On our last morning, we left Kilkenny around 7:30am and we were at Sixt rental car return around 9:15am. We returned the car and took the quick shuttle to Terminal 2. Three of us were flying to Philadelphia on American at 1:55pm, but the reason we were early was that our daughter’s boyfriend was flying to Washington Dulles on Aer Lingus at 12:35pm. I had heard that security lines and US preclearance lines could be a nightmare at Dublin so I wanted to allow for that.

We checked in online, but he was unable to check in or even get a seat on the Aer Lingus flight. We went to the customer service center and a very nice agent got him checked in and even gave him an exit row aisle seat.

As it turned out, the security and preclearance lines were very short. I tried to get the kids to have their Global Entry interviews on arrival, but unfortunately the CBP agent told them that the agent that does this had called in sick that morning. Even though we had plenty of time, they could not get their interview and final approval.

We walked down to the end of the terminal to the 51st and Green lounge. Three of us had access via our business class ticket, so I thought I would just pay for access for our fourth person. The employee checking us in said that all of the paid access was already prebooked that morning so we could not even pay for him to get in. Thankfully, the employee checking us in took a quick look to see if his manager was watching and shooed us all into the lounge quickly. Now that’s Irish hospitality (and defiance of authority)!

We found some seats in the fairly crowded lounge. The lounge has nice apron views as it’s all the way at the end of the US preclearance section of Terminal 2 (where all US-bound flights depart). It’s basically a big circular room with a buffet and bar on one side.

The bar was staffed and you could get everything from hot and iced espresso-based drinks to a pint of Guinness. The buffet had a hot and cold breakfast spread when we arrived, including a pancake machine.

Around 11:30am, they switched the buffet to a lunch spread with salads, hot food and sandwiches. There was also a refrigerator with pre-packaged sandwiches and canned soft drinks which was a nice touch for those who were flying economy like our daughter’s boyfriend, so he could grab a couple of things for his flight.

Around 11:45, we said goodbye to our intrepid economy traveler and we waited for our flight’s gate to be posted on the screen.

The 51st and Green Lounge was a decent place to wait for our flights. We were fortunate to get the 4th member of our group into the lounge for free. It won’t win any awards for luxury, but it beats waiting in the even more crowded terminal for your flight to the USA.

Up Next: Review of American Airlines 787-8 Business Class DUB-PHL

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