Florence to Orly flight May 1st
 

Hi again. Haven't been on the boards for a while and now I'm on my third thread! Thanks in advance, everyone.

I'm helping my in-laws with a trip Rome-Florence-Paris. It's actually through Costco, if you can believe it. While the hotels are pretty good, the transportation between Florence and Paris is a 9 hour train, so I suggested they take a Vueling flight instead, direct, for under $100.

Anyway, my quick question is, if they have the option of flying May 1st, Labor Day, or the day before, is there any disadvantage to May 1st, as it is a big holiday. Strikes, stuff like that? I've already asked about what's open in Paris on another thread.

Just trying to get all the data to make an informed decision. Thanks!

Paris holiday - see calendar.

http://www.investmentu.com/euronext-...-schedule.html

Holiday information.

http://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/france/labor-day

Banks will be closed that day.

Unless you are traveling with them to assist every step of the way, I would be hesitant to suggest modifying their pre-packaged itinerary.

9 hours ride in western European trains cannot be too bad. I rode 10 hours train from Chur (Switzerland) to Arles (southern France) with three train changes. The comfort of the first-class train car as well as the changing scenery from outside the windows made the journey very enjoyable.

May 1 is Labor Day - so you wouldn't have strikes - just not working because of the holiday. (Unlike the US, Europe still has the remains of a labor movement.)

Are you sure that Vueling flight will still be in operation next year?

I assume they will have the train tickets for back up in case it isn't. If they don't mind the risk, why not?

Thanks for your advice and many good points. They'll get the train tickets as part of the itinerary (it's not a guided, but a packaged on-you-own tour). I'll tell them to ask the Costco agent for advice as well, and to keep the tickets as a back-up. And of course Vueling can change, it's still 6 months off, will keep an eye on it.