European flight questions for end of March

[54-46]

Toronto sucks. Avoid if possible. Be patient if you must.


Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

[jerlane]

what do you want to know about them? they have a lot of movies on the little screens but you should bring your own headphones.

and yeah, lots of delays in toronto.

I mainly want to make sure they’re not the Spirit Airlines of Canuckistan and we’ll get to where we’re going. It would save us about $1000 for three tickets.


Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

[ex-powderbroker]

book the ticket, enjoy ireland, buy praxis.

[alpinevibes]

Anyone have experience with Air Canada? They seem to have somewhat decent fares to Dublin. They fly through Toronto which I’ve heard mixed reviews about.


Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

Air Canada is great, Toronto YYZ is big, plenty of delays but functional. I've got a buddy in Ireland right now and seems to be having a great time.

[skaredshtles]

We had a pretty bad experience with Air Canada on our way back from Europe in the summer of '18 through Montreal, but, as with everything, YMMV.

[bennymac]

Air Canada is no better or worse than any other major NA airline - lots of good and bad stories - same goes for Toronto as an airport - soulless but functional. Air Canada is not gonna go bankrupt if that's your concern - it's practically state sponsored and too big to fail.

Ireland is worth visiting for sure.

[I Skied Bandini Mountain]

I mainly want to make sure they’re not the Spirit Airlines of Canuckistan and we’ll get to where we’re going. It would save us about $1000 for three tickets.


Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

If you're going for the cheapest option possible, you should probably expect a fair amount of unpleasantness.

[liv2ski]

If you're going for the cheapest option possible, you should probably expect a fair amount of unpleasantness.

Yup, I can fly a cheap seat for maybe 4 hours. After that I spend the money

[Dr. Crank]

Air Canada isn’t some ultra low cost carrier. It’s comparable to the US legacy airlines, not some rickety operation. Reasonably comfortable and efficient. Like any of the other big players, not always perfect

[muted reborn]

I can't find the travel tip thread so: Anyone fly Jet Blue overseas? I've never flown anywhere with them.

RT tickets to London are $2500 across the board but about $1250 on Jet Blue. I'm booking 4 people so that's a lot cheaper!

Is it a 'no way' or 'you'll be fine but you get what you pay for'

[alpinevibes]

I can't find the travel tip thread so: Anyone fly Jet Blue overseas? I've never flown anywhere with them.

RT tickets to London are $2500 across the board but about $1250 on Jet Blue. I'm booking 4 people so that's a lot cheaper!

Is it a 'no way' or 'you'll be fine but you get what you pay for'

When are you trying to go and where from? I haven't flown Jet Blue overseas, but a couple thoughts:

They fly in an A321LR for those routes, a narrow-body 3+3 plane, for 7 hours. That's doable, but not the most comfortable way to fly.
As with most budget carriers: they will limit what you can bring and what you get (like no carry on, etc). Jet Blue does provide full meals and alcohol for trans-atlantic, but check what that $1250 fare ticket level includes:https://www.jetblue.com/flying-with-us/our-fares

[Danno]

No idea re Jet Blue, but here is the travel thread if you want it: https://www.tetongravity.com/forums/...cks-and-advice

[riser4]

Air Canada isn’t some ultra low cost carrier. It’s comparable to the US legacy airlines, not some rickety operation. Reasonably comfortable and efficient. Like any of the other big players, not always perfect

Umm. In my limited experience with it, id put it on par with many 3rd world country flagship national airlines. Totally rickety. I would however bang again if the price was right.

I witnessed a funny show in Montreal waiting for my flight to Frankfurt. On Scare Canada. How many people does it take to change the lightbulb on a wing tip? Seemed like it needed a whole damn circus. Of midgets. Because they looked small from the lounge area window. The scissor lift probably went up and down about 100 times. And they kept getting different people who would arrive in groups of two or three of those little trucks. It was a goddamned convention . They eventually figured it out I guess because we boarded and departed, late. Meanwhile. The baggage handlers kept driving their cart trains over the cones set up to protect the the work area of the bulb changers. And they would get stuck. Which was hilarious because it took each one some head scratching and multiple tries to get unstuck. Back up. Pull forward. Rinse lather repeat. I wish I had been stoned. With yakety sax playing.

I'm amazed that plane ever made it to Germany.

Rickety ass operation.

My kid flew it a bunch of times from Montreal to Fredericton and back during University. It takes me just as long to drive across the border and get to Dorval as it does to fly from NB. DeHaviland Dash-8.

[muted reborn]

When are you trying to go and where from? I haven't flown Jet Blue overseas, but a couple thoughts:

They fly in an A321LR for those routes, a narrow-body 3+3 plane, for 7 hours. That's doable, but not the most comfortable way to fly.
As with most budget carriers: they will limit what you can bring and what you get (like no carry on, etc). Jet Blue does provide full meals and alcohol for trans-atlantic, but check what that $1250 fare ticket level includes:https://www.jetblue.com/flying-with-us/our-fares

Thanks for point out the plane, that's helpful. $1250 includes carry on and check bags with Blue level. Its from SLC to London. Legroom in Economy seems the same as Delta so I don't think a small-ish plane is a big to deal to me. Sounds like toilet lines are the only issue?

https://thepointsguy.com/reviews/jet...e-review-a321/

No idea re Jet Blue, but here is the travel thread if you want it: https://www.tetongravity.com/forums/...cks-and-advice

Thank ya!

[zion zig zag]

Holy shit, is $2500 per person for main cabin to LHR? That's wild. I'm seeing summer non-stops to Paris for $950 on Delta. What if you flew there and then took the train to London? Seems like that'd be a better/faster/cheaper option than flying with JetBlue and having a layover somewhere. Does the Olympics make that a bad idea? Just spitballing here.

[cspringsposer]

We just got flew back from London (via Paris, Athens, Santorini and Milos). What I found is booking a ticket from Denver to Europe round trip was over 2k, but departing Chicago and returning to Denver got the price down to $850 on United normal economy (not that cut rate fare). I was then able to book a one way ticket via American from Denver to Chicago for around $100, making our round trip tickets to and from the continent under $1k. I gave us 4 hours in Chicago in case of delays getting out of Denver and since we had to collect and recheck our bags.

YMMV, but everything went smooth for us and we saved a couple grand on the long flights of the trip.

[El Chupacabra]

We just got flew back from London (via Paris, Athens, Santorini and Milos). What I found is booking a ticket from Denver to Europe round trip was over 2k, but departing Chicago and returning to Denver got the price down to $850 on United normal economy (not that cut rate fare). I was then able to book a one way ticket via American from Denver to Chicago for around $100, making our round trip tickets to and from the continent under $1k. I gave us 4 hours in Chicago in case of delays getting out of Denver and since we had to collect and recheck our bags.

YMMV, but everything went smooth for us and we saved a couple grand on the long flights of the trip.

I've done this kind of positioning flightt a couple of times. You're wise to give plenty of time for any delays and for your checked bags to arrive, just in case.

OP, search for your trip on Google flights and use different starting airports in the US - - ones that are cheap and quick for you to get to from your home airport.

Mrs C and I are going to Thailand late this year, and our flights based out of LAX were about $600 less, each, than if we'd booked out of Reno. We're taking Southwest to /from LAX for $11 each (points, companion pass). Totally worth the little extra hassle.

[muted reborn]

Holy shit, is $2500 per person for main cabin to LHR? That's wild. I'm seeing summer non-stops to Paris for $950 on Delta. What if you flew there and then took the train to London? Seems like that'd be a better/faster/cheaper option than flying with JetBlue and having a layover somewhere. Does the Olympics make that a bad idea? Just spitballing here.

Good thought - it's much cheaper to fly into Dublin, thanks.

We just got flew back from London (via Paris, Athens, Santorini and Milos). What I found is booking a ticket from Denver to Europe round trip was over 2k, but departing Chicago and returning to Denver got the price down to $850 on United normal economy (not that cut rate fare). I was then able to book a one way ticket via American from Denver to Chicago for around $100, making our round trip tickets to and from the continent under $1k. I gave us 4 hours in Chicago in case of delays getting out of Denver and since we had to collect and recheck our bags.

YMMV, but everything went smooth for us and we saved a couple grand on the long flights of the trip.

4 hours doesn't seem like enough to me, but if it worked - great! But you are right, a quick search makes it look more affordable to buy each leg separate.

I've done this kind of positioning flightt a couple of times. You're wise to give plenty of time for any delays and for your checked bags to arrive, just in case.

OP, search for your trip on Google flights and use different starting airports in the US - - ones that are cheap and quick for you to get to from your home airport.

Mrs C and I are going to Thailand late this year, and our flights based out of LAX were about $600 less, each, than if we'd booked out of Reno. We're taking Southwest to /from LAX for $11 each (points, companion pass). Totally worth the little extra hassle.

I saved about the same amount going to japan flying out LAX too - SFO and Seattle prices were much more for some reason. But I had planned to fly in the night before, stay at venice beach, then fly out. As you know, if you miss your overseas flight, they don't care if your flight to LAX was late or cancelled. Yer fucked!

[El Chupacabra]

I saved about the same amount going to japan flying out LAX too - SFO and Seattle prices were much more for some reason. But I had planned to fly in the night before, stay at venice beach, then fly out. As you know, if you miss your overseas flight, they don't care if your flight to LAX was late or cancelled. Yer fucked!

Exactly. They're separate tickets, one airline doesn't have any responsibility to the other airline.

So it's not without risk.

[singlesline]

After my last hellish time getting to Europe (which all went to shit in Denver), no way am I playing that separate-bookings game. 4-6 hours isn't nearly enough.

Getting TO Europe must be on a single booking--the connecting options are just too limited and you lose the ability to do complete reroutes (something wrong with DEN-ORD? no problem, we'll just fly you to NYC and put you on a flight to Europe from there). Fuckups on Europe trips can easily cost you a full day of your vacation and mess up other non-refundable/cancellable reservations (hotels, restaurants, etc.)

You can split the going and coming (although that's rarely cheaper). I'd also be willing to gamble on the return side of things...a separate domestic ticket once you land back in the USA is tolerable (especially since most airlines are more flexible about ticket changes post-covid). You can probably find another flight that works (especially something like NYC or Chicago to Denver), and worst case scenario you get home a day later...you're missing work or chores, not euro vacation time.

Or do it like muted reborn and plan to arrive a full day early and stay the night. That provides enough time to handle issues and should be enough time that most travel insurers (including credit card coverage) might start to pick up the tab for any issues, especially if you claim that the night in Venice Beach was something you wanted to do as part of your vacation.

As for the question of flying jet blue? I think I'd have zero qualms there about the quality/comfort of the flight. Only concern would be looking at their flight schedules to see what happens if something goes wrong. Will they be able to re-route you, or is it a deal where they only have one flight every day (or every other day!) and you'll be screwed if you miss it because the minimum delay is 24 hours and if others are hit by the same delay the plane might be full and you'll have to wait longer (or pay $$$ to rebook on a major alliance).

[Danno]

As for the question of flying jet blue? I think I'd have zero qualms there about the quality/comfort of the flight. Only concern would be looking at their flight schedules to see what happens if something goes wrong. Will they be able to re-route you, or is it a deal where they only have one flight every day (or every other day!) and you'll be screwed if you miss it because the minimum delay is 24 hours and if others are hit by the same delay the plane might be full and you'll have to wait longer (or pay $$$ to rebook on a major alliance).

that's a good point, many years ago I know they didn't code share, so if there was a problem, you were still stuck with them, they couldn't put you on another airline. Don't know if that is still the case.

I was in BTV, heading to DEN (BTV>JFK>DEN), there was some problem in JFK that shut the whole airport down. I could not get out until that was resolved, which meant the next day. Meanwhile, one gate over, United had plenty of flights to ORD and had Jet Blue code shared, I could have easily gone BTV>ORD>DEN.

[zion zig zag]

For all the reasons listed above, I'd prefer a legacy carrier, all on one reservation. Dublin may be a good call, even if you have to backtrack.