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I like Flixbus. They are better than trains in many cases if the trip is not too long. Last time I took Flixbus from Berlin to Amsterdam, I forgot how many hours it took, probably 8 hours. Interestingly, I was planning to take a Flixbus from Berlin to Wroclaw, but a bad thing happened to a relative in a different place which made me very sad that day and did not go.
Have you had problems buying Flixbus tickets with a credit card? Is it possible to buy them at the bus station, or do you have to do it online? (when I travel, I use public wi-fi, and never buy anything online through that kind of internet connection)
Likewise, I'd appreciate it if anyone could comment on buying train tickets with a credit card in Europe (specifically France, Germany & Switzerland), I mean when an American goes to visit Europe - has anyone recently had problems with the credit card not being accepted?
Some years ago, multiple people were complaining that their credit card was not accepted when they tried to use it to buy train tickets in France. I myself was unable to buy online a train ticket in Norway for May 2020 (the trip that needed to be cancelled due to Covid) - it was not accepted by the Norwegian railway website, and I had to buy it through Pay Pal (which I hate because they charge extra fees).
Any other problems using credit card for Americans traveling in Europe? When I travel abroad, I try to carry minimal cash & charge everything to the card - it works without problems everywhere in Asia, but I have not been to Europe in a very, very long time (although I actually grew up in Europe).
We did have problems with credit cards n Switzerland, we were trying to buy train tickets on the machines in the stations, but it wouldn't accept them, we had to go into the ticket office, where he had a different way to run the card. So I bought a weeks worth of tickets there ( I had an itinerary planned) Also many restaurants & shops were cash only (Switzerland).
We were in Ireland & the UK this past Spring & had no problems with paying by card. Be sure & let your bank know that you are traveling.
I am sitting here tonight trying to work out acceptable flights to Europe for October. Very frustrating, we want to go into Lisbon, do a tour including Morocco and then fly out of Madrid to Malta. I cannot find decent connections and arrival and departure times. Emirates fly out of Sydney to Dubai at 6am and 9 45pm daily and the night flight is about $500 more expensive. From Malta to home seems to involve a nine hour transit stop in Dubai, which is much too long.
Apparently most of the travel here at the moment is local, I am not the only one struggling with finding flights.
There aren't a lot of options if your last stop before heading home is Malta. Maybe better to bypass it in favor of somewhere else.
Have you tried Turkish via Istanbul? They fly Malta-Istanbul. Then to several S.E. Asian cities, Bangkok, Hanoi, Ho Chi, Jakarta, Manila, Phuket, Seoul, for a connection to Sydney. I'm amazed they don't currently appear to fly to OZ. What's that about....Gallipoli?
There aren't a lot of options if your last stop before heading home is Malta. Maybe better to bypass it in favor of somewhere else.
Have you tried Turkish via Istanbul? They fly Malta-Istanbul. Then to several S.E. Asian cities, Bangkok, Hanoi, Ho Chi, Jakarta, Manila, Phuket, Seoul, for a connection to Sydney. I'm amazed they don't currently appear to fly to OZ. What's that about....Gallipoli?
Actually we sorted it out and booked with a travel agent. Same price and they seem to be able to bring up the flight times we want.
So Sydney to Lisbon with a stop in Dubai to change planes. Madrid to Malta on Air Malta, separately ticketed. Malta to Sydney with a transit stop in Cyprus and flight change in Dubai. Emirates, other than the Air Malta segment.
I think that no European airlines fly to Australia anymore except for British Airways. All flights are codeshare. I gather it is because of the cost of the fuel and not enough profit.
Actually we sorted it out and booked with a travel agent. Same price and they seem to be able to bring up the flight times we want.
So Sydney to Lisbon with a stop in Dubai to change planes. Madrid to Malta on Air Malta, separately ticketed. Malta to Sydney with a transit stop in Cyprus and flight change in Dubai. Emirates, other than the Air Malta segment. I think that no European airlines fly to Australia anymore except for British Airways. All flights are codeshare. I gather it is because of the cost of the fuel and not enough profit.
Hadn't realized that. Turkish advertises that it flies to more countries (not destinations) than any other airline. My brother who flies a lot says they are ok...just. When you think about it, the S.E. Asian countries are 5-6 hours closer to Europe with a lotttt more people. That makes Jakarta-Istanbul direct viable, but not Sydney. I've always wondered about the economics of Emirates and to a lesser degree Etihad. I presume they are heavily subsidized. They fly to a lot of secondary destinations. If the subsidies run out.....
If you're not going to the UK, your options to Europe are quite limited.
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