henkybaby

Good night all!

Virazuno

Wow...I come back to this thread after, what, 2 hours, and it's descended into anything but a beginner's guide to Ex-.....oh, never mind.

:D!

I've always considered ex-EU to mean "tickets with the first segment starting from a non-UK European airport", not anything to do with the European Union.

I don't consider JER and INV to be ex-EU, and frankly anyone going from the UK to CAI and straight back just to get on another flight is bonkers. (Obviously it may make sense if you live in Greece or genuinely want to go to Egypt)

allturnleft

I have never been tempted either
I guess they would make sense for a TP run
Surely you are the added hours must detract from a pleasant journey
Do people do them regularly?

allturnleft

I have never been tempted either
I guess they would make sense for a TP run
Surely you are the added hours must detract from a pleasant journey
Do people do them regularly?

MPH1980

While I'd agree that flying to Cairo to come back seems a bit extreme - I did my first exEU a few weeks back. AMS back to back followed by a flight to PHL and then on (on a separate ticket) to YYZ - returning back via JFK through LHR to CDG.

As it happens - the CDG got cancelled and was a good excuse for me to walk out.

Why did I do it? Points. I was a gnat's whisker away from the GUF2 voucher and the standard WTP return to YYZ wouldn't have done it. I found an exEU for £900-ish, came to £1200 with the connections to YYZ and it was less than the flight to Toronto in WTP.

I actually found that I didn't mind it. The early start forced me to have a bit of a doze on the PHL leg and it was quite pleasant really where I normally stay awake the entire flight. I was a bit concerned about the PHL connection - but it all went very smoothly in the end.

I've now done my calculations and I think if I can do a few more like this over the next couple of trips (doing a DUB-east coast today and a MAD-east coast in a couple of weeks) - with everything else planned for the year - I'll be another gnat's whisker from GGL.

If my company will pick up the bill (and providing it's less than a direct in WTP and it's on my time they will) - I don't see why not.

Would I do exEU for the east coast if I wasn't interested in the points? It would depend on the price difference. For something like MAD, CDG, AMS etc - I think I would for a few hundred pounds saving.

M.

corporate-wage-slave

INV and JER are good options for this sort of travel since they are valid for 2-4-1 and have lower fares, particularly for the higher zone APD locations in WTP and above (over 2000 miles or so, in other words). CAI does feature in these sort of routings very occasionally, they can get very low Australia fares, but I agree it's a step too far, CAI really isn't set up for this. IST, on the other hand, given its competition with TK, should not be overlooked.

simonspear

Let's not change exEU. It would be a bit like telling me I'm not hoovering the carpet because I'm using a Dyson...

With regard to the OP's original question, I would seriously consider inserting overnight breaks into an exEU when travelling with children (particularly small ones). You save SO much money when traveling as a family that forking out for a nice hotel for 1 or 2 nights in transit can often be a drop in the ocean and massively reduces little ones tiredness and your stress levels fretting about missed connections.

Also you can build in mini breaks before the main trip. We've had wonderful weekends in Dublin, Copenhagen and Paris while on the way to somewhere more exotic!

AlanA

Remain don't want to highlight that even in EU we are shafted on costs, leave don't see it as a benefit to leave, as the price difference will still be there.

GadgetGal

Only on the BAEC forum would an innocent travel question descend into a debate about the semantics.

orbitmic

By which I know you have never attended our dinner table!!

Globaliser

Given all the considerations involved in ex-EUs, many of which you've already listed, I do wonder about the wisdom of creating anything like a Noddy's guide at all. I fear that it would be liable to be misinterpreted as a "Do these simple things, then you'll be fine, and you'll save a packet" - when the reality is that all ex-EUs are laden with degrees of inevitable risk and potential complications, and are best undertaken if you have a good understanding of the complexities of what you're setting out to do and how all the moving parts work.

The most recent thing that brings this to mind is the impact of the current series of strikes in France. How could one include in a Noddy's guide to ex-EUs all of the contingency planning for such events and their fallout?

henkybaby

I don't think you need to include every possible scenario... It is a bit like learning how to drive a car. You don't learn what to do if...

* a tree fall on the road
* a UFO lands on the highway
* a comet strikes your left tire
* you accidentally fill your tank with diesel
* etc

You are made familiar with a mental model on the world of driving, so you can decide on your own cognitive strategies. It is not about planning for every conceivable version of "I am going to miss my first flight" or "I have missed my first flight", which is basically the only excrement in search of a ventilator on such a trip that is different from a normal one.

GadgetGal

Do you need to review that last sentence, henkybaby?

Globaliser

And it is because of the complexities involved that nobody writes a Noddy's guide to driving with the intention that reading it is all that one needs to do in order to drive safely; or expects to be able to read one and then get in a car and go out on their own on the roads.