Honeymoon in Bavaria? Best time to fly?
 

Hello,

My husband and I are recently married but could not fit a honeymoon into our plans immediately post-wedding due to cost and time off work issues (we both started new jobs in the past 6 months and it was hard enough just to get PTO for the wedding). We will have a lot more time this winter and next Spring and are looking to travel to Bavaria thanks to the very generous gifts we received from family and friends.

I have travelled quite a bit. I've lived abroad in the UK and in Rwanda. I've also spent 6 weeks in Bavaria while in college, so I have been to Munich, Nuremberg, and have used trains throughout all of Europe. My husband, however, has not. This will be his first time out of the country as an adult and the first time he's ever flown for more than 3 hours. He's gung-ho about Bavaria because of our love of beer and German food, so it seems perfect.

However, I'm finding most flights incredibly expensive right now. When we priced them last year, they seemed to be around $1,000 out of STL (we live in Mid-Missouri) and $800.00 out of Chicago (the area I am from originally and could stand to take a train to and fly out of the next day) but now those costs are well above that ($1400+ for many flights we've looked at). I've never had money to spend on travel like this and we want to have a great time but we also don't want to spend the whole lot on our tickets. Is there a better time to fly? Maybe we 've been looking at this wrong? Maybe we shouldn't fly into Munich as I assumed we should? This will be the bulk of our upfront costs because we intend to rent an apartment to save some money and cook some meals in. We'd actually much prefer this to a hotel room regardless of cost because I have food allergies and it simplifies things for us in some ways.

People have also suggested we use a travel agent. I've never used one before but some people have suggested it. Is it worth it for something like this? Others have suggested going on a tour but since we mainly want to spend time loafing (honeymoon), taking a trip out to a castle my husband has always wanted to see, and drinking in beer halls, I think that is a bad fit for us.

When are you looking to travel? This coming winter or next spring?

I've been finding flight RT NY/NJ to Munich around $1,200 to $1,350 for travel in late November. You could check with an agent, but the price is the price. I can't imagine a tour being cheaper. Plus many tours require you to get your own flight to Europe. I will say to "save" even $300 pp I wouldn't travel from MO to Chicago and stay overnight. After all the costs (train/bus, room, meals and time), what are you really saving?

If you can go around Thanksgiving or afterwards, the Christmas Markets in Munich, Salzburg, etc., etc. just add to the visit. The Christmas/holiday atmosphere is quite incredible.

The flight difference is sometimes $1000.00 combined flying out of Chicago - far less than train/hotel fees, so that's why we considered it. It also may be possible we could stay with family. I'd dislike spending the time on the road or on the train though before we even got to our destination. That's why I'd love to avoid that.

The Christmas markets are WONDERFUL and I spent an entire December in Nuremberg and Munich so I would love to take my husband to see that but based on the way his schedule is working with work (he's the head of a department that is often understaffed and very busy in December), we aren't sure we could go during that time. We were thinking about going in February/March/early April before the crunch to defend my dissertation becomes an issue.

Hi,

Have you checked flying into Frankfurt and out of Munich? We did this once and it really wasn't any more expensive than RT. The prices will certainly change. I start checking prices 6 months out, checking every so often, and we usually buy the airfare about 2 to 3 months before leaving. If March is the median, I'd be looking at prices in October or November. This is too early in my opinion. I could be wrong, but it's the way we've done it for 11 trips to Germany from NJ.

Paul

You should get a very good fare in Feb/March I'd wait for a couple of months. Not many people want to go there at that time and you'll have the place to yourselves. As I'm sure you know.

Congrats and Best Wishes.

See if Air Berlin might work for you.

Use the air industry ebsir to follow airline ticket prices. If you find a better price- jump on it!
matrix.itasoftware.com

(that should be "website" :-)