Koing
Elite Member <br> Super Moderator<br> Health and F
- Oct 11, 2000
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Originally posted by: Jzero
Originally posted by: Koing
Originally posted by: Zim Hosein
Originally posted by: Ausm
Flying nose first into a swamp at 600+ miles/hr does not really excite me
Ausm
ValueJet?
It is called easyJet.
Koing
No, it was ValuJet. It is now AirTran. They suffered a well-publicized crash in the Florida Everglades, an event which damaged consumer confident in no-frills airlines.
But the crash was not due to their no-frillsness. I would not be worried about flying on either AirTran or RyanAir.
OHHHHHHHHHH I thought he just couldn't remember the name of the company. I had never heard of 'ValuJet''. Hell easyjet aren't in the states are they?
Koing
Originally posted by: isasir
Anyone know if I could take a cab at 3 AM in Rome?
Call your hotel to ask??
Originally posted by: oboeguy
Originally posted by: isasir
Anyone know if I could take a cab at 3 AM in Rome?
Call your hotel to ask??
I suppose I'd need to book a hotel first...
Not to mention I'm still not sure how this whole language barrier thing is going to work (I don't know any Italian) I did see one place online that would take me at 3AM, but it looks like it'd cost me close to $80 US.
I've flown 5 times with Ryanair. Great value if you can live with the fact that they use airports that are a bit out of the city centres
definitely a good way to save loot. Used it a few times a couple years ago when i was living in florence
Not sure I'd recommend booking a hotel in advance. There's plenty of cheap rooms over there. When you get off the train coming into Rome (or plane), there's plenty of hotel runners there. The 2 times I've been to Rome, it's been a 5 minute process. Guy will ask what you need "We need 2 beds and a private bath and shower." They will tell you or ask how much you want to spend. From that point, they will hail a cab, ride with you to the hotel, and get you checked in for what ever you agreed on.
Many European cities are like this. I've never booked hotels in advance and always get them through runners. Only time I had difficulty was in Paris during a major holiday weekend. Still, we found one about midnight, lied about the number of people, and left early the next day. My buddy who was drunk the night before said, "Holy cow, I walked around this morning while you were sleeping. The Eiffel Tower is only 2 blocks away." I had to remind him that we saw it the night before and we all took a leak on the lawn.
One more tips some folks miss: You CANNOT wear shorts into the Vatican.
Many European cities are like this. I've never booked hotels in advance and always get them through runners. Only time I had difficulty was in Paris during a major holiday weekend. Still, we found one about midnight, lied about the number of people, and left early the next day. My buddy who was drunk the night before said, "Holy cow, I walked around this morning while you were sleeping. The Eiffel Tower is only 2 blocks away." I had to remind him that we saw it the night before and we all took a leak on the lawn.
One more tips some folks miss: You CANNOT wear shorts into the Vatican.
beware of pickpockets in both cities.
and Ryanair is fine.
Depending on the route for the train, it could be scenic or it could be not. If it goes through Nice and the french riviera, its pretty scenic but otherwise not so.
and Ryanair is fine.
Depending on the route for the train, it could be scenic or it could be not. If it goes through Nice and the french riviera, its pretty scenic but otherwise not so.
I've flown Ryan Air a few times...it is fine, as the flights are generally pretty short. Bring a bottle of water, and make sure you don't over pack your bags, as they nail you on the amount of luggage you are allowed to bring. I.E. I htink someothing like 20lbs total or something...including your carryon bags...but other than that, it is great that it is so cheap, and generally easy to do!
Yeah, forgot about the weight limit. They are VERY careful about it. Each ounce over 15kg will cost you an arm and a leg. Theoretically they have weight limits for carry-on, but they rarely check, IME (I think it's around 10kg for carry-on). I don't know if they aggregate or not (i.e. 15kg per bag versus 15kg per seat in your party in however many bags). Last flight we had one bag at exactly 15kg and the other at 14.5kg, and that was without checking the weight before leaving.
If I was going with a bunch of friends and just winging it, I'd take this advice. Instead, I'm going with my parents and sister, so I'm more picky about hotels, esp. since not all of them will accommodate 4 people in a room.
Doing the math on RyanAir, I'm not so sure it's really that big a discount.
In US dollars I figure - going from Termini to Airport for 4 ppl. - $42, flight - $130, airport to Paris - $68, extra night at hotel - ~$200. Total is about $440. The train would cost $575 and include sleeping quarters for the night. Time spent on travel is about 8 hours for Ryanair, assuming they leave on time. Figure 8 hours awake and 7 hrs. sleeping on the train and it's almost equal.
It's still definitely an option, but the savings isn't as big as I initially thought.
I agree since it's your parents and sister going. Booking in advance somewhere nice isn't a bad idea.
I've done the sleeping car from Paris to Rome before. Of course the quarters are real tight (assuming you are regular class, not sure if 1st class has better sleepers) but it's certainly do-able. We had no problem sleeping. Sort of freaky the first time we stopped at a border at 3:00am and didn't move for half an hour. Armed guards walking around outside and they were all sifting through different passports.
If you knock out a night of hotel by taking the train, the price isn't so bad. And while it takes awhile, if you can fall asleep early it's not that bad. I did Rome to Amsterdam once and it was 22 hours total from start to finish. 2 train changes, one at 1:30am in Switzerland, and another at 9am in Germany. We were so ready to get off the train at that point.
I remember when we started seeing parts of the Rome suburbs. Then, I saw a Blockbuster sign. Weird.
I flew on RyanAir from Rome to Paris. Tickets were cheap, but I wasted the whole day travelling.
Although the flight itself only took 2-3 hours, it's the commute to/from the airports that soaked up my time. Getting from Rome proper to Ciampino takes about an hour and a half. The bus connecting Beauvais to Paris proper takes another hour and a half.
The bus to Paris is awful. There's only one bus company that provides this service, and when I was there, they totally underestimated the # of passengers they'd have to transfer that evening. So a bunch of passengers, including myself, had to wait for the next bus...which was 2 hours later!
Bottom line - plane tix were cheap, but i had to sacrifice a day of my vacation to travel from Rome to Paris. That is NOT COOL. If i had to do it again, i'd prolly take a sleeper train so I could enjoy the day sightseeing, etc.
Although the flight itself only took 2-3 hours, it's the commute to/from the airports that soaked up my time. Getting from Rome proper to Ciampino takes about an hour and a half. The bus connecting Beauvais to Paris proper takes another hour and a half.
The bus to Paris is awful. There's only one bus company that provides this service, and when I was there, they totally underestimated the # of passengers they'd have to transfer that evening. So a bunch of passengers, including myself, had to wait for the next bus...which was 2 hours later!
Bottom line - plane tix were cheap, but i had to sacrifice a day of my vacation to travel from Rome to Paris. That is NOT COOL. If i had to do it again, i'd prolly take a sleeper train so I could enjoy the day sightseeing, etc.
FYI, I have experience in the sleeper trains too. It's a perfectly good way to travel, and I normally have trouble sleeping! If there are four of you, you could probably get a cabin all to yourselves, making security mostly a non-issue (you can look your cabin). There are 4 bunk slots in most 2nd class sleepers, btw.
i have flewn with them for a few times. Except for the timings, nothing much bothered me. What more can we expect out of that fair?
Yup. $150/person ($125 for my sis) gets us a room to ourselves in their "first class" cabin for four, each with our own bed. I think we get a sink also.
Sounds good. A few trains I've been on had 6 bunk sleeper cars in 2nd class. No sinks either. With 6 bunks, space is very limited when in "sleeping mode."
Check out http://www.voyages-sncf.com/ to book train tickets directly with the French railway. You reserve the seats now and pick up the tickets at any train station in France with the CC you used to buy the ticket. Make sure you also use the "Advanced Search" to get any youth discounts you're eligible for. I wish I knew about this site before I booked a flight from France to Barcelona on easyJet because the train fare is about the same but I would have saved paying for another hotel night. Live and learn...
I've tried using this website a few times over the past few days, but I keep getting an error.
BTW, does anyone know where the Paris Bercy station is, in Paris? Google hasn't really helped me.
That sounds like a decent rate for a first class cabin. I guess for a really long train trip it could be very nice. The overnights we did this past summer (three of them IIRC) were all < 10 hours or so. Would yours be longer? If it's not, then 1st class probably isn't worth it IF you can be sure of a getting a four-person 2nd class cabin. Yeah it's tight, but you'll be asleep most of the time. In any case, your call on the price difference.
Travelling by train is fun; at least I think so.
Oooh, one more probable bonus in a first class cabin: I bet you get an electrical outlet. It's a real PITA to stand in the bathroom guarding your digicam, PDA, etc while they charge.
Travelling by train is fun; at least I think so.
Oooh, one more probable bonus in a first class cabin: I bet you get an electrical outlet. It's a real PITA to stand in the bathroom guarding your digicam, PDA, etc while they charge.
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