Planning for next July

pandio · Veteran Member

Planning for next July

Michele Erdvig · Host

Welcome to the forum. You are starting out right by gathering info, planning well in advance and asking for advice. You can see quite a bit in 2 weeks.

I think it may be too early to find the Shannon flights. You should sign up for email alerts at your airline of choice. Depending on where you are traveling from prices will probably be in the $1,000 + range per person. Keep in mind high season also.

Renting a self-catering cottage or house should be done well in advance for July as that is prime season. Generally Sat to Sat at that time of year. Read my Self-catering page for more info: http://www.irelandyes.com/irelandselfcatering.html If you spend a week in two different areas you may not get to everything on your list. If you opt to stay at B&Bs instead you can do a little more moving around and cover more territory.

For castle hotels: http://www.irelandyes.com/castles.html You might be in for some sticker shock there.

Let us know how we can help as your research and planning proceeds.

Geno · Guru

While most on this forum hope the Shannon routes reopen like days gone by, it remains doubtful at this time. What that means is that if you have Shannon as even part of your route, you are usually going to pay much more than simply doing a round trip in and out of Dublin. I think almost anyone on here would rather fly in and out of Shannon, but the airlines are choking off that wonderful little airport. Even Aer Lingus. Before they would let you off at Shannon first (since it is on the west coast -- makes sense), and then continue onto Dublin. Now if you fly Shannon on that airline, they fly over Shannon, land in Dublin first, make you sit there for about 3-4 hours and then you reboard a plan and fly back to Shannon, where then they let you off. Makes no sense.

When we were in Doolin last year, were talking to someone who is in the know regarding the airport authority in Shannon, and they are fighting and clawing their way back into some route plans, as this is costing that region millions each year from lost tourism dollars. Really quite a downer, as the airport is wonderful.

Geno

pandio · Veteran Member

Thanks for your replies. Good to know about the flights and prices. We will probably just count on In and out of Dublin then.
I did consider staying at B&B's but I just wasn't sure how that would work with the five of us. I'm thinking we could do two rooms -one with two beds so the younger two could be in our room. Then our 17 yr old could have his own room. That is if there's B&B's that do family rooms like that.
We will probably skip staying in a castle since it would cost a fortune for two or three rooms there!
I look forward to researching more and planning :) thanks for your help.

Itallian Chauffeur · Moderator

Lots of B&Bs offer Family rooms -- some offer two doubles and a Single. Self-Catering can sometimes be arraigned for shorter periods, as well.

I've done 3 or 4 night rentals in Killarney, even in late June / Early July. Even if you have to pay for a Full week, doing so and only staying 3-5 nights can still be a money saver.

This past summer, my wife and I were joined for part of the trip by our son and grandson. Two rooms in a B&B ran between 140 and 180 Euro per night. We rented a two bedroom apartment in Killarney for 4 nights (but only styed there 3) for 308 Euro. Three nights, B&B would have cost us a minimum of 420 Euro -- a savings of nearly 120 Euro -- and the actual savings would have closer to 250, if we hadn't had to leave a day early, so that the boys could catch their flight home.

Shannon Airport used to be controlled by the Dublin Airport Authority, which badly affected their viability. Now that they are more Self-Directed, hopefully some vitality may gradually return. It really is a terrific, little airport, but living in Florida, decent connecting flights to SNN are few and far between. Our son had NO problems, though connecting there from Denver.

Michele Erdvig · Host

United flies to Shannon from Newark.

Judy · Guru

Looks like this year the only direct flights to and from Shannon on Aer Lingus are from JFK and Boston. From the west coast the only direct flight is SF to Dublin. If you are flying from other than SF you will probably need a connecting flight anyway. You can still go into Dublin and out of Shannon connecting on the east coast. I wouldn't discount your original plan. It would be a better use of your travel time in Ireland.

Start looking for sales on flights around January or February for summer travel. Keep a close watch on airline web sites and as Michele suggested sign up for alerts.

Your idea of staying in self catering houses is a good idea, especially with children. To add to what Bob said, we rented a 4 bedroom house for a week, but only used the house 5 days which was less expensive than 2 rooms at a B&B for 5 days. That will give you something to think about as you do your planning for accommodations.

pandio · Veteran Member

Thanks for all the good info!!! I'm loving it :) I will definitely be looking into both selfcatering and B&B"s to see what I can come up with. I hadn't thought of booking one for a week and checking out early but if it saves money that's definitely an option. Then maybe a B&B for a night or two if need be.
When I had looked at Aerlingus a day or so ago it said there were no flights from Shannon during the summer months at all, but I will keep looking and check other airlines as well this winter and see how it plays out.
I wont actually be able to book anything until after February anyway - when I see how things are going with the hubby's Storm work (He's a power lineman). So if all goes well then I can really get serious about next summer. If not we will have to put it off a bit longer, but it will be nice to have it all planned out for the most part no matter when we can go.
My oldest son is going to Germany for 3 weeks next June as part of an exchange program through his school. We get the German student next month! I'm very excited about that too and happy he is going to get to do some traveling :)

Anyway my hubby doesn't want to be in a rush while we are in Ireland, which means I will have to be flexible with my itinerary lol. I want to see it all of course! But I know its not possible so I'll have to pick and choose what to do first and what can wait for the second visit!
How many days do you think would be best for Dublin area for the things I listed above? 2 or 3?

Judy · Guru

Another source for flights to/from Shannon would be the Shannon airport web site.

http://www.shannonairport.ie/gns/Passengers/flights/where-when-which-airline/summer.aspx

In addition to Aer Lingus, United, Delta and US Airways have direct flights from the US for summer travel to/from Shannon.

Geno · Guru

Good to see more routes in there during the summer months -- I have always gone in the off seasons. The issue will be, however, what the price is. Hopefully they can get some routes with competitive rates compared to going into Dublin. It's just so expensive to get to Shannon these days.