SFO to Dublin and Beyond - Need Your Advice

[Dicey]

We haven't flown internationally in well over a decade. (Heck, we haven't flown domestically in over a decade.) We've received an offer to go to Dublin that we cannot resist. We need to be there in mid-August for about a week, but we're pretty flexible otherwise. We'd like to make a three week trip out of it. I've been to England and France, so they're lower on my list.

We're in the Bay Area, so a flight out of SFO makes the most sense. We can get there easily via BART.

It's been so long since we've been anywhere by air that I feel like I've lost my travel mojo, so I'm reaching out to the community for help and suggestions.

We are completely open to an itinerary that includes other destinations. Should we go via Iceland? Or?? Should we fly somewhere else and take a train to Dublin? Should we spend all our time in Ireland?

I've heard Heathrow is a nightmare and have been told to avoid it. True?

Compounding factor: We are seeing a lot of overnight flights. We both use c-paps. Can you even do that in coach?

We have a place to stay in Dublin, but for other countries, we still have a crap-ton of IHG points. We have no airline miles. I'd be open to opening a CC or two, but only if I could be sure of using the points relatively easily.

I hope I've provided enough info. If not, ask away.

TIA.

[uniwelder]

We just did a 2 week trip in Ireland, and came back about a month ago.  I'd love to give suggestions, but I want to get to bed right now.  I'll write tomorrow.  We didn't rent a car and didn't have much trouble getting around and seeing cool sights.  Will you be driving or taking public transportation?

[deborah]

I'd go to Ireland for the whole three weeks. I haven't been there, but you have friends who know a lot about Ireland, and there's a lot to see and do there. If you feel the need to expand your trip while you're there, you could take a ferry to the Isle of Man or to Wales or Scotland, or just bumble around Ireland having fun and feeling the vibes.

When I visited Iceland, I was there for several weeks going to different places as the mood took and staying in campgrounds. I wouldn't want to go there for a shorter time. I'd visit Ireland the same way - except, since I have a number of ancestors who came from Ireland, I'd visit the towns where they came from as part of bumbling around.

[seattlecyclone]

I took a two-week trip to the UK and Ireland with my then-girlfriend (now wife) in our 20s right after we finished our master's programs. We spent I think four nights in Dublin, which felt like enough time to experience the city pretty well. With a local guide maybe we could have spent more time there. Then we spent a couple of nights in Cork before flying home. Not that Ireland was bad at all, but if I were to revisit any of that trip I'd probably go back and spend more time in London and/or Scotland before I'd go back to Ireland. I just felt like there was more we didn't make it to in those other places.

We also spent a week in Iceland when we were about 30, which was absolutely lovely. A week felt like it was about the right amount of time to drive the main ring road around the island and see most of the main sights. If we had a second week we could have ventured out to the fjords in the northwest of the island and done a few longer hikes on our way around the island. If you only had a few days on a stopover that could be enough to do a decent tour of Reykjavik and see a bit of the nature near there, but definitely plan on a week minimum if you want to venture farther afield.

[Sandi_k]

Get your passport now. I would also recommend Global Entry.

I am looking at the Chase Sapphire Preferred, as it pays for Global Entry, I believe. Which makes the annual fee very low, for at least that first year.

Flying: if you have TSA PreCheck or Global Entry, it helps a lot with SFO. We typically get a coupon for Park SFO, and drive and park there - their shuttle is fast and efficient. BART is slow and tedious, and when we come home, I am not ready to face a 2 hour BART ride.

[reeshau]

Yes, a vast majority of flights to Europe will be overnight.  The Atlantic Ocean is, essentially, a one-way street, that changes direction twice a day.  Just like with a commuter / express highway lane, that minimizes the risk of collisions.

One perk about flying into Dublin, or Shannon if you prefer:  both have US customs preclearance facilities.  So, your flight is treated as a domestic US flight when you land.  There can still be lines in Dublin, but nothing compared to a US hub airport.

I don't mind Heathrow, although it is sprawling.  But one thing is that they you will add customs checks just going through there.  If you went through Amsterdam, for example, you stay outside the Schengen control area, and do not have to do any customs checks. (Because Ireland is also not Schengen)

If you have IHG points, there is a decent Holiday Inn Express right on O'Donnell Street, which will put you in the middle of things in Dublin, and on the LUAS line to get around.  Do not expect a lot of space, though.  Even the tabletop islike a shelf.  But I always say I am not traveling for the hotel room, but to get out and see where I am.  AirBnB's are pretty plentiful, too.

You say mid-August, but if you have some flexibility the Bray Air Display is August 2nd.  That was the first tourist thing we did when we moved to Ireland.  It's a nice air show along the shore in Bray, with a big carnival and an excuse to promenade.  Beware that there is a bank holiday on that weekend (Aug 4) so many things will be shut down the following Monday.

If you have Irish roots, I highly recommend booking a session with a gynecologist genealogist at EPIC, the Irish immigration museum.  It's amazing what records they have cataloged!

Dublin has quite a broad food scene.  Yes, you need to go to a pub or two!  And everyone will recommend their favorite.  But there are a ton of other cuisines, too.  If you have a favorite, I could take a stab at recommendations.  In general, I recommend d KC Peaches, which has several locations, as good variety and quality.  They serve cafeteria-style, but it's all scratch made.  Very popular with the student population, for good reason!

[Dicey]

Thanks, all!

Heh, love the advice, except for the gynecologist autocorrect.

Our passports are new, so we're okay there.

I have a packed day today. I'll check in again when I can.

I'm most concerned about the route we take to/from. If anyone has a favorite travel website or hacks, I'm all ears. $8k for AerLingus business class kind of turns my stomach, but it does allow for the use of c-paps.

[Dave1442397]

Thanks, all!

Heh, love the advice, except for the gynecologist autocorrect.

Our passports are new, so we're okay there.

I have a packed day today. I'll check in again when I can.

I'm most concerned about the route we take to/from. If anyone has a favorite travel website or hacks, I'm all ears. $8k for AerLingus business class kind of turns my stomach, but it does allow for the use of c-paps.

If you buy coach class tickets on Aer Lingus, they will send you an offer to upgrade to Business Class if they have seats available. They ask you to bid on seats, and they have a minimum amount that will be accepted. It could work out a lot less than $8k if you're lucky.

Here's my list of stuff I send to friends who ask me about going to Ireland. It hasn't been updated in a while, but should be mostly accurate.

Ireland stuff.
Dublin:
 1)   The Guinness factory tour is always good - https://www.guinness-storehouse.com/en
2)   The Irish Distillers tour - https://www.jamesonwhiskey.com/ie/visit-us
The Midleton (Cork) tour is probably better if you want to see the actual production process.
3)   Ireland's oldest pub - http://www.brazenhead.com/
4)   Kilmainham Gaol - http://kilmainhamgaolmuseum.ie/
5)   This is only if you're interested in Irish sports - https://crokepark.ie/gaa-museum-tours
6)   Shopping the nicest shopping area is around Grafton Street, with plenty of nice stores hidden in some of the side streets branching off it, and an indoor shopping center at the south end of the street.
7)   St. Stephen's Green a nice park at the south end of Grafton Street. Small, well worth a look.
8)   This is probably one of my favorites The Book of Kells, and the Trinity College library in general - https://www.tcd.ie/visitors/book-of-kells/
9)   This one was fun - https://www.littlemuseum.ie/
10) EPIC – The Irish Emigrant Museum. This place is well worth seeing, especially if you have Irish roots. https://epicchq.com/


•   If you have time to take a couple of side trips from Dublin city, you can drive or take the DART (train) to Howth, a fishing village with some great seafood restaurants - http://www.visitdublin.com/hooked-on-howth-dublin
•   Another cool place is Malahide Castle, also easy to get to by car, bus or train - https://www.malahidecastleandgardens.ie/


Once you're out of Dublin, I think my priorities would be the West/Southwest and North of the country.

The West:
•   For a taste of old Ireland, the only place left where people still speak Irish as a first language is the Aran Islands. The scenery is stark, but stunning. The rain and wind can howl in from the Atlantic Ocean, so bring your rain gear!
o   You can take a boat or fly out there - http://www.aranislandferries.com/ or http://aerarannislands.ie/
o   Inis Meain is the least populated island, but probably the most traditional. We spent a couple of nights there and loved it - http://www.aranislands.ie/inis-meain-inishmaan/
o   I bought an Aran sweater from these guys when I was there many years ago - http://inismeain.ie/about
•   Back on the mainland, and in the same area, we have more to see.
o   The Cliffs of Moher just spectacular - https://www.cliffsofmoher.ie/
o   The Burren this is a rocky, but beautiful, part of the country. One of my favorites - http://www.burrennationalpark.ie/
o   After this many years away, I'm not up on the bar scene any more, but some of the local bars have great food and traditional music at night - https://anoige.ie/top-5-traditional-irish-music-pubs-in-clare/
o   Bunratty Castle is nice. My mom has taken some of their gourmet cooking lessons, and loved it - https://www.shannonheritage.com/BunrattyCastleAndFolkPark/
o   Galway is a nice place to visit too.

The Northwest:
•   If you happen to be in the area and want a hike, I've always liked this one - http://www.sligowalks.ie/?pagid=knocknarea&menu1_topicid=walks
•   And if you want to stay in one of the coolest places, try Temple House - http://templehouse.ie/
Surfing - https://bundoransurfco.com/
http://discoverbundoran.com/surfing/


The Southwest:
•   Heading more to the Southwest, the Ring of Kerry is a nice way to see the sights, and will be a lot less crowded in October.
o   https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/read/articles/ring-around-the-ring-of-kerry
o   Muckross House - http://www.muckross-house.ie/
o   And the Dingle Peninsula is beautiful - https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/read/articles/dingle-peninsula-pure-ireland

o   If you have time to poke around, there are some nice villages in West Cork that are worth a look.
   http://www.schull.ie/category/what-to-do/
   http://www.crookhaven.ie/


The North:
•   The Giant's Causeway is amazing, and you can easily see everything in a couple of hours if in a hurry. https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/giants-causeway
•   There's the Bushmills Distillery tour (again, let me know if going there): http://www.bushmills.com/distillery/
•   I'm not all that familiar with the rest of Northern Ireland, but this link has some good suggestions - https://www.lonelyplanet.com/ireland/northern-ireland/travel-tips-and-articles/top-10-northern-ireland-experiences


Restaurant recommendations

DUBLIN: Murray's Pub at O'Connell and Parnell. Great live music (Celtic Gypsies) and Murray's Irish Dancers. Very good food; Diwali (Indian)

KILKENNY: Kytler's Pub. Great food and live music. Very old, historic pub

CORK: Four-Faced Liar not cheap but great continental/Italian food. Very quiet and away from all the racket of the city centre.

KENMARE: Tom Crean (not cheap!, but with outstanding seafood)

ENNIS: Broghan's Pub; Great food, live music


The following are also must-sees:

Lakes of Killarney (Killarney City itself is incredibly touristy)

Ring of Kerry (as much of it as you can--easier if you stay in Kenmare)

Wild Atlantic Way on the Dingle Peninsula (Beehive huts, Gallarus Oratory)

Blasket Centre (One of the BEST museums I've ever visited!)
http://www.heritageireland.ie/ga/ionadanb/

Cliffs of Moher (if very foggy, go to Bunratty Castle instead)

Poulnabrone Dolmen

Cobh (but take a bus, driving from Cork is very confusing)

Blarney Castle

[Poeirenta]

We've flown the nonstop Aer Lingus DUB-SEA twice now and I think they are quite nice to fly with. Preclearance is also lovely.

The first time we flew it, we used Alaska miles to book business class, paid 125k pts and about $200 in 2023. Last month we flew it again, in economy using Avios/Chase UR pts. I was glad I went with economy because the flight was more than half empty, so we had our choice of seats and plenty of empty rows to lay down and snooze. Hard to say if that trend will continue, but if you can swing biz on points on the way over you might be able to get away with econ back to the US.

If you decide to explore outside of Ireland, there are tons of cheap flights to other destinations. Just be prepared for really limited luggage allowances if you want the cheapest fare.

From Dublin, take the train to Howth and eat at King Sitric. In our top 10 of meals abroad. Actually they have a small hotel too, though I can't speak for that, we just did a day trip.  We stayed at one of the StayCity aparthotels in Dublin, which was small but had a little kitchenette for us to make breakfast.

Can also recommend Hilltop Treks, we did their day trip to Newgrange and the Boyne Valley.

Happy planning!

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk

[Laura33]

First, thanks for the recs, @Dave1442397 -- my daughter will be in Dublin all next year, so I'm going to save this!

Second, @Dicey -- I also use a CPAP and am not willing to mess around with it, both for my health and because I am just a giant raging bitch for days if I get no sleep.  If your other option is $8K in business class, why not just buy a travel CPAP with a battery?  I have a Transcend with a battery that will last 6-8 hrs (I'm sure there are others out there as well).  Total cost for the whole packet, including new hoses and mask, was around $1200.  Even if insurance won't cover it, that's still a hell of a lot better than a business-class ticket, with the added bonus that they're soooo much lighter to lug around with you (mine is about 2-3 lbs for unit and battery).

[Dicey]

First, thanks for the recs, @Dave1442397 -- my daughter will be in Dublin all next year, so I'm going to save this!

Second, @Dicey -- I also use a CPAP and am not willing to mess around with it, both for my health and because I am just a giant raging bitch for days if I get no sleep.  If your other option is $8K in business class, why not just buy a travel CPAP with a battery?  I have a Transcend with a battery that will last 6-8 hrs (I'm sure there are others out there as well).  Total cost for the whole packet, including new hoses and mask, was around $1200.  Even if insurance won't cover it, that's still a hell of a lot better than a business-class ticket, with the added bonus that they're soooo much lighter to lug around with you (mine is about 2-3 lbs for unit and battery).

Duh. We have batteries. I totally spaced on that because they're in the RV. They are also hella heavy. You make a good point though. More research is required. Thanks. Off to my next appointment now...

[Fomerly known as something]

Personally I prefer either a direct flight, or if one is not available make your connection in Europe vs in the USA.  That way your trip is under European travel rules so the airlines have to compensate you for shenanigans even US domestic airlines.  I flew in and out of Heathrow last year, it’s fine.  For US based airlines I know CPAPs don’t count as a carry on likely it’s the same for every airline but honestly I’m not 100% sure.

For trying to use points I’d look into one where you can transfer to reward programs, and which one would be best for the airline route you choose since they all (capital one, Amex or chase) have slightly different partners.  Look at both domestic and foreign airline opportunities.  You can buy a United flight with Lufthansa miles and vice versa.

I can see spending 3 weeks just in Ireland or if anything I’d add one other country of your choice, if you go the two country route I’d look open jaw say into Heathrow for the UK, Ryan Air to get across to Ireland and back home from Dublin or the like.  I like to group things regionally when I travel so say when I’m in near Dublin I’d also use it as a base for places I might like to see near Dublin but not in Dublin as well.

If either of you can drive a manual transmission, personally I don’t find it that difficult to drive a stick on the “wrong side of the road”.  Personally I use an Amex for rental cars because for $20 per rental (not per day), they will be primary insurance most places.

[couponvan]

First, thanks for the recs, @Dave1442397 -- my daughter will be in Dublin all next year, so I'm going to save this!

Second, @Dicey -- I also use a CPAP and am not willing to mess around with it, both for my health and because I am just a giant raging bitch for days if I get no sleep.  If your other option is $8K in business class, why not just buy a travel CPAP with a battery?  I have a Transcend with a battery that will last 6-8 hrs (I'm sure there are others out there as well).  Total cost for the whole packet, including new hoses and mask, was around $1200.  Even if insurance won't cover it, that's still a hell of a lot better than a business-class ticket, with the added bonus that they're soooo much lighter to lug around with you (mine is about 2-3 lbs for unit and battery).

I came here to say this. DH used the battery just fine on our flight to Dublin from DC, but your flight would be longer. I’d do the economy section with the new CPAP travel, leg slings, and an early check in at your hotel. We stayed at Hyatt Centric on points and it was centrally located. We rented a car and driving was fine outside of Dublin. We returned the car and used local transportation while in Dublin. I would do the 3 weeks. If it’s summer, make sure to book your tours well in advance. Newgrange, book of kells (we booked the sensory time where they only let in 20 people per hour in the first hour-it was great not dealing with the crowds, and they didn’t have the annoying media items blaring around you). Allow a couple days options for Cliffs of Moher, as we didn’t see them because it was rainy/foggy they day we visited. I do what I call bougie economy. Pay for a carryon/checked bag. In the carryon include good neck pillows, a blankie shawl, the foot slings which allows you to elevate your feet, ear plugs,
Bucky eye masks, travel slippers (so you can take your shoes off on the plane), compression socks to avoid DVT, and Dramamine, fancy snacks (check rules to make sure there aren’t restrictions on going through with them later). I’d rather pay extra for nicer hotels when we arrive than for an 8 hour plane ride. $8K seems super steep. I think ours were a steal for about $500 round trip. Just my $.04.

We enjoyed the Guinness tour more than we expected, and booking the stoutie selfie give you access to a less congested taproom-also, you can get an engraved mug with your name on it near the gift shop (DH collects beer mugs). Spitalfields near the Hyatt Centric was yummy and had a Michelin start at one point. Clothing seemed really affordable there-and they have a TKMaxx vs a TJMaxx in Dublin that had some good values. In Galway, we stayed at the Leonard Hotel and they gave us the room with a water view and was well located. There was affordable (tight) parking right next to it. If you do drive in Ireland, get the absolute smallest automatic you can. It will make driving the right backroads easier. Also, get the insurance and video the outside of the car before you drive away and as you drop off. Just “insurance” against charges.

Also @Embok knows lots of things Ireland!

[Holocene]

I really loved Iceland.  I spent 3 weeks there.  One week was mostly hiking in the highlands.  2 weeks was driving around the island on the main ring road and the Westfjords.  The most popular places are the Golden Circle and the southwest coast and you could do those in maybe 3-5 days.  Snaefellsnes peninsula is another option going north.  And there are some great waterfalls and things to see there if you just want to do a quick stopover.  It's a good taste of Iceland.

But I'm really glad I was able to venture out further.  Some of my favorite spots were in the highlands and I loved both the Eastfjords and Westfjords.  Dynjandi is still one of the most impressive waterfalls I've ever seen.  And these places were generally less crowded, just because it's more work to get there.  So if you have the time to spend, Iceland is quite an impressive place and I don't think you'd regret it.  That being said, I've never been to Ireland and I'd love to go.  I think I'd easily be able to kill 3 weeks there as well, so maybe that makes more sense for this trip.  But if you want any more Iceland info, just let me know!

Can't help much with the other logistics questions.  I just took a coach flight with Icelandair and it was fine.  It was overnight and I didn't sleep much at all, but I had a lot of adrenaline to get me through the whole day.  For your flight to/from Dublin, Icelandair does stopovers in Iceland for no extra cost to try and boost tourism there.  It's basically just extending the layover to one or multiple days, but I think it's 7 days max.  Also, Iceland would not be a good place to use IHG points.  Maybe in Reykjavik but I doubt there are any other IHG properties.  I mostly camped and stayed in guesthouses.

[2sk22]

We had a lovely vacation in Ireland last year. After a couple of nights in Dublin, we rented a car and did a six day road trip. We touched Kilkenny, Cork, Kinsale, Mizzen head, Bantry, Killarney, Ring of Kerry, Cliffs of Moher, Westford, Achill Island and then back to Dublin.

There is not really a lot to see in Dublin in my opinion - a day or two will be sufficient. The real beauty of Ireland is in the countryside. We loved the freedom of having the car and exploring the countryside. This was by far one of the most enjoyable trips I have ever gone on,

Regarding flights: I only travel business class nowadays and it not as expensive as you might think. I paid $4k round trip NY to Dublin per ticket on United. I think this was well worth the cost. Since you live in the Bay Area, consider British Airways which often has excellent sales on business class fares. I have transited through London Heathrow at least a dozen times in recent years and have never had any problem there (although T5 can get a bit crowded at times).

[reeshau]

The real beauty of Ireland is in the countryside. We loved the freedom of having the car and exploring the countryside. This was by far one of the most enjoyable trips I have ever gone on,

Yes.  I highly recommend turning your nav to "no motorways" and taking B and C roads.  You will find little villages with a single pub to stop at for lunch, and it will be wonderful!  It is slower driving, but driving anywhere in Ireland on the motorways is just 3-4 hours, so there isn't much of a hurry, anyway--particularly for a US driver.

I will say I was intimidated for a long time about right-hand drive.  It turned out to be no big deal at all, especially in the day, with some other cars to que me.  (At first, anyway)  There is a symmetry that felt quite natural.

DW, on the other hand, tried it twice...and never again.

[2sk22]

The real beauty of Ireland is in the countryside. We loved the freedom of having the car and exploring the countryside. This was by far one of the most enjoyable trips I have ever gone on,

Yes.  I highly recommend turning your nav to "no motorways" and taking B and C roads.  You will find little villages with a single pub to stop at for lunch, and it will be wonderful!  It is slower driving, but driving anywhere in Ireland on the motorways is just 3-4 hours, so there isn't much of a hurry, anyway--particularly for a US driver.

I will say I was intimidated for a long time about right-hand drive.  It turned out to be no big deal at all, especially in the day, with some other cars to que me.  (At first, anyway)  There is a symmetry that felt quite natural.

DW, on the other hand, tried it twice...and never again.

Indeed we spent a lot of time driving on roads like the one in the attached pic. Definitely stay away from the motorways. I would advise you to rent the very smallest car you can find as the bigger cars can be a bit much on narrow country lanes.

As you said, it's not difficult getting used to driving on the left side of the road so don't get intimidated by that. The road surfaces are excellent and signs are very clear.  Incidentally our rental car had a sticker on the inside of the windshield that said "Links fahren" so perhaps its the German visitors need to be reminded of this more than the US visitors :-)

[reeshau]

Incidentally our rental car had a sticker on the inside of the windshield that said "Links fahren" so perhaps its the German visitors need to be reminded of this more than the US visitors :-)

There is also the same sign at the roundabout exiting Dublin Airport.

One of our most interesting driving experiences was going over the undulating road crossing bogland on the way to our ferry to the Aran Islands.

[Catbert]

Definitely get Global Entry even if you only use it once.  (It also gives you TSA Pre-check.) Walking off an 11 hour flight, scanning your passport and walking past a long line of people going through customs is worth ~$100.  I think even the IHG cc will comp you Global Entry once every 4 years.

I've only traveled once internationally since getting my cpap.  I intended to use it in my little business class cubicle, but ultimately didn't.  It would have been a pita and I figured that I wouldn't sleep all the soundly.  It would be difficult to use in main cabin seating.  YMMV.

[reeshau]

OK, the Vikings play the Steelers at Croker on Sept. 28th.  Never got to see a game there.  This may get me planning a trip.

[314159]

I'm a few days late to this party but I'll share my thoughts!

I can't sleep on planes, so when I fly overnight I simply stay up. I make sure to have a full season of a TV show downloaded on my phone and that generally gets me all the way across the Atlantic. I might start with a book and then switch to shows or movies once I'm getting too tired to read. Once landing in Europe it's important to stay up! Go walk around outside, get some sunshine if you can, try to restart the body clock. Try not to go to bed until 8pm but if you can't make it that long, the later the better. Ideally I sleep as long as I can that first night and wake up at, say, 7 or 8am giving me 11 or 12 hours. After that I am generally good to go for local time for the rest of the trip!

I understand part of this may be the privilege of youth. Though I will point out it's not the same as missing a night of sleep at home. If you're normally asleep for 8 hours a night and awake for 16 hours a day, then missing a night of sleep means you'll stay up 16 hours plus an extra 24 hours = 40 hours total. But if you are flying from US Pacific to Irish Standard Time, an 8 hour time difference, so you'd be staying up for "only" 32 hours. Or if you sleep in on the day you leave on your trip and go to bed early (local time) when you arrive, you can cut that shorter.

Anyway, if you do want to try to sleep on the plane, as another poster said, you are allowed to bring a CPAP and to use it onboard, regardless of what cabin (economy or biz) you are flying in, and as a medical device it doesn't count against your personal item or carry on bag limit. Just make sure it says CPAP on it somewhere so if somebody asks what it is you can prove it.

For finding the right flight: Google Flights (flights.google.com) is my flight search engine of choice. If I were you I would definitely pay the smallish (<$100) premium for a nonstop flight. Here'sa round trip SFO-DUB nonstop on Aer Lingus for $581/person. You can find plenty of dates in August for 3-ish week trips for under $700/person. This ticket includes 1 personal item to go under the seat in front of you (such as a backpack) and 1 carry on (such as a carry-on-sized suitcase) but does not include checked bags. If you want to add checked bags they'll cost about $60 per bag per direction.

I would not pay for business class here. If my budget for a trip was increased by thousands of dollars, rather than spend it on business class I'd much rather stay in fancy hotels or have some very fancy meals. (If I had airline points coming out my ears I'd consider using those, but you said you don't have any.)

In terms of itinerary, plenty of people have enjoyed a 3 week itinerary in Ireland. Based on what I've read online, having never been there myself, you just wanted to be there a couple days you could stick to public transportation, but for that long I would rent a car so you can enjoy some smaller towns at your own pace.

If you wanted to add another destination on top of Ireland, you could certainly do that too! Europe is your oyster. I would not specifically recommend Iceland, though, because:
(a) One advantage of Iceland is as a stopover point on your way to the rest of Europe, but this is moot because you can fly nonstop to/from Ireland.
(b) Iceland and Ireland are both cold, rocky, Atlantic islands with good hiking, little tree coverage, and high consumption of fish. That is to say, if you got to both you might feel a bit like you've gone on the same trip twice in a row, and wonder what the point was. (Not to say they're the same or that you shouldn't see both! It's just, if you want to see a cold, rocky, Atlantic island, you might as well stick with one!)
(c) Iceland is really expensive (this one I can personally attest to.)

If you want to add another destination, you could book a round-trip flight from SFO to Dublin, and on a separate ticket, book a round-trip flight from Dublin to another European city. Or if you don't want to return to Dublin, you could book 3 one-way flights, or one multi-city ticket, or book an "open jaw" flight from SFO to Dublin and (say) London to SFO on one ticket, then a one-way flihgt form Dublin to London on another ticket.

You can play around with Google Flight's multicity option to get a sense of your options. You can let price be your guide. Or you let your IHG points be your guide.

In terms of credit card signup bonuses: you could potentially earn a sign up bonus in time to book your flights. But you will have to be more flexible than with cash. You can only book award flights when there is availability, which airlines can and do restrict to their liking. So you might end up with a layover or suboptimal dates. If churning credit cards is not fun for you, with your financial status it would not be very worthwhile. But if it is fun, there is a lot to explore here (for both hotels and airlines) and I am happy to elaborate upon request!

[Dicey]

Oh, wow! I've been swamped with a library book sale for the past week. Now that it's successfully over, I look forward to digging and reading all of your lovely suggestions!

THANK YOU!