Gosh, thanks to you all!!!
Some really good advice here!!!
Fodorites are so nice!
Linda

Consider going when your teens will be on Spring break (mid-March, if memory serves)... Prices are much more affordable, especially on airfare.

As Amy suggested, why not look into Untours. Children under 16 stay free (housing) in Switzerland.

We,did it with no kids in the spring of 2006 for $147 a day, not including airfare and a car lease. Granted the exchange rate was better then, but we figure we could do it now for around $200 a day. We are actually planning a trip for spring of 09 and intend on staying in that price range. We stayed in B&B's in entire time, except for the last night. We spent seven weeks traveling through France, Belgum, Germany and Austria. You can see how we did it here:

http://www.slowtrav.com/tr/tripreport.asp?tripid=1259

If you can get over the shock of the price of plane tickets and hotel rooms, it does not have to be that overwhelming to be in Europe, once you arrive... if you keep things simple, use public transportation, make up your own tours, find free local events, and just generally soak up the scenery.

Overall, trips to Europe from the U.S. are cheaper than they have ever been before. Tickets are dirt cheap, accommodation is reasonable, and people who never could have dreamed of going to Europe a few decades ago can do so now quite easily. Compare the airfares of yesteryear with the salaries that people earned back in those days, and you'll see why only a wealthy elite could travel to Europe reasonably back in those days. Today, anyone can do it. It's true that you can blow huge amounts of money on a European trip <i>if you want to,</i> but it's hardly necessary.

HI L,

&gt; will we be so shocked and dismayed by prices when we GET there that we won't be able to enjoy ourselves?

No.

When are you planning to go.

Winter break will be less expensive the June-August.

All of this advice is excellent. On the FF redemption, my suggestion would be to CALL the airlines and ask for their air partners desk (or whatever your airline calls it) and let them look through options rather than trying to do this online. I found FF redemption seats for 2 to Europe last summer this way (flew in July; booked in late Feb) and got Saver seats at that. It helped that I was somewhat flexible on my dates (gave them a range of 3 days on either end) and destinations. It was my first trip to Europe and after researching things here realized that I could get around Europe pretty cheaply with budget airlines once I actually got there and back. Go for it--you won't regret it!