Paris/London

[lb4747694]

I'm planning on flying out Aug 27th to LHR (although the start date is a bit flexible if it's really cheaper to fly in on, say, the 26th) and then Sept 10th from CDG. Since it's "open jawed" it seems to up the price quite a bit. But even RT to LHR is not that cheap. I'm going to have to keep an eye on it, but knowing myself, I'm going to cave & just buy the expensive ticket soon. I don't do well on waiting. Have you had good experience with UA? I can't remember the last time I flew them...

Sayhello

I have pretty good experiences on UA. To be fair though, I fly them a lot, so they take pretty good care of me. To me, most US based carriers are the same. The food's not great and the crews are hit and miss. Top tier foreign carriers (Singapore Air / Lufthansa) definitely offer better consistency, especially in economy--often for the same price.

Doing an open jaw out of ORD for dates, I'm coming in just under $1300, for just about every airline. Those definitely are not cheap fares. I would expect you could get something under $1000 for this itin.

Guess the airlines expect traffic to Europe to increase this summer.

 

[glassslipper2004]

Have you tried Air France? I don't know if they would have the cities you are looking for, but we had a great experience with them recently. On time, excellent service. Although their summer prices are likely higher than our November trip.

We had an ok time with Delta/Air Italia, but not great, and they were not particularly cheap either, so I can see how you wouldn't be looking to fly with them again.

 

[sayhello]

Have you tried Air France? I don't know if they would have the cities you are looking for, but we had a great experience with them recently. On time, excellent service. Although their summer prices are likely higher than our November trip.

We had an ok time with Delta/Air Italia, but not great, and they were not particularly cheap either, so I can see how you wouldn't be looking to fly with them again.

Delta has screwed up my reservations so many times over the last couple of years. Honestly, buying a ticket with them has become potluck. You may or may not get the flight you actually paid for. I had one flight to Florida for a cruise they changed almost weekly, at one point changing it to like 7 minutes between segments. And each time they'd change it, I'd lose my seat assignments. I've just really had it with them.

I've checked Air France, and their prices are higher than a lot of the other airlines, plus the return times are not very good (leaving pretty early from CDG.) But I'm going to keep an eye on them. Thanks for the tip.

Sayhello

 

[kristilew]

Have any of you who have done or are going to do the London/Paris ABD trip done or will do a few extra days at the end to go to Disneyland Paris? If so how easy is it to add on a few days? And would you just stay at the hotel in Paris and do a day trip to Disneyland Paris? Also how easy is it to add on a Versailles trip if it's not included in the Gateway London/Paris trip and is it worth adding on? We have just enough points to do the Gateway trip whereas the Knight and Lights one is more points than we have.

Judyat, we did Paris on our own and I found both DLP and Versailles very easy to get to from the city. The train stations that get you to DLP even have little Mickey icons to get you on the right path and the right trains.

I did DLP with my DD who was 11 at the time, and we were able to do every little thing we wanted to do, in both parks, in one day. So unless you really want to experience the whole resort there, I would encourage you to stay in the city. There is so much to take advantage of there, and soooo much incredible food. (One of my favorite things about the trip!)

Versailles was pretty, but huge and overwhelming. I probably would have felt like we were missing something if we had skipped it, but having done it, I wish I'd had that day in the city instead. The palace was so crowded and we just shuffled from room to room with a billion other tourists. Very quickly, everything started to run together and we just wanted out. We enjoyed the Petite Trianon and the grounds much better, and again had some great food. If you'll have young kids with you, or won't be there during pretty weather, I'd probably say not worth it. If you like to do a lot of walking, are a Marie Antoinette fan, or have always dreamed of seeing the Hall of Mirrors, it's worth the day.

hope that helps!

 

[RSM]

Have any of you who have done or are going to do the London/Paris ABD trip done or will do a few extra days at the end to go to Disneyland Paris? If so how easy is it to add on a few days? And would you just stay at the hotel in Paris and do a day trip to Disneyland Paris? Also how easy is it to add on a Versailles trip if it's not included in the Gateway London/Paris trip and is it worth adding on? We have just enough points to do the Gateway trip whereas the Knight and Lights one is more points than we have.

When we went to Paris, we toured Versailles with Fat Tire Bike Tours. It is a full day, but pretty fun. You meet at the office and bike to the RER. Take your bikes onto the train to Versailles. Go to the market in town of Versailles, buy food for a lunch on the grounds. Then you bike to the palace, and tour the grounds by bike. In the afternoon, you have about 2 hours on your own in the palace itself. This works out well, as the palace tends to be less crowded later in the day (we were there in early July, and the palace was not very crowded). Not sure if you have enough time to do a full day, but we (2 adults and 7 y/o boy) had a great time, although at one point the biking got a little difficult for our son (it was about 95 degrees on the day we did it). Anyways, if interested, take a look at their web site, they have alot of details as well as other city tours they offer.

 

[kristilew]

When we went to Paris, we toured Versailles with Fat Tire Bike Tours. It is a full day, but pretty fun. You meet at the office and bike to the RER. Take your bikes onto the train to Versailles. Go to the market in town of Versailles, buy food for a lunch on the grounds. Then you bike to the palace, and tour the grounds by bike. In the afternoon, you have about 2 hours on your own in the palace itself. This works out well, as the palace tends to be less crowded later in the day (we were there in early July, and the palace was not very crowded). Not sure if you have enough time to do a full day, but we (2 adults and 7 y/o boy) had a great time, although at one point the biking got a little difficult for our son (it was about 95 degrees on the day we did it). Anyways, if interested, take a look at their web site, they have alot of details as well as other city tours they offer.

This would have been the perfect way to do this. I wish I'd known about it when we went!

 

[ennuiphobe]

Have any of you who have done or are going to do the London/Paris ABD trip done or will do a few extra days at the end to go to Disneyland Paris? If so how easy is it to add on a few days? And would you just stay at the hotel in Paris and do a day trip to Disneyland Paris? Also how easy is it to add on a Versailles trip if it's not included in the Gateway London/Paris trip and is it worth adding on? We have just enough points to do the Gateway trip whereas the Knight and Lights one is more points than we have.

Judyat,
We did K&L last summer with a couple days at DLP added on the end. We took RER to DLP, which was easy (once we were sure we were on the right train). You probably could do it in one day, but you might feel a little rushed. I'm glad we spent a couple days there, but feel no need to return.

As for whether Versailles is worth it, all the kids in our group would say no. The bike ride was fun, but the kids were bored by the rest of it. In retrospect, I wish we had done the Gateway trip instead.