Advice on last day in Ireland - Dublin, flying early, what to do with the car?

Garry Dufford · Member

Advice on last day in Ireland - Dublin, flying early, what to do with the car?

Michele Erdvig · Host

Garry,

Since you are driving from Galway to Dublin it will take approximately 4 hours. Will that day be your only time in Dublin? If so, you won't have long and won't be able to see much.

DART does not go to the airport. There are buses that do. Many airport hotels have shuttle buses back and forth from the airport. Staying near the airport will be quicker for you in the morning. You need to be at the airport three hours in advance of your flight. That means 6 am. Generally, the airport hotels are less expensive than downtown hotels.

As for dropping off your car, some car rentals have lots at the airport. Others are farther away and you must take a shuttle from the lot to the airport. Find out about that in advance. Curently there are few signs at Dublin Airport for car rentals. If yours is at the airport you must aim for Departures and look for the car rental lots. I was just there and saw no signs. Very confusing for tourists. There is also lots of construction at the airport and around it.

Michele

stewh · Guru

Hi Garry,
I returned a car at Dublin Airport on Saturday. We stayed Friday night near the airport (The Carnegie Court in Swords). As Michele says there is a lot of badly needed expansion construction going on. There are a few signs for the rental returns area - go slow towards departure area and keep your eyes open. My car went to Hertz which is at the Airport along with many other companies, a quick shuttle to Departures. Personally, I would not stay in city center and drive in Dublin.
Stewart

-- Edited by stewh at 09:31, 2008-05-29

Michele Erdvig · Host

Stewart,

Hertz is the only car rental lot that I did see signposted. All the others were hit or miss. How I miss flying into and out of Shannon. It was always a breeze.

Michele

Garry Dufford · Member

Thanks for the info...

We'll need to get there 3 hours pre-flight?! I've always heard approx. 2hr for international. Maybe that's a pre 9-11 rule???

Stewh, how much was The Carnegie Court? Did they have a shuttle? We're not staying in anyplace too swank. Budget is fine. To make the morning easier I might stay near the airport, return the car the day before, and get a shuttle in for the flight.

We're leaving the last few days of our trip a little loose for now. We may do 2 days in Galway, 1 in Dublin, or vice versa. I love Galway and haven't spent much time in Dublin so the former approach is appealing. We'll see...

I'd love to do the Guinness tour. I probably won't have enough time if I only spend one night there.

I guess I should lock in the Dublin part pretty soon, huh? We're flying to London in 4 days! We'll need something in Dublin in about 2 1/2 weeks...

Michele Erdvig · Host

Garry,

If you have already ditched the car and take a shuttle to the airport you can get away with arriving 2 1/2 hours early. Dublin is a very busy airport. Better to get there a bit early than too late!

You should be booking your airport hotel. Some friends of mine just stayed at the Holiday Inn and said it was fine. Bewleys has pretty good rates as does the Premier Inn.

Michele

youngka · Guru

Garry, Michele's idea about calling ahead is good. We flew out of Shannon early and got to the return lot and it was closed. We drove to airport and asked the rental man what to do with the car.....he said leave it where it is and give him the key. They would take care of it. Might save you some sleep, time? lots of ideas to choose from Youngka

stewh · Guru

Carnegie Court was a deal for me at 69 Euros for 2 people breakfast included. It is a modern, well equipped hotel but can be a bit noisy if there is a 'function' near your room. I booked early at http://www.priceline-europe.com/index.html. They do not have shuttle service. Michele, we flew into Shannon but unfortunately had to depart from Dublin this trip. I'm with you. It is worse than ever, difficult to even walk through the check-in area. The car hire return areas were all lined up with Hertz being the last in line and oddly, now that you mention it, the only company with their own signs.
Stewart

wckc · Guru

When we came back on the 9th, we arrived at the airport the required 3 hours early. Unfortunately, no one told the AerLingus counter that you are required to be there three hours in advance! They weren't ready to accept our luggage yet! We had to cool our heals for half an hour before checking our baggage. We made it through security and into Duty Free in 5 minutes (and that included time for me setting off the metal detector).

Once through duty free (we had already purchased all we needed except chocolates) we made it to the gate and sat and waited for nearly two hours. Most of the other passengers on our flight didn't make it to the gate area until the last 20-30 minutes before the flight took off.

I don't know if this was a normal Friday morning or not, but the three hour requirement sure didn't make sense to us.

-wc

Michele Erdvig · Host

WC,

Was it Dublin and was it a very early flight? Mine was a bit after 11 am. No matter what, you always end up sitting around at airports. But if you got a flat on the way to the airport you would have appreciated the extra time.

Michele

wckc · Guru

Michelle -

It was Dublin. Our flight was at 12:45, we got there at 9:40.

Michele Erdvig · Host

WC,

I guess it depends on the airline. Delta was right there to check in people when I arrived three hours early. I guess it is better to be to early than too late for a flight!

Michele