Wednesday 27 August
Travel home to Ireland from London Heathrow
I had breakfast at my hotel again this morning. It was a little less busy but still the same mix of European tourists.
I went back to my room to pack and get ready to travel home.
Check out time was 12pm but I was ready to leave by 10.30am.
My flight home was at 3.50pm from Heathrow Terminal 2.
I used to live in London, so I have done thins flight many times. But I thought it might be interesting for everyone here to do a step by step, from leaving my hotel to arriving in Dublin.
As I had plenty of time, I decided to get the Tube from London Bridge Station to Kings Cross Station and then from Kings Cross Station to Heathrow.
When I was out and about yesterday, I had checked that London Bridge Station had step free access. This means there is a lift from street level to the underground platform. One thing to be aware of is not all Tube stations have step free access and even if a station does, on the day that you need it, it may be out of service.
I walked from the hotel to London Bridge Station, which took me about 15 minutes.
I then took the Northern Line to Kings Cross and changed to Piccadilly Line to Heathrow.
When you travel to Heathrow by Tube , you need to make sure you get off at the correct stop, as there are multiple stops at Heathrow, for the different terminal.
The journey from London Bridge tube station to Heathrow Terminal 2 took about an hour and half.
Once at Heathrow I checked the departure board for my airline Aer Lingus and went to bag drop. I had checked in online before I left the hotel, so I just went to the next available machine, scanned the boarding pass on my phone and got the tag for my bag. The time on the bag drop receipt was 12.51pm.
Then it was to security. All I had to do was scan my passport at the machine and the gate opened.
Then into the big switch backs for the bag scanners. That took about 15 minutes, not too bad, they had someone directing people to the next available scanner.
Once through security I went straight for some food.
Like on the previous day, I again went to Pret A Manger Sandwich and Coffee Shop. I sat for a while, and connected to the free airport WiFi.
I then went for a walk around terminal 2. The top floor , where you enter from the security area has all the food and bars. The lower level has the shops and the departure gates.
I kept a watch on the departure screens as the gate information is only displayed about an hour before departure.
I made my way to the departure gate and the flight boarded and we left Heathrow on time.
Its only a 1 hour flying time, so I never get anything from the inflight snack service.
I had a window seat and as the flight progressed West from Heathrow, across England and then North to The Irish Sea, I did notice that the clouds below us were dark This is not unusual, we are known for rain all year round so I wasn't really that bothered. My only thought was to try to remember where I packed my umbrella as I might need it for my journey home from Dublin airport.
All too soon we were on the final approach to Dublin airport.
Down, down we went, through the clouds and then to the familiar sights of my home city.
As we lined up and started the final descent to the runway, it was bit darker than I expected but there didn't seem to be much rain.
The landing gear clunked and the airport buildings got nearer and nearer. Almost down
But then suddenly we were not down.
Oh goodness, this is a new experience.
Instead of taxiing to the terminal building, we were now climbing again.
Around me I could the surprise of other passengers as we headed up and away from Dublin Airport.
Very quickly the Captain made an announcement. Due to a thunder storm which moved over Dublin Airport as we were doing our descent to the runway, he aborted the landing and we were now doing a loop over Dublin. The time it would take for us to loop around and get back on the landing flight path should hopefully give the thunder storm time to move away from the runway.
I wasn't scared or anxious, but glad I had a window seat so I had a great view of my home city. I did hear a women in the row behind me say that it happened to her before and that after the second attempt on that previous flight, they had been diverted to another airport in Ireland which was about 5 hours drive from Dublin. She said that the airline had arranged buses to bring everyone back to Dublin airport. I really hoped that would not happen, as I really did not want to spend 5 hours on a bus to get home.
Thankfully though we looped around and second time lucky we landed in Dublin airport. We were only about 30 minutes delayed, which wasn't a big deal to me. I think everyone was glad to finally get off the plane though.
At Dublin airport, Passport Control is divided into 2 sections. EU and UK Passport holders go to the left and all other Passport Holders go to the right.
As I have an EU passport I can use the self service machines. I just stand in the correct place, put my passport in the reader and a camera moves down, scans my face and matches it to the biometric data in my passport. When it matches the gates open and I walk out to the bag reclaim area.
In Europe, the checked bag reclaim area is still in the airside security area, which is different to America. I checked the information screen to find out which carousel my bag would be on. It took about 10 minutes but eventually my checked bag came through.
Then once I had everything sorted I walked out of the security area. Customs in Dublin airport and most European have 3 sections.
Blue = Arrivals From EU Countries, Nothing To Declare
Green = Arrivals From Non EU Countries, Nothing To Declare
Red = Arrivals From Any Country Something To Declare
Once you have your checked bags you can just leave through either the Blue or Green Exit. The Customs Agents monitor both the Blue and Green exits, even if you think no one is there. They can randomly stop anyone at any time in the bag reclaim area and when exiting so you should always be prepared to be be stopped.
All three exits then merge into the main exit. Just before the final exit doors there is a small duty free shop which sells a limited selection of alcohol , perfume and confectionary. Anyone can buy from this shop, as it is the last chance to get the special airport / travel prices.
Once through the main exit doors there is no return to the duty free shop and bag reclaim area.
I exited out to the main arrivals area and then walked through the crowds of waiting people.
There are a number of ways I can get home, public transport or taxi.
I decided to get a taxi home, so I followed the signs for taxis and took the lift down to street level, which is the departure level.
At Dublin airport there is an official taxi area which is manned by a dispatch person employed by the airport. For American visitors you do not tip this dispatch person as they are an airport employee. This taxi pick up area is at the main departures entrance of each terminal. Taxis in Dublin are various sized vehicles, not a one standard size like in New York. The dispatch person will assign you the next available vehicle for your party size. Some taxis are specially adapted for wheelchairs.
In Ireland, all taxis are licensed and metered. UBER does work in Ireland but the UBER rideshare model is illegal in Ireland, so when you use UBER in Ireland it will be a licensed and metered regular taxi. We also have an Irish taxi App called FreeNow. The only difference between UBER and FreeNow is how much a % of the fare the driver has to pay to use the APP. There is no difference in fare price to the customer. Taxis which are booked through both UBER and FreeNow are not allowed to pick up curbside at the official Dublin Airport Taxi area outside each terminal. You will need to walk about 10 minutes to the UBER and FreeNow pick up area which is in one of the surface carparks.
Taxis, either from the official airport taxi pick up area or UBER and FreeNow do not expect to be tipped. It is very normal to just pay the final amount on the meter and nothing extra. Taxis by law in Ireland have to accept both cash and card. Many taxi drivers will tell tourists, especially when picking up at the airport that the card machine is broken and its cash only. They are lying and you are perfectly within the law to insist on paying with card and to only pay the amount shown on the meter. Every taxi driver must have their identification on display where it can be easily seen by the passengers. If you have an issues with taxi drivers, take a photo of their ID and report them to The Irish Carriage Office, which is a branch of The Irish Police who are in charge with issuing taxi licenses.
