backpacking europe

[e36bmw///]

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[kaput]

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[JAYMEZ]

Yah just go to London and camp around... You can get some crazy ass cheap flights here right now.. I was downtown London today and saw a flight to Spain for 35 pounds... cheapppp

[e36bmw///]

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[turbo4dr]

zoom sucks big time dont fly it take Air canada/United/BA and if you are gonna go go in summer it sucks to backpack in the winter in europe. I go there 4 times year and winter sucks

[e36bmw///]

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[sl888]

When I went I took AC and got open-ended return. It cost a hundred something if you switch you return date. If you know roughly how long you're gonna be there that is what I suggest you do.
Flying to London and taking Easyjet to get to your other destinations will help you save. We went from London to Greece for like 40 pounds and from Geneva back to London for like 55 Swiss Francs.

[kaput]

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[Melinda]

Originally posted by turbo4dr
zoom sucks big time dont fly it take Air canada/United/BA and if you are gonna go

Haha you're recommending air canada over zoom? I've flown zoom several times and I absolutely LOVE them. Cheap flights, friendly staff, easy to deal with, direct flights are a bonus as well. Overall very pleasant experiences with them. I dont know how many people can say the same about air canada.

The pp's are right though, london is your better starting city than paris. and if you dont want to fly all over the place, megabus is ideal when travelling through the UK. You can only book online and up to 45 days in advance. The closer you book to those 45 days, the cheaper it is. I went from london to Cardiff (wales) for 1 pound. And then later from Edinburgh to Dornie (close to isle of skye) for another pound. Totally worth it, but if you book a day or two before, it's a lot more $. Good luck!

[toyboy88]

Get a round-trip regardless, it's usually cheaper then a one-way/open jaw ticket anyways.

For cheap tickets within Europe, use eDreams.com, it's all like 60-80 euros return pretty much anywhere in Europe.

[turbo4dr]

Melinda wow you like zoom so much ??? you must sleep on rocks and ride the bus... Zoom is cheap some times over AC but on zoom you have to sit in seats made for 12 year old girls they are so uncomfortable for a 8-9m hr flight.you have to pay for your food if you are hungry on zoom. Also boose is not free on AC it is and you get 2 meals. If you do your research then AC will work out to be a better deal over all for you. As far as in the UK well ya Easy Jet is they way to go

[ashee]

I flew AC round trip to London for $780 in April, took the chunnel to Paris for $45CAD, I got a ryanair ticket from Madrid to Porto, Portugal for $15CAD and a ticket from Madrid to London for $50CAD. Get a rail pass because train tickets are fucking expensive if you don't, with the rail pass you only have to pay a reserve fee of between $8-15 when you book your tickets as opposed to $100. You can usually score some cheap inter-euro plane tickets too through ryanair, easyjet or zoom. The trains and most inter-euro flights run regular schedules between major cities so you can usually almost always get last minute tickets.

[pints]

You can also check out canadian-affair.ca for cheap flights to the UK, the airlines are either airtransat or Monarch. Sometimes it's more expensive than Zoom, but if you fly at the right time they have flights to the UK for $99.

[Melinda]

Originally posted by turbo4dr
Melinda wow you like zoom so much ??? you must sleep on rocks and ride the bus... Zoom is cheap some times over AC but on zoom you have to sit in seats made for 12 year old girls they are so uncomfortable for a 8-9m hr flight.you have to pay for your food if you are hungry on zoom. Also boose is not free on AC it is and you get 2 meals. If you do your research then AC will work out to be a better deal over all for you. As far as in the UK well ya Easy Jet is they way to go

Premium class on zoom is free alcohol, but seriously, why is that so important? Most of their flights have you landing early morning in the UK anyways. And just about every domestic flight makes you pay for alcohol as well, so why should zoom be any different?

I have never paid for meals on zoom, and there were 2 meals per flight plus a snack I think (this was in both premium class and regular class) The regular class seats aren't super comfy (premium class are a little better) but what airplane seats are comfortable after sitting for 9 hours? Bring a neck pillow and an ipod and head to la la land for the duration of the flight or watch one of the 3 or 4 movies they play.

I'd rather buy a cheap ticket and chance an uncomfortable seat on zoom while having more money to spend on my trip rather than paying three arms and two legs for air canada and worry about the incompetant planes and pilots and wondering if my bags made it on the plane with me, not to mention the rude air staff who doesn't give a crap. (These complaints are common with air canada, I learned some the hard way and others have been direct experiences of friends and family. My friend has also been a travel agent for only 2 months and hears nothing but complaints about air canada as well)

[Bimmer88]

I have a question for you guys...

Is it hard travelling in Paris even if you don't speak french?? or is it pretty easy to get around still?

I plan on going this summer with my family, and I would love to know where to go, and maybe site seeing, and backpacking. Any tips would be appreciated!

Thanks,
Steve

[ashee]

Originally posted by Bimmer88
I have a question for you guys...

Is it hard travelling in Paris even if you don't speak french?? or is it pretty easy to get around still?

I plan on going this summer with my family, and I would love to know where to go, and maybe site seeing, and backpacking. Any tips would be appreciated!

Thanks,
Steve

Not at all.
I speak French and I didn't even really have to when I was there, most everyone speaks at least a bit of English.

[toyboy88]

Paris is easy without knowing French. My parents got around fine knowing a few common/basic words + simple English.

[Hi-Psi]

Originally posted by Melinda

Premium class on zoom is free alcohol, but seriously, why is that so important? Most of their flights have you landing early morning in the UK anyways. And just about every domestic flight makes you pay for alcohol as well, so why should zoom be any different?

I have never paid for meals on zoom, and there were 2 meals per flight plus a snack I think (this was in both premium class and regular class) The regular class seats aren't super comfy (premium class are a little better) but what airplane seats are comfortable after sitting for 9 hours? Bring a neck pillow and an ipod and head to la la land for the duration of the flight or watch one of the 3 or 4 movies they play.

I'd rather buy a cheap ticket and chance an uncomfortable seat on zoom while having more money to spend on my trip rather than paying three arms and two legs for air canada and worry about the incompetant planes and pilots and wondering if my bags made it on the plane with me, not to mention the rude air staff who doesn't give a crap. (These complaints are common with air canada, I learned some the hard way and others have been direct experiences of friends and family. My friend has also been a travel agent for only 2 months and hears nothing but complaints about air canada as well)

She speaks the truth, nothing but great things to say about Zoom. I haven't had any bad experiences with AC either but Zoom was waaaaay cheaper and the flights were great.

Fly into Gatwick rather than Heathrow and save yourself $200. Heathrow charges extra fees to land there so fly into Gatwick and pay $20 to take the Gatwick Express into London.

Last spring I paid $585 round trip from Calgary-London(Gatwick) with Zoom through Travelcuts!

Jay

[e36bmw///]

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[Hi-Psi]

Mine was 6 1/2 weeks.

Honestly check into Travelcuts pricing starting now and just wait for a sale, I booked in Feb I think it was and got the best deal.

Jay