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That flight to Athens has now become $1,950 holy crap! LAX to Fiji nonstop is only $950, contemplating Fiji instead
Or you could fly to to Athens with a stop in Paris on the way out, and Amsterdam on the way back for only $878 (as of time of posting). To be fair, that itinerary has a pretty long lay over in Amsterdam. For just $5 more, you can switch your return flight to one with a reasonable layover in Rome.
Airline prices are dynamic. You can't pick one route (with an already suspiciously high price), keep checking that exact itinerary, and expect it to stay the same.
I feel as if I could have written your post, I'm experiencing the same dang thing. I will be going to Ireland and England in May, but I wanted to fly into Heathrow. Nope, the non-stop from Detroit to London is priced like I'm going to Mars. A $600 increase is unacceptable. It's sky-way robbery! Instead, I'm flying into Shannon, stay there a few days, then use Aer Lingus from Shannon to Heathrow. All this flying will still save me a lot of money.
I don't know about Detroit, but I just check and the cheapest flight between Toronto and London Heathrow with 1 stop is at C$834, or US$670, for mid May. Direct flight is C$950 or US$760,
Europe and Asia seem to be doing just fine with pricing their tickets and running viable, profitable airline companies. The bottom line is that, if budget European air travel is any indication, people are just fine forgoing certain "luxuries" like the ability to choose their seat, having in-flight meal service (which sucks in the US as is) and the ability to check a bag, among other "luxuries" if it means saving serious dollars . . . for those who want them, they can pay a premium to get them (again, looking to budget European airlines, plenty of people will choose to do so). Again, this is something that is already being done, and viably so, by airlines in other countries; no, traditional airlines haven't fully embraced this model in other countries, which is why they continue to lose customers to the budget airlines. No need to reinvent (or invent) the wheel here.
Agreed. I was in Europe last week, and flew on Transavia.. I had never heard of them before.. Found flights from Marrakesh to Amsterdam that were 110 Euro's One Way.. They had the option to purchase "baggage" for pretty reasonable, as well as exit row seats for cheaper than here in the states as well.
The plane it self was very comfortable..It looked like even the regular seats had decent leg room, the exit row legroom was enormous... well worth the money.
I actually like the "A la carte" pricing models, except when it comes to baggage..unless someone is actively enforcing the carry on rules. On the flight from Amsterdam to Madrid, the gate agent was stopping people all over the place and making them check their bags and charging them.. I thanked her when I was boarding.
To Annerks point, now is the time to go to Europe, based on the low Euro. Last week the Euro was at 1.13 to 1, 2 years ago when we went it was closer to 1.5 to 1, I believe.
Depending on the country, Europe is not that expensive as people claim it to be. I just spent 8 days in Iberia peninsular for about $1300. Food, hotel, transport, everything is cheaper than the US by far. RT airfare was $400.
I don't know for some reason people keep thinking Europe is expensive. Europe actually provides much affordable hotels than in large American cities. The nice and centrally located hotel in Barcelona cost $40 a night (private room and bath). Try that in Boston or New Orleans. A good meal with dessert and wine cost $18.
If you find a good deal on airfare, Europe can be very inexpensive to travel to.
Depending on the country, Europe is not that expensive as people claim it to be. I just spent 8 days in Iberia peninsular for about $1300. Food, hotel, transport, everything is cheaper than the US by far. RT airfare was $400.
I don't know for some reason people keep thinking Europe is expensive. Europe actually provides much affordable hotels than in large American cities. The nice and centrally located hotel in Barcelona cost $40 a night (private room and bath). Try that in Boston or New Orleans. A good meal with dessert and wine cost $18.
If you find a good deal on airfare, Europe can be very inexpensive to travel to.
We just went to Europe on Miles. The inner Europe (and Nothern Africa) flights were really cheap. We stayed 3 Nights in an amazing AirBNB in Amsterdam, 4 nights in a very nice AirBnB apartment in Madrid with a killer jacuzzi tub, 4 nights in a Riad in Marrakesh, and then 3 nights in a very nice hotel in Amsterdam, which also had an enormous whirlpool tub. All of those were cheaper per night than a crappy Doubletree I will be staying in for work in Rocky Mount, NC next month. The majority of our meals were very reasonable, cheaper than home typically. Plus, the amount of "street food" and small hole in the wall places where you can for instance, get a Doner Kebab for 3 Euros, helps to save a lot too.
Europe can be expensive if you stay in "5*" hotels and take cabs everywhere and go on lots of expensive tours. If you are willing to take their excellent public transportation and find things to do on your own, you can go very, very cheaply and have a fantastic time.
You should go to Fiji! I like almost anywhere in the tropics a lot better than Europe, by a mile!!
OP already lives in the land of palm trees, and while LA isn't tropical, it's close enough that nice weather and a beach isn't as much of a draw as it would be if they lived in, say, Boston.
Depending on the country, Europe is not that expensive as people claim it to be. I just spent 8 days in Iberia peninsular for about $1300. Food, hotel, transport, everything is cheaper than the US by far. RT airfare was $400.
I don't know for some reason people keep thinking Europe is expensive. Europe actually provides much affordable hotels than in large American cities. The nice and centrally located hotel in Barcelona cost $40 a night (private room and bath). Try that in Boston or New Orleans. A good meal with dessert and wine cost $18.
If you find a good deal on airfare, Europe can be very inexpensive to travel to.
Agree 100%. I'm actually going to the two most expensive cities in Europe--London and Paris. If I had chosen less expensive cities and accommodations and skipped the budget breakers like West End theater tickets and a few rather expensive meals, we could have cut the cost by 50%.
That said, I have yet to find any hotel in any major European city that I would be happy with for $40 a night. $100, sure--that will give something along the lines of a Hampton Inn. If you are willing to go to smaller cities in lesser traveled countries, you'll find a private room and bath for $40-50. Be warned that will buy you a fairly small double or twin beds--if you are tall or heavy, it might not be a restful sleep. In very small villages an entire flat will run $40-50. But those are generally places you'll need to rent a car, negating savings.
We do pay more for hotel in order to have larger beds as we are taller and both toss around a lot at night.
I think your price for a meal is a little low. Without the wine, yes, but the glass of wine will add another 2,50 or so to the check.
Last edited by annerk; 02-25-2015 at 09:02 AM..
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Instead, I'm flying into Shannon, stay there a few days, then use Aer Lingus from Shannon to Heathrow. All this flying will still save me a lot of money.
