London / Paris Here We Come!!! 9/2 - 9/10/11

[k5jm]

We purchased our Airfare on Wednesday!! Christy now wants a Kindle so that she can have instant access to all of her Travel Guides for Europe. I guess the means we really are going!!!

WooHoo!!!

 

[MinnieGarden]

Well, that's a reasonable price from what I've seen over the last few weeks. Don't know how it compares to other years, but airfare overseas just seems to be higher this year. I never book through travelocity. I use it to find the good airfares, and then go to the individual airline's sites to book. I'm getting close to doing what you're suggesting, and just booking to get what I want. What airline were you looking at? Delta's flights look good, but I hate Delta with a burning passion, and will be quite upset if that turns out to be the only airline that works...

Hey, anyone who is looking to book a Hotel on your own in London for before the trip, the Park Plaza County Hall in London (4 star) has a "friends & family" promotion that has a really great rate (I got £66.08 GBP!) This hotel is rated #36 out of 1,054 London hotels on TripAdivsor. The promo code is CARLSONF.

Sayhello

I book a LOT of corporate travel and I second that! I use Travelocity, etc for finding fares, then book dorectly with the airline. We paid $960/pp with taxes and everything. I was happy with that as it went down $150 from the time we started looking. I felt really good about the purchase until the final receipt came and all the fees were itemized. Of the $960, only $644 was airfare, the rest was fuel surcharges and customs fees.

Thanks for the hotel tip in London! Now to find something for Paris......

 

[Chropistopy]

Wow! Congrats to whoever is paid in full!

I ended up going with the flights that were most convenient for me since I couldn't find any great difference in price.

 

[Sarabi's Cubs]

Just curious, why do you search airfares on travelocity but then book directly with the airline? Is there some advantage to booking directly?

Sayhello - I was looking at Continental. I don't like Delta either, which is probably unfair because I don't travel enough to form a truly educated opinion, but I had a bad experience with them in the past.

For those of you booking pre-trip stays, I was able to use my Marriott rewards points to book the night before the trip at the same hotel, which was a nice savings for us, so you might look into that.

Laurie

 

[skunkvette]

Just curious, why do you search airfares on travelocity but then book directly with the airline? Is there some advantage to booking directly?



Laurie

I use Travelocity or Expedia for research and book direct with the airlines because it is usually the same price or cheaper and if you need to make any changes in flights, it is ten times easier to deal with the airline directly rather than through the other agents.

 

[MinnieGarden]

I use Travelocity or Expedia for research and book direct with the airlines because it is usually the same price or cheaper and if you need to make any changes in flights, it is ten times easier to deal with the airline directly rather than through the other agents.

Exactly! Tickets booked through Travelocity, Expedia, etc are also far less flexible when if comes to upgrades, and other issues that may arise during travel.

We live in Houston, so we are flying Continental. Fortunately they offer direct flights to both London and Paris.

 

[sayhello]

I book a LOT of corporate travel and I second that! I use Travelocity, etc for finding fares, then book dorectly with the airline. We paid $960/pp with taxes and everything. I was happy with that as it went down $150 from the time we started looking. I felt really good about the purchase until the final receipt came and all the fees were itemized. Of the $960, only $644 was airfare, the rest was fuel surcharges and customs fees.

Thanks for the hotel tip in London! Now to find something for Paris......

WHERE did you find airfare for $960? Everything I'm seeing is in the $1400 range.

What prices are others seeing?

Sayhello

 

[JWren1234]

WHERE did you find airfare for $960? Everything I'm seeing is in the $1400 range.

What prices are others seeing?

Sayhello

Going from/to Newark I've seeing $1050 - $1100 for about a month now. I think I'll probably be purchasing my airfare in the next couple of weeks.

Jason

 

[k5jm]

WHERE did you find airfare for $960? Everything I'm seeing is in the $1400 range.

What prices are others seeing?

Sayhello

We had been watching Continental for a couple of months. The price we were seeing was around $1200 per person. Finally on 12/26 is dropped to $980 then down to $960. We jumped on it. We are flying out of IAH.

One thing to keep in mind is that you have a smaller airport that hubs out of Newark or Houston that flys or partners with COair, you might be able to find a cheaper rate.

The same flights out of Austin and San Antonio that connect through Houston have been cheaper than flying directly out of Houston.

 

[k5jm]

 

[JPWDW]

Interesting, never seen those trips before. Only to Central America.

 

[tardis1029]

We just booked our airline ticketsWe're arriving in London on the 29th and looking for a place to stay.. we welcome any suggestions !
After our ABD1.0 Backstage Magic tour in April,we realized that we need a vacation after our vacation so after Paris we're going to Dublin for a few days to decompress and get some needed refreshments and haven't booked that hotel either yet . ( suggestions appreciated too ) .

 

[Chropistopy]

WHERE did you find airfare for $960? Everything I'm seeing is in the $1400 range.

What prices are others seeing?

Sayhello

I'm flying Delta out of Atlanta and paid a little over $1100. Thankfully, I got direct flights both ways.

I'm a little envious of the folks booking pre and post night stays. I'll be arriving the morning our adventure starts and flying out the day it ends. I do have an afternoon flight so hope to maybe get a little more park time that day.

 

[jcb]

I'm flying Delta out of Atlanta and paid a little over $1100. Thankfully, I got direct flights both ways.

I'm a little envious of the folks booking pre and post night stays. I'll be arriving the morning our adventure starts and flying out the day it ends. I do have an afternoon flight so hope to maybe get a little more park time that day.

You guys will love christy. She survived my table manners on the cruise.

 

[sayhello]

I'm flying Delta out of Atlanta and paid a little over $1100. Thankfully, I got direct flights both ways.

I'm a little envious of the folks booking pre and post night stays. I'll be arriving the morning our adventure starts and flying out the day it ends. I do have an afternoon flight so hope to maybe get a little more park time that day.

I wasn't quite anticipating $1400 for the airfare for this... Oh, well. Whatcha gonna do?

I definitely am doing some pre-nights. I spent 6 months in England more than 30 years ago, and somehow have managed to not go back since. I want to hit Winchester again, some other spots, and a few additional places in London. But I'm leaving right after the ABD. Not sure what time yet...

Sayhello

 

[apurplebrat]

I keep checking airfars out of Boston. The non-stop flights are ranging aboutthe same prices. We plan to arrive on 8/31. Still trying to decide if we should take the overnight flight.

When are folks planning on arriving?

Airfare just makes it so real. We are going to Paris!!!

 

[skunkvette]

When are folks planning on arriving?

Airfare just makes it so real. We are going to Paris!!!

We are booked out of Philly late 8/31, direct flight - overnight.

We leave the morning (11 AM) of the last day, got to get back to the real world.

 

[DisneyKevin]

John and I are leaving on 8/31 as well.

We'll be arriving on 9/1 and leaving on 9/10.

At this point, we're playing the airline roulette game and waiting to see if prices go down a bit.

WE ARE GOING TO PARIS!

 

[Chropistopy]

You guys will love christy. She survived my table manners on the cruise.

Awwwh...Thanks Jack! There wasn't anything to "survive". I enjoyed my time with all my tablemates on the cruise!

 

[k5jm]

We fly on 8/31 and leave Paris on 9/13