Best Route from JAX to (Certain) European Countries
 

This isn't the best title, but I hope the right people open my thread. We are planning a trip with one of our sons and his family in June 2010, which will include Paris, London, Brugge.

We (me and my husband) will fly out of New York-JFK (no problem). My son and his family are moving in December from Connecticut to Fleming Island (SW of Jacksonville).

There aren't a lot of options from JAX. I was thinking JAX into Amsterday, train down to Brugge, train down to Paris, Chunnel to England - requires a connection in the U.S., They could meet us in JFK and we all continue to Europe from there.

Or JAX into either Heathrow or Gatwick (London), train to Paris, train to Brugge, BUT they have to backtrack to England to visit her family.

Or JAX-JFK to either Amsterdam, Brussels or Paris, but they still need to cross over into England, and ultimately fly out of Gatwick or Heathrow.

There is also the option of JAX, and connecting in Atlanta GA.

My head is spinning on this one. They will have two sons in tow ages 11 and 8.

Bobthenavigator is going to be the expert on this one!

Or fly into UK and get a cheap flight to Amsterdam/Brussels/Paris to meet you for the joint part of the holiday before returning, to visit your DILs family.
With two kids I would avoid connections in the US, especially on the return leg, if possible. Two tired, jet lagged kids, immigration queues, collecting luggage, getting through customs, rechecking the bags and then another flight will test family relations to the full.

hetismij, There are direct flights on the return from London to Jacksonville, FL (AA & US Airways), which is certainly what they will choose.

They aren't the lightest packers - aren't there strict weight limits on regional carriers or would they be able to avoid those kind of airlines?

Have a look at flights from London to Amsterdam etc - Easyjet fly from Gatwick to AMS, and BMI from Heathrow to AMS for fairly low rates - the earlier they book the cheaper the flight. BMI allow a 20kg baggage allowance pp, plus carryon.

Just had another thought - doesn't AA have a codeshare with BA? Then they could book a flight through to AMS and out of LHR.
US Airways are Star alliance members as are BMI so they should be able to book that on a single ticket too.
It will almost certainly be cheaper for them to book that than to fly to New York join you transatlantic and then fly back to JAX from LHR.

Hmm, US airways don't seem to do a direct flight to London from JAX. Are you sure they do?

Hmmm ! I do not have the time to do the homework right now but 3 ideas come to mind:
1. Do not try to get them on the same flight over the pond. I always say" the party starts at the hotel in _______," I asssume Amssterdam in this case--just get them there the best way.
2. Orlando has direct flights to Europe--especially London.
3. Use itasoftwware.com for you gross searchs--you cannot book there but you do get all of your viable options--it helps to narrow choices.

hetismij, I may have read the information wrong on kayak.com regarding US Airways directly to London, but I will recheck.

Bob, My DIL is more inclined to get over the pond on the connecting flight as opposed to NY/JFK. One of us will check on flights out of Orlando to London as you suggested.

I will not be checking this forum for a couple of days -- driving down to Florida on I-95. When I check in a hotel I will be back on this board. In the meantime, you have given me a few choices to consider. Thanks.

I live in North Florida and always connect in Atlanta and there would be direct flights from ATL to London and Paris.

However, some of my family drive a couple of hours to Orlando and leave their car since there are more direct flights to Europe from Orlando than from JAX. That might be their best bet.

Jet Blue flies from JAX and is now adding flights to Europe, but don't know yet what cities. If to Paris, they could fly from JAX to JFK and meet you there.

There is a difference between "Direct" and "Non-Stop". Direct flights have an intermediate stop and might even entail a change in planes - only the flight number need stay the same. Non-stop flights go directly to their destination.

There are NO non-stop flights from JAX to anywhere in Europe, so your son will need to connect or drive to another airport. Personally, I would connect, rather than driving to Orlando, which has relatively limited service as it is.

Also, AA does not fly to AMS, but do fly to London, Paris, and Brussels (BRU).

If connecting, Delta, via ATL would almost certainly offer better connection options than just about anybody else. They have multiple flights each day to both London and Paris, as well as flights to BRU and AMS.

<<I live in North Florida and always connect in Atlanta and there would be direct flights from ATL to London and Paris.>>

I meant "non-stop", not direct, flights from ATL to London and Paris. I agree that this would be the best option from JAX.