travel agent--does this sound right?
 

My daughter and I are going to Serbia this summer with her ballet studio. The studio uses a travel agent out of NY that specializes in Serbia and other former Yugoslavian countries. The group is flying from BHM-ATL-ZRH-BEG and then back. She is going with the group, but returning with me. My Skymiles award ticket is from LGW home. They booked my daughter with the group and then BEG-LHR, there for 5 days and then LGW-ATL-BHM. We wanted to go to Munich and then London for our return.

I talked with the travel agent myself a few minutes ago and he said that the tickets are booked with JAT and that she has to leave BEG to the same place that she will leave for the US from or we have to book it as 2 one-way tickets (and/or it becomes astronomical in price, which isn't an option).

I don't really mind spending 7 days in London instead of splitting days between Munich and London....but is he telling me the truth or is he blowing smoke up my a.....

I'm supposed to call back tomorrow (Saturday) and let him know what we have decided. My daughter is OK with spending all our time in London, perhaps this time with some day trips out of the city....

Hi K,

To qualify for an open-jaw ticket, she has to return to BHM.

Where she stops enroute, and for how long, will affect the price of the ticket.

It is possible that your TA couldn't find a BEG, MUC, LGW, BHM routing that allows layovers, which is why he is offering BEG-LHR/LGW-BHM.

There are worse things than spending a week in London. :)

Enjoy your visit.

((I))

I guess that is what is going on here. I certainly can't afford to pay a huge premium price--if I could, I wouldn't have worked so hard on an award ticket from me (using my dad's Skymiles at that!).

We absolutely LOVED London in our 2-1/2 day stopover last summer. I'm headed to the library today to pick up a book on England so I can explore the options for daytrips to Bath or Brighton as well. :-)

Hi K,

Cardiff and Oxford are also nice daytrips.

Kellye - When will you be in Belgrade? We'll be there for a few days in late May. I read your post about Novi Sad and we hope to get there as a day trip from Belgrade.

If you only had 2-1/2 days in London last year, you haven't scratched the surface of things to see and do. The 7 days you have this year will definitely allow for more time to explore! Heck, visiting either the V&A or British Museum (and a quick tour at that) can easily take up a day right there!

Have fun trip planning!

I will arrive on July 20 and leave again on July 26. My daughter will be there a week earlier. That's o.k. with me though. Novi Sad is beautiful and friendly, but a day and you've seen it! :-) Six days will allow me to decompress from a teaching seminar that I'm going to in DC right before the trip and relax. London will be our sightseeing--crazy see everything--portion of the trip. My flight from London to Belgrade doesn't arrive until 5:30. I mentioned trying to figure out the train to Novi Sad and the dance studio director said perhaps they would take a day trip as a group that day to Belgrade and pick me up and bring me home at the end of the day. That would be convenient, but would have the effect of my still not doing anything more in Belgrade other than arriving or departing. :-( I think I'm still going to have to figure out the rail or bus system and take a day trip back to Belgrade during that week while my daughter is in ballet so I can see the sites there.

If you can take a day trip to Novi Sad, it is lovely. If you like to shop for shoes, it's your place. My middle daughter is a shoe-a-holic and would love it there. Shoes stores everywhere in the city center! LOL