I am going to Dublin, Ireland in July and was wondering if anyone can direct me to some sites or tour companys that might have a better deal on airfare. I am staying with some friends, so I don't need accomodations. However, I'm willing to do a package with a car. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

Search this forum for mobissimo or itasoftware or sidestep

Best wishes,

Rex

You'll also get better advice if you state your city/country/continent of origin.

Sorry I forgot to say the city I'm leaving from. I can either leave from Cincinnati, Louisville or Indianapolis airports. Louisville would be my first choice. Just two of us traveling. Any help is appreciated.

Thanks..

Well then... howdy neighbor! (I live in Floyds Knobs, IN - - just 10 minutes from Louisville). Since you mentioned alternative airports, you probably already know that international travel options from the Louisville area are somewhat limited. Cincinnati often has terribly high fares due to the Delta monopoly there; others, such as "indytravel" (David) can give you a better idea on what IND offers (not a whole lot better than Louisville, I don't think, except for good ATA connections to other gateways).

But it's worthwhile to think of BWI as "Louisville East" since Southwest offers $39 fares with adequate advance purchasing. Keep in mind that you will be responsible for your BWI connection on your own. But with plenty of daily departures, there's no reason not to go BWI in the morning; either Baltimore or Washington (or even Annapolis) can nicely fill a half day while you wait for your trans-atlantic flight (of course, IAD, PHL or EWR are also good options by train from BWI).

Specifically, with a destination of Dublin, note that Aer Lingus does serve BWI nonstop, I think.

Since you're "local", keep your eyes peeled for a "second annual" Fodorites' get-together (IN/KY/OH) - - once we get rid of these last pesky traces of snow and winter!

General Commentary On Airfair To Ireland:

One any given day, there is no best one source for inexpensive tickets. When I plan a trip, I check them all, Expedia, Travelocity, Trip.com, the airlines, etc. I also use Sidestep, and go to the individual airline's web-sites, as well. If you want to save money, you really do have to work for it.
Sometimes, the airline offers a web-only discount, making buying from them cheaper, and sometimes, a site like Travelocity has a better price (even when you add in their fee). I don't know why that is so, but I have seen it often enough.
Some airlines flying into Ireland land first in Shannon, then hop into Dublin. Some do it the other way around. On some (Delta comes to mind) ALTERNATE -- one day, Shannon first, the next day Dublin is. It pays to know as it can save you a lot of time and aggravation by simply changing your travel dates by one day.
Depending on your plans -- get out of Dublin and tour the rest of the country -- you may want to fly into Dublin and out of Shannon.
Another possibility is Belfast, using bus or train to arrive in Dublin. You can also consider looking for cheap tickets into England, Amsterdam or Paris, and then flying on to Dublin on cut-rate airlines like Ryan Air. If you buy early enough, you can get round trip tickets to Ireland for as little as $50-$100 from almost anywhere in Europe. Remember to allow PLENTY of transfer time, as Aer Lingus, or Virgin or Ryan or B.A. will feel little need to compensate your schedule with them, just because Delta or American or United, etc. delayed one of your flights.
If you are unable, or unwilling to gamble, or travel to Hell and back, 'round and 'round, then just bite the bullet and buy a inclusive round trip ticket and shave some dollars from some other travel expense.

Thanks for all your information. I will begin my new searches. I am staying with friends once I get there, so I just need air, and maybe add on a car if that lowers the air some. THanks again. By the way hello to my "neighbor" in Indiana.

Message: re BWI: best I can tell, AerLingus did not re-instate that lovely direct flight out of Baltimore, in fact they seem to be gone from Baltimore altogether. And, just because I know Rex likes to give good information: there is good ground transport from BWI to Washington or Baltimore City, but not to Annapolis ( I know this because I live here) and not to IAD.

Thanks and darn... how frustrating! I even checked the AerLingus website before posting that reply (and again just now)... and they still DO show BWI as a city from which departures are listed (aong with STL, SFO, SEA, MCO, plenty of others) - - even though now, I get the truer picture that their actual gateways are just BOS, ORD, JFK and LAX.

As for Annapolis, I assume you're referring to <i><b>public</b></i> ground transport. In the United States (as opposed to Europe), a one-day car rental CAN sometimes be had quite affordably. There ARE decent roads connecting, n'est-ce pas?

I thought Air Lingus still had flights from BWI, also, although I haven't checked lately. But there is no train between BWI and IAD. There's no train from anywhere to IAD. Sure, one can rent a car to drive between BWI and Annapolis, but the idea of doing that (and that car rental will not be cheap) in combination with touring Annapolis while waiting for a flight is not a good idea at all.

Okay, clearly my original message has become garbled (I'll confess, too many sentence fragments, inadequately connected).

What I was trying to say is this:

...let's say you find a good flight at 7 pm, BWI-Europe (or even IAD-Europe). You'd be on your own if you use Southwest to get to BWI (using Louisville as the origination again, for example) - - and to avoid ANY chance of a &quot;close-call&quot; connection (with your transatlantic carrier), you decide to take a morning flight, arriving at BWI at 10 am. How to fill the day? Baltimore is an obvious answer, whether by rental car or by public transport. Washington DC offers even more to do - - about 100 times more than you can fit into a noon-to-four pm time slot. But, for those who want something a little different, I proposed Annapolis. Not that a car rental there and back is a bargain, and certainly not a &quot;freebie&quot; - - but you might think it just as interesting, and count it as part of your trip to Europe - - and no more expensive than other &quot;day trips&quot; you might do, once you get to Europe.

We're flying out of cincinnati to Dublin through Chicago on American/ Aer Lingus in August. Fare was about $770 after all charges. Bought tickets trrough onetravel.com. Good Luck.