Wide spread trip
Jun 10th, 2001, 11:30 AM
#1
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Wide spread trip
We are headed for Europe in October'01. <BR>Leaving San Francisco around the 1st for the UK/Ireland, then to Florence to arrive 16th or 17th,leave Florence on 23rd for Rome, leave Rome around 29th or 30th for San Francisco. On limited budget, planning on convent stay in Rome,and Florence, if available.Would appreciate any expertise regarding how to arrange flights as inexpensively as possible and any suggestions at all to insure a rewarding, non-wallet breaking trip.I understand that this is a generalized, sort of rambling request, but after reading a couple of weeks worth of your astonishing willingness to help, I thought Id give it a shot! Thanks in advance, <BR>Mike <BR>
Jun 10th, 2001, 11:40 AM
#2
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<BR>My wife and I just got back from Ireland, Scotland, Rome, Venice, Florence, etc. <BR> <BR>Our biggest money-saving advice would be to pick up a copy of "Frommers Italy/Ireland on $XX a day." <BR> <BR>It has never lead us astray in 3 trips to Europe and one to Australia/
Jun 10th, 2001, 11:49 AM
#3
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There might be cheaper air travel options, but give this a shot - - try http://www.afffordablepoland.com - - then click on airline tickets (it takes you to http://www.s-traveler.com/air.htm - - if you want to go there directly). Your fare would be the hybrid between $705 and 773 USD (plus taxes). <BR> <BR>Call them, and ask to speak to Andre (or is it spelled Andrzej?), the owner since 1985. I had a good feeling talking to him on the telephone. <BR> <BR>Better fares COULD come along. <BR> <BR>You might want to scout out www.frommers.com - - join their free daily e-mail newsletter - - or look over some of the ideas on http://www.eurotrip.com - - click on the Cheap Flights Forum. Ask Don, in particular. He knows EVERYthing about cheap flights, including the BAD deals, as well as the good ones. <BR> <BR>For what it's worth, Fommers recently featured AffordablePoland; Don is "mostly" positive about www.rebeltours.com also. <BR> <BR>Best wishes, <BR> <BR>Rex <BR>
Jun 10th, 2001, 11:59 AM
#4
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Hi Mike <BR> <BR>My husband and I leave SF on Oct 1 to spend the whole month in Italy. I started planning this trip almost a year ago, and some of my first choice hotels were unavailable at that time. So my message to you is to reference Bob-the-Navigator's Italy itineraries (do a search on his name on this board), figure out where you want to go and when, and get some reservations nailed down. We are staying in a convent in Florence that I was told books out six months in advance. We are doing a combo of train and car for transportation, and I'm working on trying to figure out if point-to-point tickets or some kind of train pass will be the most economical for our itinerary. I have used this site for most of my planning, supplementing with several guide books. I like Hello Italy, by Margo Classe and Cheap Sleeps in Italy by Sandra Gustafson for lodging suggestions. Karen Brown's B&Bs of Italy is good. I find her Charming Inns and Itineraries too expensive. She has a website, www.karenbrown.com, that shows a lot of her recommended properties; I do not book through that site, however. <BR> <BR>I hope someone else can help you with inexpensive flight suggestions. We're using FF miles. <BR> <BR>Buon viaggio
Jun 10th, 2001, 12:07 PM
#6
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Yes, AffordablePoland.com - - also doing business as Sophisticated Travler, Inc., has a consolidator's contract with Swissair/Sabena to essentially any destination they fly. <BR> <BR>The owner seemed very proud of this when I talked to him. Made quite a point of the fact that he does not re-sell to travel agents, though I must confess that I don't quite understand the significance of this. <BR> <BR>I read almost everything about Europe that appears in the www.frommers.com daily newsletter - - and I would indeed like to get to Poland sometime in the next year. I'm sorry that the fall Fodorites trip overlaps with Art's trip, or I would be going with him. <BR>
Jun 10th, 2001, 02:16 PM
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Hi Mike and xxx, <BR>Our group (five couples- Traveling Loons Southern Chapter?) will also be heading to Italy in late October. Our plans are still in the making, so I'd really be interested in your Florence-Rome plans for restaurants, etc. As planner-in-charge, I have a huge amount of info from this site already, but in the coming weeks I expect to bombard the Fodorites with questions..
