BlsdMama Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 DD's graduation gift is 1-2 weeks in Europe. I'm not even sure where to begin. She wants to stay in London and in Paris. I sincerely thought of just booking through Costco. :P :) I'd like to be frugal about it, however, I don't want to put so much effort into cutting corners that it's shady. ;) Suggestions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FaithManor Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 We booked our Iceland trip with Expedia and bought trip insurance as well. We had booked a package vacation to NYC several years ago with them and it was great. We use them to book all of the travel with our rocket team and have been very pleased. But, we don't leave until June 27th for Iceland so I can't give you can't give you a review of their international packages yet. Faith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Governess Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 www.tripadvisor.com This site is great for trip planning! I'd stick with places that have lots of high ratings. Check out the non-hotel properties also, you might find a great B&B, apartment, or other alternative. You can also look up tourist attractions, restaurants, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Corin Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 The Youth Hostel Association is worth looking at for the UK. I think their central London places get booked up early. Other options are the budget chain hotels, such as Premier Inn. If you are concerned about areas of London, ask me and I can probably let you know. L Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktgrok Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 We used a website called go-today.com to book our trip overseas. The have packages with hotels in various cities, airfare, car rental, whatever. We were VERY pleased. This is a package for London and Paris, 3 nights in each place: http://www.go-today.com/STW/STWProduct.aspx?SessID=B98EDF7D-36E9-47BB-8878-2A023BC80992&Theme=GT&ProductCode=FR-PARLONX3 there is also a package called Taste of Europe or something, that is London, Parish, and Rome. http://www.go-today.com/stw/STWProduct.aspx?Theme=GT&ProductCode=UK-LONPARROMX2 I can say that the hotels they put us up in were amazing....really perfect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lanny Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 As long as the online travel agency you use is reputable (a "plus" to me is if a company based in the USA is a BBB member) I don't think you will have any problems. In the past, we have booked, for trips to the USA, on Travelocity and Expedia. And, also, I have booked directly on the web site of hotel(s) and possibly car rental companies, without any problems. Early in November, we booked with an online travel agency for Latin America, Despegar.com.co for a 3 night trip to Bogota. Airline and Hotel reservations. No problems and it was an excellent trip. :-) A PP mentioned TravelAdvisor.com and reading reviews of hotels there. Yes, do that. I posted a very favorable review of the hotel we stayed in in Bogota, on TravelAdvisor.com a week or so ago. Do not just look at ratings, READ the reviews, written by people who have stayed in a property recently. NOTE: I always try to verify with the airline or hotel, that they have received my reservation, if I make it with another airline or with a travel agency. On extremely rare occasions, the electronic messages from one system to another do not get thru... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane in NC Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 The Youth Hostel Association is worth looking at for the UK. I think their central London places get booked up early. Other options are the budget chain hotels, such as Premier Inn. If you are concerned about areas of London, ask me and I can probably let you know. L My son stayed at the YHA near St. Paul's. Great location--and a real bargain for London. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beth S Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 Our then-18yo-dd and I went to France & Britain in 2010, as her graduation trip. She made up the itinerary, and found inexpensive, safe, convenient, clean but small-room lodging (Easy Hotel in the London area). I then did the transportation. Double-checked the online reviews of each business we chose. We went in May, which was still somewhat of the off-season, rented a car for the sights outside of London & Paris. We were rather frugal & only spent a bit more than $2K a piece. We preferred self-guided travel, and used Rick Steves' travel guides a lot. For us, part of the enjoyment of the trip was the time spent planning it ahead of time. There are also many other old WTM threads with Europe travel tips. You can find them with a google search. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trinchick Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 We used a website called go-today.com to book our trip overseas. The have packages with hotels in various cities, airfare, car rental, whatever. We were VERY pleased. This is a package for London and Paris, 3 nights in each place: http://www.go-today.com/STW/STWProduct.aspx?SessID=B98EDF7D-36E9-47BB-8878-2A023BC80992&Theme=GT&ProductCode=FR-PARLONX3 there is also a package called Taste of Europe or something, that is London, Parish, and Rome. http://www.go-today.com/stw/STWProduct.aspx?Theme=GT&ProductCode=UK-LONPARROMX2 I can say that the hotels they put us up in were amazing....really perfect. I'll second Go Today. We've used them twice (once for Paris, once for London) and booked very reasonable packages that included air and hotel. We definitely preferred our Paris hotel over the one in London, but that was probably our own fault for not reading more about our options. They offer a number of hotel choices at different price points so there are lots of options to choose from. We've also had success booking on our own using Priceline for hotels. We stayed at the Intercontinental in London very reasonably. Another plus was that the purchase was made in advance in US dollars, so I didn't have to think about exchange rates or surprise taxes or anything. Now, we weren't placed in the best room in the hotel, but that didn't matter to us. Great location, nice amenities, very clean. Worked for us! If you plan to use Priceline, you need to do a bit of research using biddingfortravel.com or betterbidding.com . These websites will show you what to expect for a going rate in different cities and also offer strategies to prevent you from over-bidding. It's often possible to figure out exactly which hotels you can expect within certain city zones and rating levels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momling Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 My son stayed at the YHA near St. Paul's. Great location--and a real bargain for London. I've stayed at the St Paul's youth hostel in London with my daughter twice. Great location! I book air travel on expedia. Definitely have her stay at youth hostels, not in hotels! In a hotel, you get your key and go to your room and meet no one. In a youth hostel (in either a private room or a dorm), she'll have a lot of interaction with other travelers, and there's usually a kitchen or cafeteria, and activities offered, and plenty of people who want to go sightseeing. It's much more fun than staying in a hotel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlsdMama Posted January 4, 2014 Author Share Posted January 4, 2014 Thank you all so much. I'd be tickled if we could do it fir around $2K each... We thought we were looking at a minimum of $6-$7K for the initial cost of the trip package. DH will be going with her since I will have just has a baby the month before and, frankly, I don't love the idea of travel. It's fine, lovely I'm sure, but it doesn't excite me as it does her. ;) I'll enjoy pictures more, lol. We'll check out all of this! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-rap Posted January 4, 2014 Share Posted January 4, 2014 I've planned and booked itineraries for all of my children and myself, too, over the years. I did it all online through many sources. I always started with the air schedule, and then worked around that. Kayak.com is a good place to start comparing airfare. Remember that on different days of the week the price can be different. For accommodations, I used various hostel sites but also booking.com and venere.com. I always cross-referenced and read all the reviews. A good place for accommodation reviews is tripadvisor.com. The three things I look for in accommodations are safety, convenience of location (for example, finding a place near a rail station is nice if that's how you plan to get from city to city, or from airport to city center) and affordability. I can recommend places in both London and Paris if you are interested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-rap Posted January 4, 2014 Share Posted January 4, 2014 I've stayed at the St Paul's youth hostel in London with my daughter twice. Great location! I book air travel on expedia. Definitely have her stay at youth hostels, not in hotels! In a hotel, you get your key and go to your room and meet no one. In a youth hostel (in either a private room or a dorm), she'll have a lot of interaction with other travelers, and there's usually a kitchen or cafeteria, and activities offered, and plenty of people who want to go sightseeing. It's much more fun than staying in a hotel. One of my daughters stayed at that hostel, too, when she was traveling alone right after high school. It was in a great location and very safe. If she and your husband want to stay together, hostels often offer private rooms. You can check out hostel reviews to make sure it's a nice, quieter hostel rather than a party hostel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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