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Anyone able to advise on direct flight from Dublin to Houston with Continental?

BrianO asked:


Posted this question under the air travel section but someone here may also be able to shed some light on this….

Would be interested in visiting Houston in September, especially as Continental Airlines offer direct flight CO23 daily from Dublin with an equipment change in Newark.

As this is a direct flight, can the Newark-Houston leg leave without the passengers from the Dublin-Newark leg if there are delays along the way or is there a dependancy on leg 1? Is there less of a chance of them losing your luggage than would be the case on a standard connecting flight?

Ireland is the only EU country that has US pre-customs clearance onsite in it’s airports so should be fine in this respect but in any case would the checks only happen in Houston or would it be in Newark while you are waiting for the equipment change to complete?

Anyone who has experience of Continental’s other direct flights to non-US cities who can advise would help greatly. Can you also confirm if all their Boeing 757′s have personal AVOD on every seat?

Thanks!

Brian.
Cheers guys, about the pre-clearance bit, it’s open from 9AM-3PM and covers most flights leaving from Pier B, i.e. Aer Lingus to Los Angeles, Delta to Atlanta. Believe CO23 doesn’t fall into this category though.

Otherwise, it’s not a bad offer but they’re stretching the direct bit though based on your feedback!
Dublin Ireland, Camille,

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Posted in Houston on September 7, 2009

5 Responses to “Anyone able to advise on direct flight from Dublin to Houston with Continental?”

  1. c g Says:

    I’ll go through your questions in order:
    1. Yes, the EWR-IAH leg can leave before the DUB-EWR leg arrives. They’re different planes, so they don’t need to wait for one to be in and for all the customers to pass through customs/immigration before #2 leaves. If you miss your connection, they’ll put you on the next available route.

    2. The propensity of losing your luggage is the same, whether you’re on the same flight number, or different. However, Continental is VERY good at not losing luggage, so you should be fine. They may beat it up a bit, but they rarely lose it (at least in my experience).

    3. Your check(s) would be in Newark since you’re arriving there on an international flight, not in Houston. Also, be careful: pre-clearance for customs in DUB isn’t always open. It’s capacity controlled and only open certain hours, so you might or might-not have the customs in DUB. You could have it in EWR, along with immigration.

    4. All of the 757-200′s (used for EWR-DUB) are equipped with AVOD now! If you’re in the front 16 rows, you’ll also have 110v power at the seats (2 outlets for every 3 seats in coach). See the Seat Guru link below.

    Another note: If you fly on #23 (the 1-stop flight from DUB-IAH), you’ll only get the frequent flier miles from DUB-IAH direct (4557 miles). If you do the DUB-EWR and a different flight number EWR-IAH, you’ll get 4608 miles! I know it’s ridiculous, but that’s how the airlines operate.

    Finally, see my link below for the UK/Ireland section of Flyertalk.com. There is quite a bit of useful info for Ireland (both while there and info for getting there, etc). I’m going there next week and found a ton of useful info there!

    Enjoy your trip!

    Also, it’s worth noting that

  2. William K Says:

    An equipment change means a different plane. If it is the same flight (and it is) the leg between Newark and Houston should not leave before the first one arrives. There is a two hour layover as I remember, and that time is because you change planes.

    I’ve only made the Dublin to Houston flight once, so I don’t remember a thing about pre-customs clearance.

  3. Camille Says:

    Dublin Ireland or Dublin CA or Dublin elsewhere?

  4. Shirley T Says:

    Come dressed lightly. Houston is still hot and humid in September.

  5. Non-Redneck Says:

    My experience with Continental and lost luggage has been very good. I flew into San Antonio from the UK and then had to drive to Houston. Only one bag made it to San Antonio. I couldn’t wait for them to deliver it in San Antonio because I had to go back to Houston.

    The Continental staff was very helpful and the baggage showed up at my place within a few days via private courier.

    So if your luggage does get lost, my experience has been they will work to get it to you.

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