MAP

We hope to fly to Paris in October of 09 from the Midwest area. To minimize our time in the air on the long flight, which east coast airport would you choose for departure point? We connected through Newark once and it seemed like a short flight at 7 hrs. 40 mins. Airport was big, but there were no delays. Your experiences and preferences? Thank you.

StCirq

There's probably not much more than 15-20 minutes' difference in the flight times from any airport between Washington, DC, and Boston. Just get the best fare you can. Personally, I refuse to fly out of NYC, but I don't have to, so it's a moot point. I just hate the NY airports.

Christina

This is just factual, the shortest flight is the one closest. It isn't really going to make that much difference between Boston, NYC/Newark and Wash DC, but since they fly in that arc over the north, it is shortest from Boston, then JFK, then EWR, then IAD. Each city is about 15 minutes longer (boston, NY, Wash) I live in Wash DC so fly out of Dulles nonstop to Paris on Air France. I like it fine.

DalaiLlama

Take the one with the best fare at the most convenient times for you. The 15 minutes that, in theory, a BOS flight might have over an IAD flight can so easily be negated if the airspace at the other end is congested and you have to circle or slow down, or if the gate isn't ready...

yk

So are you asking which city/airport you should connect through? Or are you thinking of actually STOPPING at the E coast city for a day or 2 for some sightseeing?

If you are only connecting, I personally would choose in the following importance:

1) Are you loyal to a particular airline? If yes, it pretty much a moot point. Eg for Continental, you have to connect @ Newark, for AA you have to connect @ JFK, for US Airways you have to connect @ Philadelphia (you get the point)

2) Convenience of flight arrival and departure times.

So, let's say most people recommend Boston airport. There's no point for you to connect in Boston if the connection time (between your arrival from the midwest, to the departure time) is more than a couple of hours. No matter how great Boston airport is, there's no way I'll wait there for 5 hours for a connection.

3) Price of your plane ticket on different airlines; unless money is no object.

So, basically, if I were you, I would pick whichever airline that will get me to Paris the fastest, no matter which E Coast airport I have to connect through.

When you say MidWest, I assume you're not close enough to Chicago? If you were, my first choice would be fly nonstop Chicago-Paris.

iowamom

Have you looked into flights directly from your starting point in the Midwest?

Northwest/KLM flies non-stop from Minneapolis to Paris (duration looks to be 8 hours and 35 mins) and AirFrance and Northwest seem to have a codeshare flight non-stop from Detroit (duration 7 hours and 50 mins). Lots of choices from O'hare at about 8 hours and 20 mins.

francefling

I second the Airfrance Dulles/Paris flight. The 10:40Pm out of Dulles gets you into Paris, through passport control and into the city just in time for you to check in at your hotel. No carting your bags around for hours waiting to check in. Take a nap, shower, have dinner and some wine, go to sleep by 9:30 to 10PM Paris time and Voila! in the morning you are on european time.

SuQue

We usually break our trips to Europe from the west with an overnight on the east coast. We have gone out of every possible airport there and take which ever has the best prices. On the other hand, a direct flight ,non-stop is easier from LA, Chicago, etc as you don't have to deal with the airport check-in again and total flight time isn't really that much more.
We flew from LAX-CVG once in record time.

TPAYT

We prefer AirFrance from Chicago to CDG, Paris,but I agree with others, you get a better price changing on the East Coast. That said, Newark worked well for us twice.

ira

Hi MAP,

BOS 6:40 hr
NYC 7:00
IAD 7:25
DTW 7:50
CLT 8:10
ATL 8:15
MIA 8:35

MelJ

If you're flying from the midwest, can you take NW out of Detroit? They fly direct and I really like their new planes.

Even if "air" time is a little shorter from the east coast, you have to consider the lag time between flying from where you live to the overseas departure point.

In other words, when we fly from Columbus and wish to fly BA, we have to take the flight from Columbus that gets us to Newark (or Phila, but I prefer Newark) in early afternoon then kill several hours before flying out early that evening.

Flying out of Detroit we fly TO Detroit from Columbus (a quick hop) late afternoon and then right out on the overseas (same terminal, by the way, which is also nice).

MAP

I appreciate so much all your prompt and thorough replies. I think at this point the connection through Wash.,D.C., seems to be the best...on Continental. We have to make one connecting flight since we depart from KC, and the less time we spend in that airplane seat crossing the ocean the better. It appears the best rate to date is about 1033 rt. on United,but Continental is close at 1088. I may keep checking a little further. Hard to guess whether fares will go up or down between now and October.

Anybody have an opinion on whether or not to wait a few more months to book flight? Is American the only airline which will guarantee you the lowest rate up to time of your departure date if you reserve early at a higher rate?

And, in answer to "yk", no we don't want want to spend an extra night on the East Coast before flying out for Paris. We did do that once in Chicago and it worked pretty well, but it did add expense.

StCirq, do you still deal with FareDeals.com? Mr. Katz, I believe. He did a good job for us a few years ago.

StCirq

Hi, MAP.

If you go through DC (Dulles), you have a few options. I usually take the evening United flight that lands at CDG at around 7 am, but you can also fly Air France and maybe some others.

Yes, I still deal with Lewis. He's almost always able to get me a better deal than what I can find on my own, and if he can't he tells me. If you need his phone number, email me at [email protected]. It's best to talk to him, not just use the website.

travelgourmet

A few notes:

1) If you are connecting through Dulles, you are not on Continental. Did you mean to say through Newark? Or are you confusing IAD with IAH? Or are you on a codeshare operated by Air France?

2) I would offer that it isn't always better to minimize the time flying over the water. The flights from Boston, in particular, can be so short that sleep can be virtually impossible. Along those lines, departure times can really mess with you. Personally, I like to leave as late as possible, so that I can go right to sleep.

All that being said, price often trumps the above concerns for me.

yk

Since you aren't traveling until October 09, I would wait at least a few months (keep checking prices) before booking the flights. Between now and October, chances are there will be some schedule changes, so even if you find the *perfect* flight connections right now, it may not be so when October comes around.

For the record, if you buy your tickets on AA, and later you find the ticket price has dropped, you can only get the price difference if
1) you bought a fully refundable ticket (which won't be your case as they are usually several thousand dollars for a coach ticket)
OR
2) The price drop is so huge that it is more than the change fee that AA charges for re-issuing your ticket at the lower, new price. The change fee for an international ticket on AA is $150 or higher.

I think you're confusing AA's "Low fare guarantee". What that entails is on the DAY you purchase your tickets, if you find a lower fare on a different website, AA will match that lower fare, on THAT DAY ONLY. Once the clock strikes 12MN after you purchased your ticket, any future price drop will bring us back to 1) & 2) above.

girlonthego

We live in the Richmond VA area so we don't fly anywhere nonstop except hubs. So, when we were using FF tickets on Continental last year, we flew through Cleveland OH. Cleveland had a nonstop flight. It is a small airport and was easy to get around. If that isn't too far, I would check it out!

I also agree to check your Washington flights. Continental flies out of cleveland, newark and IAH which is Houston. IAD is Washington, I am thinking United is hubbed there.

MAP

I appreciate being straightened out on a couple of issues. I was mistaken and meant to say Continental out of Newark. Glad the American low fare issue is clearer to me now. Thanks! Yes, waiting a couple of months probably is a good idea for many reasons considering this volatile economy.

I will contact Lewis personally, StCirq, and I still have his number.

Like many have noted on this forum in response to another post, I too carry a bit of guilt going abroad after having taken such a huge hit in our retirement fund, and waiting awhile may ease our consciences somewhat and the market might improve.

The urge to travel is strong. As the old song goes, "How ya gonna keep em back on the farm once they have seen gay Paris?"

BuckeyeBud

>> Is American the only airline which will guarantee you the lowest rate up to time of your departure date if you reserve early at a higher rate? <<

Supposedly Yapta.com can get you a "rebate". Recent trip to Paris via USAir required a $100 reduction before Yapta would refund.

travelgourmet

Yapta doesn't "get you" the rebate. The service simply tracks fares to let you know when the price drops. You still have to call the airline yourself to process the "rebate", and it still is subject the (usually deal-killing) fees noted above. I would concentrate on getting a good price first and not count on a rebate that is unlikely to come.

A few other things to note:

1) If you care, beware that Continental flies 757s on at least some flights to Paris. By October, I would expect to see even more of these planes on the Paris route, since they are leaving SkyTeam (and with it their partner Air France). Many, myself included, find the 757 to be very claustrophobic, due to the 3-3 seating and only the single aisle. Also, CO has among the worst seat pitch (distance to the seat in front of you) of any airline across the Atlantic. They do, however, have AVOD on most (all?) of the 757s.

2) Somebody also mentioned to look at Northwest. Note that there have been some changes to equipment and frequencies to Paris on Northwest. They are dropping the Detroit-Paris route, so you will have to take Air France if you connect through Detroit. The Minneapolis route somebody mentioned is seasonal, so may not be running in October, and the NW plane is being replaced with a Delta 767, which does not have in-seat video like the NW A330 planes. Your best bet on Delta/Northwest is likely to be connecting through Atlanta.

MAP

Travelgourmet, I feel exactly as you do about the 3x3 seat configuration on Continental planes. Thank you for reminding me. Do you have any favorite airlines who typically offer competitive rates?

Ira, the duration of flight times you posted is helpful. Thanks.

I really value the advice given on this forum and will use it all when making our decision in a couple of months.