EBTA 2014 Post-cruise Flights Back to Canada?

[Gigi22]

Suffering major sticker shock here.

I have been checking the cost of one way airfare from Barcelona back home. Current Air Canada prices as showing as $4213 per person for a Latitude economy ticket and $5066 per person for Business. Other major airlines are just as pricy. I really haven't been hiding under a rock for years, I fly once or twice a year, but haven't been to Europe in a while.

I am just shocked at the cost. Any suggestions?

 

[dsneygirl]

Can you take a train to a hub like Paris or Amsterdam? I think in the summer AirTransat also runs a few flights to Portugal, maybe try that.

 

[mkmommy]

The major airlines have priced one way tickets to Europe much more expensive than return flights.

Air Transat has one way flights from Barcelona that are reasonable.

Iceland Air had reasonable one way fares to Europe, but that was a couple of years ago when I looked so not sure if they still do.

Check with what DCL has for flights, usually with TA cruises the one way flights are not that outrageous. (Checked DCL, from Toronto it is $1598 or $1705 from Vancouver, this includes flights to Orlando to board the cruise, and return flight from Barcelona)



Aeroplan and Airmiles have options to use points for one way flights, so that may be an option, if you have points in any of the programs.

Throw away tickets, people buy return tickets and only use one portion (make sure to book the flight you use as the first flight). If you do a google search on this you will find the pluses and minus to this option.

 

[gilsan]

We are doing this cruise. I search flights before we booked it and found Condor http://www.condor.com/. It is part of Lufthansa and at least for this year have reasonable rates to Halifax. They even fly direct from Berlin to Halifax. Depending on the date the fare are ranging between $450 -$650/person I have budgeted about $1800 to fly home, based on same rates this year

They just recently updated their calendar to include next year but don't seem to have the flights loaded. The flights to Halifax are Tuesday to Thursday.

If for some reason they don't have similar flights next year my back up plan is Air Transat. We can fly to London with a discount european line and then fly Air transat back to Halifax. Our other option is to fly direct from Barcelona to Toronto or Montreal and then fly home to Halifax. I think this will be the most expensive option by far.

If you are in TO or Montreal you definitely have more options.

We are doing the transatlantic over and thought we would fly to Rome for the week after, but have now decided to take the first Mediterranean cruise after the EBTA. So we will be gone about 3.5 weeks.

I expect our total flight to Orlando and back from Barcelona to be around $2500 for 3.

Hope this helps.

 

[gilsan]

Also if you are flying with kids Condor charges less for them. I just went to check the price for the same day this year and the flights this year for 2 adults and 1 child are $1426CAD, $513 for each adult and $399 for each kid, in our case 1.

 

[MedicGoofy]

I am doing the opposite cruise than you, WBTA. And have found crazy cheap flights compared to what you are looking at.

First, where are you flying into? That will make a huge difference. If you can, I HIGHLY recommend flying into the US. Will be much much cheaper. Even if you fly into the US, and then pay to get home from there, you will come out cheaper.

I am flying with 'Jetblue'. Kind of. I have my connecting flight with them, and then flying Aer Lingus. As well, check Air France, and British Airways. They have been cheaper for me as well. I have also heard, but not found, cheaper flights with SunWing. A girl from my cruise waited until closer to last minute and booked with them for $400, from Toronto to Barcelona.

There are LOTS of different options. Just start looking outside the box. You don't have to pay lots.

 

[fredgirls]

We're flying to Europe this year.
I agree with check out iceland air.
Also we found that flying into Paris was the cheapest for our dates. And then we get to spend a few days there! Total was $2000 cheaper than flying in to the UK. I would never have realized that unless i'd looked. And within europe there are many cheap airlines and trains, so it's easy to get around. Our paris to UK flights are about $40 each.
Check out all the options. I'm sure you'll find a good deal.

 

[MedicGoofy]

We're flying to Europe this year.
I agree with check out iceland air.
Also we found that flying into Paris was the cheapest for our dates. And then we get to spend a few days there! Total was $2000 cheaper than flying in to the UK. I would never have realized that unless i'd looked. And within europe there are many cheap airlines and trains, so it's easy to get around. Our paris to UK flights are about $40 each.
Check out all the options. I'm sure you'll find a good deal.

Do you know who you are flying with from Paris to UK? I have been searching for flights for Paris to Barcelona. While the flight is ridiculously cheap, the added charges that almost all airlines have are crazy. I could be looking at close to $200 for ME for my added luggage. I would definitely re-read the print about luggage. Your flight may be a great price, but if you have luggage, you may not realize that you have to pay for it.

 

[Gigi22]

OP here. Gosh, this thread has been so very useful--I want to thank you all for your suggestions. They have really given me food for thought.

It has also started me to consider what else DH and I would like to do, assuming we decide to stay and tour Europe and/or the British Isles. This will only be the second time we have been to Europe since we married, and we would like to take advantage of being in Barcelona to do something more, rather than just going straight home.

DH really dislikes flying, so I am researching train travel. We can get from Barcelona to Paris and then to London on the train, which we both find very appealing. British trains look like our best bet. So I am now looking at flying back to the north-east U.S. or Canada (Montreal or Toronto) most likely from Edinburgh or Dublin.

 

[fredgirls]

Do you know who you are flying with from Paris to UK? I have been searching for flights for Paris to Barcelona. While the flight is ridiculously cheap, the added charges that almost all airlines have are crazy. I could be looking at close to $200 for ME for my added luggage. I would definitely re-read the print about luggage. Your flight may be a great price, but if you have luggage, you may not realize that you have to pay for it.

Good point, that some may not be aware of. Luggage is never included with any of the budget airlines in europe. Those that travel often get used to packing hand-luggage only - it's quite an art!!

We're using http://www.flybe.com/

For this trip we're away for 7 weeks, so we need suitcases!
With flybe each suitcase is 24euros ($32) each and we have 2 cases. Not much extra for us, considering the savings flying into Paris. Definitely something people should be aware of though.