predicament
okay, i called the 'sc travel agency. now we have ourselves a predicament... well, not really, but maybe a better word would be dilemma.
we have a couple of options, which means i'll have to do a little online research to see which one is more financially feasible.
first option (open-jaw ticket): we'll fly into shannon, ireland and head east. ireland, england, france, germany, and the netherlands. flying out of amsterdam back to the states. the ticket will run us about $672 (taxes included). this will be on continental airlines.
second option (direct flight): we'll fly into shannon, ireland and head east then back west to shannon. depending if we want to stay in chicago for five plus hours on the way back, the ticket will run us either $583 or $606 (the higher priced tickets means we don't have a long layover in chicago). this will be on american airlines and air lingus (don't get me started on air lingus... or as i would like to call it, air cunnilingus *snicker*)
the problem is will getting back to shannon, ireland (direct flight) be more or less expensive than the difference between the two tickets ($672-$583=$85).
the europass will be $316 per person, which is the 3 bordering countries, 5 travel days within 2 months (this is the two or more people traveling special saver, normally it would be $370). this if we do option one (open-jawed flight) will do nicely. however, if we do option two (direct flight) it might not work out so wonderfully.
actually, on second thought (sorry, bear with me here, i'm using this blog as a sounding board), let's look at this again. given that we won't be using the europass until we leave france to go to germany... that's one day. germany to amsterdam, that's two days. (shit, i'm getting pretty excited thinking about this.)
europass traveling day 1: france to germany
europass traveling day 2: germany to the netherlands
europass traveling day 3: the netherlands to france
hmm... wait a minute, this doesn't really work well. since britrail isn't part of the eurorail system, having to go back through the chunnel and then having to go between england and ireland will probably cost more than $85.
so it would make more sense to have the open-jaw flight.
this is so painful. *sigh*
okay, i think our best option is the open-jaw flight.
having establish that as the course of action, now there are several other things to consider.
1. find a way to get from cork to dublin (if need be). the only reason why we need to do that is to get to england. we might be able to get a cheap commercial flight from cork into london, which would really save us having to go up to dublin and then take the ferry to holyhead in england.
2. with our europass, it would be a waste to use only three traveling days (since it's for five). so i wonder if we can go up to check out oslo, norway, stockholm, sweden, or copenhagen, denmark. i'll have to look into that. it would be interesting to check out these places.
3. need to set up accomodations. deidra and i decided that in ireland, germany, and the netherlands, we'll be staying in hostels. we checked out some of them and they look to be pretty nice. in london (if we stay the night) and in paris, we'll be staying at hotels. the problems we've encountered with london and paris is that since they are such big tourist cities that there are no good (read: up to our standards) hostels. there are some decently priced hotels in london and paris anyway for less than $150 a night. yeah, yeah, i know, for someone like me, spending $150 a night at a hotel isn't really worth it. but that's just me. fuck, what do you do at a hotel anyway except the three S's: sleeping, shitting, and having sex.
anyway, let's take a look at this shall we?
1. the travel agent, kim, from 'sc travel agency said that there are cheap commerical flights from dublin to london (around $30). so there should be ones that fly from cork to london. let's search.
hold up... crap. the europass is only for three countries, meaning norway, sweden, and denmark is outta the question. damn shame.
okay, back to 1. whoa... this is really fucking weird. so i checked out these two airlines, easyjet and ryanair, and they have ridiculously low prices to fly from cork to london (gatwick and stansted, respectively).
oh, hahaha, so on the ryanair website, it says that the webfare from cork to stansted is 0.01 euro. what the fuck, right? i mean, christ, 0.01 euros? but then when i selected it, they added taxes, fees, and charges which total 19.96 euros. still, that's not bad at all. oh, yeah, that's for two... TWO people. i'm a bit skeptical with it's low fares.
for easyjet, the cost is 4.49 euros per person. with taxes and charges, the total comes out to be 29.98 euros for two. a simple calculation makes it out to be... carry the one, minus four, times two... about $36.
wow, there's so much to search for. instead of taking the chunnel, we can fly from london to paris. i wonder if that's better. however, the problem is that we'll be in salisbury. let's see... the chunnel will cost $52 and it looks like flights are a bit more expensive. okay, so scrap that plan. actually, that's not true.
crap, i'm flying (no pun intended) all over the place. i've never heard of stansted airport in london, but according to this website, it's not too bad with direct coach service to victoria for 8.50 pounds. for gatwick, there's an express and a bus that's 8.90 pounds and 7.50 pounds, respectively. so as far as getting into london from these two airports is concern, it shouldn't be a problem.
god, it's so hard to keep things straight.
okay, let's give it a shot.
1. la to shannon, via newark on continental 12/12 -12/13, landing in shannon at 7:35am.
2. shannon to galway. i'll have to find a way to get there.
3. galway to cork. once again, i'll have to find a way there.
4. cork to london. flying with either easyjet or ryanair.
5. london to salisbury. another must find a way to get there.
6. salisbury to ashford (where the chunnel is, according to kim, the travel agent).
7. ashford to paris via the chunnel.
8. paris to berlin via the eurorail.
9. berlin to frankfurt via the eurorail (to get to aachen).
10. acchen to some city in benelex other than amsterdam.
11. whatever city in benelex to amsterdam.
12. amsterdam back to the la via houston on continental 12/26, arriving back in la at 10:40pm.
note: plan 9-11 is very, very tentative. i'll have to do some more research and see if it's feasible.
crap, if i don't leave now, i won't be going into work today. i have a feeling that's probably not going to happen. *sigh*
we have a couple of options, which means i'll have to do a little online research to see which one is more financially feasible.
first option (open-jaw ticket): we'll fly into shannon, ireland and head east. ireland, england, france, germany, and the netherlands. flying out of amsterdam back to the states. the ticket will run us about $672 (taxes included). this will be on continental airlines.
second option (direct flight): we'll fly into shannon, ireland and head east then back west to shannon. depending if we want to stay in chicago for five plus hours on the way back, the ticket will run us either $583 or $606 (the higher priced tickets means we don't have a long layover in chicago). this will be on american airlines and air lingus (don't get me started on air lingus... or as i would like to call it, air cunnilingus *snicker*)
the problem is will getting back to shannon, ireland (direct flight) be more or less expensive than the difference between the two tickets ($672-$583=$85).
the europass will be $316 per person, which is the 3 bordering countries, 5 travel days within 2 months (this is the two or more people traveling special saver, normally it would be $370). this if we do option one (open-jawed flight) will do nicely. however, if we do option two (direct flight) it might not work out so wonderfully.
actually, on second thought (sorry, bear with me here, i'm using this blog as a sounding board), let's look at this again. given that we won't be using the europass until we leave france to go to germany... that's one day. germany to amsterdam, that's two days. (shit, i'm getting pretty excited thinking about this.)
europass traveling day 1: france to germany
europass traveling day 2: germany to the netherlands
europass traveling day 3: the netherlands to france
hmm... wait a minute, this doesn't really work well. since britrail isn't part of the eurorail system, having to go back through the chunnel and then having to go between england and ireland will probably cost more than $85.
so it would make more sense to have the open-jaw flight.
this is so painful. *sigh*
okay, i think our best option is the open-jaw flight.
having establish that as the course of action, now there are several other things to consider.
1. find a way to get from cork to dublin (if need be). the only reason why we need to do that is to get to england. we might be able to get a cheap commercial flight from cork into london, which would really save us having to go up to dublin and then take the ferry to holyhead in england.
2. with our europass, it would be a waste to use only three traveling days (since it's for five). so i wonder if we can go up to check out oslo, norway, stockholm, sweden, or copenhagen, denmark. i'll have to look into that. it would be interesting to check out these places.3. need to set up accomodations. deidra and i decided that in ireland, germany, and the netherlands, we'll be staying in hostels. we checked out some of them and they look to be pretty nice. in london (if we stay the night) and in paris, we'll be staying at hotels. the problems we've encountered with london and paris is that since they are such big tourist cities that there are no good (read: up to our standards) hostels. there are some decently priced hotels in london and paris anyway for less than $150 a night. yeah, yeah, i know, for someone like me, spending $150 a night at a hotel isn't really worth it. but that's just me. fuck, what do you do at a hotel anyway except the three S's: sleeping, shitting, and having sex.
anyway, let's take a look at this shall we?
1. the travel agent, kim, from 'sc travel agency said that there are cheap commerical flights from dublin to london (around $30). so there should be ones that fly from cork to london. let's search.
hold up... crap. the europass is only for three countries, meaning norway, sweden, and denmark is outta the question. damn shame.
okay, back to 1. whoa... this is really fucking weird. so i checked out these two airlines, easyjet and ryanair, and they have ridiculously low prices to fly from cork to london (gatwick and stansted, respectively).
oh, hahaha, so on the ryanair website, it says that the webfare from cork to stansted is 0.01 euro. what the fuck, right? i mean, christ, 0.01 euros? but then when i selected it, they added taxes, fees, and charges which total 19.96 euros. still, that's not bad at all. oh, yeah, that's for two... TWO people. i'm a bit skeptical with it's low fares.
for easyjet, the cost is 4.49 euros per person. with taxes and charges, the total comes out to be 29.98 euros for two. a simple calculation makes it out to be... carry the one, minus four, times two... about $36.
wow, there's so much to search for. instead of taking the chunnel, we can fly from london to paris. i wonder if that's better. however, the problem is that we'll be in salisbury. let's see... the chunnel will cost $52 and it looks like flights are a bit more expensive. okay, so scrap that plan. actually, that's not true.
crap, i'm flying (no pun intended) all over the place. i've never heard of stansted airport in london, but according to this website, it's not too bad with direct coach service to victoria for 8.50 pounds. for gatwick, there's an express and a bus that's 8.90 pounds and 7.50 pounds, respectively. so as far as getting into london from these two airports is concern, it shouldn't be a problem.
god, it's so hard to keep things straight.
okay, let's give it a shot.
1. la to shannon, via newark on continental 12/12 -12/13, landing in shannon at 7:35am.
2. shannon to galway. i'll have to find a way to get there.
3. galway to cork. once again, i'll have to find a way there.
4. cork to london. flying with either easyjet or ryanair.
5. london to salisbury. another must find a way to get there.
6. salisbury to ashford (where the chunnel is, according to kim, the travel agent).
7. ashford to paris via the chunnel.
8. paris to berlin via the eurorail.
9. berlin to frankfurt via the eurorail (to get to aachen).
10. acchen to some city in benelex other than amsterdam.
11. whatever city in benelex to amsterdam.
12. amsterdam back to the la via houston on continental 12/26, arriving back in la at 10:40pm.
note: plan 9-11 is very, very tentative. i'll have to do some more research and see if it's feasible.
crap, if i don't leave now, i won't be going into work today. i have a feeling that's probably not going to happen. *sigh*
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