CosmosHuman

I’m not new to FT, but I’m planning on my retirement trip to the EU next November. October maybe a possibility. Planning on flying NYC to FRA and then train travel to the following: Munich, Berlin, Warsaw, Krakow, Prague, Budapest, Bratislava, Vienna. Maybe a few others. These are some of the cities where my ancestors came from. Not sure about the order. Will go to Dachau and Auschwitz. Basically it’s an open book now. I’m planning about a month or a bit longer trip. Looking at EU hotel chains. Not sure what to expect from lower cost chains. I stayed for about a week in London at a HUB Hotel by Premier, and it wasn’t too terrible. I only have about two nights worth of points from HHonors. I’m trying to do this on a strict budget. I’m not looking at youth hostels. I do need my privacy. I’m not sure if the rail companies have reduced fares for people my age; today I turn 66…gasp. I like, don’t even know where to begin. Any and all advice is greatly welcome. BTW, my mother thinks I’m crazy and my BF is very supportive of my trip.

guv1976

If you are not already an IHG Rewards member, I would sign up now. IHG frequently runs promotions by which you can purchase IHG Rewards points for 0.5¢ apiece. This will sometimes let your stay at IHG properties (like Holiday Inns, Holiday Inn Expresses, and Crowne Plazas) for less than the lowest cash cost.

You can check cash and award costs at a variety of IHG properties now for October/November stays to see whether it makes sense for you to pursue this strategy. If point stays make sense for you, you might also consider applying for the IHG Premier Mastercard ®, which has a current sign-up bonus of 175,000 points after $3K spend, and payment of the $99 annual fee. Details here:

https://www.ihg.com/onerewards/conte...itcard/premier

Holders of the credit card get the fourth night free on a points stay of four nights or more.

For cash stays at IHG or non-IHG properties, consider getting a card whose sign-up bonus may be used as cash to offset the cost of such charges. One card I like is the US Bank Altitude Reserve card. There's a 50,000-point sign-up bonus after $4,500 in spend; points are worth 1.5¢ each towards "travel" purchases, but there's a $500 minimum for redeeming those points at any particular hotel. However, the points can also be used towards airfare when purchased directly from an airline. The card has a hefty $400 annual fee, but the first $325 of travel and dining charges are automatically rebated, and annual retention offers often bring the net annual cost of the card down to $0. Details here:

https://www.usbank.com/credit-cards/...edit-card.html

(By the way, both cards offer up to a $100 credit towards TSA Pre-check or Global Entry. )

Deckter

Your itinerary looks excellent, and the first thing you should plan would be your train travels. Unlike aviation, train travel and ticketing are fragmented, and there’s no Google Flights for train tickets; you would typically have to book most trains separately. I think an excellent site for information is https://www.seat61.com/, including ways to book etc. One example of train ticketing idiosyncrasy is that purchasing a ticket for Berlin-Warsaw on the DB website is usually more expensive than purchasing one on the Polish rail website. The MAV website usually has great fares, but your journey must start or end in Hungary, so a train ticket from Berlin to Vienna can be booked on their website, if you put select Budapest or Hegyeshalom as a destination, Vienna in the "Via" field, and just get off in Vienna.

That being said, probably not all train companies have published their autumn schedule, some only do so a few months in advance.

Regarding hotels, I think the period you chose to travel is considered low season in most European countries, so booking with miles wouldn’t necessarily be cheaper, but I think it is still too early to book hotels. One strategy is to try and book refundable rates now and keep checking the prices when sales are going on. Check both hotel websites and aggregators, such as Booking.com or Trivago.

Planning a holiday can be exciting, and i hope you have fun doing so. I'm happy to help if you need more info.

CosmosHuman

Thank you for the info and links.

CosmosHuman

Thanks for your info on seat61. I’ve checked out his site. Also, there are several YT bloggers who do train travel that I’ve watched. My heart wants to fly JFK-FRA business on SIA, but my budget says wait a hot minute. I don’t sleep well on planes. Last trip I flew PE on BA, but ended up with a pretty sore back. Now, BF may join me for part of the trip…well I’m trying to talk him into this. He is a history prof and war game designer, knows just about everything history related especially military conflicts. His schedule is very flexible as he mostly teaches online now.
There is also the economy of reason, staying in city centers is better with regards to transport costs. Also if flights are a better value than trains? I’m only using a carryon and personal item. I’ve looked at the Eurail train passes, they seem convenient, but at what cost? Example: a five hour train trip vs a flight? How many hours spent at an airport vs the train journey?

Deckter

While SQ in J can be very expensive, there is never a comfort comparison between PE and J. That being said, at 6:50 flying time, that route is too short to enjoy a proper sleep, so at least for me, it's not worth breaking the bank for J.

Looking at your itinerary, I don't think you would take a train journey longer than 5 hours, and that’s where the train wins, in my opinion. Take for example the Munich to Berlin case, where from central you would take a 45 min S-Bahn ride to the airport, say you travel carryon, so you would have to be there only 1 hour before the flight, then 1 hour flight time, then another 30 min from BER airport to central. All in all, 3:30 best case scenario, including waiting for trains etc., but probably close to 4 hours. All that for a minimum of 97€ for flight+another 7-8€ public transport tickets.

A sprinter ICE takes 4:30, and tickets are as low as 18€. And it's the same for BER-WAW, the flight is a minimum of 91€, while a train ticket is 27€.

I know this is FT, but sometimes it makes so much more sense to take a train instead of flying.

NewbieRunner

If you are a Hilton person I recommend Hampton properties in Europe which I understand are much nicer than Hamptons in the US. Among the places you plan to visit I have stayed at Hamptons in Berlin, Frankfurt Airport and Warsaw Airport and can recommend them all. Hamptons seem to be expanding in Europe, so I’m sure there are more I have not visited. It’s usually not worth using points to stay at these hotels. You will also be eligible for senior (or AARP) discounts which allow for free cancellation up to 23:59 the day before arrival.

CosmosHuman

Correct, and thank you. You are right about getting a good sleep on a short flight. The prices I saw on SIA are average $2300 for J, I’ll need to look elsewhere as I don’t have miles.

CosmosHuman

I’ll look into this. Thank you.

nk15

The cheapest J to cross the Atlantic is with BA Avios for 34k Avios plus $115 taxes each way, JFK-MAD in low season, if you have or can get any Avios. Occasionally, AA/BA/IB has J to Europe roundtrip for about $1800, which can get down to $1600 with discounts, but this is less frequent.

For premium economy you can get a roundtrip for about $1k to various places. SAS sometimes has PE to various cities in Europe for as low as $350-600 roundtrip (I booked recently for $350, but fare not active right now).

New York to Europe | Explore (google.com)

CosmosHuman

I don’t have any Avios. I’ll keep searching. Thank you.

nk15

You can fly JFK-BUD one way in J for $1,270 (available almost every day) (and skip the last 1-2 segments, if you want, but this will work only with hand luggage). Then you can book a separate cheap economy fare back. (You can also combine an economy return with the outbound in J for $1500 total on the TAP site, but with no leg skipping in that case, and TAP is notoriously bad with changes or refunds; ties your money for up to 2 years).

New York to Budapest | Google Flights

angetenar

Lufthansa reliably releases open seats as award space within 2 weeks of departure, so if you have United/Air Canada/Chase points you could try to get those. Lufthansa is also flying their new 787 to EWR so you can avoid the dreaded 2-2-2 seating.

guv1976

Of course, the OP does not necessarily have to fly home from Europe: Depending on the exact dates of travel, there will be relatively inexpensive "repositioning" cruises available from Western Europe to Florida.

erik123

Check eurrail passes - no need to reserve and can add up to being very good value with flexibility.

Don't overthink the hotels. Go for location first. There are lots of cheaper chains, Ibis, etc. and independent hotels that are very good. If staying longer consider Airbnb or services apartment which can be good value. Don't dismiss hostels too quickly - many are excellent, often very well located, and with en-suite rooms. Many adults and families use them.