WANTING TO KNOW HOW TO PLAN MY TRIP ON A BUDGET BUT BE FLEXIBLE AT THE SAME TIME.MY ROUND THE WORLD TICKET WILL BE BOOKED BUT I STILL NEED SOME FLIGHTS WITHIN EUROPE AND CAR HIRE BOOKED.WHEN DO I DO THIS, AND WHAT HAPPENS IF I LOVE A CITY AND WANT TO STAY AN EXTRA WEEK, CAN I CHANGE FLIGHTS ETC AT LAST MINUTE AND DO I GET CHARGED, GOING IN 2007 AND HAVE FOUND CHEAP FLIGHTS ON INTERNET WITHIN EUROPE HOW FAR IN ADVANCE DO THESE NEED TO BE BOOKED - ONLY HAVE ROUGH DATES

YOU WILL GET VERY FEW ANSWERS UNLESS YOU stop SHOUTING!!!!

.......and stop being fexible

With regard the budget airlines, they are normally very inflexible. Changes , if possible at all, will cost you a great deal. For Example, Were you to book a ticket through Ryanair and decide at the last minute that you wished to stay another week, then you would be charged €40 to change, plus the difference between your current ticket price and the cheapest available ticket on your new flight.

This might work out to be several hundred euros. If you want flexibility, look towards an expensive ticket with a scheduled airline.

Hi K,

Typing in all caps is difficult to read.

It is also difficult to read posts that do not have paragraph breaks.

Flexibility costs money.

The cheapest rates on airlines and autos are a few months in advance.

It is usually much cheaper to rent cars from the US before you go to Europe.

See www.novarentacar.com and www.autoeurope.com.

Changing flights, etc at the last minute incurs a fee of anywhere from $50-200.

Look forward to your trip report.

You might consider going by train, rather than hiring a car, except as you need one. Depends on what you're going to be doing. But it's good to know (since you mention the word "city&quot, that parking in them is expensive and the car doesn't get much use in them. The other thing to know is that it's generally very expensive to let one in one country and try to drop it off in another. Big fees. Could be a rail pass or just point to point tickets would be cheaper? Although I know there are times when your own car is best. Maybe rent and return local as needed?

And everyone is right - the cheaper the airfare, the less flexible. If you had a cheap Ryanair ticket from city X on to your next city, but decided to stay, I believe you'd forfeit your ticket entirely. Even on the major airlines, only a full fair ticket is changeable without a penalty.

A rtw huh? I'm jealous! Have fun.

For within western Europe, I think train travel would provide you the best flexibility and reasonsable cost. Tickets can be bought for each journey just a few days before or even day-of travel.

DUKEY, IF YOU DON'T LIKE PEOPLE WRITING IN ALL CAPS, THEN JUST MOVE ON TO ANOTHER POST!

THIS HAS BEEN DISCUSSED MANY, MANY TIMES HERE IN THE PAST. A LOT OF PEOPLE DO NOT REALIZE THAT SOME CONSIDER TYPING IN ALL CAPS TO BE SHOUTING. THEY AREN'T DOING IT TO BE RUDE OR TO OFFEND YOU!!!

While Dukey may not have phrased it very diplomatically, it's a worthwhile thing to tell KLBT. How else will ANYONE WHO DOES THIS ever LEARN?

Best wishes,

Rex

bettyk, I suggest you read your post. It is really quite funny.

You yourself mention that people don't know it is considered shouting or rude, yet you seem to suggest that no one should tell them so. That doesn't seem very helpful, does it? As Rex says, how will they learn if no one tells them. And come on now, you have to admit that since you know it is considered rude, your typing your own response in all caps must have been meant to be rude.

I'm sure Betty wasn't trying to be rude. I just hope KLBT heard what she had to say!

Whether using all caps is considered shouting or not....I find all caps more difficult to read.

I'm with you, Grcxx3. Between the caps and no breaks, this post is <b>very</b> difficult to read. And, while a little more diplomacy would have been nice, KLBT deserves to be told that she/he will probably get more responses with an easier to read post.

Heard it loud and clear.
This was my first post, didn't really know what i was doing, no need for rude remakes.

Personally I find Dukey's post very helpful not only to OP but also to everyone who reads this thread.

As with almost anything else, with travel low cost and convenience are antithetical.

If you want the benefit of low cost you need to book far in advance, take specific (often least popular) flights and if you change at the last minute gnerally lose all you have paid and have to buy a new ticket at the highest price.

Only you can decide on the benefit to you of flexibility vs a specific amount of money.