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Mister Adequate posted:Hang on, so if you're flying out of Dublin or Shannon to the US, you can go through US immigration before even taking off? That seems immensely more sensible than the usual system for any number of reasons. Do you know if any airports on Great Britain do that? I'm looking to fly out to Bozeman in a couple of months and between my regular anxiety issues and the added massive stress of a day-long intercontinental coach travel (when you're over 6 feet tall no less) I tend to get worked up going through immigration, which has led to a couple of highly unenjoyable extra scrutiny episodes.
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Jul 29, 2013 05:40
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Going from this page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_border_preclearance it looks like Ireland or Canada are your only major international preclearance options. If youre flying from the U.K. Dublin would probably be far easier as you'd be clearing immigration there before the long, tiring transatlantic flight rather than after in Canada.
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Jul 29, 2013 11:47
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One time I did go through Toronto and I didn't even realize it was preclearance or anything, but it wasn't really any different from the regular US checkpoints. I think the advantages would only become apparent on this side of the pond, but thanks for the input - I'll see what I can rustle up going through Dublin or Shannon.
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Jul 29, 2013 15:33
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Mister Adequate posted:Hang on, so if you're flying out of Dublin or Shannon to the US, you can go through US immigration before even taking off? That seems immensely more sensible than the usual system for any number of reasons. Do you know if any airports on Great Britain do that? I'm looking to fly out to Bozeman in a couple of months and between my regular anxiety issues and the added massive stress of a day-long intercontinental coach travel (when you're over 6 feet tall no less) I tend to get worked up going through immigration, which has led to a couple of highly unenjoyable extra scrutiny episodes. Indeed, it's rather nice. As noted, there are no airports outside of Ireland or Canada that offer the service, unfortunately. But I think the real issue here is your anxiety; is that something specific to air travel or do you deal with that in general? In some cases, becoming educated as to what is happening and why often helps to alleviate some of the stress people feel in relation to air travel (loss of control, large crowds, etc). If you have specific things that cause you to worry, I'm happy to explain them in some detail so that you can know what's going to happen, why something is happening, and/or develop better coping strategies. I'm not a psychologist or anything, but I've known some people that were simply terrified of flying and arming them with information went a long way to making a terrible experience something closer to tolerable. And you can do specific searches with Matrix wherein you specify a connecting point like DUB or SNN. EI has started interlining with UA so DUB is probably an option, cost notwithstanding.
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Jul 29, 2013 16:39
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So this just happened: google.com/flights Any first impressions? Edit: ah, seems to have been around a while, but I just noticed it was added to Maps
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Jul 31, 2013 21:14
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bam thwok posted:So this just happened: Yeah, it's not new. It's based on a lot of the same data as Matrix, since Google bought ITA a while back.
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Jul 31, 2013 21:45
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What can you guys tell me about short (<1hr) layovers on international flights? One of the flights I'm looking at (SFO-TPE-BKK) has a 45 minute layover. Is that cutting it too close? The carrier is EVA Air.
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Aug 5, 2013 18:59
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xcdude24 posted:What can you guys tell me about short (<1hr) layovers on international flights? One of the flights I'm looking at (SFO-TPE-BKK) has a 45 minute layover. Is that cutting it too close? The carrier is EVA Air. I'd consider that pretty close. Transferring BR to BR at TPE shouldn't be that difficult, but if the weather is lovely at SFO, you could get delayed and that gives you almost no window to recover. I'd find something slightly longer if available.
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Aug 5, 2013 19:02
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I'm trying to fly out of LAX or one of the other local airports in Southern California on December 19th to Hawaii and come back anytime between the 27th and 29th. The cheapest tickets I can find are $800 on the Matrix website. Does that sound about right for the best I can do around that time period?
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Aug 15, 2013 02:28
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Christ Pseudoscientist posted:I'm trying to fly out of LAX or one of the other local airports in Southern California on December 19th to Hawaii and come back anytime between the 27th and 29th. The cheapest tickets I can find are $800 on the Matrix website. Does that sound about right for the best I can do around that time period? Christmas is a very popular time to go to Hawaii, especially out of SoCal. That said, if you drive down to SAN, you can get to HNL for $661 on your dates.
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Aug 15, 2013 16:46
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Is flying ANA worth an extra $200 compared to flying on Delta?
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Aug 15, 2013 17:56
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xcdude24 posted:Is flying ANA worth an extra $200 compared to flying on Delta? From where? And in coach? The answer is probably not, but it depends very much on route and equipment used.
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Aug 15, 2013 19:28
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Mackieman posted:From where? And in coach? The answer is probably not, but it depends very much on route and equipment used. Coach (maybe premium economy); SFO-SIN/BKK-SFO.
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Aug 15, 2013 19:39
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xcdude24 posted:Coach (maybe premium economy); SFO-SIN/BKK-SFO. Out of SFO, is there a particular reason you're not looking at Singapore or Eva? Neither will require you to transit NRT and Eva's premium economy is pretty good. TPE is an easier transit than NRT in some cases, I'm told. I haven't personally done it but know people that have.
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Aug 15, 2013 20:27
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Mackieman posted:Out of SFO, is there a particular reason you're not looking at Singapore or Eva? Neither will require you to transit NRT and Eva's premium economy is pretty good. TPE is an easier transit than NRT in some cases, I'm told. I haven't personally done it but know people that have. Delta and ANA/United were the cheapest flights for my dates (outbound the week of October 13; inbound December 22-24). I've transited at NRT and it wasn't too bad. It seems like they keep all of one carrier's flight in and around the same area. EDIT: and I have about $180 in Delta flight credit. xcdude24 fucked around with this message at 20:48 on Aug 15, 2013 |
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Aug 15, 2013 20:43
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xcdude24 posted:Delta and ANA/United were the cheapest flights for my dates (outbound the week of October 13; inbound December 22-24). I've transited at NRT and it wasn't too bad. It seems like they keep all of one carrier's flight in and around the same area. Ah, ok, I see. Given that, I'd do United through HKG on the way out and you're forced to NRT when leaving BKK on the return. Economy Plus is pretty much just as good if not better than Economy Comfort on Delta, and even with your credit, you're not saving a ton over United in this particular case.
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Aug 15, 2013 20:49
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What's with Kayak finding cheap flights then having them instantly be "sold out" when you go to the carrier site? Then I go back to Kayak and it's magically gone too. Several flights, within the span of minutes. So, I could use your help! Vacation details: Round trip. Origin: any Osaka/Kobe airport Destination: any Toronto airport Departure date: 12/28 +/- 1 day (Japan Time) Return date: 1/6 +/- 1 day (Japan Time) Overnight stopovers are perfectly fine if there's some time for clearing customs and activities. The one I found was $1100 per person, and on the way there it had an 18 hour overnight stopover in Seattle! Would have been awesome. If you can't find anything it's alright! I gleamed lots of tips from this thread and will keep searching every week.
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Aug 27, 2013 12:46
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Zo posted:What's with Kayak finding cheap flights then having them instantly be "sold out" when you go to the carrier site? Then I go back to Kayak and it's magically gone too. Several flights, within the span of minutes. I don't see anything cheaper than $1244USD per person. If you leave out of NRT you can drop that to $1000 or so, but then you have to position to NRT which likely eats any savings, if not more.
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Aug 27, 2013 16:16
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Mackieman posted:I don't see anything cheaper than $1244USD per person. If you leave out of NRT you can drop that to $1000 or so, but then you have to position to NRT which likely eats any savings, if not more. Ah I didn't think about looking at NRT. It's actually really cheap and convenience to get there.
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Aug 27, 2013 16:20
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Zo posted:Ah I didn't think about looking at NRT. It's actually really cheap and convenience to get there. Really? Well then go for it, it's almost always going to be the cheapest place to fly from in Japan.
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Aug 27, 2013 17:04
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I bought a ticket to go home over Christmas on Monday and when I checked again today, the same flight was $50 cheaper. Is there any chance that Delta will credit me the difference?
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Aug 28, 2013 13:03
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Gold and a Pager posted:I bought a ticket to go home over Christmas on Monday and when I checked again today, the same flight was $50 cheaper. Is there any chance that Delta will credit me the difference? Nein. That's the gamble you take and it sucks when you come out on the short end, but if you tried to get the lower fare, they'll require you to pay the change fee, which is usually $200 for domestic coach tickets these days, thus making the entire proposition dumb. The only possible way this would work is if you were within 24 hours of when you booked the ticket. You can cancel for no fee at that point and simply rebook at the lower price. I've done this a couple of times over the years, but it's fairly rare. Outside of that 24 hour window, you're SOL.
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Aug 28, 2013 13:26
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Hello! I hope this is an appropriate place to ask a question about carry-on baggage allowances. We have an international flight booked with United flying MEL-LAX-LasVegas in and SFO-LAX-MEL out. As far as I can tell from the 'UA' codes all connections are operated by United. Like the Travel Gear thread recommends, I wanted to do carry-on only and bought packs that fit within carry on dimensions. Our friend, who was a travel agent for many years, has said that there is also a 7kg weight limit on all carry-on luggage. She said this is true even though the ticket and website only mention dimensions, although it seems many local and international airlines do have that explicit policy on weight. Is this 7kg weight limit some unwritten rule that will be rigidly enforced by United? Obviously I'm not planning on packing a bowling ball or anything ridiculous like that, but going over 7.00kg seems quite possible.
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Sep 5, 2013 14:00
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Kat Delacour posted:Hello! I hope this is an appropriate place to ask a question about carry-on baggage allowances. It is quite appropriate.  United, like most US-based carriers, does not have a weight limit for carry-on bags, only size limits. The carry on weight limit is a rule almost exclusively imposed by international carriers, especially those of European origin. I've had some heavy-rear end carry on bags in my time and as long as they'll fit in the overhead, you won't get any grief. Your friend who was a travel agent is getting her policies and airlines confused.
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Sep 5, 2013 15:15
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Thank you for the quick answer! Very good to know.
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Sep 5, 2013 22:40
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Hi! Wasn't sure if this was the place to ask, but it is, so here we go: I'm trying to secure tickets to KIX (Kansai International Airport // Osaka, Japan) for myself and my mother from DTW (Detroit) this winter, from December 11th to January 3rd. The dates are flexible, airlines are flexible (I have about 36,500 miles with Delta's Gold Card thing, but apparently I need 250k miles to afford a ticket  not sure if that affects anything).I've been watching prices like a hawk, but they all seem to hover around about 1700 to 1800 per person round trip. I went by myself last year and got a ticket for about 1350, and had my fiance fly over from there to here for about 1550 this past summer. My question is, even though there's no real pattern or rule to buying tickets, is there a possibility it'll drop down to 1300/1400 before December 11th? I keep the IPA matrix site open at all times and refresh the search about once every two hours, but haven't seen it go lower (only higher) and I'm afraid if I don't buy now the prices won't get better. Thanks again for this thread, it's been really helpful.
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Sep 14, 2013 18:38
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Rafzakael posted:Hi! Wasn't sure if this was the place to ask, but it is, so here we go: It is absolutely the correct place to ask. You're right in that tickets to KIX out of DTW are hovering in the $1500 to $1700 range. Flights to NRT are not much cheaper and then you have to deal with the cost of getting to KIX via another flight or train from there, thus negating any savings. What I would do in your shoes is look at booking two tickets, one to get you to the west coast and then one for the TPAC flights. This does create what is called an unprotected connection, in that you have two separate tickets so the airline doesn't hold responsibility from getting you from start to finish per their Contract of Carriage, but if you book a wide enough connecting window, you'll be fine. Assuming you're interested in going that route, you can do LAX-HND-KIX on the way out and KIX-SFO-LAX on the way back for $902 round trip. You then have to get from DTW (or a nearby airport like FNT) to LAX at a price point that makes it worth it to go this route. Currently I see FNT-ORD-LAX on AA and then LAX-DEN-DTW on F9 (Frontier) for $374, which brings you to a grand total of $1275 for the trip, saving you a couple hundred bucks over the DTW-KIX market fare. The DTW-LAX fares are far more likely to change by a significant amount than DTW-KIX is, so you could ostensibly gamble with the domestic leg and see if the price drops a decent amount to save more while going ahead and securing the $902 TPAC fare immediately. The value of that depends entirely on your risk appetite. Edit: Doh, forgot dates. That was 12/8-12/31. Beef Of Ages fucked around with this message at 18:51 on Sep 14, 2013 |
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Sep 14, 2013 18:46
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Mackieman posted:It is absolutely the correct place to ask. I hadn't even considered doing the split route thing. This makes it much more manageable, thank you for the quick reply!
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Sep 14, 2013 19:03
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Rafzakael posted:I hadn't even considered doing the split route thing. This makes it much more manageable, thank you for the quick reply! You could also drive to Chicago and do this: Depart at 0655 on 12/8 from ORD->SFO on UA1199, connect to SFO->KIX on UA885, total trip time ~18 hrs Return at 1820 on 12/31 from KIX->SFO on UA 886, connect to SFO->ORD on UA698, total trip time ~16 hrs All this for $1,387. Obviously you'll have to factor in gas money, parking, and drive time, but it strips out a lot of the other flights and preserves your Contract of Carriage. Here's my skyscanner search: http://www.skyscanner.com/flights/chia/kix/131208/131231/airfares-from-chicago-to-osaka-kansai-international-in-december-2013.html?crty=1
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Sep 15, 2013 16:07
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You could also take Amtrak from Detroit to Chicago and save the hassle of parking your car in Chicago for that long. The Amtrak Wolverine has 3 daily trips between Detroit and Chicago.
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Sep 15, 2013 19:25
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FISHMANPET posted:You could also take Amtrak from Detroit to Chicago and save the hassle of parking your car in Chicago for that long. The Amtrak Wolverine has 3 daily trips between Detroit and Chicago. This is true, although I would caution that the Wolverine has a habit of getting delayed in northwest Indiana, so make sure you aren't cutting it close with your trip e: Also, what is a more disappointing way to follow up the wonderful experience of taking Japanese trains: taking Amtrak, or driving on the interstate? Neither comes close to measuring up to the shinkansen. 
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Sep 15, 2013 20:36
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If you fly the international leg on ANA or JAL, they'll give you the domestic connection for JPY 10,000 (USD 100). You might have to take the JPY 3000 bus to connect airports. Check if that price vs flying direct to KIX. ANA flies Chicago - Narita direct.
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Sep 16, 2013 00:18
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Nice Davis posted:This is true, although I would caution that the Wolverine has a habit of getting delayed in northwest Indiana, so make sure you aren't cutting it close with your trip Hasn't that route been upgraded to run at 110 MPH in some places? Though still no comparison.
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Sep 16, 2013 05:12
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Nice Davis posted:e: Also, what is a more disappointing way to follow up the wonderful experience of taking Japanese trains: taking Amtrak, or driving on the interstate? Neither comes close to measuring up to the shinkansen. Both are pretty depressing. I actually managed to secure a flight from LAX to KIX connecting through Narita for 1,050, which wasn't bad at all and fit our dates perfectly (despite not being cheapest, turns out our dates weren't as flexible as we thought). We're eyeing tickets to LAX now, and I've seen them drop really low before so I'm fairly confident I got a cheaper deal then just buying a direct DTW-KIX flight. Thanks everyone, again!
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Sep 16, 2013 05:59
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Rafzakael posted:Both are pretty depressing. Glad you got something that works. 
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Sep 16, 2013 15:14
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Mackieman I forget if I asked you but do you have any recommendations on travel insurance? I have 2 very complex award tickets coming up and I would like to have it covered in case of any fuckery on the multiple airlines involved and specifically with luggage Do you even recommend getting it?
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Sep 18, 2013 08:39
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sellouts posted:Mackieman I forget if I asked you but do you have any recommendations on travel insurance? I have 2 very complex award tickets coming up and I would like to have it covered in case of any fuckery on the multiple airlines involved and specifically with luggage I don't personally use it but I know people who do; Amex Travel and Travelex both have fairly decent coverage. You should also check to see if the credit card you paid for the tickets with carries any coverage. In all cases, read the fine print so that you know what is and what is not covered and at what point certain coverages kick in. Beef Of Ages fucked around with this message at 17:23 on Sep 18, 2013 |
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Sep 18, 2013 17:19
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I'm going from Halifax, Canada (YHZ) to Paris at the end of February for about four weeks (the departure and return are flexible) and the best I'm seeing is about $800. Does anyone know of a better deal?
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Sep 22, 2013 05:52
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Mackieman posted:I don't personally use it but I know people who do; Amex Travel and Travelex both have fairly decent coverage. You should also check to see if the credit card you paid for the tickets with carries any coverage. In all cases, read the fine print so that you know what is and what is not covered and at what point certain coverages kick in. Yeah. I never do either but the taxes paid on the award tickets don't cover the value of any one leg and with 13 flights over 24 days i want to make sure were covered. I'm just overly nervous and don't want anything to be messed up from luggage to misconnects loving up fairly expensive hotels.
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Sep 22, 2013 07:44
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$800 is a great deal for a trans-Atlantic flight, don't get greedy.
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Sep 22, 2013 08:46
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