skatterfly

Hey all you veterans... in previous trips I have flown Air France from SFO to CDG and flown "open jaw" so that I could fly home from some other city, going back through Paris. I've also flown Alitalia but they don't do direct out of SFO anymore.

But this time we're staying first in London, then going on to Paris, and thinking of flying over from SFO to LON via Virgin, and taking the Eurostar to France, then trying to decide how to come back home... but Virgin doesn't fly out of Paris. So we're not sure what airline to do and would like your thoughts. Complicating factors are that we're flying with our toddler so we'd want a direct flight. Some things we're considering:

1) Should we consider going with Air France instead, and though they're more expensive and I swore after my last flight I wouldn't use them again. Just thought the planes were grungier than others I've flown and the staff was pretty rude about my meal (I think something had shellfish) though I had told them I was allergic to it. And this way, we would fly from Lon to Paris instead of the train. though I was hoping to take the train since this trip won't have other train travel and I miss it. Plus it might be a nice way to see that part of France from the window and let the baby kind of "run around" a bit more than on a plane ride.

2) Stick with taking Virgin SFO to London and back, but then try to find some sort of cheap round trip to get us to and From Paris, so that we can then connect with our return trip home. Again, we lose the train experience.. so then another option is to:

3) Or, do option 2 but only go one way from Paris to London in time to connect with our return trip home. Something tells me that's gonna be a VERY expensive option, though I've heard that there are some good smaller airlines doing what Southwest does here in California for the short hops. Any recommendations on those companies?

4) Another thing we need to consider is whether we want to get ourselves back to London a full day before our flight home... rather than trying to make connections on the same day and schlepping the baby around with us for all that. But then again, I want the maximum number of days in Paris... since we'll be spending like 10 days in London visiting my brother in law and only 5 (hopefully 6) days in Paris. I remember all of my flights leaving at some ungodly hour of 5 or 6 AM to get us to Paris or Milan in time for the transatlantic flight... and I'm not sure how the baby will deal with that.

Anyway, I guess this is a long-winded way of asking: if you've got recommendations and info on the short hops from Paris to London, I'd be much obliged.

thanks so much to everyone on here... I've been able to get so much info (almost too much info) on planning this trip. Last time I went in 2000 and I swear, there wasn't this much info online other than the train timetables and a few hotel websites! This is so cool!

And I just rediscovered the Paris Yellow pages... wow I forgot all about that. Boy don't I love just typing in an address and strolling down the street when I have a few minutes of downtime.

kat

Yash

If price is of concern, it may cost less to do it all on one airline rather than use Eurostar in between. Also, if you go the budget European carrier route, some of the budget lines fly into Luton and you would have to make a nasty transfer to Heathrow or Gatwick.
And, at risk of sounding cranky, I couldn't help shriek at your comment about lettting your toddler "run around" on the train. Please don't!!

WillTravel

There's BMI for an easy trip from LHR to CDG and return. Judging by the schedules, it takes one hour and ten minutes. If you choose the right times, you can get excellent prices. I would just make sure to have at least an overnight in London before your return flight home.

For train travel, you can do that any other time and any other place, even back in the US.

WillTravel

Web site: http://www.flybmi.com

skatterfly

Eeeek. Don't shriek.
Certainly I wouldn't literally let her "run around" but at least there is enough space for us to move around to, say, the food car, or sit in those seats with the little table between them, or just have enough room for her to crawl around mommy and daddy--moreso than she would on a cramped plane. But it's curious, why you'd be cranky about a toddler on a train. Is it Eurostar in particular or trains in general? Maybe I'm missing something as I haven't actually taken a toddler on the trains, but I don't ever recall thinking, "oh those darned tourists bringing babies on public transportation." I just remember thinking, "how great it is these people are lucky enough to experience this with their kids."

But this raises a good question I just haven't thought through yet... what kind of transportation is best for toddlers? Anyone else have experience training with a toddler? The chunnel is, what, 4 hours? The airplane would be 2 in flight but then a couple more hours of waiting because of checking in-time? Maybe it's just more a factor of the child's temperament?

thanks,
Kat

WillTravel

It's not 2 hours inflight from LHR to CDG. Remember the time zone difference.

skatterfly

Will, thanks for the info. I just did a search on travelocity and they come up, too. I had heard of somethin called Ryan Air but don't know much about them.

Also, if I'm understanding you, you think it would be better to leave Paris, fly back to London, then spend the night before going home? If the flight is really pretty quick, how hard do you think it would be to just get a flight to London from Paris, then fly home the same day? I would just love to stay another night in Paris in an apartment and not have to worry about booking a hotel for the night. Would love to hear more of your thoughts on this.

And also, thanks for reminding me that trains are everywhere. In fact, I could hop on the BART (our local subway system) with the baby if I felt so inclined. A 30 minute ride would probably be hard... thinking a 4 hour ride would be even longer. So maybe we will take advantage of the round trip fair and fly both ways.

Anyway, thanks again.

And Yash, you mentioned a good point about not getting into a situation where there are wierd connections back to Heathrow. I'll keep that in mind.

~kat

WillTravel

The reason I suggest returning the night before (probably to a Heathrow-area hotel) is that there's always the possibility of delay. So you could get an early morning flight from CDG-LHR, but then if it was delayed a few hours and then if Heathrow security was extra-slow and so on, you could miss the flight home. But if you're okay with that risk, then the same day would work, and if you didn't have to switch airports that helps a lot.

EasyJet is the other carrier that goes from London to Paris, but it goes from Luton to Orly.

skatterfly

Will, you've got a great point about delays. I haven't traveled since 9/11 and I can only imagine the kind of delays just from security, customs, etc. Pre-baby it was easy to travel with 1 carry on and pop on and off the flight but those days are gone for many different reasons.

Anyway, you've given me something to think about in terms of possible delays. For the first time ever we'll be getting travel insurance, since the entire trip will be in apartments with all the costs paid up front and non-refundable, plus I'm flying my parents with us and they're not that old, but not so young anymore either. It's potentially a risk we could take, but still would be an inconvenience to miss our connection.

And hey, I just checked out the British Midland page, they have some GREAT prices. It looks like their ealiest time arriving in Heathrow is at 10 AM and the flights leave to the US around 11 or noon... so that doesn't seem too do-able anymore. Oh well... I guess my next posting (after a quick search) is where is a good place to stay near Heathrow. Not that it's a bad place to go, I just wish I had more time in Paris.

Thanks a lot for your help.
~kat