As long as it’s the SAME airline for both segments, then it’s the airline’s problem to fix the problem if the first plane arrives late.
I just ran into a problem last week for DS’s spring break. His itinerary from US to Asia involved 2 DIFFERENT airlines, switching planes in Europe. Because of the east coast snow storm, his first flight was going to depart 3 hours late and he would surely miss the connecting flight on the another airline. I told him to go back to school, then I rebooked him for a departure the next day.
^^^ This is very good to know. It would be the same airline - and it would be early in the day when we arrive so (probably) more planes going out) - but there are also 4 of us, so that would need to be 4 open seats on an alternative plane…
One can never predict the delays in arriving. Yet, the airlines have planned for such delays. If you fly on the planes I highlighted, you should be fine. Check the info on easycdg.
If you are really worried about the elder passenger, contact Air France for assistance and they should send a wheelchair. At some airports, the assisted passengers are bypassing the lines at the checkpoints. Either way, this places AF on notice that you have a short connection. There is no charge for this and would eliminate the need to learn the airport. I have done this when traveling with my grandma.
Pretend you are me buying tickets. You have decided to take the easier route on your 81 year old mother (and honestly, on yourself). Tickets from Detroit to Marseille with one stop have been as low as $1400 and as high as $1900 in the 3 months you have been looking. Supposive trip is 90 days out. Tickets are again at $1400 with pretty decent flight times/layovers etc.
Bite the bullet at this point, or risk waiting??? Clearly the only thing stopping me is $$$ - I really can’t believe that tickets are this much!
I hold you to no ties on your comments! Just looking for other thoughts besides those that ramble in my head!!!
buy now. It just is not going to get better if $1400 is the lowest you have found. Also you risk getting a limited seat choice by waiting. Now sure how many you are buying for or what the budget is but H and I splurged on comfort level seats. It did cost about $100 more each but we will have more leg space.
You are flying high season so this price seems very right on.
The only thing perhaps others can weight in on is whether buying international is similiar to buying domestic.
Domestic are generally cheaper on Tues. and Wed. Case in point my cousins and W traved here from Indy
and bought their tickets on a Sunday ( told them not to) and decided not to come into PDX and leave from SEA
due to the price. That next Wed. I found their prefered routing for $61 less…
Again, not sure if this is a truth for international.
My time is not that flexible in terms of days. We have 10 days total to be gone. Got home from work hoping to book and prices already went up from 3 hours ago.
You can get good fares with a shorter window. I’ve bought several tickets to Europe in the past year around a month out, or even closer, and the fares weren’t more expensive than if I had bought earlier, but they weren’t necessarily cheaper either. They seemed to jump around within $150 of each other. Flying from Boston to major airports in Europe have been in the $800-1000 range. However, considering you’re coming from Detroit, going to a smaller airport in Europe that’s not a hub, and flying in the busier summer period, $1400 sounds about right.
Despite lower fuel costs for the airlines, the savings have not been passed along to the consumer in the form of lower prices. However, the exchange rate has been great so that’s a real plus!
When you buy those tickets, just don’t check back on fares again after. Ignorance can be bliss.
BIT THE BULLET! WAS ABLE TO GET THE $1400 TICKET PRICE! WooHoo!!!
Darn computers! A higher price was coming up so I cleared my cookies, etc. Logged on again and the lower price was there. Had a glitch upon requesting a wheelchair for my mom - it didn’t confirm it for one leg of the trip, so I wasn’t able to complete online and had to call Air France to wrap things up. An hour later and I have the email confirmation and can see the reservation online now complete with wheelchair request for all legs of flight. (she can walk but not fast and not for the lengths necessary in an airport).
SOO thankful to have that out of the way. SOOO appreciative of all your advice!
Now, next task. Securing insurance. Who have you had good experiences with??? With the computer glitch I was never even offered insurance through the airline.
BTW, we were checking Google Flights and were liking it. They seemed to be much in line with Kayak and would give you the direct airline info to book (instead of third party).
Good point about not checking prices now that we have tickets.
I have to admit when we booked our seats, there wasn’t an overabundance of openings. Maybe they would add more flights, I don’t know how that works. I’m really satisfied with the times we depart, arrive, etc. (except the tight layover in Paris - but we are there early morning so Air France said if there are delays it’s there job to get a new connection) so I’m going to just hang my hat and be done with it.
Once, you’ve hit the button on ANYTHING, never look back.
After S2 sent off admissions applications, I printed hard copies of his essays to read on a flight. I nearly fell out of my seat laughing so hard when I read the typo in his essay for S1’s school: “I look forward to continuing [passion activity] at WRONG NAME school.”
There is a question about travel insurance started by Hi Mom in October 2014 on CC that has loads of information.
Congrat! and what a relief for you!
Our dining table has a spread sheet of flights, trains, hotels, and museum tickets for our upcoming trip to Italy.
It is a lot of work but it is usually worth the effort. The only times we have been dissapointed traveling is when we did not prepare and prepare before hand.
Do check your reservation every few days/week to be sure nothing has changed. We have ha 7 changes in 4 months each with an email and one time then switched our seats from 2 aisles to a middle and window. So to them that was equal? gads.
Also, watch as sometimes they release seats as the time grow closer and you can simply make the seat changes on line to get a better seat. With your mother you might want to be closer to the front for a shorter walk or closer to a bathroom depending on her needs.
