Bits: Dublin Airport opens US preclearance lounge (with photos), South African Airways sale

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News in brief:

Dublin Airport opens a new US preclearance lounge

One benefit of booking an Avios redemption to the United States on Aer Lingus is the incredibly low taxes. These are usually around £75 return in Business Class, compared to £500 on British Airways – see my Avios Redemption University article here.

Given the smart new Aer Lingus business class seating, you can see why a lot of people are happy to catch a connecting flight to Dublin and redeem from there.

The 2nd reason is that you can clear US customs and immigration in Dublin. You land in the USA as a domestic passenger and can walk straight out of the airport without any delay.

Yesterday, a brand new airport lounge opened in Dublin – The 51st Green.

It is located AFTER the US immigration desks and will give premium passengers on any airline heading to the US somewhere to wait during the final few minutes before boarding. It may even improve punctuality as it will encourage passengers to pass through immigration earlier. It isn’t clear if oneworld / BA status members will gain access if flying Economy on Aer Lingus or American Airlines.

A HfP reader was in Dublin yesterday and sent me the pictures used in this article – thanks Jeff. Click on the images to enlarge them.

South African Airways sale ends today

Whilst the latest British Airways sale finished last week, South African Airways has a few hours to go on its own Summer sale. Here are the headline prices in Economy and Business – the Business fares are available over Christmas and New Year:

Johannesburg £512 / £2455
Cape Town £529 / £2472
Windhoek £530 / £2756
Durban £537 / £2699
Port Elizabeth £537 / £2670
East London £637 / £2832

…. amongst other destinations. As a Star Alliance member, you can credit the miles from the flight to a number of loyalty schemes including Lufthansa’s Miles & More, SAS EuroBonus and United MileagePlus.

You can find out more on the SAA site here but, unless the sale gets extended, you need to book today.

Category

Aer Lingus and AerClub, American Airlines and AAdvantage

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.

Daniel says:

19 Jul19 July 07:25

Great news! Flying AA in J from Dublin next month! 😉
Fiona Whyte says:

19 Jul19 July 07:31

Brilliant – flying J ex-EU for the first time next month and a surprise for my hubby’s 50th!
- BigDave says:
  
  19 Jul19 July 07:43
  
  best to use a pseudonym if anouncing a suprise for the hubby (unless you know his google skills are null)
  - Fi black says:
    
    19 Jul19 July 14:30
    
    Ok thanks bigDave I will do that.
    - Sohan says:
      
      19 Jul19 July 16:45
      
      Nicely done 🙂
    - Genghis says:
      
      19 Jul19 July 17:07
      
      🙂
      - Yuff says:
        
        19 Jul19 July 22:03
        
        Made me chuckle just now, great thread 😉
Mr Iain Ponton says:

19 Jul19 July 07:34

Good news..

The lounge that AA uses is aweful. Hopefully the drinks and snacks offerings are good enough in this new lounge that it will encourage folk to not waste time and get through security quicker…ie me..lol
Goran says:

19 Jul19 July 08:15

Great news, flying AA on Sunday morning to PHL.
Does anybody know if there a fast track for US immigration for business passengers? Thanks
- Daniel says:
  
  19 Jul19 July 10:06
  
  I don’t think so – last time I went through there were two lines. One for people who had previously travelled using an ESTA and one for first time travellers with an ESTA and those who need a visa.
  - goran says:
    
    19 Jul19 July 14:10
    
    Thanks Daniel, so it sounds its the procedure same as they have in US.
raikje says:

19 Jul19 July 09:05

Strictly, it’s called the 51st & Green (note the ampersand offset below in the logo) – it’s meant to be like an American street intersection, rather than an extremely long golf course… Either way, a pretty rubbish name.
Diydegsy says:

19 Jul19 July 10:52

Hi we are a family of 5 travelling BA business from Dublin via Gatwick to Orlando next month. The flights booked as a through ticket from Dublin to Gatwick are with aer lingus but will we still be able to clear us immigration as mentioned and use the new lounge or is it only passengers who are travelling direct to the states?
- Alan says:
  
  19 Jul19 July 11:19
  
  Only for flights that are going directly to the USA – the extra security/immigration they do in Dublin wouldn’t really have any benefit for them if you’re then getting off a plane in Gatwick 🙂
Mike says:

19 Jul19 July 11:40

Oooooh – I fly to NYC with AA business class on Friday – Looking forward to trying this out!
- Mike says:
  
  19 Jul19 July 11:40
  
  I should have added, from Dublin!
Simmo says:

19 Jul19 July 13:01

Aer Lingus avios availability – Do I search on United.com for a guide on dates? (I looked on google but got lost!).
Is Avios availability the same as other carrier availability?
- Rob says:
  
  19 Jul19 July 13:16
  
  No, unfortunately not. What you see at United or Qantas is not the same as is available to British Airways.
  
  Once Aer Club launches (September?) this problem should go away as Aer Lingus availability should be transparent. That has good and bad sides, though, as more people will compete for the seats.