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Cheap flights to
Ireland

Save hundreds on your next flight with deals on highly rated airlines.

Flights to Ireland overview

Going searches for the best fares and sends members deals bookable 1-12 months in advance. Going members save approximately 39% compared to normal flight prices to Ireland.

Cheapest Going deal

$267

Average price roundtrip

$894.48

Average Going deal price roundtrip

$547.73

Best month to fly

Going found the most deals with travel dates in January.

January

Worst month to fly

Going found the least deals with travel dates in July.

July

Top tips for finding a cheap flight to Ireland

Book flights during the Goldilocks Window

We know, from years of deal-hunting experience, that amazingly low fares can pop up at any time. We also know, however, that there’s a period of time when fares tend to be at their lowest—1-3 months before domestic flights and 2-8 months before international ones. We call this the Goldilocks Window, and it’s when we recommend most people buy their plane tickets.

There are a few caveats to this recommendation, though. If your travel dates are set in stone, or if you’re flying during peak season or a big holiday, plan on adding a few months to the equation. Whatever you do, we strongly suggest buying tickets well before airlines raise prices at the last minute, which usually happens 21, 14, and 7 days before departure.

Try out the Greek Islands Trick

First of all, we want to assure you that this tip is not about flying to Greece instead of Ireland. Rather, it’s just a nickname for one of our favorite travel hacks because it’s often the best way to save money on flights to the Greek Islands, but it works all over the world. The idea is that you find the cheapest long-haul flight you can into an airport that’s relatively close to the place you want to be. From there, you’d then find a low-cost flight (or a train or boat) to carry you the rest of the way.

For instance, if nonstop flights into Shannon from New York start at around $800 roundtrip, you may find a nonstop flight to Dublin for around $450. Even if you add in a $25-45 bus ticket to get you from Dublin to Shannon, you’re still looking at some big savings. This kind of itinerary does require a bit more planning on your part, but the savings are often worth the effort.

Check on alternate departure airport options

Whereas the Greek Islands Trick is about looking for a cheaper arrival airport, this tip is about looking for a cheaper departure airport. Even if you don’t live in an area that has multiple major airports to choose from, you can still take advantage of a super low fare from other airports around the country, and it never hurts to look.

If you’re in, say, the Philadelphia area and you want to visit Dublin, you might find that the best deal on a direct flight is about $800 roundtrip. Before you assume that’s the best deal you can get, though, it’s absolutely worth checking on fares to Dublin from other airports in the US. Flights to Dublin from New York can come in at under $500 (sometimes well under), and we feel like a $300 savings is an excellent incentive for the two-hour drive from Philly to NYC.

Fly when airfare is usually less expensive

It probably sounds like a tip telling you to fly when fares are cheap is ridiculously obvious, but there’s more going on here than you might think. This tip is all about flexibility. When your travel dates are set in stone, the chances of you finding a super cheap flight are severely limited. You could get lucky, but you could also miss out on cheaper fares a few days before or after your chosen travel dates. Keeping your plans flexible means that, instead of choosing vacation dates first and looking at fares after that, you’d be looking at fares first and picking your vacation dates based on when flights are cheapest.

If you must travel during high season, however, or you don’t have the luxury of flexible travel planning, there are still a couple of things you can do to save a little on airfare. Summer flights in early June and late August are often cheaper for flights than the rest of the season. Also, try to book your flight dates on the days of the week when airfare is usually cheaper (Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays), avoiding the days when it’s usually more expensive (Fridays and Sundays).

Sign up for fare alerts for specific itineraries

Rather than spending weeks or months of your free time scouring the internet for a better deal on a flight, we highly recommend putting technology to good use by setting up a fare alert for the trip you want to take. When the price is in the range you specified, you’ll get an email letting you know it’s time to buy. Do this a few months before you want to travel to have the best chance of finding a great deal—and keep in mind that if you’re considering multiple itineraries, you’ll have to sign up for multiple alerts. Or, you can outsource the whole kit and kaboodle to us by joining Going. This is kind of our thing.

The main international gateway to Ireland is Dublin Airport (DUB), serving more than 27M people annually. This is also the airport where we find most of the deals we send members on flights to Ireland. Shannon Airport (SNN) and Cork Airport (ORK) are essentially tied for second place in terms of the number of deals we regularly find, but of those two, only Shannon has direct flights from the US.

Frequently asked questions about flying to Ireland

When is high season in Ireland?

Peak tourist season in most of Europe is, broadly speaking, the summer months of June-August. In Ireland, there are a few geographical realities (namely, its northern location on the globe and being an island) that narrow even that relatively short window. Weather-wise, Ireland can be cold and rainy from fall through spring, roughly October through April, and even May and September might be a bit chilly, depending on where you are in the country. Reliably warmer weather in July-August means that’s when tourist crowds are at their height throughout most of Ireland.

When is the best time to visit Ireland?

Anyone whose Ireland itinerary includes lots of outdoor activities should probably focus on the summer high season of June through August or early September. If you don’t mind inclement weather, though, visiting Ireland in the shoulder seasons (roughly April-May and late September-October) is an excellent way to save money on your trip. There are, after all, countless cozy pubs where you can warm up or dry off between visits to museums and castles.

There are a few big events that fall outside the high season, too—including St. Patrick’s Day in March. It’s a festival that attracts crowds, to be sure, but nothing like the crowds of the high season.

How many airports are there in Ireland?

Ireland has six passenger airports, with three making up the vast majority of traffic in and out of the country: Dublin (DUB), Cork (ORK), and Shannon (SNN). The only two airports with direct flights from the United States are Dublin and Shannon, and more than half of the cheap fares we find on flights to Ireland are into Dublin. We find about the same number of deals on flights into both Shannon and Cork, though the latter are not direct flights.

Which city in Ireland is the easiest to get to?

From the US, it’s easy to find direct flights into both Dublin and Shannon, as well as connecting flights into Dublin, Shannon, and Cork. In terms of passenger traffic, however, Dublin accounts for nearly 85% of the passenger numbers for the entire country. Travelers have lots of flight options in Dublin, but it never hurts to check out other airports in the country to see if there’s a deal that can’t be beaten.

Note that both Dublin’s and Shannon’s airports have a US border preclearance agreement, which means you can go through immigration and customs in those airports. This means that when you land in the United States, you’re treated as if you just took a domestic flight.

  • Dublin Airport (DUB) is by far the biggest and busiest airport in Ireland, serving more than 27M people annually. It’s the main hub for Aer Lingus and the main operating base for Ryanair. There are 42 other airlines serving Dublin and direct flights into the Irish capital from 18 airports in the United States.
  • Shannon Airport (SNN) is a focus city for both Aer Lingus and Ryanair and Ireland’s third-busiest airport. There are only three other airlines serving Shannon (Ryanair UK, United, and Delta) and four airports in the United States that have direct service (Boston, Chicago, New York, and Newark).
  • Cork Airport (ORK) is the second-busiest airport in Ireland and also a focus city for Aer Lingus and Ryanair, among five other airlines that serve Cork (Air France, Edelweiss Air, KLM, Lufthansa, and Ryanair UK). There are no direct flights from the United States into Cork, but given its high passenger numbers, we sometimes find great deals on connecting flights with one or two stops.

What are the rules for traveling with pets to Ireland?

The regulations for traveling with animals into Ireland are set by the Irish Department of Agriculture, Food, and the Marine, and the specifics depend on the type of animal you’re bringing with you. Dogs coming from outside the EU, for instance, must be microchipped and current on their rabies vaccination. You’ll also have to get an EU Health certificate for the dog that has been “endorsed by an official (state) veterinarian” in your departure country. You can find all the details for different pets and departure countries on the Irish government’s Pet Travel Portal. And be sure to check with your airline, too, as there are always rules set by airlines about flying with a pet.

How long is the flight to Ireland?

Ireland itself isn’t very large, but flight times vary a bit depending on where you’re flying from in the United States. From the East Coast, a nonstop flight to Dublin is about 6-8 hours. From the midwest and the southern states, it’s about 7-8.5 hours. And from the West Coast, it’s about 9-10.5 hours.

Going helps you find flight deals to Ireland and save big. Try Going Premium today.

Number of deals

Total to Ireland in the last month

589

Total Mistake Fares

Airline slip-ups we've caught to Ireland

7

Fly to regions in Ireland

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40-90% off flights.

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* Prices are per person and include all taxes & fees in USD. All prices were accurate at the time of publishing, however, prices are not guaranteed, as airline pricing can change by the minute. Average Going fares are based on average prices of deals found by Going.

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