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Backpacking Europe Getting There |
Obviously you’re going to have to invest in a plane ticket to get there. Of course there are lots
of options to where you’ll being flying from/to and when to go. How you plan this will have a
great influence on the price you’ll be paying, important to any budget minded traveler.
Depending on where you live you may or may not have much flexibility on the airport you fly
out of. If you live in a bigger city you may be able to shop around a bit and have more options.
You will have a lot more freedom in where you fly into. You will get to pick pretty much any
European city and go. Generally, the larger cities are cheaper to fly into, particularly London
and Paris. It’s not uncommon for a ticket to cost half as much flying into London compared to
other cities.
Much of this decision will be based too on where you want to visit in your trip. If airfare is
cheap to a particular city, but its not a city you planned on visiting, don’t rule out the possibility
of flying into it and them traveling out of it. You may even be able to save enough that you
could add a few days to your trip and visit that city.
When you go is also going to make a difference in the ticket price. Summer months are
historically more expensive. If budget is a big issue you may need to plan around this. You
have a good advantage too, if you are flexible on dates. A ticket my vary by hundreds of
dollars by just being days apart.
It is almost always a good idea to buy your ticket as far head of time as you can. Once you
know for sure that you’ll be going and when and where you want to go, you should buy the
ticket. Generally, it only gets more expensive the closer you wait to the time you go.
Many people still believe that a travel agent is the way to go to get the best deal. This isn’t
necessarily true anymore. Just shop around online, most websites offer lowest price
guarantees.
Take advantage of frequent flier mile programs. A round trip ticket from many places in the US
to Europe is going to be close to enough miles in most programs to earn you a free domestic
flight. Frequent flier programs are free to enroll in and only take a few minutes. In most
programs the miles don’t expire, so you might as take advantage of them.
of options to where you’ll being flying from/to and when to go. How you plan this will have a
great influence on the price you’ll be paying, important to any budget minded traveler.
Depending on where you live you may or may not have much flexibility on the airport you fly
out of. If you live in a bigger city you may be able to shop around a bit and have more options.
You will have a lot more freedom in where you fly into. You will get to pick pretty much any
European city and go. Generally, the larger cities are cheaper to fly into, particularly London
and Paris. It’s not uncommon for a ticket to cost half as much flying into London compared to
other cities.
Much of this decision will be based too on where you want to visit in your trip. If airfare is
cheap to a particular city, but its not a city you planned on visiting, don’t rule out the possibility
of flying into it and them traveling out of it. You may even be able to save enough that you
could add a few days to your trip and visit that city.
When you go is also going to make a difference in the ticket price. Summer months are
historically more expensive. If budget is a big issue you may need to plan around this. You
have a good advantage too, if you are flexible on dates. A ticket my vary by hundreds of
dollars by just being days apart.
It is almost always a good idea to buy your ticket as far head of time as you can. Once you
know for sure that you’ll be going and when and where you want to go, you should buy the
ticket. Generally, it only gets more expensive the closer you wait to the time you go.
Many people still believe that a travel agent is the way to go to get the best deal. This isn’t
necessarily true anymore. Just shop around online, most websites offer lowest price
guarantees.
Take advantage of frequent flier mile programs. A round trip ticket from many places in the US
to Europe is going to be close to enough miles in most programs to earn you a free domestic
flight. Frequent flier programs are free to enroll in and only take a few minutes. In most
programs the miles don’t expire, so you might as take advantage of them.
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