katilac Posted March 20, 2018 Share Posted March 20, 2018 Y'know, this is why we feel exhausted half the time. Nothing can ever be simple! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pam in CT Posted March 20, 2018 Share Posted March 20, 2018 She's hoping she can do it with a small backpack (as her personal bag) and a carry on. She wants to browse pinterest for ideas. I am so hopeful this doesn't end up bad for her. It ended up leading to an interesting conversation about adult life and the balance between risk and cost (insurance companies, etc). These calls aren't always easy to make. Well, those conversations about tradeoffs are well worthwhile, and very much about what it means to be an adult. FWIW, in an effort to reduce the crazy-making, I've come up with a few rule-of-thumb algorithms about balancing some of the tradeoffs in making travel decisions for our own family: 1. I don't buy travel insurance for travel expenses (only, in certain circumstances, med-evac). I try to mitigate travel logistic risks; if we get unlucky, oh well. 2. Non-stop is much better than layover, and worth paying for there's a non-stop option. For domestic flights, my no-layover premium is 15% in no-snow times of year and 25% in likely-snow times of year. 3. Carry-on only is much better than checking if you have a layover. If you possibly can, don't check. If you must check, it's definitely worth paying a premium to stay all on one ticket. (I would not split a ticket if I planned to check, so I don't have an algorithm.) 4. For international flights, remember that you have to clear customs in the first US airport you land at. Some airports have more cascading-customs problems than others. Miami and JFK are poor choices to land/clear at on layover (they're obviously fine if they're your final destination). I'll pay $100 pp to avoid having to return through Miami (NY is my final destination) because of the miss-the-ongoing-flight risk. If you have to lay over in cascading-customs transit points (for certain locations you often do have to) leave a 3+ hour window and try not to connect to the last flight out in the evening (cuz if you miss that one, you're staying overnight). 5. In general, avoid trying to connect to the last-flight-out of the day. The costs of missing that one are (obviously) higher than missing a connection with a later back-up. 6. I used to go stark raving mad trying to second-guess whether flights would go up or down in price. Now I've developed a much better system: as soon as we decide to book, I write down a "at this price go for it" number and a "by this date just do it" date no more than 4 weeks out. I monitor prices in my "shop-around" window in time, and if I see a price at my number I go for it. If my number doesn't come by the end of the window, I buy the ticket when my "just get it done already" date rolls around. And then -- this is key -- I do.not.look.back to see if prices dipped below what I paid -- that way madness lies. Barcelona is AWESOME, one of the great cities in the world. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bootsie Posted March 20, 2018 Share Posted March 20, 2018 We booked last night. With the upgrade to Main Cabin (so we could pick seats) it was a little less than $800 for the two round trip tickets. The price would have been $1400 direct. We'll use that extra money for a couple of nights and some good meals in NYC! ETA: We are all three going, so we won't really use it all in NYC! But the difference made it where I can actually go along too! Have a great trip! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joules Posted March 20, 2018 Share Posted March 20, 2018 Well, those conversations about tradeoffs are well worthwhile, and very much about what it means to be an adult. FWIW, in an effort to reduce the crazy-making, I've come up with a few rule-of-thumb algorithms about balancing some of the tradeoffs in making travel decisions for our own family: 1. I don't buy travel insurance for travel expenses (only, in certain circumstances, med-evac). I try to mitigate travel logistic risks; if we get unlucky, oh well. 2. Non-stop is much better than layover, and worth paying for there's a non-stop option. For domestic flights, my no-layover premium is 15% in no-snow times of year and 25% in likely-snow times of year. 3. Carry-on only is much better than checking if you have a layover. If you possibly can, don't check. If you must check, it's definitely worth paying a premium to stay all on one ticket. (I would not split a ticket if I planned to check, so I don't have an algorithm.) 4. For international flights, remember that you have to clear customs in the first US airport you land at. Some airports have more cascading-customs problems than others. Miami and JFK are poor choices to land/clear at on layover (they're obviously fine if they're your final destination). I'll pay $100 pp to avoid having to return through Miami (NY is my final destination) because of the miss-the-ongoing-flight risk. If you have to lay over in cascading-customs transit points (for certain locations you often do have to) leave a 3+ hour window and try not to connect to the last flight out in the evening (cuz if you miss that one, you're staying overnight). 5. In general, avoid trying to connect to the last-flight-out of the day. The costs of missing that one are (obviously) higher than missing a connection with a later back-up. 6. I used to go stark raving mad trying to second-guess whether flights would go up or down in price. Now I've developed a much better system: as soon as we decide to book, I write down a "at this price go for it" number and a "by this date just do it" date no more than 4 weeks out. I monitor prices in my "shop-around" window in time, and if I see a price at my number I go for it. If my number doesn't come by the end of the window, I buy the ticket when my "just get it done already" date rolls around. And then -- this is key -- I do.not.look.back to see if prices dipped below what I paid -- that way madness lies. Barcelona is AWESOME, one of the great cities in the world. This was really helpful, Pam. And I have a thread on Barcelona if you want to chime in! http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/670108-visiting-barcelona-and-maybe-more-of-europe-for-the-first-time/ 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garga Posted March 20, 2018 Share Posted March 20, 2018 (edited) Y'know, this is why we feel exhausted half the time. Nothing can ever be simple! No kidding! All the air fare hoopla makes me so resentful at my parents who moved away on a whim. They don’t fly because they’re old, so my familly has to deal with the airlines whenever we see them. Grrr. (In fact, it’s on my to-do list to buy tickets next weekend. Yay.) Edited March 20, 2018 by Garga 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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