World Travelers Advice Requested

I've used www.ebookers.com in the past and been very happy with their service.

Hi

You can check expedia have used before

Always compare with airline website

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

We are looking into international airfares.

Can you be more specific? After all, a flight from Budapest to Vienna is "international". And so is a long haul flight to the USA.

The short routes will be served by both the large airlines, and the small, regional budget airlines which tack on all sorts of fees in the small print, which you may not even get hit with until you arrive at the airport, at their "discretion", which means the booking web site can not stop it from happening, only warn you in the fine print.

To the good ol" USA.
Not really wanting to fly off but family duties are calling...
My husband is "on it" but the last few flights over were a nightmare.
maybe that's the new "normal"?
Lost bags for 5 days on one trip, being stuck sandwich style alone in the middle section between the Swedish drinking team. AKA 32 exactly young Swed's who were little managers of some sort of fast food chain in Sweden, all going to "Party hardy" in Vegas.
My husband was 3 rows over and also stuck.
I tried my hardest to be "social' with the young man next to me without being too much. After he passed out for hours in route and I had to literally almost sit on his lap to get out and use the WC, i was over and done with BA airlines.
I decided to stand for a bit and get the blood flowing in my legs.
Another drinking team member was near me and we started a nice chat.
Out of the blue he just went down and laid himself in the walkway...
Seems to me that BA is the party plane, drinks non stop, double drinks and mixed selections...
Even a bit too much for me, I like a few in flight but so far I have never passed out in the plane.

Just looking for a decent flight with a decent seat even if I must pay a bit more for a good seat or to actually sit next to my husband.
I did promise myself my next flight would be only one way home for good, guess one can't always kept the promises.

I use a variety of sites, like Opodo and others mentioned but most of them are working off the same Amadeus or other database and the pricing is all the same.  Airline sites tend to be a bit cheaper (as fewer fees).

You could find it easier to fly to somewhere like Frankfurt or London or even Istanbul on one cheaper ticket and then go on with another ticket to the destination or even have say, an overnight in NYC before going on.

One thing I have noticed is that travel agents can see ticketing options better than the retail sites.  They could for example detect flights which block through tickets or cause prices to spiral, e.g. BUD to LON, then on the LAS (Las Vegas) leg might be blocked on the BUD-LON stretch on a through ticket due to demand.  If I don't see ticket pricing I like online somehow, I usually call an agent.

If your budget could stretch to Premium Economy, it might be worth it to get some peace and quiet. I know on Brussels Airlines, it's definitely NOT worth it at all.  Only unusual thing is being able to bid on the upgrade online. The Premium cost is stupidly high for what you get.  It's almost like they are taking the mickey.

A more interesting option might be to book a complete package holiday from BUD to LV - it could be cheaper than a scheduled ticket.

Thanks everyone, will just let my husband deal with it after all.
Want the most direct and fastest flight possible.
A package deal is not for us, we will be staying for awhile.
We each have our own bedroom waiting for us with a nice community pool in the housing complex. Gated and all.
He really wants us to stay forever there but again not healthy to live with your adult child unless that's the last resort. A few months away  will be nice.
Husband is sort of thinking of even buying a ticket that allows us to change the date for return, just in case our boy gets on his last nerve.
Love him to death but he kills us sometimes.
Looked on U tube and got a few tips as well.

I used Ebookers when I went to Longview, Washington State to visit friends. I flew from London to Atalanta and then to Main. I think I flew with Delta. Quite happy with them. Only thing I hated was the in flight movie on offer lol

There seems to be almost too many options after all.
My husband is losing his mind looking since most prices are very close, 2 stops only would be nice, maybe leave in the afternoon and not the morning?
It's not even the prices that get to us it's trying to figure out which airline etc.
Delta might be good since we never used them before.
Saw Virgin Atlantic too, heard they were a good airline.
Not really feeling it with BA airlines or the "German" one.
My bro works for American Airlines but he will not fly anywhere unless he really can't drive there.
He would rather drive across the US then fly.
Not afraid to fly , just says he knows the condition of most planes.
Says most are held together with safety pins and tape...
Think he likes to scare me, maybe?

fluffy2560 made all the good points that I was going to make. Especially going direct to the Airlines own web site to check prices and routes, and if all fails, go to a travel agent if you have specific needs.

Honestly, it has been a long, long time I have flown to the USA. But to avoid repeating the problems I have had, I will forever now avoid Delta if I can. Austrian airlines or Luftansa were my go to carriers for the last bunch of flights I took out of Europe. Use to like KLM, but then Air France bought them, and service went down (Air France is another airline I avoid). BA use to be better, but would still take them some places as they often offer the only direct flight out of Europe to some places i have traveled.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

Thanks everyone, will just let my husband deal with it after all.
Want the most direct and fastest flight possible.
A package deal is not for us, we will be staying for awhile.
We each have our own bedroom waiting for us with a nice community pool in the housing complex. Gated and all.
He really wants us to stay forever there but again not healthy to live with your adult child unless that's the last resort. A few months away  will be nice.....

I meant actually you might be able to get on a charter service with a flight only option or get one with a place laid on and just don't use it.   

I have some UK colleagues who are semi-retired and who really like golf (and they are very good at it - I played a few times with them).  They fly out to Africa on a flight only charter services, stay a month or two, then fly back.  Apparently golf is cheaper in some African countries and of course the weather better than the UK. According to them, the cost savings are significant but there are inconveniences - odd departure times/airports and inflexible tickets.

klsallee wrote:

fluffy2560 made all the good points that I was going to make. Especially going direct to the Airlines own web site to check prices and routes, and if all fails, go to a travel agent if you have specific needs.

Honestly, it has been a long, long time I have flown to the USA. But to avoid repeating the problems I have had, I will forever now avoid Delta if I can. Austrian airlines or Luftansa were my go to carriers for the last bunch of flights I took out of Europe. Use to like KLM, but then Air France bought them, and service went down (Air France is another airline I avoid). BA use to be better, but would still take them some places as they often offer the only direct flight out of Europe to some places i have traveled.

See I have never had a problem with KLM or Air France. I use them every time I go to Wales as its the only carrier that flies from Vienna to Cardiff.

SimCityAT wrote:

See I have never had a problem with KLM or Air France. I use them every time I go to Wales as its the only carrier that flies from Vienna to Cardiff.

On short trips they are okay. Most any airline is okay for a flight under 2 hours. But I almost always fly long haul flights (8 or more hours in the air), which is where quality and service start to matter. My wife was thirsty on a trans Atlantic Air France flight once, but the stewards refused to giver her even a glass of water when she asked, said she had to wait for the appropriate time when they came by with the little trolley. I have had similar bad experiences. The stewards just had an "attitude". Terrible service.

For a long haul flight i would go with Norwegian. We flew from Orlando, FL to Budapest with a 10 hour layover in Oslo, Norway. The Orlando to Oslo was direct then from Oslo to Budapest was like a small plane and like an hour.

But the long haul flight from Orlando to Oslo was really nice. Staff was beyond kind, attentive to any need, 3 full meals and also 2 snacks. Beer or wine was included with the meals also and all that was no extra charge. Pre booking you chose what type of meal you want also like either special diet which they had like over 10 different ones, or even if you want like steak or seafood.

It is Norwegian so you will have a layover in some fjord country mostly either Norway or Finland maybe Denmark for reason no Sweden. In our case that was good as we liked Norway and even in December was not an issue for us. But i will say if you do not want to have a layover in the fjords then no do not use them.

And i have used them within Norway once again good. I do not know how many places in US they fly to though.

Booking wise cheapoair is good. I know sounds awful but they were really good. We had never been to Budapest and from St Pete Beach, FL US booked our flights, hotel and rental car with them and worked out well. They actually were very professional and good. 

But even though i brought our tickets threw cheapo Norwegian still offered to beat their price and was very helpful. I know at least i had this happen in the past, you use a booking agency and that is who you have to talk to for info on luggage or anything, the airline would not even talk to me. Norwegian said if you are on their plane then any issues you have they will solve!

I found the more well know sites very expensive and not very user friendly! But that was just me.

SAS which i think is Swedish airline they were not so good at all their help is the worst. LOT which is a Polish airline they were friendly but rather expensive at least for the flights i was looking at.

FeliciaOni wrote:

.....
SAS which i think is Swedish airline they were not so good at all their help is the worst. LOT which is a Polish airline they were friendly but rather expensive at least for the flights i was looking at.

SAS means  Scandanavian Airline System and it's the national airline of Norway, Sweden and Denmark. 

Their HQ is in Sweden but it's really like a consortium with shareholders from each of those countries. 

It  doesn't Finland which has the flag carrier Finnair (obviously). Iceland has Icelandicair.

These days a lot of airlines share the same route. You might think you are flying with one airline and end up flying with another one.

Well as i said Norwegian had much better flight and service than SAS! And SAS is much more expensive.

SimCityAT wrote:

These days a lot of airlines share the same route. You might think you are flying with one airline and end up flying with another one.

Yup, code share.  It's a bit of a stupid thing.  If the flight has say, a American Airlines flight number but is say being flown by BA, then if you work for the US government, you have to try (quite a lot) to fly on the AA flight number not the BA equivalent.  If you get the BA one, they'll argue with you about it.  Never heard about the British, Germans or anyone else demanding that.

FeliciaOni wrote:

Well as i said Norwegian had much better flight and service than SAS! And SAS is much more expensive.

Friend of mine went Norwegian to Singapore and he said it was pretty good value for the money and he went Business Class.  Never tried them myself as I don't want to spend hours interconnecting in Oslo or wherever.

Thanks everyone for your feedback.
We have used Cheapoair in the past and never had any issues with them.
Last time when we used BA we used a different source to buy our tickets.
Wasn't happy at all with BA airlines.
Their computer system either was over loaded or down when it came to the 24 hour window to pick a seat.
We got the worst seats and didn't even sit together.
They played games with us, told us to be the last to board and then we could get a seat together, no they lied right in our face.
It's Ok, they know I will not use them again and why.

Will probably book soon, just need to set the dates.

Marilyn Tassy wrote:

Thanks everyone for your feedback.
We have used Cheapoair in the past and never had any issues with them.
Last time when we used BA we used a different source to buy our tickets.
Wasn't happy at all with BA airlines.
Their computer system either was over loaded or down when it came to the 24 hour window to pick a seat.
We got the worst seats and didn't even sit together.
They played games with us, told us to be the last to board and then we could get a seat together, no they lied right in our face.
It's Ok, they know I will not use them again and why.

Will probably book soon, just need to set the dates.

Well, this isn't going to help but it's an opportunity to complain about BA....and others....

BA is just a shadow of what it was since it was taken over by IAG and merged with Iberia.   Their model now is low cost airline with full service prices.  Very rarely is there a bargain there with BA.  Stupidly I once paid for Mrs Fluffy and a Fluffyette to go Business Class to ensure they were "looked after" and they were rubbish and unhelpful.  Wouldn't do that again. KLM is terrible as well.  At a push Swiss and Lufthansa are acceptable.

Anyway, I used to fly with BA all the time to get to the UK because they went to LHR (Heathrow).   Previously I always used Malev to get to LGW (Gatwick) but that's all finished.   

Now, we tend to go with Wizzair to LTN (Luton).   LTN is nowhere near where I want to be in the UK but their FF (Frequent Flyer) Club Flex tickets include 32kg luggage (useful for shopping), seat choices and they give free cancellation and refunds.  An interesting alternative might be FlyBE to SEN (Southend) as they are relatively cheap.  Might be something to do with Ford as it's a bit unusual but the timings are awkward.   

Wizzair not much use to the USA but I expect they'll start thinking of going that way.  I think BA have a low cost airline now called Level.  Not sure what that name is intended to convey - straight and level? Level headed?  Passport (as in Utlevel)?  Only problem with them is that fly from Spain I believe so basically useless.

An American friend of mine likes Aer Lingus (Irish Airlines) but then again, he lives in Ireland.

Level, is a Spanish airline brand of the International Airlines Group (IAG).  Based in Barcelona. Its just started to fly from Vienna to the UK (Stansted I think). Their launch they were offering tickets for €1. Then the catch came in, add the taxes and luggage charges the price went up.

Seems most of the airlines are around the same prices give or take a few bucks.
Just want one that sticks to the timeline and doesn't usually lose your luggage for 5 days and keep you hostage for 2 days in Germany in a hotel room/bus/ or line.
Done and dusted with Lufthansa, they messed us up one trip from HU to Vegas, literally took 3 days from Budapest to Vegas. Not kidding!
That's when they also "misplaced" lost my bags for another 5 days, almost had to borrow my husbands underwear!
They also messed up with travel with a beloved bird we had.
I suppose if one travels enough, every airline is a nightmare.
To think I actually wanted to be a flight crew member 35 years ago or there about's.
They do not get paid for ground time, well only a pittance , really their pay is for time in the air once the doors shut.Being stuck for days even is not cool for them either.
Let me think, in 1987 American Airlines was paying $17.50 per hour for flight crew, ground time was min. wage, forgot how much that was, maybe around $5. an hour. They got a certain amount per day for meals for lay overs and a hotel room.
First they send you to "flight camp" for about 2 months, live in a dorm and go to classes everyday.

Just as well Ryanair doesn't fly to the USA, they think Jordan is part of the UK.