Aer Lingus Stopover with no time at destination
Ok, so I purchased what I thought was a round trip ticket from BOS to SNN (Boston to Shannon) airport for a family of four. The Itinerary seemed strange, but the price was very good courtesy of Google Flights.
BOS to SNN; 10 days in Ireland!
SNN to LHR to DUB to BOS for the trip home.
When I visit the Aer Lingus web site it describes my tickets as such.
BOS to SNN (217 hr stopover) SNN to LHR. (Arriving in LHR at 9:50 AM)
Return Trip:
LHR (Departing at 11:50am) to DUB (4 hour stopover) DUB to BOS (Home)
It appears I bought a ticket to London with a long stopover in Ireland.
I am only in London for two hours. What is alarming is that it is not clear that my bags would be checked through LHR to BOS since that is the terminus.
Do I need to retrieve my bags and check in at LHR for the return trip to BOS in the two hour window I have at LHR?!?
Never mind the complexity of US customs since I know Shannon is a pre-clearance airport but LHR is not.
Best Answer
Do I need to retrieve my bags and check in at LHR for the return trip to BOS in the two hour window I have at LHR?!?
No. The baggage check system is totally independent of the fare construction on the ticket.
Instead, whether the baggage is checked-through or not is calculated from the arrangement of the flights on your PNR. In this case, you have a connection from SNN-LHR-DUB of two hours, between two carriers with an interline agreement; therefore your bags will be checked through from SNN to BOS via DUB and will not need to be collected and re-checked at LHR.
The Itinerary seemed strange, but the price was very good courtesy of Google Flights.
Google Flights is very good at finding low prices precisely because the underlying pricing algorithm from ITA Software divorces the fare construction from the way you have arranged your itinerary. Often it is now possible to find prices for journeys that were not even anticipated by the airline who published the fare.
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Does Aer Lingus allow free stopovers?
Aer Lingus, Icelandair and Virgin Atlantic - Europe Aer Lingus enables passengers to stop in Ireland on the way to other European countries. The best part about it is that the mini trip is completely free.Can I leave the airport without going to the final destination on a connecting flight?
It is fine to leave, airlines has rules but they are not laws. In the old days, there were many flights with short layovers when most passengers remain onboard, haven't run into any in recent years.Can I stay at my layover instead of destination?
When you have a long layover, you may be able to have your bag short-checked, which means it'll only be checked to your layover point, not the final destination. Policies can vary widely on this, so check with your airline on the rules for your specific flight to make sure it's allowed.AER LINGUS🇮🇪 Airbus A330 TOGA Max Power Takeoff from Dublin
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Images: William Fortunato, Charlotte May, Atypeek Dgn, Charlotte May