Advice on airfare

[mamato5girls]

I'm planning a cruise in July 2013 leaving from Venice, Italy and returning back to Venice. However, when I look at airfare from Omaha, Nebraska to Venice, I'm seeing prices around $1,000 per person. I do have a sister that lives in England and thought it'd be nice to see her pre-cruise so looked at airfare to England and found that airfare is $541 per person.

 

My question here is with the difference I save, would it be a great deal to fly in to Heathrow, stay 3 days, visit my sister and then take a train with an overnight stay in Paris and then on to Venice and back the same route? I'm off in the summer so not in a hurry at all. I figure if I'm going to Europe, I might as well see as much as I can. Would I have time to see the Eiffel Tower with the overnight stay in Paris? So many questions. Help!!

 

I'm so torn - btw, this is a surprise for my hubby as well. :D

[skandls]

Does your London airfare include all the taxes and fees? We have found that the quoted $500 fare jumps to $1000 with the added fees when flying to Heathrow.

[mamato5girls]

Skandls - you were right! :( I'm bummed now. Why do they get our hopes up by advertising it at 500 and then when it's all said and done, more than $1,000!!! :eek:

 

Thanks!!

[eh2zed]

Many airlines on open jaw (multi city) flights do allow a no charge stopover. The stopover does have a time limit usually. But the fare is the same as a direct or same day flight with stops. So in other words fly Omaha to London stopover in London and then on to Venice and return all on the same ticket, no extra charge. We have done this with a stopover in Fiji en route to Auckland and also in London en route to Barcelona. Both times Star Alliance airlines..

[north29]

You sound so much like us, incidentally my wife is from Omaha, her parents still live on Poppleton. What you ask can be done, but it is rather complicated and the price will be likely more. I might seek the help of a real, note I said real travel agent for help or preliminary planning. If you are not experience in European train travel they can be fun or challenging, you will probably have to switch trains especially from Paris to Venice, do not know where or how many times. The problem is you must allow time to get to Venice, and your ship has a designated departure time so you would want to be in Venice at least one day before the ship sales to be comfortable.

 

My choice(we always spend time after the cruise) is to fly straight to Venice, do the cruise and plan about 10-15 days some where in Europe with rental car, or other transportation, after the cruise and end up in the UK and fly home from there. Some flight inside Europe are cheap, but do not allow for all the luggage you will take on the cruise, or without outrageous baggage charges.

Lots of planning, involved to get the better bang for your buck

[Globaliser]

My question here is with the difference I save, would it be a great deal to fly in to Heathrow, stay 3 days, visit my sister and then take a train with an overnight stay in Paris and then on to Venice and back the same route?

It can easily be done, but I seriously doubt that you'd get London-Paris-Venice-Paris-London train tickets for much less than $500.

 

One of the best sites for information about European rail travel is www.seat61.com.

 

The main reasons that airlines advertise in this way are that (a) the air fare looks cheaper like this; and (b) the US government has not yet outlawed the practice (unlike many other countries).

[TruckerDave]

Your cruise is in July of 2013? Then I doubt you are going to see any airfare's until probably July/Aug of 2012 for that far out. Its usually around 300 days or so when they put out the fares. So trying to figure out fares for almost two years out is a pointless exercise. (Now unless it was a typo and your going in July 2012 then forget this post)

[Bowie MeMe]

It really is way too early to be doing the air but it can be fun to educate yourself as to possible routes.

 

1. Yes see your sister -- it will really add to your trip.

2. Bear in mind that you and the rest of the world seems to travel in the summer and the prices will reflect that. I think even a $1000 is probably low for July of any year. Doubt that prices will go down.

3. Look for special deals like new routes opening and lesser chosen routes that have extra capacity or more flights. Look for mid week flights.

4. My philosophy for Europe is to get there -- distances are not that great and if you can grab a discount ticket (Spanair/Ryan/etc which are the Southwest of Europe) sometimes cheaper than train. Can travel on Railpasses sometimes cheaper. If you are a teacher there are some benefits (student fares) that might help. Basically looking for some luck here:rolleyes: but if you find it it is so sweet.

5. Add to the trip to the best of your ability and the tolerance of hubby!

6. Think out of the box -- I just saved over $1,500 by booking roundtrip with a seperate leg rather than an open jaw for Baltimore to Bangkok return Beijing.

7. Keep trying. Strangest thing this airline ticketing. Figure out what flights you want and what you think is a reasonable price. When you see it grab it.

I have literally seen prices change by hundreds of dollars in less than 1/2 hour both up and down.

8. Be happy. It's going to be a wonderful trip.

[Globaliser]

So trying to figure out fares for almost two years out is a pointless exercise.

It really is way too early to be doing the air but it can be fun to educate yourself as to possible routes.

It's actually good if someone starts researching this far out. They'll then get an idea of the "trading range" for flights at that time of the year, and be much more able to spot a cheap and good value fare when they see one come available for their actual travel dates.

 

It's a much more scientific approach than assuming (as so many people wrongly do) that the cheapest fares for any travel date are available the instant that bookings open for that date. For long-haul routes, that can be so so wrong.

[FlyerTalker]

It's a much more scientific approach than assuming (as so many people wrongly do) that the cheapest fares for any travel date are available the instant that bookings open for that date. For long-haul routes, that can be so so wrong.

Money quote of the day....or week....or month.