Isle Of Sheppey friends fly to Dublin for night out – and return home the next morning
10:19, 30 October 2023
updated: 13:00, 30 October 2023
By Jake Meeus-Jones
A group of friends spent £30 jetting to Dublin for a night of raving before flying home the next morning - without even booking a hotel.
Ben Jacobs, 20, who lives on the Isle Of Sheppey, and his two friends, Evie, 20 and Rosie, 18, decided they fancied a spontaneous night out whilst on a lunch break at work.
They bagged a flight for just £30 each and boarded from Gatwick Airport bound for the Irish capital.
Taking off at 7.45pm on Saturday, October 14, they touched down just 50 minutes later and headed straight for the Temple Bar area of Dublin.
With Ireland playing in the Rugby World Cup, the trio soaked up the "immaculate vibes" as the drinks began to flow in The Temple Bar Pub.
After a few hours of bar hopping and a quick walk across O'Connell Bridge, they eventually found themselves in The Academy club.
Ben and his pals spent the rest of the night dancing the night away in the club, before making their way back to the airport at 4.30am after a kebab pit-stop.
Swiftly through passport control and they were onboard their return flight at 7am, touching down at 7.45am and were home by 10am - for a nap.
Ben, who is a healthcare assistant, reckons he spent a total of around £120.
"If I could do that every time I go out, I would,” he said
"People were so nice, the general vibe in the town, the club, dancefloor.
"It was immaculate, it was absolutely perfect.
"I'd 100% do it again - it's very doable."
Ben received a call from his mate whilst on a lunchbreak, inviting him on the quirky night out.
He added: "I first noticed about it last year that people were getting these cheap flights and flying out for the night.
"My friend called me on a break and decided we were gonna do it.
"It was the newness of it all, the unexpectedness to go for a night out off the back of a flight was really cool."
After touching down with Ryanair in Dublin - which Ben had never been to before - he was keen to get into town.
"We opted for an additional fee for a coach but it was taking too long and we were impatient and wanted to get on our night out so we got a taxi instead,” he went on.
"The city was unreal.
"Because Ireland were playing in the Rugby World Cup it was very busy, but the vibes were immaculate.
"After a few drinks the conversations with locals just flowed!"
They soon decided it was time for a club, and spent the rest of their night in the Academy.
Ben added: "The drinks were quite a lot more expensive than I budgeted for but it didn't matter after a few drinks, the Apple Pay took over!
"I started off on single vodka and lemonade limes and then in the club I had double vodka Redbulls and a few shots - true staples of the club.
"The conversations with people in the club are a bit hazy but there was one instance where the two friends that I went with started getting a bit tired out but I was still roaring to go so I befriended a new group and lost my friends completely!"
It was soon time to call it time on their Irish adventure, and the trio made their way back to the airport - with a greasy pit-stop in order first.
"The flight back was around 7am and we left the club at 4.30am,"
Ben added: "We went to the kebab shop first though - a long winded way home!
"We landed and got ourselves sorted by 7.45am and then our friends picked us up.
"I was back home in bed by 10am."
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