When to Book your international flight

There seems to be some angst about when to book your overseas flights to the Civitan convention in Tallinn next July.  There are several sites that you can subscribe to that will tell you when the fare goes down (or up). Two I've been satisfied with are www.tripadvisor.com and www.airfarewatchdog.com.  Post your planned flight literary on them and they keep tabs on changes in prices.  They will email you with regular updates about changes in fares and flight options.  One I haven't tried but have checked out is Microsoft's www.bing.com/travel.  This one has a "price predictor" option that tells you if it will get cheaper at some later date.  They do so using historic flight data and will predict whether the date and flight you are trying to book will go down, go up or stay the same with a relatively high degree of certainty which they post (e.g. 83% certainty for your selection to go down if you wait.)  They have certain limitations to their prophetic powers.  The "price predictor" function only works less than 120 days from departure, the trip abroad must be at least 2 weeks long and it only works between major airports such as Atlanta and London or Frankfurt.  Neither Birmingham nor Helsinki were not on their list.  Even if your airport isn't included in the "predictor" they are still a good online travel agent since flights to European gateway cities such as Atlanta to London are a good predictor of what they will be from Birmingham.  I checked this morning and in spite of the higher fuel prices at the moment, international fares to Europe in the summer are starting to come down.  I found great fares in May and June ($850- $900) but still $1200 in July.  Those same May-June fares were $1200+ last month at this time.  If you usenthe watch lists above, try putting in several options on cities and dates and see how the pricing comes in over the next few months. Be paitience.... it's still a virtue and might save you some money...  Next blog: Using an experienced live travel agent with an 800# and email for only $25 to book your international travel.

Save $$ using Gateway Cities as Stepping Stones

Seems a day doesn't go by that I don't get a call saying that the fares to Europe are too high.  When I ask how they are flying invariably I hear that they are trying to book from their small home town direct to Tallinn 5 months in advance. 

Two things to do differently that will save you money.  Book later this spring since airlines don't yet know how many seats they will have in inventory in early July so there's no incentive for them to discount this far out.  Secondly, If possible, book from a major gateway city in the US to a gateway city in Europe and then take a smaller feeder or discount airline to Tallinn.  For example a flight from Florence, SC to Tallinn for July 1 returning July 7 is $1830 if booked today.  However if you drive to Charlotte NC( a few hours away) and use http://www.parksleepfly.com to park your car free for up to 2 weeks for only a nights stay (at either end of your trip) and use the free shuttle you can save big $$$ as follows: A round trip flight booked today on http://www.Kayak.com for July 1 from Charlotte to Helsinki is $1113.  The airport shuttle in Helsinki to the port is under $10.  Then take the 2 hour ferry to Tallinn (40 miles away) for about $40 which gets you to the Tallinn port at edge of the old town and your convention hotel. Flying home from Helsinki would mean repeating the last two steps but your net savings is still about $650. 

Better yet, on your way back to the US, take the 4 hour motor coach bus to Riga, Latvia that leaves several times a day (Riga market square above).  After a few days in Riga fly home from there or to another European gateway city like Amsterdam, Paris, Berlin etc ($102- 170 one way) and then fly home.  Kayak allows you to price multiple destinations such as flying into one city and home from another and its usually its about the same cost.  Next weeks blog is on when to book and tips on other discount internal European flight aggregater sites.

Driving in Europe

Car rental and driving in Europe is much like it is in North America. With the exception of the British Isles every country on the European continent drives on the right (same as US) side. Traffic signs, patterns and driving in general are pretty universal. Most cars are smaller which makes driving and parking in older downtown areas a bit easier. If you have a valid license in the US you are able to rent a car and drive in Europe. (More on renting a car in an upcoming blog). I first learned how to drive in Germany in the mid 1960s and still rent a car on occasion when visiting and if I have to travel over an extended period of time. I know train travel is popular but it’s also not cheap. If 2 of you are planning to do some touring, travel by car gives you a bit more flexibility and is often cheaper than a few train tickets. Driving also gives you the option of staying at hotels that you might like along the way and doesnt force you to limit yourself to downtown hotels near the train station or use taxis or public transportion to get around. A recent week long car rental was just over 300 Euros including insurance. A round trip train ticket to and from Munich to Hannover for 2 would cost more. I just want you to keep the option of car rental on the table. Gas is high but even at around $9 a gallon, the cars are smaller with 4 cylinder turbo charged efficient engines and mostly manual shift (automatic is available). Distances are also not that great. Central Europe would fit into Texas. Germany is about the size of Washington and Oregon combined. I’ll cover train travel in an upcoming blog and give you some web sites to consider schedules and prices along with rental cars

Convention Tours

Post convention tours have been posted to our web site.  These purport to be  some exciting and affordable trips suggested to compliment your European visit next July.  Starting the day after the closing, there is a 7 day Baltic cruise that starts in neighboring Stockholm, Sweden just a short flight away that takes you to Helsinki, Finland, St Petersburg, Russia, Riga, Latvia, Gdansk, Poland and then back to Stockholm for travel home or elsewhere.  Other tours include a trip to Sweden then to Oslo and Bergen Norway.  An overland trip by motor coach is scheduled from Tallinn to St Petersburg with an optional side visit to Moscow.  The latter by motor coach requires a travel visa to Russia.  Cruises to and from St Petersburg, Russia do not require a separate travel visa.  Many Civitans have already signed up for tours post convention.  Whether you take an organized tour or travel on your own, you'll enjoy the friendly hospitality of the people of the Baltic and Scandinavian nations.  Shown below is a rampart of the city wall in old Tallinn 2 blocks from the convention hotels.
www.civitan.org/convention

For full details visit:  www.civitan.org/convention