Airline tickets ?

[ChuckD]

So I am leaving this Friday for Iraq and am trying to plan a vacation for my family to visit me. I have tried Orbitz and Priceline and the best I have found is $2400 for the round trip for 5 next May. Is that good or should I keep looking. Hopefully I can talk Rav into going at the same time, I would really like to meet his family ( and try his mums cooking). Really all I am worried about is plane tickets. I have my wife an 8 (then) a 4 (then) a 2 (then) and newborn that is going to fly over there. Then my cost for the sight seeing when I am off. I know the kids wont remember much but it will be the first time I see the baby and the first time I see the rest in 10 months. What do you think? I wont know when I will get to take a mid tour till I get there but am trying to do what I can now. I know the sooner you make the reservations the cheaper they are but I am not a flyer so I wouldnt know what a good deal is.


Chuck

 

[jessemachone]

is that price from the airline or through a broker? i will get in touch with my sister since she does alot of taveling. i'll let u know what she says. i work for the airlines but i don't know about the best way to get cheap tix. i do know that the sooner u get them, the better. the only thing i can get you is standby tix and in my opinion, they aren't worth it unless you are trveling last minute and need something cheap.... definatly not worth flying your family standby.

 

[F-22 Raptor SHO]

considering I paid 1200 for round trip for 4 to Michigan from Phoenix, I would say round trip for 5 for 2400 is a pretty good deal.

Round trip for 1 to london I've seen for about 5 to 7 hundred (rav may see better cause he speaka da language).

 

[FoeSho]

let me get this straight, you want your family to come visit you in a war zone?

 

[Rav]

let me get this straight, you want your family to come visit you in a war zone?

I think Chuck is planning a vacation in Europe.

Chuck,

Unforutnately your family is going to be travelling at school holiday time and the airlines know this is when most people need to travel so they put up the prices.

Flying direct from PHX to London give you only one option of British Airways. There you'd pretty much be looking at around $700 for an adult.

Flying indirect gives you some more options to find a cheaper fare. You could save $100 per adult ticket this way. However this would involve a stop in Chicago, EWR, JFK, etc and I'm not sure if you want to burden the missus with dragging the kids around a stopover airport, but this would be a way to possibly cut costs.

Try to tavel midweek, as most business travellers want to spend the whole week somewhere if travelling internationally, and vacationers usually want to maximise their holiday so try to get out on the Friday or Saturday.

Also booking to early is sometimes not so good as you'll default to the standard cost and the special offers only come out about 6 weeks in advance. Finally Saturday midnight is normally when the airlines put up their special offers so it might be good to ask the good lady wife to check then. As there is only a limited number of seats at that price.

Hope that helps and I'll try and give you a call tonight, but definitely before Friday.

Rav.

 

[ChuckD]

let me get this straight, you want your family to come visit you in a war zone?

Wow you are dimming my hope that everyone in America can read.

Chuck

 

[Rav]

Hey Chuck,

Remember to get all the passports sorted out. You don't need a visa for the UK, but definitely will need valid passports.

It's one of the things I'm amazed about in the US, is how few people actually have passports.

 

[Shoaz]

Chuck, consider springing an extra few hundred for one of the kids' grandparents to come along as well...your wife might appreciate not having to herd the kids single-handedly for such a long trip.

It's one of the things I'm amazed about in the US, is how few people actually have passports.

But considering US citizens can run the gamut of all of North America including Hawaii without a passport, including Canada and Mexico, you've got a fourth of the planet covered for travel opportunities. The continental US by itself is pretty huge compared to most countries.

A colleague and I took colleagues from the UK and Russia on a two-and-a-half-day road trip from here to the Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Chaco Canyon and then to Albuquerque. Our colleague from the UK was pretty sick of the auto (actually truck) travel by the end of the trip...he didn't quite realize how far apart things are in this country.

 

[ChuckD]

But I want to try Ravs mums cooking. I am also looking into Space A travel from Luke for them also. And they can land in Lackenheath or into Germany where I will be flying into, then a train to London. So really they may be there a couple days before I do.

Chuck