Sooo... well... overwhelmed... talk to me, Is ABD the way to go? Airfare ?

[Cinderella's Slipper 2015]

Some friends travel often and she says that buying one way tickets is the real way to save. I am not really sure about this... It seems like a lot of hassle, but if it can save a lot of money... Thoughts on this.

I'm going to chime in on this part and feel free to disagree but I book travel for my boss on an almost weekly basis and I can tell you from experience that booking one way airfares is in no way cheaper than roundtrip, not anymore. In fact it is usually almost 3-4 times more expensive to buy one way.

I just ran New York to Paris for April 2017, since I can't look at trip dates for ABD France 2017 yet. I ran 2 people business class from JFK to Charles de Gaule and I came up with approximately $6,500 round trip. When I ran 2 people from business class from JFK to Charles de Gaule one way it came up approximately $19,500. I used Google Flights to run the comparison, which I use all the time to check flights for my boss who is constantly flying back and forth between Toronto and Paris on a monthly basis.

 

[Rapunzellover]

Cinderella-- when are you doing the France ABD next year? I'm on the August 4th one.

 

[Cinderella's Slipper 2015]

Cinderella-- when are you doing the France ABD next year? I'm on the August 4th one.

We're not doing it. We're doing South East Asia with another tour company. I'm just super familiar with booking flights to Europe, Paris especially. I'll get to France one day but we're doing SE Asia in February and I think we're looking at Japan in 2018 or possibly Morocco, but again, not with ABD.

 

[cedricandsophie]

I would just chime in as someone who has traveled to Europe a lot all on our own.

First we try to only travel United because I have gold premium status which means free bags for anyone traveling on my reservation and two free premium economy seats. While I have flown business and even first class a lot while I was working I just can't pay that much out of my own pocket. And I rarely sleep anyway on a plane regardless of the seat so except for free booze and food it's kind of a waste. This year alone on United though I had accumulated enough miles from travel and using my chase United Visa card to charge almost everything for four to go to cabo in economy and two to go to Rome in economy paying for any extra fees for all to be in the premium economy. The cabo tickets would have cost about 800 each and the Rome tickets about 1300 so using my miles this way saved us several thousand dollars. I personally would rather book as many tickets this way than one or two business class tickets.

As for using a travel agent I do in a couple of ways. For all cruises I book thru her both Disney and otherwise. More for convenience than the perks. She offers none on Disney but does on other cruises. We are doing a crystal cruise from Bali to Singapore next year and she gave us a few perks there. Plus because air was so complicated I used her for that and we already booked air even though we aren't leaving until feb 2017. She was able to find a coach fare for less than 800 each with another 150 to upgrade to the economy plus area on American. Would have loved Business but at over 5000 each that's just ridiculous.

We also use our travel agent to find car rentals and hotels often at great rates and with perks like free breakfast, upgraded rooms, etc. we like to travel around Europe in our own, generally driving. So we give her our route and she comes up with great hotels and other ideas.

As for France I personally wouldn't see a value in using a tour, abd or otherwise. It's an incredibly easy country to get around although a week is not nearly enough! 3 or 4 days in Paris, a few days in Provence and then ending in south of France would be ideal. For the cost of a Disney trip you could do a wonderful trip on your own with great hotels and the freedom to explore. But we love just driving around and enjoying the ambiance of France at our own pace, stopping to explore the little villages, finding castles, going into bakeries for wine and cheese for a picnic lunch , talking to the locals. You will love France no matter how you do it just don't try to cram too much in and take the time to enjoy.

 

[AdamEfimoff]

DH and I have traveled all over the Caribbean, we both have that wanders soul. We like to go down there as we live in Florida, and its really not as costly to fly down there, plus not a lot of time in the air. So we were invited to go to the Israel and Jordan this year with his DSD and his wife and their church, and unfortunately DH's work schedule during that time of year... he just could not work out, it was 13 days plus 2 travel days. So after seeing what all a tour offers. I thought I would look around for us and see what is offered.

By far ABD seem to offer the most, but honestly a bit of sticker shock, then I went back and looked at what it would cost us if we were able to go on the other trip. ABD was still leading in the cost column, but its wasn't apples to apples... Sooo...

We are looking at the France only tour, 6 nights 7 days, then adding 2 nights at Disneyland Paris.. for 2017

So I have been talking to some friends that have been on some tours and some think booking with a travel agent gets you a better price? others says book direct?... Thoughts, or suggestions

AirFare - - DH and I would have to fly Business class and would like the option of the pods if we can get the cost down. DH is 6'4" and I am 5'9, I have a serious neck and shoulder issue and DH has a back issue so coach is a no go. Suggestions for any way to get the cost down on air fare.

Any other tips or suggestions would be great and so much appreciated.

Business is good I would suggest lie flat

 

[calypso726]

Business is good I would suggest lie flat

Agreed! Another tip. Not all business and first class seats are created equal. So when looking at flights, double check the flight and aircraft on seat guru dot com so you can see if the seat is a lie flat one or just reclines.