jibsymalone

Hi all,

Hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Year?

Down to brass tacks, i am due to fly "home" at the beginning of June for the wedding of one of my brothers (first home trip since moving here ). I have already scoped out the flight side of things, with some help from here of course, and am going to fly through Dublin to Manchester and will get a rental car once there.

I have two questions related to the trip, first off, is there any way to buy one set of tickets to MAN going through DUB while still receiving the price break on the UK travel tax thingy, or will i have to stick to my plan to get a flight to DUB, then buy a separate tick from DUB to MAN (God bless Ryanair!)?
Second, what should i expect to pay as far as a deposit on my rental car? i know it is going to vary a little dependant on the company i use, i plan on buying my "excess insurance" through a third party for a lot cheaper i am not sure if this will affect this also? I am just going to be getting a basic car, probably an automatic (i haven't really driven stick or the british roads in ten years, so figured it would be easier not having to think about changing gears?) something along the lines of a fiesta (I am 6'6" so a tiny micro car isn't going to cut it!)

Any input or guidance/advice is greatly recieved!!

Thanks!

Casual Observer

Is there a specific need to go via Dublin? What dates in june for how long? What price are you looking at now and flying from where in the USA? Excess Insurance - why buy it? Arm yourself with a Capital One credit card and use that to book the car = problem solved.

steveq

1.) Buy your tickets at the same time, but not in the same transaction - ie, book your flight to DUB, then logon to Ryanair and book a later flight to MAN. No need to wait until you arrive in DUB. What's the difference in price between DUB-Man and just MAN direct ?

2.) Use a credit card, and they'll usually reserve £500 on the card.

jibsymalone

the reason i am flying through Dublin is due to a tax the UK government charges to all foreign flights, Ireland does not charge this and a flight from Ireland is classed as domestic so no charge there. I was intending to buy my tickets at the same time, i worded it badly, i meant to ask about buying them in the same transaction?

I have been looking at flying from Jacksonville or Gainsville in Fl, "direct" to MAN is running $1400- $1500, i can fly to DUB for $850 - $950 then a ryanair flight to MAN is about $100 so pretty substantial savings! the wedding is on June 7th so i am pretty flexible for a ten day period around there, i have been looking a setting off on the 4th and returning on the 14-15th.
The reason i ask about the rental deposit is that i am in the process of rebuilding my credit, and have a secured credit card (it is capital one, so need to check on the insurance thing) so i will need to make sure i put enough money on there to cover the deposit, so 500 quid is about the norm?

Thanks for the replies!

Casual Observer

How do you feel about a sprint into NYC to wave at Times Square then back to the airport and a night in Reykjavik? it is a seriously cool (no pun intended) place to have a side trip and have change from $1200 So even with a cheap hotel if you do not want to party the night away ( And boy do they party there) you are ahead of the game when compared with a direct fare, and do not have to deal with the outrageous fees charged by Ryanscare that will likely eat up most if not all of the UK taxes savings.

By the way if your connecting flight is delayed you are SOL with Ryanair and will have to buy a new ticket. You will also have to collect your bags and recheck them (for a fee) with Ryanair. Perceived savings do not always translate into reality. DUB is notorious for keeping you waiting for bags early morning when the transatlantic flights arrive.

As a side note flights into Belfast only attract domestic duty so Newark to Belfast is a good alternative for people in the North East Corridor.


Jun 1 B6 1678 JAX 7:15AM JFK 9:33AM 2h 18m Airbus A320 Economy (S)
Layover in JFK 4h 37m
FI 612 JFK 2:10PM KEF 11:40PM 5h 30m Boeing 757 Economy (N)
Layover in KEF 8h 20m
FI 440 KEF 8:00AM MAN 11:35AM 2h 35m Boeing 757 Economy (N)
Jun 11 FI 441 MAN 1:25PM KEF 3:00PM 2h 35m Boeing 757 Economy (S)
Layover in KEF 2h 0m
FI 615 KEF 5:00PM JFK 7:00PM 6h 0m Boeing 757 Economy (S)
Layover in JFK 2h 5m
B6 1677 JFK 9:05PM JAX 11:43PM 2h 38m Airbus A320 Economy (O)
$1,183.00 including all taxes.

There again I see the journey as a lot of fun rather than a punishment to be endured - I accept that other people do not share this madness

jibsymalone

Now this sounds like it could be an interesting idea! where did you find this flight out of interest? is there a way to specify your layover airports, or are you purely at the mercy of whatever is available when you plug in the departing and terminus city?
I agree with the ryanair thing, but even after the baggage fees i think i would still be better of? i would have about 4 hours in DUB before my flight to MAN so cant see being held up that long, although i have been wrong plenty of times in the past!

Thanks for the interesting ideas!!

ScousePete

Have you heard of getgoing.com? I've used them a couple of times now and been successful finding cheap flights.

Essentially, you give them two destination options, in your case Dublin and Manchester and they will give you prices on both. You then enter your credit card and it decides which one you got! It's suspenseful and fun! I did it in the summer, selected London and Dublin, was quoted great prices and ended up with LHR at a price that was about $200 cheaper than any of the regular websites.

I don't think it tells you who the airline is until you've paid, but it will give you the exact flight times, so a little googling will get you the airline.

Casual Observer

http://matrix.itasoftware.com/

You will need to spend some time learning how to use it. You will also need to book though a TA it is a backbone site not a booking site.

You are also looking to soon for the best fares. History suggests that around the 9-12 week out window is likely to yield significantly lower fares.

As Clint would say, "Do you feel lucky Punk?"

AmerLisa

We've flown our last two trips through Dublin and did a Ryanair (probably one of the worst airlines around!) flight to Leeds. We did this last summer and it's always cheaper for us to fly to Dublin (we're flying from Seattle)

We rented a car twice, both times through Enterprise and both times 100 pounds deposit was charged to our credit card.

RICH

I'm not sure what your concern is, I flew jfk to Dublin last year, then dublin to bristol via ryanair, and back again. No problems.

Dublin to Bristol return was about 40 quid total...

jibsymalone

I have been looking on there, selecting all the airports in the UK (using their search nearby feature and setting it to 300 miles) and the same on my side (setting it to about 100 miles) and that route has never shown up, is there something i am omitting when i search? that looks like a very promising route and would work out roughly the same when i include baggage fees for Ryanair, i would love to know how to come up with this so i can try other search combination.

jibsymalone

i looked on there after you suggested it, it is very interesting concept, the prices i was seeing on there are about the same, if not a little higher than what i have been getting so far, but as Casual Observer pointed out i am jumping the gun a little so this may get better closer to the "sweet spot" of airline pricing. I will definitely keep an eye on the site though. Thanks for the heads up!

jibsymalone

Good to know, what kind/size of car did you book? did you book direct through their website? Thank you for the heads up! I appreciate all the help everyone has given so far!

AmerLisa

First car was a Class B and the second was a Class D, both through their website. Difference was it wasn't picked up or dropped off at an airport but in town.

jibsymalone

OK good to know! Thank you!