown and check-in/waiting times seem to change considerably even from day to day.

I'm travelling with the family, so need to strike a balance between leaving plenty of time and not having to get everyone up at too un-Godly an hour.

I'd apreciate any feedback from anyone who's travelled recently early on a Saturday morning. Thanks!
 
How long is the flght? (as in, is it to the UK? Or longer distance?), either way, I would allow 2 hours, since Aer Lingus started making you check yourself in, the queues have gotten longer, and I think Saturday is a busy day for flying.
 
I've caught that BA8081 flight on weekdays on a few occasions and the airport is very quiet indeed around then ... During the week the big rush is for flights departing between 0600 and 0730ish ... by the time that BA flight is going it's very quiet indeed during the week anyway .. maybe a bit different on Saturdays but not that different I wouldnt' think .

The BA flight checks in on it's own (in Area 2 over the left hand side of the hall), it's a fairly small aircraft so queues for check in shouldn't be too much of an issue

The earlier you turn up the more likely you are to be caught up in the 0600-0730 rush going through security... Travelling on my own on that flight I certainly wouldn't turn up before 0730 ... if you're going as a family you might want to allow a bit more time, but I certainly wouldn't recommend turning up before 7.00
 
Last flight I got was a c. 9AM charter on a Sunday in April and the airport was crazy so I wouldn't make too many assumptions about how busy things will be at specific times on specific days.
 
Also as you're travelling on BA remember you should check in online 24 hours beforehand on www.ba.com to get your seats allocated together as a family (especially important for the long haul flight). Then you just need to drop your bags off at the airport (you can print your own boarding card if you want .. but it's entirely optional .. they're not like Ryanair who'll try to charge you if you print your own boarding card and then don't lose it / use it

Clubman - yes agreed I don't know about weekends at that time... but in general the early morning rush is still a feature every day ... since most of traffic from Dublin Airport is carried on Ryanair/Aer Lingus aircraft that are based in Dublin .. and they're all departing the airport as early as possible in the morning as aircraft are very expensive assets to have hanging around doing nothing for any longer than necessary .. hence the busiest time for departures is 0600-0730 ... I think Sunday can be a bit of an exception to this as demand for travel on a Sunday morning at very early times is lower than during the week, or even on Saturday.

As always your experience may vary, but as I've said before people turning up at the airport early because it's busy is a bit of a self fulfilling prophecy ... because the busy-ness isn't determined just by the number of people passing through, it's also determined by the amount of time they spend there :)
 
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