Baybreezes

Husband and I are wondering how early to book flights to Copenhagen and what route, so to speak, would be best. Our choices seem to be: flying from Texas to London to Copenhagen, from Texas to Canada to Copenhagen, or from Texas to Newark Liberty and then SAS direct to Copenhagen. The 2-week+ trip is in May 2016.

The home airport is CRP, which means always a stop/change in either Dallas or Houston before we actually get anywhere.

Right now we're thinking the SAS choice is the best although we wouldn't be able to check our luggage through.

I'd love some advice. FYI, we hope to fly business class, at least while crossing the Atlantic. We have only flown to Europe once before, to Rome, and that was far easier to plan.

izzyizzo

Right now there are some pretty stupendous economy fares ($350-600 rt) to Europe. Not sure how far out they're valid, but you should strongly consider locking one in, if possible. Didn't notice J fares knocking my socks off, but the fare sales do seem to have extended to premium economy into CPH and ARN.

Note that the fares I've found are from EWR and JFK -- but for the price you might wish to book your international and domestic travel separately (sometimes a travel agent can then link the itineraries).

Baybreezes

Thank you for your response. When you say a travel agent might be able to link the itineraries, would that mean that bags could be checked through from start to finish? Would a travel agent have to book the flights (rather than me)?

adagio

If your main concern is Business class TATL, I would focus on that. I know UA best, and out of IAH, and so would focus on the routes from there into Europe. You can easily and quickly get from LHR, AMS, FRA, and MUC into CPH and they are all hubs or with hub-like connections with lots of flights for Star Alliances carriers. I am into CPH or other Scandinavian cities regularly out of Houston and that works well for me. In Europe, I generally fly SAS or Lufthansa, both of which are Star Alliance, and if you book on United.com onto 016 stock (a United issued-ticket), count for United spend credit, if that matters to you. Even if it doesn't matter for that, it means bags are transferred, you are in the system, etc. Only practical note to remember is if you fly UA from IAH to, say, LHR, and then SAS to CPH, at LHR you will handled by SAS. Not a big deal except for you to go to the correct desks and gates!

adagio

And, to help with part of your question, various airlines have agreements to check bags from one airline to another. That is one of the points of the global networks like Star Alliance (United, SAS, Lufthansa, and many more you can look at on line), One World (American Airlines, British Airways, and many more you can get on line), and Sky Team (Delta and Air France and more you get on line). They facilitate seamless ticketing and baggage transfer. A flight from Texas to Copenhagen through Canada could be ticketed as part UA, part Canadian, and part SAS, and could actually be flown by any of the three, and the ticketing airline and the metal you are flying in may not actually be the same----the Canadian ticket, or SAS ticket to CPH through Toronto may cost more than the UA ticket, though they use the same flights.

People may choose based on the ticketing airline because of their frequent flyer program, the cheapest combination because price is most important, fewest connections, to avoid certain airports that are notorious for delays, etc. In your case, if flying business to Europe is rare and this is a treat, I would make that part of the journey fun and the longest, to get the best rest in the business product, so would fly it out of Houston or Dallas. The flight to LHR out of the east coast can be harder to sleep on as it is noticeably shorter.

Baybreezes

Thanks. More questions.
If we fly by connecting at Heathrow, won't we have to go through passport or immigration control both at Heathrow and at Copenhagen airports? Or is that not a big deal?

What intrigued me about SAS is that it appears possible to fly Business over and a lower level fare back to the U.S., something that would save us a bit. I also am running away from the remodeled UA web site.

However, since UA and SAS are in the same alliance, why doesn't UA offer the Newark connection among its routings rather than Amsterdam, Canada, UK? I know you can't answer that; I just find it puzzling.

gnaget

I would avoid LHR. You would need to go through unfriendly security and change terminals. If you fly through MUC or FRA you can avoid security, definitely for the former and generally for the latter when you fly LH. With UA you often get a bus gate at FRA, which means that you have to go through security and a long transfer.

SAS is not part of Atlantic ++ (they were excluded 3-4 years ago), which is a JV between UA, AC and the LH group airlines. Therefore, there is no codesharing with UA, who will not sell you a ticket with a SAS flight across the Atlantic and vice versa.

You know that you can fly non-stop SAS business-class only from IAH to Stavanger, Norway? It's probably pretty expensive and unlikely to have seasonal discounted fares and you obviously cannot upgrade. But maybe with the current status of the oil industry.....

Baybreezes

Thanks! Where do you all search for flights? We can fly out of CRP only on American and United (and Southwest). So aa.com produces itineraries that fly to DFW and either MAD or LHR. United produces itineraries that fly to IAH and then to Toronto (via puddlejumpers) and to CPH. United also connects in AMS. We don't like the Embraers for such long distances.
How are MAD and AMS for connections to and from CPH?

fassy

The direct SK IAH-SVG route is cancelled for 2016.

Good way to search for flights is Google flights (which used https://matrix.itasoftware.com/#) or kayak.com.

I would not connect in MAD if my ultimate destination is CPH since even though it is a fine airport it will mean a pretty long European leg.

AMS is pretty nice to connect and a very short hop from CPH with a couple of direct flights a day, so even if you miss the initial connection it should be fine.

Anyway, I prefer to have all the short legs at the beginning of a trip and then a long one to my final destination. That way I would recommend a flight which goes from the east cost (US or CA) to CPH directly.

(just to add: nice airports with plenty of options in Europe for connecting from the US to CPH are: AMS, ZRH, MUC, FRA, VIE, WAW. I would avoid CDG and LHR.)

Baybreezes

Thanks for that list of airports. All this advice is much appreciated. I have booked flights through United that will connect in Houston and Amsterdam going over and Munich and Houston coming back.

I had to really grit my teeth to deal with the United web site, having to click everything to get the info I wanted. I did call United to ask about the 1hr5m connection over there. The agent suggested there wouldn't be much to deal with in Amsterdam to make the connection risky. Same for Munich.

You all have been very very helpful.

adagio

Wouldn't there be the chance of more walking and more passport checks at AMS? While LHR has a bad rep, the new T2 is not all that bad. If you fly in on UA, you are in T2, albeit a bit of a walk, but SAS also leaves from T2, so not terminal change, so at the SAS gate in 20 minutes or less, and there are dedicated desks at the transit area to give you passes and check that you luggage has made it (so have the luggage tags).

On the UA site right now, with random days next May, it took 30 seconds to generate over 30 outbound options from Corpus to Copenhagen, with options into Europe through IAH, IAD, ORD, Toronto, etc., and into FRA, BRU, MUC, FRA, LHR. You can refine from there. I would worry the route you are taking may make things more difficult than you want them to be. If you can surf the independent ticketing sites and piece together a multi ticket trip from multiple sources (and realize and accept the risk), you can figure out the UA site. And the same for AA. And check Delta. I don't mean to be a shill for UA, just in my part of the world (Houston), which is your part of the world, we are a bit captured.

I have not found that AMS, for instance is easier to navigate, particularly if you have never been there before, and FRA and MUC can be very long walks and confusing with the stacked gates and the busing to out-stands if one is not experienced or a bit jet-lagged---not overly so but again compared to staying on Star Alliance in T2 in LHR. Of course, I guess YMMV and personal experiences are just that. Just, don't over think it and go with simple, within reason. That said, AMS, FRA, MUC are all reasonable options as is LHR.

Note that if you spit of the tickets, if you have a cancelation or delay or lost luggage, or risk your onward journey. The money you save could be at significant risk. I would view it as insurance, or realize you are "self-insuring," if you book separate tickets for flights TATL and then intra-Europe. If you book them separate, you will need to have a strategy to manage that risk (have a night stay over, book changeable tickets on the intra-EU side, etc.), or you are gambling with the risk.

The notion about where to have the short v long legs of the trip...again, keep in mind when you are paying of the business class, how long you will have to sleep, because the vast majority of east-bound flights (from the US) are overnight, and those sorts of things.

Baybreezes

Adagio, thanks for that detailed reply. I am comfortable flying United (with my MileagePlus card), and so I did choose it. The connections that were at Heathrow were a couple of thousand dollars more expensive, so I skipped them. Flying AA was a bit more expensive than what I chose, plus AA's connections in Dallas were too tight for comfort. United's Houston connection is much better.

I agree that business class is better when it lasts for a decent sleeping period, and I'm glad you mentioned that earlier. This is one reason I chose not to ticket separately CRP to EWR (economy) and then the shorter business class segment EWR to CPH.

Our most worrisome connection is AMS. I did call UA and was willing to pay to book over the phone to push that connection to something more comfortable. However, the agent could not even find the flight itinerary I was looking at, even when I gave her the flight number from Houston. So I ended up doing the booking myself.

I really don't know what to expect when we land at AMS. I assume our bags will be checked through to CPH from our embarkation in Corpus Christi. I assume we will have to move through some sort of people control bureaucracy (passport/immigration) before getting on the connecting (SAS) flight to CPH. Corrections to my assumptions are welcome!!!

There are later flights that day to CPH. Say, maybe I should book them as backups?

Overthinking things is one of my skills!