Final trip recommendations...

[GhaleonOne]

So I posted a few months ago about my upcoming trip, and things have been a disaster for me in terms of planning. Originally, it was to be me, my brother, our friend from Thailand and another girl. The girl was iffy, which kept us from buying tickets, and the same goes for our Thai buddy. The girl finally bailed 3 weeks ago, and now with the political issues in Thailand, our friend there is only 50/50 on being able to go at this point. (although it makes me glad we opted not to go to Thailand right now) Anyways, because of all the complications on people going, I'm just now buying plane tickets and booking hotels this weekend. We leave May 23rd and come back June 7th.

I should mention that the trip is basically Switzerland and England/Scotland. Greece was cut when the girl in our group bailed. Our Thai friend can only do the UK because of visa issues (if he even gets a visa in time as he applied late and things aren't running so smooth over there right now). Also, he can only go the second week, so I'm making my first week all about the Alps. And Switzerland won out because of the Jungfrau region. Plus, a chance to photograph the Matterhorn didn't hurt either.

So that leaves me with two options, and I'm kind of seeing what people who have done some international travel think...

1) Wichita -> Manchester or Edinburgh, then a flight with EasyJet from Manchester/Edinburgh to Geneva for a week. Spend the other week in mostly Scotland. The flight prices from here to the UK are about $600 round trip with Delta right now. EasyJet can get us from the UK to Geneva for about $120 more. The good side is that if our Thai friend can't go, we can just pay the $20-$30 bucks and move the return flight date from Geneva back a few days, spending more time in mainland Europe. Perhaps go into France, Spain, Italy or Austria for a few days.

2) Wichita -> Geneva. Just get a ticket straight to Geneva. The prices are around $700. We can wait to find out if our friend can go, and if he can, book a flight from Geneva to the UK for the second week. However, that means we're booking last minute, and probably means the prices go up. Still, there's a pretty good chance he won't be able to go, and this leaves us the entire vacation in mainland Europe if he doesn't. That's another week of anywhere we would like to go and we haven't wasted money on a plane ticket to the UK.

I do have all my hotel info ready to book, thankfully. And I'm also lucky that late May/early June is offseason in the Alps. It's after ski season, and before the summer crowds, leaving most hotels cheaper and easier to book last minute. The only bad side is, while I can book the entire first week in Switzerland, I have to leave the second week completely to chance because of our circumstances. Anyways, just wondering if anyone has suggestions on the two idea's above. I know many said the UK isn't worth it, but I won't be all that hurt if my second week is spent in the highlands of Scotland. Still, I'd rather see France and Spain if I have the choice.

[Kizyr]

Well, personally I'd be more inclined to go with option 2, since I don't really care for seeing the UK. You may not need to worry so much about ticket prices climbing if you have to book some tickets a little bit later; prices tend to start climbing about 4 weeks before the flight date and sooner, though less for local flights.

The thing is, I tend to book full round-trips rather than leaving my final city (before leaving for the US) up to chance. Booking two separate one-way flights is always more expensive.

At this rate, it's probably better to go ahead and decide on what to do now. If your friend is able to get things worked out, he can then join you on whatever plans you've already made. But I wouldn't hold out just to wait and hear back from him. KF

[GhaleonOne]

I didn't explain the flight situation as well as I should have. We'll book the base city destination as a round trip. So if we went option 1, we'd likely book a round trip flight (May 23-June 7) from Wichita to Edinburgh, then get another round trip flight from Edinburgh to Geneva for a week. Option 2, we'd book round trip from Wichita to Geneva, then if our friend goes, book another round trip from Geneva to somewhere in the UK and back. But yes, I've been leaning towards option 2. I'd love to spend the second week down in southern France and northern Spain.

[Kizyr]

Oh in that case, go with Option 2. You'll have a better time and it's still accommodating to flexibility on your friend's behalf. It's also generally easier to get around Europe from the mainland than from England (with the exception of taking a trip to northern France or the Netherlands), or at least easier to get around more of Europe that way.

Also, if you plan on traveling via rail, check both rail and air prices. Flying is oftentimes cheaper, particularly for round-trip, although ticket prices generally don't change depending on when you book unlike airlines. KF

[GhaleonOne]

Definitely rail within mainland Europe. We'll go via the passes. I'll be getting the Swiss Pass, which is unlimited use of Swiss trains (including private ones to high-altitude places and resort towns that the Eurail pass doesn't cover) for that week. If we don't go to the UK, I'll also probably get a 4 day flexi pass for France/Spain probably, and spend the week there. I've always been drawn to the Pyrenees mountains, southern France and the Catalan culture in north-east Spain, so I'll probably spend the second week there if we don't do the UK. I have to see a Flamenco dance if I make it to Barcelona too.

[exigence]

stopping in Amsterdam?


srsly though sounds like a fun trip.

[GhaleonOne]

Almost ended up with an Amsterdam layover actually, but I think we'll be flying through Atlanta only. I'm hoping to book the flights tomorrow morning. Sonic, I'll let you know if we have a long enough layover to meet up. Thankfully I've found direct flights from Atlanta to Zurich, so no extra stops. And the final trip is just going to be Switzerland. My Thai friend isn't making it out of Thailand (too much going on with the government over there right now, and he just opened a new business) so we cut the trip a little shorter and will basically just tour Switzerland for 10 days. Obviously, I'll have gigs upon gigs of photography to share when I get back. I actually worry about if the 100 gigs left on my laptop is even enough.

[Kizyr]

Wait wait wait... If you have a layover in Atlanta, especially for an international flight, try to either (a) avoid Delta, (b) give yourself plenty of time (3 hours at least for the layover), or (c) go through another city. Well over half the flights I've taken to or through Atlanta get delayed; I actually try to avoid Delta for that very reason. KF

[GhaleonOne]

Heh, I booked already, and yeah, it's Delta in Atlanta. I think it was a 6 hour layover both ways though. I'm actually flying AirTran from Wichita to Atlanta, then Delta for the international side. Atlanta with Delta seemed to be the only town/airliner than was direct from a US city without some extra stop or two.