• The TUGBBS forums are completely free and open to the public and exist as the absolute best place for owners to get help and advice about their timeshares for more than 30 years!

    Join Tens of Thousands of other Owners just like you here to get any and all Timeshare questions answered 24 hours a day!
  • TUG started 30 years ago in October 1993 as a group of regular Timeshare owners just like you!

    Read about our 30th anniversary: Happy 30th Birthday TUG!
  • TUG has a YouTube Channel to produce weekly short informative videos on popular Timeshare topics!

    Free memberships for every 50 subscribers!

    Visit TUG on Youtube!
  • TUG has now saved timeshare owners more than $21,000,000 dollars just by finding us in time to rescind a new Timeshare purchase! A truly incredible milestone!

    Read more here: TUG saves owners more than $21 Million dollars
  • Sign up to get the TUG Newsletter for free!

    60,000+ subscribing owners! A weekly recap of the best Timeshare resort reviews and the most popular topics discussed by owners!
  • Our official "end my sales presentation early" T-shirts are available again! Also come with the option for a free membership extension with purchase to offset the cost!

    All T-shirt options here!
  • A few of the most common links here on the forums for newbies and guests!

Need ideas for booking airfare to Europe

DaveNV

TUG Review Crew: Expert
TUG Member
Joined
Jun 1, 2006
Messages
22,003
Reaction score
29,217
Points
1,348
Location
Mesquite, Nevada
Resorts Owned
Free Agent
I'm exploring options and itineraries for taking a Greek Islands cruise that leaves from either Venice or Athens. I'm pretty settled on the cruise line; dates are still open. The bigger question is about the best way to book airfare from the Pacific Northwest (Seattle, Vancouver, or ?) to ether of those cities. Is there a preferred route, airline, website, or tricks of the trade to get a decent airfare? I don't want a folding chair in the galley, but I can't afford to fly First Class. This would be a cash deal, not points or miles.

Checking Kayak.com (because it's all I know about for something like this), I'm seeing lowest roundtrip fares are around $1000 each to Rome, and higher to Athens. Those flights have layovers or stops in Germany. Somebody at work mentioned going through/to Iceland. What's that about? Does that factor into it in some way?

Need your experienced help. Anybody? Thanks!

Dave
 
Last edited:

isisdave

TUG Member
Joined
Jun 6, 2005
Messages
2,762
Reaction score
1,284
Points
548
Location
Evansville IN
Resorts Owned
Marriott Waiohai
But approximately when?

A recent pointsguy discussion pointed out that it might be beneficial to make the long jump to a destination with lots of flights -- Amsterdam, Frankfurt, even Rome and construct ongoing flights from there. I don't think Iceland will help, but it should be a nice contrast to Athens and shouldn't cost any more.
 

DaveNV

TUG Review Crew: Expert
TUG Member
Joined
Jun 1, 2006
Messages
22,003
Reaction score
29,217
Points
1,348
Location
Mesquite, Nevada
Resorts Owned
Free Agent
But approximately when?

A recent pointsguy discussion pointed out that it might be beneficial to make the long jump to a destination with lots of flights -- Amsterdam, Frankfurt, even Rome and construct ongoing flights from there. I don't think Iceland will help, but it should be a nice contrast to Athens and shouldn't cost any more.

It won't be till Spring of 2021, so too soon to book anything. I'm trying to figure out the route and such to use when the time comes. I know there are Tuggers who travel to Europe frequently. I'm hoping there's a straightforward way to do this.

Dave
 

heathpack

TUG Review Crew: Veteran
TUG Member
Joined
Oct 22, 2008
Messages
4,651
Reaction score
3,750
Points
598
Location
Los Angeles
Resorts Owned
Hyatt High Sierra and Highland Inn
Disney’s Grand Californian and Hilton Head Island
Marriott Barony Beach and Mountainside
MVC Points
Sheraton Broadway Plantation
When we went to Greece we flew with FF miles. I couldn’t get FF flights all the way to Athens, so we wound up with 4 nights in London and then 9 or 10 nights in Greece. We booked a separate FF flight from London to Athens.

I know you’re not using FF miles but my point is: this turned out to be a happenstance really good combo. We went to the British Museum in London and saw all kinds of Greek antiquities. Not on purpose, it just happened. We got a lot of info on the places/things we saw later in Greece.

So I might look at itineraries through London, with a stopover there. If I recall correctly there’s more taxes doing it this way, so maybe it won’t work out financially. But we’re glad we had the London add on to our trip
 

Ken555

TUG Review Crew: Veteran
TUG Member
Joined
Jun 7, 2005
Messages
14,522
Reaction score
5,638
Points
898
Location
Los Angeles
Resorts Owned
Westin Kierland
Sheraton Desert Oasis
There are plenty of options and no reason to lock down your route. Just wait until you find a good price and buy.

From Seattle you can get to Iceland fairly quickly and have a few days there which I think is a nice option.

I’d suggest watching for premium economy specials...they do happen, be flexible where you go and buy one way tickets. You might find a nonstop to London at a great rate, etc.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 

VacationForever

TUG Review Crew
TUG Member
Joined
Dec 5, 2010
Messages
16,196
Reaction score
10,607
Points
1,048
Location
Somewhere Out There
You may be able to get international discounted fare through the cruiseline for their passengers. Celebrity and Royal Caribbean have ChoiceAir / Air2Sea. They can be cheaper than booking directly through the airlines.
 

Ken555

TUG Review Crew: Veteran
TUG Member
Joined
Jun 7, 2005
Messages
14,522
Reaction score
5,638
Points
898
Location
Los Angeles
Resorts Owned
Westin Kierland
Sheraton Desert Oasis
You may be able to get international discounted fare through the cruiseline for their passengers. Celebrity and Royal Caribbean have ChoiceAir / Air2Sea. They can be cheaper than booking directly through the airlines.

Or the travel agent. My agent was able to get better rates than the cruise line for this year (~$1050 one way Lufthansa business class Istanbul-LAX). A couple years ago I found a one way from Royal on Air France Düsseldorf-LAX in business class for just $540. It’s not common, but it is possible.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 

Passepartout

TUG Review Crew: Veteran
TUG Member
Joined
Feb 10, 2007
Messages
28,461
Reaction score
17,213
Points
1,299
Location
Twin Falls, Eye-Duh-Hoe
Dave, we just bite the bullet and fly Delta, because it offers the most flights from the nearest gateway. (SLC) we try to use upgrades for 'Economy Comfort' for more room and better meal options. With Delta, we can leave virtually anywhere in Western Europe early morning and sleep in our bed at home that night- and that isn't easy from the Western boonies. Now, from SEA, you can go Icelandair, with a (free) stopover in Rekjavik, but (iirc) it's on single aisle aircraft. Less money, less room. I never researched where they go in Europe. We have cruised that route both ways. Did Costa Venice found trip, then Athens to Barcelona then on to Miami. (Celebrity). If you charge everything for the next 1 1/2 years on Cap One Venture, you can make a good dent in the fare. Remember, the planning is the fun part. Oh, sometimes cruise line add-on air can be a deal, and they provide the transfers airport-ship, ship-airport.

Jim
 

klpca

TUG Review Crew: Veteran
TUG Member
Joined
Sep 11, 2006
Messages
8,273
Reaction score
7,280
Points
749
Location
CA
Resorts Owned
SDO, Quarter House, Seapointe, Coronado Beach, Carlsbad Inn, Worldmark
If you can stomach Expedia, I have found that for Europe I can get great fares by bundling my airfare/hotel. The hotel booking can be for a single night, which is what we do. We are going to France later this year and flights out of San Diego were a minimum of $300/pp more than either LAX or Orange County. On Expedia our flights were the same price as LA but leaving out of San Diego and we booked a single night at an airport hotel near CDG for our arrival night.

We have used Expedia twice in the past and had no issues. YMMV of course, but it's worth looking at what they offer.
 

DaveNV

TUG Review Crew: Expert
TUG Member
Joined
Jun 1, 2006
Messages
22,003
Reaction score
29,217
Points
1,348
Location
Mesquite, Nevada
Resorts Owned
Free Agent
So I'm hearing you all say there isn't any specific way to do this? How can I learn which routes are better? The idea of a stopover in Iceland is interesting, if it's on the way. So the best option is to book one-way fares, and decide on the day which way to go?

I'm trying to learn the best options I'll have, but my airfare booking experience is all on domestic flights. Flying to Europe is a new thing for me.

Thanks again,
Dave
 

DaveNV

TUG Review Crew: Expert
TUG Member
Joined
Jun 1, 2006
Messages
22,003
Reaction score
29,217
Points
1,348
Location
Mesquite, Nevada
Resorts Owned
Free Agent
If you can stomach Expedia, I have found that for Europe I can get great fares by bundling my airfare/hotel.

Katherine, is Expedia worse than any another insane booking site? I'm chuckling, but wonder about your use of the word "stomach." Am I missing something? :D

Dave
 

klpca

TUG Review Crew: Veteran
TUG Member
Joined
Sep 11, 2006
Messages
8,273
Reaction score
7,280
Points
749
Location
CA
Resorts Owned
SDO, Quarter House, Seapointe, Coronado Beach, Carlsbad Inn, Worldmark
Katherine, is Expedia worse than any another insane booking site? I'm chuckling, but wonder about your use of the word "stomach." Am I missing something? :D

Dave
I have had no problems, but when I do google searches my experiences seem to be a miracle according to some. :D I think that an online travel agent is an online travel agent. I just figure that when I recommend something I should disclose any potential pitfalls. Since I have had good experiences, I continue to use the service.
 

Passepartout

TUG Review Crew: Veteran
TUG Member
Joined
Feb 10, 2007
Messages
28,461
Reaction score
17,213
Points
1,299
Location
Twin Falls, Eye-Duh-Hoe
Dave, we only book one-way to/from Europe if we are cruising T/A the other direction. One-way seems to always be more than half of a round trip price. Incidentally, those T/As are a bargain cruise, though they've been discovered. They're 'repositioning' cruises to move the ships from the Summer Mediterranean routes to the Winter Caribbean routes and vice-versa in Spring. And while I'm hijacking your thread, the Fall Westbound ones are better because of the 6- 25 hour days transiting the Atlantic instead of 6- 23 hour days Eastbound in the Spring. But as a Navy hand, you knew that.I

JIm
 

magmue

TUG Member
Joined
Nov 26, 2017
Messages
535
Reaction score
393
Points
173
Location
Northwest of Normal
Resorts Owned
HGVC: Kingsland
West 57th
Worldmark
Whale Pointe fractional
Point at Poipu (deed)
Lawai Beach Resort
Kauai Beach Villas
I agree with Jim re: booking Europe airfare as round-trip or multi-city if at all possible. International flights still seem to operate the way US once did, where there is a significant financial penalty for booking one way.

Since you're planning far ahead, it might be worth applying for one of the premium credit cards for signup bonus you don't currently have. Chase Sapphire Reserve costs $450/year, but the 60,000 point signup can be used via their travel portal to book almost any airline for a combination of points and cash, with the points worth 1.5 cents a point used that way. So that $1,000 airfare could be gotten for 66,666 points. And it's not considered award travel by the airline, so you will still earn points with the airline.
 

buzglyd

TUG Member
Joined
Jan 10, 2013
Messages
3,697
Reaction score
2,187
Points
449
Location
Carlsbad, CA
Resorts Owned
HGV Lagoon Tower
HGV Carlsbad Seapointe
Gaslamp Plaza Suites
SVV Bella
Dave look at Condor airlines. They fly from Seattle non stop to Frankfurt I believe. Business class seats aren't too bad price wise but they are not lie flat seats. They are recliner style. From Frankfurt you could book a cheap Ryan air-type flight to get where you need to go. It's still not too late to open a credit card and earn a pile of miles to use.

For example, I"m going to Italy in September. I booked BA first class using American miles from San Diego to Bologna Italy. After my week stay, I booked a Ryan air flight to Manchester, England and booked a flight from Manchester to Houston on Singapore airlines business class using Citi Thank you points. I continue from Houston to San Diego. I'm lying flat and getting pampered the whole way!
 

DaveNV

TUG Review Crew: Expert
TUG Member
Joined
Jun 1, 2006
Messages
22,003
Reaction score
29,217
Points
1,348
Location
Mesquite, Nevada
Resorts Owned
Free Agent
Dave look at Condor airlines. They fly from Seattle non stop to Frankfurt I believe. Business class seats aren't too bad price wise but they are not lie flat seats. They are recliner style. From Frankfurt you could book a cheap Ryan air-type flight to get where you need to go. It's still not too late to open a credit card and earn a pile of miles to use.

For example, I"m going to Italy in September. I booked BA first class using American miles from San Diego to Bologna Italy. After my week stay, I booked a Ryan air flight to Manchester, England and booked a flight from Manchester to Houston on Singapore airlines business class using Citi Thank you points. I continue from Houston to San Diego. I'm lying flat and getting pampered the whole way!


Wow! See, that's the sort of thing I'm wondering about - how the experienced flyers do it. It's not the prices I'm seeing that make me wonder so much, as it is whether the prices I'm seeing are the best way to go about this. I haven't committed to any specific cruise or flight dates as yet, since it's too far out to book, so the options are wide open. (Thanks, I'll look at Condor. Not sure I've heard of them.)

The kind of thing I'm trying to figure out is if it makes more sense to fly from Seattle to an intermediate stopover site first (e.g. Reykjavik, London, Frankfurt), and then down to Athens or Venice, or maybe to an East Coast USA location (e.g. NYC) and then direct to Athens/Venice from there. Or should we just board something in Seattle that goes (eventually) to Athens/Venice, and deal with layovers and no sleep. Money is important, certainly, but for something that far away, I don't want to arrive and be unable to walk from being cramped up for so long.

And on the other hand, all else being equal, I'd rather spend closer to $1000 on a roundtrip flight, than more than $4000 on one. Prices I'm seeing have touched both of those numbers.

My research continues.

Dave
 

buzglyd

TUG Member
Joined
Jan 10, 2013
Messages
3,697
Reaction score
2,187
Points
449
Location
Carlsbad, CA
Resorts Owned
HGV Lagoon Tower
HGV Carlsbad Seapointe
Gaslamp Plaza Suites
SVV Bella
Wow! See, that's the sort of thing I'm wondering about - how the experienced flyers do it. It's not the prices I'm seeing that make me wonder so much, as it is whether the prices I'm seeing are the best way to go about this. I haven't committed to any specific cruise or flight dates as yet, since it's too far out to book, so the options are wide open. (Thanks, I'll look at Condor. Not sure I've heard of them.)

The kind of thing I'm trying to figure out is if it makes more sense to fly from Seattle to an intermediate stopover site first (e.g. Reykjavik, London, Frankfurt), and then down to Athens or Venice, or maybe to an East Coast USA location (e.g. NYC) and then direct to Athens/Venice from there. Or should we just board something in Seattle that goes (eventually) to Athens/Venice, and deal with layovers and no sleep. Money is important, certainly, but for something that far away, I don't want to arrive and be unable to walk from being cramped up for so long.

And on the other hand, all else being equal, I'd rather spend closer to $1000 on a roundtrip flight, than more than $4000 on one. Prices I'm seeing have touched both of those numbers.

My research continues.

Dave

Forgot to mention, Condor is an Alaska partner so a one way in business is 55k Alaska miles which you could earn pretty easily by opening a card. You may not have enough points for a round trip but use points one way and cash the other.
 

SmithOp

TUG Review Crew
TUG Member
Joined
Jun 17, 2010
Messages
7,609
Reaction score
3,403
Points
499
Location
Huntington Beach, CA
Resorts Owned
HGVC King's Land 2BR Premier 23.040K Points.
That cruise is on our bucket list also, I’m thinking of using domestic to get to the east coast for a layover each way. I can fly free with companion on SWA to FL then get international from MIA.

The last time we went to UK we did BA direct from LAX to London, it was grueling and vowed not to do that again.

Since you will be retired there is no need to rush there and back from the west coast.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro
 

DaveNV

TUG Review Crew: Expert
TUG Member
Joined
Jun 1, 2006
Messages
22,003
Reaction score
29,217
Points
1,348
Location
Mesquite, Nevada
Resorts Owned
Free Agent
Since you're planning far ahead, it might be worth applying for one of the premium credit cards for signup bonus you don't currently have. Chase Sapphire Reserve costs $450/year, but the 60,000 point signup can be used via their travel portal to book almost any airline for a combination of points and cash, with the points worth 1.5 cents a point used that way. So that $1,000 airfare could be gotten for 66,666 points. And it's not considered award travel by the airline, so you will still earn points with the airline.

Nice idea, but financially, that doesn't really work for me, since I'm looking more than two years out. Paying $450 annual fee for a card to get 60K points one time, means I'd have spent more than $900 in fees, plus the extra spending required to get back to that $1000 (cash) ticket price. So it sounds kind of like a wash, unless I misunderstand things. And after this cruise, would I use that card enough to justify the fees? Probably not.

I do need to review the cards I currently have - I have a number of cards that pay points that I never use. They're just sitting there. So maybe I need to shake the trees a bit, and see what falls out. :)

Dave
 

DaveNV

TUG Review Crew: Expert
TUG Member
Joined
Jun 1, 2006
Messages
22,003
Reaction score
29,217
Points
1,348
Location
Mesquite, Nevada
Resorts Owned
Free Agent
Forgot to mention, Condor is an Alaska partner so a one way in business is 55k Alaska miles which you could earn pretty easily by opening a card. You may not have enough points for a round trip but use points one way and cash the other.

We both have Alaska cards, so this may be an option. Thanks!

Dave
 

DaveNV

TUG Review Crew: Expert
TUG Member
Joined
Jun 1, 2006
Messages
22,003
Reaction score
29,217
Points
1,348
Location
Mesquite, Nevada
Resorts Owned
Free Agent
That cruise is on our bucket list also, I’m thinking of using domestic to get to the east coast for a layover each way. I can fly free with companion on SWA to FL then get international from MIA.

The last time we went to UK we did BA direct from LAX to London, it was grueling and vowed not to do that again.

Since you will be retired there is no need to rush there and back from the west coast.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

The cruise line we're looking at is the Star Clipper cruises. Smaller ships, and only a few hundred passengers. Their 10/11 day sailings in the Eastern Med just look amazing, especially if combined with a land trip around Italy. Being an old salt, cruising at this level seems like I'd like it a whole stinking lot. :D

https://www.starclippers.com/us-dom/

Dave
 

Karen G

Moderator
Joined
Aug 17, 2004
Messages
9,470
Reaction score
1,983
Points
749
Location
Henderson, NV
Resorts Owned
Once owned these: FirstFairway@Walden X 2; Lawai Beach; ManhattanClub; PuebloBonitoRose; 4 South Africa--now timeshare-free
We had a good experience with a Thomas Cook travel agent a couple of years ago for a trip to Stockholm as they specialized in premium economy air travel. Check out premium economy seating--not as spacious as first class but better than coach. We used another travel agent to book tickets for our upcoming October trip to Italy. We're flying British Airways from Las Vegas to London to Rome to spend four days before a cruise. Our return is from Venice to London to Las Vegas. The travel agent got a better price than what we could do ourselves on the BA website.
 

Passepartout

TUG Review Crew: Veteran
TUG Member
Joined
Feb 10, 2007
Messages
28,461
Reaction score
17,213
Points
1,299
Location
Twin Falls, Eye-Duh-Hoe
We have flown Condor (Thomas Cook) and found them entirely satisfactory. They also have Economy Comfort or whatever they name it. It works for us. We are not people 'of size'.
 

Ken555

TUG Review Crew: Veteran
TUG Member
Joined
Jun 7, 2005
Messages
14,522
Reaction score
5,638
Points
898
Location
Los Angeles
Resorts Owned
Westin Kierland
Sheraton Desert Oasis
I agree with Jim re: booking Europe airfare as round-trip or multi-city if at all possible. International flights still seem to operate the way US once did, where there is a significant financial penalty for booking one way.

Recently this is only true for legacy American and several other larger airlines, and not always. Many of the other international carriers have consistent low cost options and there is absolutely no difference, or savings, when booking roundtrip vs one way. In the last few days alone there have been roundtrip specials, at least from LA, to Europe starting at ~$300. These specials are incomplete since they are “basic economy” tickets without an advance seat assignment, no checked bag, no meal, and sometimes not even access to the overhead compartment to store a bag, and checked bag fees are often $60 one way on those tickets, so it’s almost always better to purchase the next step up that includes these amenities (of course, I think it’s crazy that these are considered amenities and not necessities, but that’s another story).

For example, next month I’m flying LAX-LON via Calgary on WestJet in their new 787 premium economy for just $625. My return from Barcelona is on Norwegian in premium for ~$695. On the dates I’m traveling these fares are about ~$250 to go premium vs coach, and I’d pay that any day for a 9-12 hour flight. The WestJet price was a rarity, from what I’ve discovered, but the Norwegian is a quite common to find. The same is true for coach tickets, just be sure you consider all costs...meals, checked bag, etc. Also, when traveling as a couple don’t ignore the option to purchase an extra seat to guarantee more room...sometimes it’s quite worthwhile.

We just bought a few others tickets in coach... LA-Paris one way for ~$320 (and that includes a bag and meal) on Norwegian, roundtrip LA-Paris for $625 (with bag/meal) on Air France nonstop, etc.

Also, since frequent flyer programs have been mentioned, American Air has started offering specials on certain routes. I’m not sure how frequently the routes change but the prices are excellent. I bought a coach seat LA to Milan for November via an overnight in New York (on purpose, since I would go crazy in economy for that long in one day) for 22,500 miles (and at the time they still offered the 10% discount with the credit card, so it was very cheap for me). I paid to upgrade to their seats with ever so slightly more room on the JFK-Milan segment and the all in cash price is ~$105 or so.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
Top