OMG>>>Guess what, I was able to find something with your suggestions. I have it on hold. Rome had crossed my mind but they kept telling me there were no partner airlines btw Rome and Zurich. I asked what about to Geneva and she said yes. So this is what I put on hold.
Aug 2-leave NY to Rome
Aug 5-Rome to Geneva
Aug 12-Zurich via Ams back home

My husband is asking me to find Fri or Sat flights outbound. Right now Aug 2 is a Sun and since it worked I put it on hold. The trip as it is involves 8 days off from work. OK for me but he told me to see if I can stil play with the dates. If not, then it's OK. We've been to Rome before but the kids haven't.

Anyway....I am so excited.

Do you think this schedule works out? I was thinking 2 nights in Montreaux or Vevey and then 4-5 nights in Interlaken.



Thanks!!!!

Cool, congratulations, you showed them... So what if you have an "enforced" stay of two nights in Rome (you get in on the 3rd of course) - at least you get your trip and all free flights, could be lots worse, right?

Could it be that there is a flight via AMS on Fri or Sat - AMS to ZRH or GVA or even Basel/Mulhouse (BSL)? Or via Brussels (BRU)? Continental flies there, not just a partner. Check it out.

August is peak travel time all over Europe, so as soon as your flights are nailed down, start booking accommodations.

Then Montreux (careful, no a in Montreux) or Vevey will be fun, and Interlaken (or thereabouts) also...

If you run into trouble with one or the other of these, holler - there are lots more great places we could suggest for you!

I would have them look harder. I see plenty of availability on Air France to Paris on 1 August. Assuming you want coach - 7 seats on the 5:45 out of JFK, 4 on the 7 pm out of Newark, and 7 out of the 9:30 pm from JFK. There is then onward availability to ZRH during the afternoon (or the next day or two, if you wanted to spend some time in Paris). There is more limited availability into GVA, with no more than 2 seats on any of the flights.

Nothing for the return on Air France, but you already have that nailed down.

Now, there are no guarantees that Continental will have access to the same inventory, but it could be worth asking, as it gives you at least one extra day in Europe, and more flexibility to spend more time in Switzerland if you wanted. If you want to do it, specifically tell them something like this:

"Can you check on Air France on the 7 pm departure from Newark to Paris? Great. Now, is there an onward connecting flight from Paris to Zurich that day?"

You have to spoon-feed the agents your partner connecting options. Most of them will not go through the effort on their own. I've done this before with good results.

And the TGV goes directly to Lausanne from Paris Gare de Lyon in 3hours 40 mins.

You guys are great. Love this Forum!!! I will be calling CO today and see if I am able to adjust.

Thanks.

Another option to consider would be going through London.

- Assuming that you are looking for 4 tickets, then there is availability on the 9 am flight from Newark to Heathrow on both Friday and Saturday. The morning flight is nice on the body, but will mean another night in a hotel ($$$).
- There should then be availability on Sunday from London City airport to Geneva on Air France (nonstop).

Not sure whether by "Friday or Saturday" flights, you mean Friday night or Saturday, but if you could take the day on Friday, I would look into the Friday morning flights. As I said, it is easy on the body - you can fly over during the day, land at night and sleep in a proper bed. Then, spend the day Saturday (and much of Sunday, if you want) exploring London, and arrive in Geneva rested and ready to go.

Also, I should note that I see availability for 4 people on even more flights to Paris on 8/1. The Continental website shows availability on:

- CO138 at 8 pm from Newark
- CO54 at 9:25 pm from Newark
- The flights I mentioned above, and
- AF9 at 11:20 pm from JFK.

Thank you for looking into this. Last summer we took the kids to London, Paris, Amsterdam, so I was trying to find another city that we can use as our stopover. I was initially thinking Prague but ther are no direct connections in. With the kids I didn't want to fly EWR to Ams and then to Prague-too much of a hassle. But since the kids have not been to Rome, I figured a 2-3 day stop would be nice. But as you suggest we may switch to the Friday/Sat flight via London especially if it gives us the weekend and more time.

Thanks.

Glad I could help. I have burned over 500k miles with Continental in the past 12-18 months, and had to learn how to play the game to do it.

Ok just got off the phone with CO. There is availability on July 31 (Fri) but it’s from JFK. JFK to Prague nonstop and then Czech air can take me into Zurich. I can’t find seats home but I can fly back out on the 12th if needed from Zurich since that is still on hold. So should we stop in Prague or Rome??? We have been to Rome before. In your opinion, is Prague a city worth stopping in for 1-2 days? It’s a bit of a pain to get to JFK although we can manage it so I am leaning towards Rome but want to know your thoughts before booking. The advantage of going from JFK is that for taking that Friday off, we essentially get 2 extra weekend days. Although if they can't find a return flight home, it means my husband has to take 1 extra day off from work so I have to check with him.

Thanks.

Make sure you fly all the way, even with layovers etc, the TGV from Paris for example for your group would set you back a pretty penny!

Hubby says to stick with Rome. Since we were there in Nov a few years back, it would be nice to go in the summer. How is this for a draft.

Aug 2-leave ewr
Aug 3rd early morning arrive Rome-sightsee-Trevi fountain
Aug 4-sightsee Rome
Aug 5-leave Rome for Geneva to Vevey (there are 2 flight options early am or late afternoon-which one? And should I stay in Geneva for 1 night or go directly to Vevey/Montreux?)
Aug 6-Vevey/Montreux-sightsee
Aug 7-train to Interlaken-sightsee?
8-Interlaken-see Lake Thun
9-Interlaken-do trip up mountain
10-Interlaken-another day trip
11-Interlaken to Lucern-Titlis? To Zurich
12-fly home out of Zurich-flight is at 9 am

Also Hotel Rugenpark B&B is highly recommended per tripadvisor. I just e-mailed them and it’s available plus you can use their kitchen which I think is a great option for me as I can prepare food for the kids.

No, I would defintely not stay in Geneva for one night. There's no need, it's expensive, and not all that interesting imho.

Vevey or Montreux is ~1 hour by train from the Geneva airport. It's extremely easy to do. Just make sure you have a train that goes straight thru to Vevey or Montreux, there's one per hour that is direct, some others you have to make a transfer in Lausanne.

THanks. How does the draft itinerary look?

marking

Another draft-

Aug 2-leave ewr
Aug 3rd early morning arrive Rome-sightsee
Aug 4-sightsee Rome
Aug 5-leave Rome in AM for Geneva to Montreaux- (check Hotel Splendid)
Aug 6-Vevey/Montreux-sightsee (check Hotel Splendid)
Aug 7- train to Interlaken-see Garden, casino, flower clock. Take evening cruise on Lake Brienz. Or Lake Thun-have dinner in Spiez (Hotel Rugenpark B&B)
Aug- 8- Interlaken-day trip see Murren, Gimmewald, and Schilthorn (Hotel Rugenpark B&B)
Aug 9-Interlaken- Jungfraujoch day get an early start, and on the way back down stop in Wengen (Hotel Rugenpark B&B)
Aug 10- Interlaken; Lauterbrunen Valley and Trummelbache falls (Hotel Rugenpark B&B)
Aug 11-Interlaken AM to Engelberg to Mt Titlis via cable car. Leave Mt. Titlis at 15:31-go to Lucerne and then Zurich (Overnight Zurich)
Aug 12-fly home out of Zurich-flight is at 9 am


Q- Do I need to do all 3 mountains-Junfrau, Schilthor, and Mt. Pilatus. Am I able to shorten any day.

DLama-please comment on the rough draft as I need to redeem tonight.

Thank you again all for your help.

Pilatus? Or do you mean Titlis? In that case IMO no - Jungfraujoch and Shilthorn are more awesome adventures and going to Engelberg and onto Lucerne and Zurich seems too much - spend some more hours in Lucerne and scracth Titlis IMO

Pilatus is in Lucerne and it's a nice ride too - really awesome train up and cable down but still with Jungfraujoch and Schilthorn can be skipped simply due to time.

A Swiss Pass will be very beneficial for your plans - the best option. They are considerable cheaper in the U.S. right now for the exact same pass than the prices you see at www.sbb.ch - at least every time i check they are - why I don't know but are. Kids of course get a Family Pass free and they never pay a dime - even on the 50% excursions like Murren to Schilthorn that you pay - with Family Pass kids always free. Swiss Pass covers in full to Murren and Gimmelwald but only 50% Murren to Schilthorn on what is billed as the Alps longest aerial cableways - kids should love these small gondolas going up to the icy outpost. Have them watch the James Bond film that was part shot there - On Her Majesty's (His) Service i think. Loads of good info on Swiss train travel and passes: www.swisstravelsystem.com; www.ricksteves.com; www.seat61.com and www.budgeteuropetravel.com - the latter can download their free and superb European Planning & Rail Guide that has a good chapter on Switzerland and its trains. Get a Saverpass - two or more names on it cheaper than two individual passes and the free Family Pass when ordering the adult passes. If the 8- or 15-day Consecutive Passes can fit your schedule they are per day incredible bargains IMO and cover virtually every inter-city train, bus, lake boats, etc. Kids will love the lake boat rides - to me Lake Thun is nicer for vistas than Lake Brienz.

OK. In that case, I won’t feel rushed on the last day. I think we should still overnight right near the airport since the flight is at 9 am. But on Aug 11, we’ll take a day trip from Interlaken to Lucerne and then train to Zurich.
One more Q-should we still do 2 nights in Vevey/Montreux or just 1 night. We could spend the whole day on Aug 6th ion town and visiting the Chateau and then train to Interlaken so we have 1 more full day there.
Thanks.

To me it seems like two days in Vevey area are better - seems you have plenty of days in Interlaken area

consider taking the lake boats from Vevey over to Evian-les-Bains in France - swell resort town - boat is all covered by a Swiss Pass. Kids will love these boats and maybe in Interlaken you will then not take one or if it feels like it of course do again.

Kids could also swim in the Vevey area in August.

Looks like my plans are all set.
2 nights in Rome
2 nights in Vevey
4 nights in Interlaken
1 night Zurich

Thank you.