Extreme Newbie Looking for Advice on Trip to Europe
Aug 27, 2015, 11:32 am
#16
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Aug 27, 2015, 11:42 am
#17
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: San Francisco
Posts: 1,039
Paris & London seems like a pretty good combination. We're planning on spending a week or two over there, mainly for sightseeing & things like that. I've never been to Europe, and she's only been there once.
This kind of thing definitely seems pretty addicting. Hopefully I'll learn to plan better for my next trip, though.
This kind of thing definitely seems pretty addicting. Hopefully I'll learn to plan better for my next trip, though.
What time of year would you be going? September/October, IMO, is the best time to visit Europe - fewer tourists and usually temperate weather. Winters are cold, but not unbearable (one of my best trips to Paris was in the winter - virtually no tourists or lines and it's off-season so things are cheaper). Spring can be nice too, and summer is generally packed with tourists and very hot (avoid Paris/France in August as well, everyone leaves Paris for vacation and a lot of things are closed).
I recommend trying to book at least one leg of your trip as soon as possible, especially if there are Saver Awards available (assuming you're booking through UA).
With all of this said, people on here won't be able to decide for you where to go (and I don't mean this in a mean way). Europe is much bigger than most Americans realize, and you don't want have a stressful trip trying to see too much. For a 2 week trip, I'd recommend no more than 4 cities, for a one week trip, definitely no more than 2 cities. Paris / Amsterdam, Paris / London, Paris / Barcelona, Paris / Munich could all be a nice trip if combination if you are set on going to Paris (which, as an American living in France, I think is a good place to be set on).
Lastly, don't waste your miles on a standard award w/ UA - there's no point, and pay close attention if you decide to fly into / out of LHR (they have HUGE taxes on award tickets, especially those in premium cabins). Best of luck!
Aug 27, 2015, 11:52 am
#18
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 13
Where would you be flying out of? For instance, EWR - CDG could be easier to find Saver Awards w/ United in J, but SFO - CDG could be more difficult. What I recommend doing is looking into what city has award saver award availability from the city you're flying out of. Perhaps LHR or CDG have no availability, but maybe LIS/BCN/MUC/FRA have more availability (especially with *A partners). Once you're in Europe, it's not terribly difficult to get around (about an hour flight from any of those airports to CDG, maybe around a 6-8 hour train ride).
What time of year would you be going? September/October, IMO, is the best time to visit Europe - fewer tourists and usually temperate weather. Winters are cold, but not unbearable (one of my best trips to Paris was in the winter - virtually no tourists or lines and it's off-season so things are cheaper). Spring can be nice too, and summer is generally packed with tourists and very hot (avoid Paris/France in August as well, everyone leaves Paris for vacation and a lot of things are closed).
I recommend trying to book at least one leg of your trip as soon as possible, especially if there are Saver Awards available (assuming you're booking through UA).
With all of this said, people on here won't be able to decide for you where to go (and I don't mean this in a mean way). Europe is much bigger than most Americans realize, and you don't want have a stressful trip trying to see too much. For a 2 week trip, I'd recommend no more than 4 cities, for a one week trip, definitely no more than 2 cities. Paris / Amsterdam, Paris / London, Paris / Barcelona, Paris / Munich could all be a nice trip if combination if you are set on going to Paris (which, as an American living in France, I think is a good place to be set on).
Lastly, don't waste your miles on a standard award w/ UA - there's no point, and pay close attention if you decide to fly into / out of LHR (they have HUGE taxes on award tickets, especially those in premium cabins). Best of luck!
What time of year would you be going? September/October, IMO, is the best time to visit Europe - fewer tourists and usually temperate weather. Winters are cold, but not unbearable (one of my best trips to Paris was in the winter - virtually no tourists or lines and it's off-season so things are cheaper). Spring can be nice too, and summer is generally packed with tourists and very hot (avoid Paris/France in August as well, everyone leaves Paris for vacation and a lot of things are closed).
I recommend trying to book at least one leg of your trip as soon as possible, especially if there are Saver Awards available (assuming you're booking through UA).
With all of this said, people on here won't be able to decide for you where to go (and I don't mean this in a mean way). Europe is much bigger than most Americans realize, and you don't want have a stressful trip trying to see too much. For a 2 week trip, I'd recommend no more than 4 cities, for a one week trip, definitely no more than 2 cities. Paris / Amsterdam, Paris / London, Paris / Barcelona, Paris / Munich could all be a nice trip if combination if you are set on going to Paris (which, as an American living in France, I think is a good place to be set on).
Lastly, don't waste your miles on a standard award w/ UA - there's no point, and pay close attention if you decide to fly into / out of LHR (they have HUGE taxes on award tickets, especially those in premium cabins). Best of luck!
Aug 27, 2015, 12:09 pm
#19
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: San Francisco
Posts: 1,039
Thanks for the advice! I'm basically flying from whichever city in the northeast U.S. that has the Saver Award tickets available. I'm not set on any one particular airline, just the most efficient use of miles with availability for the trip - which will probably be in mid-to-late October. Figuring out which airline that is was my initial problem (and I still don't know how you guys figure that out).
EWR is the United hub to Europe (unfortunately IMO), so your best chance at finding award availability is through EWR, or potentially BOS or IAD. United's J is honestly not that bad, and for a short flight (7-8 hours) is a good choice. Of course if you want something nicer, look into flights to FRA & MUC w/ LH, although those are 70,000 each way, not 57.5K. The hard products are minimal between UA&LH, but the soft products are noticeable (better food and champagne on LH). Log into your MP account (if you don't have one, make one) and look through award availability. There will be "partner awards" at the bottom of the page. Once you're looking at award availability on UA, it's fairly intuitive, but can take some time and patience to find the awards you want to find (especially if searching with different airports). Allot yourself some time, and just start searching...
Aug 27, 2015, 12:59 pm
#20
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Because of the different tax structures, if visiting the U.K. and France, it will be cheaper to fly into the U.K. and out of France than vice versa.
Because of the different tax structures, if visiting the U.K. and France, it will be cheaper to fly into the U.K. and out of France than vice versa.
Aug 30, 2015, 10:49 am
#21
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 7
i would definitely recommend that if u have the time, spend at least two weeks! the flight from us to Europe is the expensive one! In Europe u can find flights from $30 each way if you fly with the low cost carriers such as Ryanair , easy jet, etc. Just make sure you look at luggage charges, if ur planning to go on a budget, try traveling with just a carry on you will save a lot!!
Aug 30, 2015, 4:45 pm
#22
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 13
i would definitely recommend that if u have the time, spend at least two weeks! the flight from us to Europe is the expensive one! In Europe u can find flights from $30 each way if you fly with the low cost carriers such as Ryanair , easy jet, etc. Just make sure you look at luggage charges, if ur planning to go on a budget, try traveling with just a carry on you will save a lot!!
Aug 30, 2015, 5:18 pm
#23
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"What would be the best way to get from the UK to France? Another flight on a regional carrier?"
If you can plan far enough in advance, I'd check the prices on the Eurostar train from London to Paris.
Otherwise, for 4,500 BA Avios + ~ $28 USD you can redeem for a Reward Flight Saver on BA LON-PAR. But even that might not be a good deal if you can find a cheap one-way fare on a low-cost carrier. To see which carriers fly to CDG or ORY from the London area, Google "CDG airport wiki" and "ORY airport wiki"; keep in mind that there are several different London airports at varying distances from the heart of London.
And no, you won't be able to redeem your frequent-flyer miles for flights on LCCs like Ryanair, easyJet, etc.
"What would be the best way to get from the UK to France? Another flight on a regional carrier?"
If you can plan far enough in advance, I'd check the prices on the Eurostar train from London to Paris.
Otherwise, for 4,500 BA Avios + ~ $28 USD you can redeem for a Reward Flight Saver on BA LON-PAR. But even that might not be a good deal if you can find a cheap one-way fare on a low-cost carrier. To see which carriers fly to CDG or ORY from the London area, Google "CDG airport wiki" and "ORY airport wiki"; keep in mind that there are several different London airports at varying distances from the heart of London.
And no, you won't be able to redeem your frequent-flyer miles for flights on LCCs like Ryanair, easyJet, etc.
Aug 30, 2015, 5:45 pm
#24
Join Date: Aug 2009
Posts: 1,088
You could fly into London then take the Chunnel train into Paris.
Aug 30, 2015, 5:59 pm
#25
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Yes; and if money is really tight, one could also take Megabus from London to Paris, but it's a long trip.
Originally Posted by Kensterfly
You could fly into London then take the Chunnel train into Paris.
Aug 30, 2015, 8:22 pm
#26
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2014
Posts: 13
Thanks again, guys! This forum is amazing, and I'm learning a ton.
I found an open jaw roundtrip on United that'll get me through both cities. If it's not there when I'm ready to book, I'll just transfer some of my MR to Avios & use those to buy Eurostar.
I'm starting to work on dates & hotels now. I'll have to rely on more signups for hotel points for the stays (or just pay cash).
I found an open jaw roundtrip on United that'll get me through both cities. If it's not there when I'm ready to book, I'll just transfer some of my MR to Avios & use those to buy Eurostar.
I'm starting to work on dates & hotels now. I'll have to rely on more signups for hotel points for the stays (or just pay cash).