I’ve asked a couple of questions so far about my trip to Dublin - I have one more for the experts out there. If I go Edmonton->Chicago->Dublin and then back the same way, do I have to do anything with my checked luggage in Chicago, or will it automatically get sent on to Dublin? If it matters, I’m currently leaning flying with United and Aer Lingus.
Sorry - last sentence should say “I’m leaning towards flying with United and Aer Lingus”.
Your bags will be checked all the way through to your final destination, but you may still have to go through customs in Chicago coming back home.
When you go to get on your plane in Edmonton, you’ll actually go through US Customs there , so you shouldn’t have to do it again in Chicago.
Coming back, though, you may have to go through US Customs. Your bags will still be checked through to Edmonton, but when you go through the customs area in Chicago, after going through immigration, you’ll pick up your bags, give your customs declaration to the customs officer, who will (usually ) wave you through. You’ll then put your luggage back on a conveyor marked for “checked through” bags. Of course, you will also have to go through customs again arriving in Canada.
Now, Dublin does have a US preclearance facility like those in Canada, but I think it’s just for immigration, not customs. When we came back from Ireland several years ago (Shannon, not Dublin, but it also had a preclearance facility) , we showed our passports to a US official and got them stamped (“U.S. Preclearance”). When we got Newark (Not out final destination, Chicago was), everyone on our plane was waved around the lines to go through immigration, but we still had to pick up our bags to go through customs and then put them back on the conveyor. Our bags arrived in Chicago just fine.
If you’re really concerned, call your airline or your travel agent. They deal with this stuff all the time.
OK - Thanks.
OK, you know you can’t check your bags straight through to Dublin, right?
You’ll have to pick them up off a conveyer in the USA and have them put through some sort of X-ray, before they get put on the flight to Ireland. At least that’s what I had to do when flying to Australia via LA and NZ (picked the bag up in LA, checked it straight through to Aus). Don’t remember it as being any kind of major hassle though.
Irish customs and immigration are nice people, as far as C&I staff go. I’ve never heard of anyone complain about them (other than the fact that they’re pretty laid-back and thus not as quick as some might like) and they really have no interest in needlessly pissing off North American tourists, so it’s highly unlikely you’ll find yourself being strip-searched in a small room because they don’t like the slogan on your t-shirt.