Dublin to Ischgl for a few days skiing

Ischgl isn't the easiest of places to get to from Dublin ... there aren't (m)any direct flights from Dublin to Innsbruck (the nearest) airport to Ischgl ... so the journey is a bit longer ...

The other complication is that Swiss (the airline) seem to have gone back to the dark ages with their pricing ... single flights are exorbitant ... so if there isn't a flight in one of the directions on one of the days that you want - you're screwed !

Aiming to fly out of Dublin on Tuesday 2nd February ...

Dep Dublin 16:15
Arr Zurich 19:25
price 79 eur plug baggage (EI)

Dep Zurich Flughafen 20:18
Arr Landeck Zams bahnhof 23:42
price approx 60 eur

Taxi to Ischgl
price ?

Another option is to fly to Innsbruck on a connecting flight ... with plenty of time to check in again in LGW

Dep Dublin 07:35
Arr LGW 09:10
price 23.40 eur plus baggage (FR)

Dep LGW 11:30
Arr INN 14:30
price 68 eur plug baggage (EZY)

Bus F from the Flughafen terminal to the Hauptbahnhof takes less than 20 mins and departs every 15 mins
price 2.7 eur

Dep Innsbruck Hbf	15:57	17:01
Arr Landeck-Zams	16:58	17:57
Dep Landeck-Zams	17:05	18:05
Arr Ischgl	17:58	18:58

Price 16.1 eur for the train (postbus not bookable online - fare approx 10 eur)

A further option is to fly to Salzburg - one advantage of this routing is sold as a connecting flight by BA (although DUB-LGW is operated by EI) - so if you miss the connection in LGW, it's up to BA to find you a new one !

Dep Dublin 07:00
Arr LGW 08:25
Dep LGW 10:05
Arr Salzburg 13:05
price 157 eur including baggage

Dep Salzburg Flughafen	14:25	15:25
Arr Salzburg Hbf	14:47	15:47
Dep Salzburg Hbf	15:00	15:56
Arr Landeck-Zams	17:39	18:30
Dep Landeck-Zams	18:05	19:05
Arr Ischgl	18:58	19:58

Price 53.6 eur


Accommodation

Ischgl has a reasonable amount of accommodation bookable through the town's website - with B&Bs in the town (rather than in Mathon which is 5km away) from about 55 eur per person per night sharing.  Ganahl is showing availability on the website - others may be available offline by email the tourist office.


Return flight

Need to get back into Dublin around lunchtime on Sunday 7th February ... so looking at options that give a full day skiing on Saturday 6th ...

None of the airports have late flights on Saturday to Dublin - so starting off looking at late flights to London (so could fly to Dublin on Sunday morning) ...

Innsbruck
The last (sensibly priced) flight out on Saturday evening departs at 17:15 - so that's not much good

Salzburg
There's a 19:45 flight on Saturday evening from to London for just 37 eur - but you'd have to leave Ischgl by 2pm in order to make it

Zurich
The 20:50 departure to LHR is 148 eur - that would mean leaving around 3pm

Munich
The last flight from to London on Saturday night is soon after 7pm - so that's not much use


Looking at travelling to direct to Dublin on Sunday morning - so spending Saturday night near the airport ...

Munich
dep Ischgl 17:58 (or 15:58) and arr Munich 22:21 (or 21:15) for 39 eur (no price showing for earlier timings)
dep Munich Sunday at 11:05 and arr Dublin 12:45 for 106 eur plus baggage (EI)
or Sunday evening departure at 20:10 (arr Dub 21:50) for 100 eur plus baggage (EI)

Zurich
EI direct flight departing at 8pm (arr Dub at 21:25) for 102 eur
or connecting BA flight departing at 7am (arr Dub at 12:20) for 150 eur

Innsbruck
No direct flights
connecting FR/EZY flights departing at 10:45 (arr Dub 15:35) for 150 eur with 2:35 in Luton to transfer / check in

Salzburg
No direct flights
connecting FR flights departing at 10:30 (arr Dub 15:05) for 99 eur with 2:05 in Stansted to transfer / check in


Looking at travelling to London on Sunday evening

Munich
8pm departure for 86 eur plus bag (EZY) or 9.15pm departure for 100 eur - but doesn't work with connections
to make the 8pm departure - would need to leave Ischgl around 2pm

Zurich
9.25pm departure for 171 eur plus bag (EZY)
departing Ischgl soon after 3pm would get you to the airport by 7.45pm

Innsbruck
sadly the last flight to london is at 5.40pm (for a crazy 473 eur) and the 3.10pm flight (for a still hefty 219 eur) isn't very helpful

Salzburg
the last flight to london is at 5.05pm for 157 eur with BA
departing Ischgl soon after 10am would get you to the airport for 2.30pm - trains only every 2 hours

dublin to south africa ...

with the Lions tour in South Africa in June and July ... i was looking for flights from Dublin to South Africa ...

trailfinders assert that their best price to DURban is eur 650 with Etihad, and eur 519 to JohaNnesBurg with Swiss - but since you can't book online, i have no idea of their availability ...

Etihad's own website doesn't allow bookings to DUR [presumably trailfinders use another airline for the final leg] - but their flights to JNB don't look cheap - mostly around eur 715.

Emirates claims to have flights from DUB to JNB for eur 608 [using EI flights to LGW], but they aren't bookable online ...

AirFrance has a good selection of dates from DUB to JNB for eur 570 - such as o/bound 17th june, and i/bound 1st july.

Swiss has flights from DUB to JNB for eur 511 with good availability on the outbound legs, but the only return dates are 12th and 13th july ...

netflights is better at searching by fare - selecting their Latest Offers menu, and then clicking on any of the flight options, you can access their full list of fares, and then play around with dates to look for availability at the lowest rate. they only offer fares from the UK.

they have flights on Etihad from MANchester to JNB for an amazing gbp 254 - the o/bound leg is reaonably flexible, but the i/bound has little availability - the latest return date is 23rd june. with a 9.30am departure time, and an arrival back into MAN at 7.30am - the first flights of the day arrive into MAN at 7.30am from DUB, with a lunchtime return flight ... using a departure date of 17th june - the price is approx eur 20 with FR or eur 52 with EI ! and to go over the previous night before the o/bound flight would be a similar price.

netflights also have Etihad flights from LHR to JNB for a similarly amazing 262 gbp - again the o/bound leg has reasonable availability, but the latest i/bound date is 23rd june. the LHR departure is at 9.10am, arriving back into LHR at 7.20am - the first arrival into LHR from DUB is at 8.05am - too tight for an intercontinental flight. using a departure from DUB on 16th june - the last flight into LHR, and an early morning flight back on 24th june [overnight from JNB], the price would be about eur 70.

the usually reliable websites expedia, ebookers, opodo & travelocity aren't so good for very flexible travel ... but they have the same Etihad deal [travelocity also has a departure on 24th] ... but when DUBlin is selected as the departure point - the prices double, and AF becomes the cheapest option ...