Paris or not? A true dilemma

Old May 4th, 2006, 04:54 AM
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Are you sure you used the ITA software correctly?
I just checked round trip JFK/AMS was $918.00, open jaw JFK/AMS- CDG/JFK was $942.00. You need to use the mutil-city function , not the one way.
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Old May 4th, 2006, 04:55 AM
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ITA does allow open jaw searches..use the multi city function.
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Old May 4th, 2006, 05:05 AM
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Thanks, I will try that.
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Old May 4th, 2006, 05:16 AM
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If you put in only 2 cities , make sure you click the button "remove the last segment", before clicking search.
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Old May 4th, 2006, 08:27 AM
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Well, Fodorites save the day once again! Now I have so many options! Thanks so much!
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Old May 4th, 2006, 01:10 PM
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Jayne - Another vote for Paris.
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Old May 4th, 2006, 02:15 PM
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I've read some intimidating things about CDG airport. I imagine a hectic mess...how bad is it?

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Old May 4th, 2006, 02:29 PM
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Umm, it's pretty awful. But what can you do? It's no worse than Heathrow or JFK. Ok, maybe slightly worse because the French tend to walk so fast you can feel like you are in some kind of urban footrace.

But you won't get lost or anything. You may have to wait a long time to move through passport control -- or not.

It's quite simple to get from the airport to the center of Paris using public transportation.

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Old May 4th, 2006, 02:29 PM
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A hectic mess but you'll survive. Enjoy Amsterdam, Germany, and Paris--they are all wonderful in their own way. (But, Pairs IS best!)
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Old May 4th, 2006, 02:38 PM
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<<<I've read some intimidating things about CDG airport>>

Those coomplaints usually involve CONNECTING at CDG. If Paris is the final destination, then it's not a big deal...
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Old May 4th, 2006, 04:16 PM
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That is not a dillema at all.

GO TO PARIS!

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Old May 4th, 2006, 06:49 PM
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It's just an airport. You get off your plane and leave and go into the city.
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Old May 4th, 2006, 07:56 PM
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I have flown in/out of Schipol and CDG. The problem is that Schipol is so darn nice, other airports seem bad by comparison. CDG lacks decent signage so it has been hard for some travelers to figure out if they are in the right terminal or not, and occasionally a security glitch will make the check in process ungodly long. Bottom line: CDG is fine, but alot _over_ two hours for checking in prior to your departure time.
By the way, I also like AMS as a city, and I love Germany, but skipping Paris is foolish. Period. I agree that shaving a bit of time off of AMS and keeping 4 days in Paris is not a bad idea.
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Old May 4th, 2006, 09:30 PM
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So...it sounds like flying INTO Paris would be better than flying out...?
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Old May 7th, 2006, 11:12 AM
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I was in Paris a week and 1/2 ago and flying out of CDG was a bit of a mess due to construction they are doing on one of the terminals. It took over 2 1/2 hours to check in and another 40 minutes to get through security and take a shuttle to the terminal. Just give yourself plenty of time if flying out of CDG.
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Old May 7th, 2006, 12:36 PM
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Well we are definitely keeping Paris and hope to fly into Amsterdam, take a train to Paris and then another to Germany. We'll fly out of Munich, I hope. I'm allowing five nights for Paris.

The ITA software shocked me this morning with fares over $1,000 for the open jaw trip I research just two days ago with fares of about $800.

Has anyone had good luck with fares found on ITA? I just wondered if those fares are "real" and if, when you try to book them, they are actually available.

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Old May 7th, 2006, 01:30 PM
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I use ITA all the time and the price shown on ITA is the same price given when I called the airline to purchase (print out the "booking details" for your flight on the ITA site and then give the exact ticket info to the airline sales office).

This assumes you purchase right away. As you discovered, fares vary day to day if not hour by hour.
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Old May 8th, 2006, 07:25 AM
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Hi J,

Also try www.kayak.com for airfare.

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Old May 8th, 2006, 07:34 AM
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Try www.onetravel.com as well
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Old May 9th, 2006, 07:07 AM
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Thanks for the links. I'm seeing that some fares don't include taxes and fees, which are surprisingly high. And some of the fares aren't actually available when you actually look into it. But overall it seems the ballpark is somewhere in the $800 range.

I love seeing all the options, and you guys have been so helpful with the open jaw thing. One more business trip at the end of the month and we'll have just about enough FF miles to get one free ticket, so we are holding out until after that and hoping fares don't go up too much.

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