European vacation?

[dr150]

Originally posted by: freesia39
my friend and i are trying to plan a short trip to london and paris in mid to late october for about 8 days. right now we're trying to do whatever we can to get hotel plus air for 1000 each. i was HOPING not to spend more than 1500 on the trip, but damn stuff is expensive in those two cities.

Airfare is expensive nowadays and the Alaskan pipeline breakdown this weak will cause a sharp spike in real world gas prices in the coming days (if not sooner), so now is the ABSOLUTE BEST time to buy that ticket, b/c tickets won't get any cheaper in the near term. Use a meta search travel engine like Sidestep.com or Hotwire.com for the best prices.

Also you're travelling to London which is notoriously super expensive (restaurant prices are eye-popping). Hostels will be the way to do it in London, otherwise be prepared to shell out a whole lot of money for a crappy, cramped, antiquated hotel room. Follow my advice from my previous post for more advice/ideas.

Paris is cheaper than London, but with doing your own planning and research, you'll save HUGE $$$ than relying on a travel company.

If you absolutely need to stay at a hotel and have patience, you can save hundreds of dollars using Priceline.com. Use the following forum for up-to-date bids for successfully low-ball bidding for hotels in Europe and other regions: LINK. Remember still that hostels are the cheapest way to stay unless you get lucky and selectively bid for certain 2*/1* hotel groups on Priceline using the Priceline database forum.

In the future, you can look into getting a frequent flier card for travel. Travel experts recommend the American Express Starwood card ($30/yr fee). It's indeed a fantastic card as it serves as a frequent flier card for ~30 airlines and as a hotel card at the Starwood (i.e. Sheraton, W, Westin, Meridien, etc) chain which is global. Even a small # of points will lodge you in nice hotels. I've saved thousands of dollars with this card. No lie. GO to Flyertalk.com for more advice about this card and airlines tix...

 

[Kyanzes]

Nah, don't come to the eastern parts. There's really nothing for you here, aside from some ruins and old soviet barracks. It's ugly too. Go to Germany, the Benelux, Englad or maybe to the northern parts of Italy. You may also consider Greece or Croatia. That's about it. Well, Austria maybe, but there's nothing there you wouldn't find in the other countries cept for yodelling folklorists.

 

[Ameesh]

my favorite countries in europe are Greece and Switzerland

 

[ViviTheMage]

Originally posted by: misle
Thanks guys. So, giving my parents $3,000 would be a good start for their vacation?

yeah, thatd be a good start.

generous too!

 

[shopbruin]

Originally posted by: dr150

Originally posted by: freesia39
my friend and i are trying to plan a short trip to london and paris in mid to late october for about 8 days. right now we're trying to do whatever we can to get hotel plus air for 1000 each. i was HOPING not to spend more than 1500 on the trip, but damn stuff is expensive in those two cities.

Airfare is expensive nowadays and the Alaskan pipeline breakdown this weak will cause a sharp spike in real world gas prices in the coming days (if not sooner), so now is the ABSOLUTE BEST time to buy that ticket, b/c tickets won't get any cheaper in the near term. Use a meta search travel engine like Sidestep.com or Hotwire.com for the best prices.

Also you're travelling to London which is notoriously super expensive (restaurant prices are eye-popping). Hostels will be the way to do it in London, otherwise be prepared to shell out a whole lot of money for a crappy, cramped, antiquated hotel room. Follow my advice from my previous post for more advice/ideas.

Paris is cheaper than London, but with doing your own planning and research, you'll save HUGE $$$ than relying on a travel company.

If you absolutely need to stay at a hotel and have patience, you can save hundreds of dollars using Priceline.com. Use the following forum for up-to-date bids for successfully low-ball bidding for hotels in Europe and other regions: LINK. Remember still that hostels are the cheapest way to stay unless you get lucky and selectively bid for certain 2*/1* hotel groups on Priceline using the Priceline database forum.

In the future, you can look into getting a frequent flier card for travel. Travel experts recommend the American Express Starwood card ($30/yr fee). It's indeed a fantastic card as it serves as a frequent flier card for ~30 airlines and as a hotel card at the Starwood (i.e. Sheraton, W, Westin, Meridien, etc) chain which is global. Even a small # of points will lodge you in nice hotels. I've saved thousands of dollars with this card. No lie. GO to Flyertalk.com for more advice about this card and airlines tix...

let's just say our boss is being an ass about approving our vacation request. we practically are sending emails begging for SOME kind of response, since we have to get these tickets ASAP.

i don't think my friend will want to go the hostel route.

i'll have to look into that card, but i didn't want to get any more credit cards. i have a united frequent flier card for now.

 

[chcarnage]

Lots of infos about travelling Europe are here.

Hope your parents will have a pleasant stay.