Travel
 

O.K. after spending days (according to My Husband!)on this wonderful forum, I have booked my lodgings in Rome, Pisa, Lucca and Rome.
Now I have to arrange flights from Toronto to Rome,from Florance to Gatwick, and then from Gatwick to Toronto.
I have looked at Expedia.com, and wondered whether zoom.com would be cheaper, but have had no luck finding them. Or perhaps there is another cheapy, I don't nead full meals.
Ruth

You surely HAVE to know better than to post a message with this ridiculous message header.

This is as ludicrous as going to the library and finding that every book in the library has printed on its spine "Book".

Please re-post with a message header that indicates what info you are seeking. "Seeking help on booking flights to Italy from Canada" would work.

Best wishes,

Rex

Sorry, I see I booked lodgings in Rome twice, rather than one in Florence, in my former message, though I am sure you bright travels realised that! How can one preview a message, and still do something so stupid! Ruth

Actually, Rex, Ruth has posted a thread titled <b>Books</b> also LOL

Don't worry Ruth, just think of a title that has something about the question that you have , in it. Make it easier on us by giving us lots of clues :)
When you think of more questions regarding your thread, add them to the existing thread instead of starting lots of others.
Do research while you wait for some answers to your threads, use the Search funtion on Fodors too.
Good luck~

I would suggest you not limit your search for flights to Expedia but also try www.mobissimo.com as well as www.kayak.com and www.itasoftware.com

I normally also recommend www.onetravel.com although recently someone said Canadians cannot use it...why I have no idea.

Hi RC,

http://airtravelcenter.com/onetrav.htm lets you do open jaws - eg, Toronto/Rome - Gatwick/Toronto.

www.whichbudget.com has Florence/Gatwick flights and also Gatwick/Toronto

((I))

Last night I had a nightmare while I slept. I dreamed I logged onto Fodors, clicked on the Europe Forum and this was the list of 50 topics in the left hand column.

1.Help
2.Travel
3.Help me
4.What if?
5.Hotels
6.Question
7.Travel Question
8.Books
9.Trains
10.Planes
11.Cars
12.Italy
13.More help
14.Trip
15.Favorites
16.Paris
17.Car Question
18.Wondering
19.Apartments
20.Guides
21.Please help
22.?????
23.Europe
24.Euros
25.Dollars
26.Has anyone?
27.Time
28.Frustrated
29.Planning
30.Help!!!!!
31.Possible?
32.Itinerary
33.Message
34.Money
34.Expensive?
35.Been here?
36.Country
37.City?
38.Seeking Help
39.Lost
40.Cheap
41.Ideas
42.Thoughts
43.Need more help
44.Asking advice
45.Vacation
46.Info?
47.When
48.Advice
49.Advise
50.Please!

Am I'm the only one who ever opens threads with mysterious titles? I just love a puzzle or a mystery! Fine..tell the poster how to get better responses but PLEASE do not belittle them and make then feel unwelcome to post because of your SUPERIOR knowledge!!! After all YOU did open it!

Rchirstine...try www.itasoftware.com for comparison rates!

Pretty funny, Patrick. I do have to admit that I (as well as you and others) click onto to these uninformative titles just in case we can add something (don't we love to share? :-) I'm sure these posters quickly get the message.

Obviously some of us have way too much time on our hands (what else could explain that bizarre post I just made?) and we will click on any post to see what it's about.
The point is that many other posters are less addicted and will only open posts that they spot which they know something about. Many won't open every post that says Hotels, but if the title has the name of a hotel where they have actually stayed, you can BET they will open that one.
All this is an effort to help people get more and better answers to their questions.

Well said, Patrick and Jody, you're a sweetheart. I definitely have to much time on my hands :)

We are getting hit by big , I mean Beeeg storms right now , so I am here,(with time on my hands) watching the lightening and wondering if I am risking death to post on Fodors LOL
Patrick, I thought that list was funny because today I noticed so many single word titles !
Ruth will learn just like the rest of us :D

An irony is that Rchristine quickly DID re-post with an appropriate message header - - and this post keeps moving ahead of the other one! Click on the name and &quot;top&quot; that one, huh?

Although it can be argued (and it would be completely accurate to say) that the effect on the server is minuscule, these &quot;header-less&quot; posts do create unnecessary &quot;clog&quot; at the server level, however tiny. When every one of the thousands of visitors here have to click on a post like this - - only to find that they have no interest in what it says - - then server I/O and bandwidth is &quot;consumed&quot;... for &quot;naught&quot;.

But the real &quot;harm&quot; - - and the reason that I open and post on these - - is that one message like this really can send a message to other newbies that any &quot;empty&quot; message header is fine. Even though Patrick's &quot;dream&quot; is silly (and I have posted such a thing before as well), ANY proliferation of posts without a meaningful header is a bad thing, in my opinion.

Admittedly, some of us ARE here waaayyy too much, and take this all waaayyy too seriously.

Really... click here... http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34598609 - - and reply to (or top) this one!

t

Patrick ,you hit it on the head!
As I looked through the posts this morning I was thinking &quot;Not another, I'm beffudled, bewildered ,discombobulated, baffled, perplexed, puzzled and stumped&quot; topic.

Patrick, I thought you were joking at first, but as I look down the left column, it's real....it's very real!! :O I know the order will change quickly, but here's just a sampling of what I see in the top 50:

Need help
First thing
Confused
Advice please
please help us choose
I need lots of HELP
Any suggestions
Any advice
advice
please help
seeking recommendations

The list goes on and on, but my favorite is:

Call me stupid.

If the original poster of any of these threads is reading this, please be advised that we only want to help you when we tell you that your title should be more descriptive of what you need. We're happy to help you, but give us a reason to open your thread.

OK, I see what's going on. A poster called helpmewithtravel is topping all the old threads with generic titles. Very funny, but April Fool's Day is over!!

LOL.

Thank You all.
My Husband agreed with you, Kate-W ref.possible problems using internet or discount carriers, and having taken over from me,put me on a Regular airline. After seeing the mess I made of my messages to you all, you'll see his point I am sure. Anyway I am all booked up, flights and lodgings.
I hope I am in the right place for my resonse.
THANKS AGAIN. Ruth

Oh my God. A couple of nights ago I dreamt it, then this morning I awoke to find it had come horribly come true!

I admit, I open these threads just to see if I know anything about the subject in the message.

Patrick,

I reckon you should change your screen name to Nostradamus.

Jim

I like to open them to see how long it takes Rex to reprimand the poster. 4 minutes! Very fast.

Hmmm... don't people usually book flights before hotel reservations?

Seems like the flights are the trickier part of planning IMO. Now you have to find flights that match your hotel reservation dates?

Suze:
I think some people are just more optimistic than others.

Thanks, Grasshopper! ;)

&lt;&lt;Hmmm... don't people usually book flights before hotel reservations?&gt;&gt;

Actually, I have often done - - and recommended - - that the whole trip is roughly laid out before committing to either one, and so, in that sense, I have chosen hotels, and then tried to find flights that work with the entire itinerary.

Perhaps more important than hotels is to look at the entire &quot;big picture&quot; of <i><b>intra-</b></i>Europe travel before committing to the transatlanti flights. I think that too many people look for ways to scalp their transatlantic flights down to the last $50 - - then overspend by $300 on their <u>intra-Europe transportation</u> because the trip hasn't been thought out as a whole.

And yes, in some cases, we have chosen hotels as very much part of the &quot;destination&quot; in cobbling together an itinerary.

It wasn't a compliment, Rex.

There must be 100's if not 1000's of hotels in Rome, but there are only a few decent routing or non-stop flights a day to Europe from my home city.

This method just seems backwards to me, especially if you're seeking cheap air fares.

&gt;Hmmm... don't people usually book flights before hotel reservations?&lt;

Depends on your departure point.

I have found that flying out of ATL allows me many more options than arranging for hotels in small towns in Europe.

For our upcoming visit, I arranged for all of our hotels before buying airline tickets.

I might pay $50-75 more for the flight, but I have confirmations for the places where I want to stay.

((I))

If it's all about going to one (or more) big city destination(s), then I agree, hotels would clearly come after air travel. But it is still important to look at the intra-Europe travel when making your transatlantic travel decisions.

Often I am just going to a &quot;region&quot;, and there are multiple arrival (and departure) airports from which to choose - - the whole thing has to make sense before choosing the transatlantic flights.

Case in point: last trip to Europe. Flew into Vienna. Rented car from there into Czech R and Poland, returning into Graz. Flew Ryanair from Graz to London Stansted for less than $125 (family of five). Made a day trip from Stansted area to Stirling, Scotland. Flew home from Heathrow.

Could not have made the transatlantic travel plans without simultaneously getting all the other pieces of the puzzle in place.