Cheap Flights from Dublin to San Diego

Summer is the expensive stretch on this route: school holidays on both sides of the Atlantic push demand up, and the weeks around Christmas and New Year behave the same way. Thanksgiving adds a spike on the American side, and St Patrick's week can do the same out of Dublin in March.

Work back from there and December comes out as the low point, with the fare calendar running from September to June. Midweek departures usually undercut Fridays and Sundays, and booking well ahead tends to beat last-minute shopping on a trip this long.

What the fare includes is where these airlines split: Aer Lingus, Ireland's flag carrier, plus American Airlines, British Airways, Air France and Air Canada usually fold checked baggage and meals into the long-haul ticket, while JetBlue and WestJet tend to sell bags and seat choice as add-ons, so the price you see first grows at checkout.

Nobody flies this route nonstop, so every booking connects: British Airways through London, Air France through Paris, Air Canada and WestJet through Canada, American through its US hubs, with Helvetic Airways and BA CityFlyer showing up as regional feeder legs on some itineraries.

You land at San Diego International, the airport also called Lindbergh Field, which sits right beside downtown — the skyline fills the window on final approach. There is no rail link, so the usual ways in are the public bus along the waterfront, taxis and ride-hailing apps, all short hops to the Gaslamp Quarter or the hotels by the bay. Watch the arrival wave: taxi and ride-hail queues build when several connections land together, and if your inbound leg was tight, check the belt before you head into town, because bags sometimes travel on a later flight.

Currency

USD ($)

Power sockets

Type A, B · 120 V

Language

Samoan, Hawaiian, Chamorro, Carolinian, Spanish

Emergency number

911

Driving side

right

Calling code

+1

Internet domain

.us

Population of San Diego

1.4 M (2020)

Time zone

UTC-07 (America/Los_Angeles)

Country facts: Wikidata

• Check whether the whole trip is on one ticket or two separate ones, because a self-transfer gives you no protection if the first flight lands late.
• If you book JetBlue or WestJet, price the checked bag before paying, since add-ons can erase the saving on the base fare.
• Sort your US entry paperwork early: most travellers need an approved ESTA or a visa, and the airline will not board you without it.
• Dublin runs US preclearance, so you clear American customs and immigration before take-off — build extra time into your departure morning.
• If your dates flex, aim for December, the low point of the fare calendar, and avoid summer and the Christmas weeks.