Package Deals

One option that many overlook are package deals, often because they are associated with tours and itineraries that might dictate where you stay and for how long. Most travel agents and airlines can, however, put together flexible deals which can be cheaper than organizing things when you arrive, especially with car rental, which in Europe can be very expensive on the spot. Or you may find a deal that’s too good not to take - especially one that might involve accommodation in cities like London or Paris.

There is a sea of options, ranging from fly-drive deals, sun-and-sea packages, and coach tours to special-interest plans. As always read the fine print no matter who you deal with (brochures make everything sound great), and try, if you’re coming from the States, to use an operator that is a member of the US Tour Operator Association (USTOA) or approved by the American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA).

Round the World Tickets

You will notice, once in Europe, the large number of Aussies and Kiwis who seem to be traveling on a perpetual tour of the world for next to nothing. This is not just perception - the relative isolation of those two countries makes a quick trip to and from Europe out of the financial question. However, quirks of the airline industry can make it cheaper to travel around the world than simply back and forth to Europe. For example, a Qantas round-trip ticket from Sydney to London costs around AusUSD 3000, bought directly from the airline. Meanwhile, an itinerary of London-Nairobi-Delhi-surface travel to Kathmandu-Bangkok-Singapore-Bali-Perth-surface travel to Melbourne-Auckland-Los Angeles-London is about the same price, excluding the cost of surface travel. No wonder so many from Down Under travel this way. Travelers from other countries should consider this option too - some round-the-world (RTW) tickets may be had for as little as USUSD 1000. Why not return to America via Hong Kong? Many of the student and bud-get travel agencies listed in Basics #5 can put together an RTW trip or refer you to someone who can.

If you’re planning an RTW trip from Down Under that hits the United States before Europe and other points east, be aware of another money-saver. Backpacks, camping equipment, hiking boots, and other gear are much cheaper in the States. Besides seeing the spectacular beauty of my homeland, you can save about fifty percent on such items by buying them here. Get catalogs from the suppliers listed in Basics #7 for some comparison shopping.

Charters, Courier Flights, and Other Options

During your search for a seat you may hear rumors, or see ads, for incredible deals based on courier flights or charters. Beware. In the travel industry, as elsewhere, there is no free lunch. Courier flights match travelers who want to go somewhere with companies or individuals who need something, usually documents, transported by air. The courier company sells you a cheap ticket in exchange for you sacrificing some or all of your luggage allowance. The amount of these discounts, in accordance with supply and demand, dries up during early and late summer, when many students are happy to save a small amount. Also, most courier flights require a return trip within a certain length of time, usually a few weeks. If this interests you, search the Web and small ads. Be sure to get a firm commitment from a courier company before gambling your trip on this option.

Charters are great when they work, and absolute hell when they don’t. Expect older planes packed to the rafters with people, and poor in-flight service. (Actually, that doesn’t sound a whole lot different from the major airlines, does it?) At any rate, the big worry with charters is whether or not they will leave as scheduled. The difference between a plane 95 percent full and one that’s 99 percent full may be the difference between profit and loss for the charter operator, and a flight may be delayed for “maintenance” while the last few seats are sold. Some charter companies are as reliable as the major airlines, whereas others are operating at the edge of bankruptcy and may disappear with your money without trace. Get a neutral opinion, such as from a travel agent who is not selling you something, on the reliability of a charter company before you hand them several hundred dollars. This is most necessary during the summer, and with flights between popular tourist destinations and London.

Buying your Ticket Online

when updating the last edition of this book my editor thought that °nlme ticket sellers were the one and only future of the travel naustry. Yeah, right. Basically, an online ticket vendor is no differ-ent from a consolidator or an agent that specializes in budget travel. They can only sell tickets at a low price if they buy tickets at a low price, and they can only do that if they have business relationships with the airlines or with ticket brokers. Sound familiar? All those places promising dirt-cheap tickets online are only doing for the general public what consolidators had been doing all along for smart travelers. The online crowd simply used the “Internet-is-the-Future” frenzy of the late 1990s to market themselves as the be-all and end-all of travel.

The types of websites and online services out there are endless and almost all seem to offer the “deal of the century.” What service is best for you mostly depends on how flexible you can be in terms of when you leave, where to and from, and what airline you prefer. If you are willing to sacrifice your freedom in any and all of these, you may just find that deal. However, you don’t need to give up too much to find some alternatives on the “Web.
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Consolidators

We all know what a travel agent is; a consolidator is similar. These places, also known as bucket shops, deal in seats the airlines don’t think they can sell at normal prices. Rather than sell these seats in their own name, which would irritate customers paying full fare, airlines release blocks of them to consolidators for resale. The consolidators then sell them to travelers who are willing to take the time and effort to seek them out.

Consolidators are the people advertising those unbelievable prices, and even if they are almost never as low as advertised, they can still be very cheap. They can be cheap for a number of reasons: student discounts, lower than expected bookings, inconvenient times, off-season departures, flying on strange airlines, flying into smaller or more inconvenient airports (like London Gatwick instead of London Heathrow), long delays in changing planes, a mandatory stopover in Angola, whatever. If you are persistent, you wiU probably be able to find something where you want to go, when you want to go, at a couple of hundred dollars below the air-J’nes published fare. So get on the phone and start calling the places ir* the paper, and see what they can do for you. Do a lot of calling around, write down whatever they tell you in great detail (you’ll deunite]y forget some of what they say if you don’t), and don’t be afraid to ask questions. Some pointers for dealing with agents or consolidators:

Travel Agents

Travel agents connect those who have some form of “travel product,” such as an airline seat, a hotel room or a space on a tour, with the potential buyer. A travel agent is a resource that you should at least consider; they can provide you with far more information than you could possibly gather on your own and, barring a major fare war, you’ll never find the cheapest airfare without using some kind of agent. The price structure for agents is set up so that using an agent will not cost you more than booking a ticket yourself.

Travel agents can be a blessing or a curse, and it is up to you, if you choose to go this route, to find one that you feel comfortable with. They can always make travel easier for you, and they can usually make it cheaper, but it is up to you to make decisions based on the information they provide. Your agent should assist you, not direct you.
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First Steps

The first step is to figure out where you want to fly out of and where you want to start out in Europe. For Americans, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Atlanta, Boston, and New York, either JFK or Newark, will usually be cheapest, especially JFK/Newark. It may be worth bumming a ride to one of these places, even from a good distance. Those arriving from other countries don’t have as much of a choice. Montreal, Toronto, Auckland, Sydney, Melbourne, and Johannesburg are by far the largest gateways. The major, and probably the cheapest, points of entry to Europe are London, Paris, Amsterdam, and Frankfurt. Those wishing to fly to Rome will probably have to go through Milan.

A word of advice on where to arrive. On a first trip, the first day overseas can be overwhelming, especially if you are alone. Flying into a country where you speak the language will make things less stressful. Despite the long lines and despotic immigration officers, London might not be a bad place to start. London is also a good place to start for the cheap flights available to Greece or points beyond the European continent. Also, since Eurail passes are not valid in Britain, many people go to London first or last to avoid wasting valuable pass time during their time spent there. But if your dream of going to Europe has always included getting on a plane and then getting off in Paris or Rome, then by all means fly to those airports and show ‘em who’s boss. It’s your trip.

Getting There

Okay, guys, this is where some money is going to be saved if you work at it. That airline ticket is going to be a major chunk of your budget, and, as we all know, airline fares are determined by some form of black magic unknown to the flying public. If you are smart and patient, you can pay about half of what the guy on your left is paying for the same flight, and a third of that woman on your right.

I am old enough to barely remember when airlines were really airlines, and planes were airliners, and travel by air was something special. It was more expensive then, but a hell of a lot more gracious and enjoyable. Traveling by air today is a contact sport, bordering on open warfare. Fares are raised for no discernible reason, discounted the next week, and always jacked up ruthlessly before Thanksgiving and Christmas. The reason for all this volatility is, of course, greed. The airlines figure that anyone who has to travel with less than two weeks’ notice is probably on business so they can nail them for a much higher fare. They throw a bone to vacationers by giving them cheaper fares at times when they aren’t able to fill their planes with business traveler cash cows.

The long and short of it is that flying today is often miserable, and tt you’re going to be miserable for that day it takes you to make the “°p across North America and/or the Atlantic and/or Pacific, you may as well go cheaply. Doing this is going to take some looking around well before you go - like three months before, if possible. That’s the time to start if you’re serious, and read the travel section of your local paper, or the nearest big city daily, to keep an eye on things. The factors you will be juggling are the following:
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