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Post by WillTravel on Oct 3, 2006 0:28:09 GMT -5
I found this thread on FlyerTalk.com .
I then found dates available in August that will work for my daughter and me.
Plus, I booked it so we get a three-day stopover in Amsterdam at the start!
We're not so keen on Romania (at least my daughter isn't), but we'll take a train or fly out of there and go somewhere else for this price.
If you are flying out of Vancouver, take a look to see if you can get dates that work for you. Use the airports YVR and BUH. You can also use Multi-City search to set up an Amsterdam stopover. The dates seem to be wide open. Go to the Mileage Run forum at Flyertalk for more details.
There's a possibility that NorthWest will try to back out of this deal, because it's probably a fare mistake on the order of about $2000 or so per person. If so, c'est la vie, although they shouldn't because we have a purchase confirmation.
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Post by WillTravel on Oct 3, 2006 14:56:37 GMT -5
Northwest hasn't backed out yet. I decided to purchase travel insurance from Travel Cuts - $45/person. Now I just have to figure out how our trip will work, once we get to Bucharest! I've never booked a trip over 10 months in advance before.
Edit - it actually was $67.50 total for my daughter and me for the insurance.
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Post by me on Oct 3, 2006 16:28:59 GMT -5
as Romania enters EU on January 1, it might be interesting to watch the country develop, not that you could see any changes in a brief visit.
or, you could fly from Bucharest to Venice for some of the time? Alpi Eagles flies that route.
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Post by WillTravel on Oct 3, 2006 17:26:03 GMT -5
Venice is one option, but I think we'll probably try to stay away from Italy in August - too hot and crowded. There are a bunch of cities listed on www.whichbudget.com from the two Bucharest airports. Bucharest is pretty far away by train from more common tourist cities - e.g. Budapest is 14 hours. But still, that might not be too bad with an overnight train (which I had almost sworn to never take!). I am a bit nervous about visiting such an impoverished country as Romania, but I'll be sure to keep my wits and wear a moneybelt! |
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Post by pointofnoreturn on Oct 3, 2006 17:52:16 GMT -5
Wow, you sure came across a huge deal, mistake or no mistake. I'm a bit wary of Northwest - not too terribly fond of them and their planes suck esp. the charter ones. In fact I remember taking a charter plane from Detroit to Ottawa in the dead of winter and the seats were so slippery (cheap leather) and I kept sliding off despite my seatbelt LOL!
I'd love to hear more about your planning in the months to come!
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Post by WillTravel on Oct 3, 2006 18:58:03 GMT -5
Luckily, although we booked this on nwa.com, our flight for YVR-AMS is on KLM. Then our flights within Europe are on KLM. Then we have an AMS-SEA flight on Northwest, but it is for an Airbus 330-200, which is, if I recall correctly, a reasonable plane. Then we have a puddle-jumper Alaska Airlines flight from Seattle to Vancouver (I can endure it for that long). I know one of my relatives was stuck on a NW plane for over four hours on the runway, which of course is not so bad as those poor people in Detroit a few years ago who were stuck on a landed plane for over 8 hours! But that can happen with any airline, I think. Plus, I've flown Air Transat to London before, so I am unlikely to get any worse than that  . |
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Post by pointofnoreturn on Oct 3, 2006 20:01:12 GMT -5
LOL. We were stuck on the runway as well but only for an hour after landing in Detroit (we were flying Orlando-Detroit-Ottawa) because of icy conditions. It was horrible. No heat on the plane! Air Transat = dog poop. Enough said! I envy you for all your luck in finding deals like this!  |
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