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A traveler says she and her friends spent close to $4,000 to get home to the US from Ireland — all because customs was closed at the airport
05.09.2023 - 22:35 / insider.com / John F.Kennedy
When Courtney Danser's Aer Lingus flight home from Croatia was delayed, panic immediately set in.
Danser was traveling home on August 2 with three friends after a weeklong trip to Croatia. According to the group's original itinerary, viewed by Insider, the friends were scheduled to fly out of Dubrovnik, Croatia, with a layover in Dublin, Ireland, before arriving at Danser's final destination, John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York.
But Danser told Insider their flight out of Dubrovnik left 30 minutes late — cutting their layover from 80 minutes to 50.
Mid-air, Danser said she chatted with a flight attendant about the delay and their short connection. Relief set in as the flight attendant told Danser that other JFK-bound passengers were on the plane and that they'd be able to catch their flight home.
"As soon as the flight attendant told me, 'You'll be fine,' I was blissfully unaware of what was about to happen," Danser said.
Once they landed in Dublin, Danser said she gained even more reassurance when she learned that their flight to New York had also been delayed. The 4:45 p.m. flight would be departing at 5:20 p.m., she said.
The group headed to customs. Although it was only about 4:15 p.m., Danser said they discovered that it had closed for the day. No one would be flying to the US — even though their plane hadn't departed yet.
Ultimately, the group spent over $4,000 to get home, and Aer Lingus denied Danser's request for a refund.
Aer Lingus and the Dublin Airport did not respond to requests for comment.
While there wasn't anything on her ticket or online reservation about Dublin Airport's customs policy, Danser said she heard from a friend that she'd go through US customs in Dublin, not New York.
For any flight heading to the US, the Dublin Airport has a preclearance facility that passengers are required to go through, according to the airport's website. It's one of the few airports that offers preclearance before landing in the States. So when passengers finally arrive in the US, they're treated like domestic travelers instead of international ones. The airport's website also encourages travelers undergoing preclearance to arrive at their terminal three hours ahead of their flight.
Danser said she initially thought going through customs in Ireland would work in her favor. Once she landed in the US, she could skip customs and exit the airport immediately.
After disembarking their delayed Croatia flight, which landed at 3:50 p.m. in Dublin, Danser said she and her friends immediately headed to the US customs desk.
"When we get there, the doors are closed, the lights are off, and there are two women standing out front," Danser said. "They tell us that US customs is closed for the
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Courtney Danser and her friends were traveling back to New York from Croatia with Aer Lingus when they hit a major snag.