Dublin Airport has a US pre-clearance facility, where for select flights you clear US immigration before getting on the plane in Ireland.
Continue reading: A New US Pre-Clearance Lounge Is Opening At Dublin Airport
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Just went through Dublin on Aer Lingus biz class in June. One note about Global Entry - yes there are kiosks but you still have to hand the piece of paper to a customs officer. The line is seperated but we ended up being behind the entire Aer Lingus crew (all Irish citizens) so ended up taking a very long time and we jumped in the regular US line. Essentially global entry only saves you the hassle of writing out your info on the customs form.
Loved aer lingus biz class (food could've been improved) but great crew, comfortable seats (although i did lose a sweatshirt underneath the seat and they couldn't find it...).
Maybe comfortable but not very practical right? Suppose more countries start pulling these stunts. You would need massive airports to have a US lounge, Luxemburg lounge, China lounge, Zimbabwe lounge, UK lounge, Irak lounge etc. Looks like unnecessary overkill.
I know that Pre-Clearance is starting to take hold but is it an improvement? Just seems like it could increase the risk of missing a flight. This risk also exists at the US point of entry but personally I would prefer to miss a connection at a US hub airport with plenty of flight rebooking options rather than a foreign airport where I might have to wait a day or two to be rebooked due to the scarcity of flights.
I flew through Dublin in January and Abu Dhabi last week, both with US pre-clearance. With international flights you need to arrive 2 hours prior to check in anyways. This gives you plenty of time to clear local security and customs, visit the lounge and the lounge will tell you about what time you should leave to go through pre-clearance. Dublin was very easy as I have global entry. Once past US customs, there really wasn't much to see or too many services beyond food carts and I think a small coffee/pastry shop.
For Abu Dhabi, wow the airport has so much before pre-clearance. I had the dreaded random SSSS on my boarding pass so I went through pre-clearance a little earlier than what I normally would. I went into the small Etihad lounge after pre-clearance and I don't recall too much beyond small cramped seating areas for each gate. They are building a new airport that should be open in a year or so however.
The beauty of this is, when you land in the US you can go right to your next gate if connecting or to baggage claim without worrying about any additional hassles of customs. So you get the extra time on the front end of the trip instead of the back end.
@Jeff
Thanks - sounds like progress. I have Global Entry but wasn't sure it would be useful overseas as PreCheck often isn't.
My Dad does Dublin to USA flights on Aer Lingus dozens of times a year, a great addition
The pre clearance in Dublin is fantastic. For those of us non US citizens there is nothing worse than US immigration lines on arrival after a long overseas flight and the eternal waiting and invariable bad humour of local staff. Pre clearance is a breeze in comparison and you can do it while you stilll feel awake. The Aer Lingus flight following (business) is bang on, and a consistently friendly crew. Am regularly routing from mainland Europe via Dubln to take advantage. Great product.
Just flew DUB-JFK on DL in Y. While pre-clearance was one of the reasons to fly out of Europe from DUB, the fact that you have to go through security, pass shops, only to go for a second (!) security screening, followed by a long U.S. immigration line (don't have Global Entry), made the process not as pleasant and time-efficient as I had hoped for.
Comfortable lounge with friendly staff.
Early morning. You could help yourself to pastries and fruit. Nice smoothies.
A separate bar area where a staff member poured wine, spirits or beer, including Guinness.
Great views.
Showers available.
We skipped the usual lounge and enjoyed this lounge without worrying about possible delays at pre clearance.
We pre paid for a lounge pass to use in Dublin, and presented it at 51st and Green - it was not accepted. The Aer LIngus site said "start your experience in the Gold Circle lounge and then continue the experience post US pre-clearance in the new 51st and Green lounge.." so we didn't bother stopping at the Gold Circle. So lounge pass buyers be advised.
went thru it yesterday....a joke....aee lingus had about 6 flights leaving for us in a 40 minute span...they now have machines that reject 70 percent of people so you line up for the machines and then again tonmwet an officer.....i tben had an issue that neede a secondary immigration check....they had to hold the flight for me...rhe aer lingus flight attendent came to immigration to tell them to hurry up... pathetic system....
We just did pre-clarance at Dublin Airport. The area was very busy with long lines. We came in via a connecting flight which was late we barely made it flight to Boston due to of our party getting the dreaded xxx's and had to go through the slow line.
The big benefit is that bags are checked all the way to your destination. We stepped off the Dublin flight and our outgoing flight was directly next to the arriving gate. Cut out a lot of hassle using the manual baggage transfer.