<p>We’re contemplating a summer trip to Europe & welcome suggestions as to which city to fly in and out of from LA to Europe. Any suggestions? Overall, we hope to go to Germany and not quite sure which other countries. Anyone know great deals for May/June flights LAX to Europe? </p>
<p>Pros & Cons of package with air & hotel vs. do it yourself? Thanks!</p>
<p>I don’t know of any great deals but I’ve flown nonstops from LAX to Frankfurt a number of times. It’s a common route so it usually has competition so the prices are usually not as bad as they could be. The other one is LAX to London. An alternative could be LAX to Amsterdam.</p>
<p>I’ve never done any package deals and have always done my own. I reserve the airline, usually only reserve the entry and exit parts of the trip at hotels and just find something along the way on whatever path I end up, and I usually rent a car and drive. I like to feel free to decide where to go and how long to stay once I’m there. I usually have a rough idea of my route but usually alter it while there. If you plan to go to just one or two places or a fixed route for the duration then it’d be easier to book ahead.</p>
<p>I like Germany. Also close is Switzerland and Austria. Of course, France, Holland, and other countries are close too. I think you’ll have fun no matter what you pick.</p>
<p>Hi, it depends on your itinerary. If you are not set on visiting the UK then I would go to Amsterdam or Frankfurt (KLM or Lufthansa). If Germany is your destination then of course, Lufthansa. If you are not a frequent flyer then I would pick of the two the cheapest flights. Those airlines will connect you with cities throughout Europe on their own planes or with their partner airlines. I don’t know how easy the rail service is from Frankfurt but rail service hooks right up with the AMS airport throughout the EU.</p>
<p>If you want to visit the UK then you may consider flying in there and back out. You may get the cheapest flights that way.</p>
<p>I use the internet to find hotels. I let my travel agent here book my flights. I would check out prices and see what would be the best for you on whether to go with a package or not.</p>
<p>I love the non stop flights LAX to CDG (Paris) Air France. Prices in May are running about 380 to 600 each way. The best days to fly are usually Wed, Thurs, Sat. Air France is very efficient and their booking web site is a piece of cake. [url=<a href=“http://www.airfrance.com%5DAirfrance%5B/url”>http://www.airfrance.com]Airfrance[/url</a>]</p>
<p>Thanks for all of these suggestions–I welcome any & all. So far, we only had one trip to Europe–in 1995. We travelled independently, just hubby & me (Rothenberg, Venice, Rome, Paris, London & Bath in 3 weeks). This time, we plan to take our 20 & 22 year old kids, but are still waiting to hear back from them about their plans.</p>
<p>If you have membership rewards from Costco with American Express you might look if they have some companion deal.
I know that Swiss Air flies direct from LAX to Zurich</p>
<p>If it is a little bit cheaper, consider a connecting flight. Note too that you can do an open jaw where you fly into one city and out of another, often for the same price. Also, don’t overlook the possibility of taking a quick intra-Europe flight to your final destination, it might not cost any extra. Most of all, enroll in a frequent flier program to earn miles. Most European airlines have US partners that you can credit your miles too (Lufthansa can credit to United, Continental, or US Airways, for example). </p>
<p>As for Europe in general, I encourage you to check out [Rick</a> Steves Europe Through the Back Door](<a href=“http://www.ricksteves.com/]Rick”>http://www.ricksteves.com/) for European travel advice and guidebooks.</p>
<p>Yes, for our only trip to Europe, we used Rick Steve’s “Europe Through the Backdoor” in making our plans & finding our lodging. It worked very well for us. I was very happy that we were able to do so much via fax (computers weren’t used so much back then for B&Bs).</p>
<p>I did some online research for our own trip to Spain in Feb. Munich was listed as one of the best airports in Europe - one person said “All airports should be run like Munich.” On the other hand, I heard nothing but horror stories about Paris Charles de Gaulle. One poster said they would travel 3/4 around the world the OTHER direction and finish their trip overland by Yak before changing planes in Paris CDG. My father-in-law says that when he had to fly to Paris for business, he would fly to Nice and take a train, rather than deal with Paris CDG. I also was given many scary stories about Heathrow, but S just went thru there with very little trouble. They just opened a new terminal, which seems to have helped. </p>
<p>I hear from multiple sources that Lufthansa is a great airline.</p>
<p>We are flying to Barcelona via Munich on Lufthansa next month, I’ll try to remember to let you know how it goes. This is my first trip to Europe and I tend to be a bit nervous when I’m out of my comfort zone.</p>
<p>We were pretty OK with our flight back in 1995. I believe we flew into Frankfurt & out of Heathrow, but am not really sure (some airport in Germany in & some airport in London out). The long 12+ hour layover in Newark was exhausting, but at least we were able to rest in the red carpet room that trip.</p>
<p>I would love to read about your experiences. H is leaning toward just going to US national parks and NOT Europe. We will have to see what the kids have to say & their schedules.</p>
<p>One of my best friends from Germany helped design the new Munich airport! I’ve never used it though. We flew into Frankfurt last summer. It was fine - getting out of the airport was a little more confusing than I expected and the map provided by the rental company was so terrible we bought a better one at the airport. It was the first time I’d been in Germany in 20 years. It was really nice to be back. Our son loved it. He loved the food. We went to a rock concert which made him happy. Had a Michelin three star meal (which son didn’t love), but had to admit was an experience.</p>
<p>Of course if you haven’t done them US National Parks are great too.</p>
<p>We HAVE done the national parks–about 10 or so years ago, so maybe it is time to go again. The kids have never been to Europe & we only went once. I guess we’ll just have to wait & see how everything plays out. </p>
<p>I don’t recall the pre 9/11 airport we arrived at to be especially easy or difficult to navigate. Our challenge was figuring out where to catch the right train to get to Rothenberg. Fortunately some kind Germans helped us out!</p>
<p>HImom,</p>
<p>Since your kids haven’t been to Europe yet and since they’re around the age where you never know whether this’ll be the last family trip (actually past that age), and since you’;re indicating the logistics will work out for it now (when it might be more difficult coordinating with them later), it’d be a good time to go do the European vacation.</p>
<p>Yea, that’s what I’m thinking, especially since neither are in any serious relationships, which also could complicate the travel picture. So far, we’ve all enjoyed our family trips, but haven’t had a long one together in quite a few years.</p>
<p>You may want to look at SFO in addition to LAX as your starting airport - a few more competitors at SFO these days.</p>
<p>As for which airport (based upon 15 years of business travel to and from):</p>
<p>Good Airports:
Munich
Amsterdam
Copenhagen
Heathrow (greatly improved)
Dublin</p>
<p>Bad Airports:
Charles De Gaulle (bad enough that I have been known to fly to Heathrow and take the Chunnel to avoid it)
Rome
Orly (Paris can’t get airports right)
Frankfurt (too big too confusing)
Madrid</p>
<p>Thanks for these thoughts.</p>
<p>Anyone have any good suggestions for flight/hotel package companies? Have never done this, so don’t know which are good vs. bad. We would want a very leisurely trip, so we can have down time to explore, especially when folks just want to rest & veg-out. We can never know ahead of time when the kids need more rest.</p>
<p>Anyway, H still prefers to go to the national parks & the kids don’t know what they’re going to be doing this summer & when. S will be going to China at some point this summer too, so that complicates things.</p>
<p>Things sure do get more complicated as the kids get older & have more going on in their lives.</p>
<p>If you’re planning on visiting a lot of places, a flight/hotel combo may prove difficult. Depending on what type of hotels you would like to stay in also affects if you want a package or not. The hotel packages I see on the airline sites are very expensive. Since you’ll probably be needing two rooms, not booking directly with a hotel or hotel chain could prove even more problematic. With all the hotel deals out there, the scale tips further towards buying a la carte.</p>
<p>As much as the National Parks are amazing, your kids would probably enjoy Europe better just because there is more stuff geared towards their age group.</p>
<p>CDG is not a good airport, but it is manageable. I’ve been in CDG, FRA, LHR, VIE, and DUS and all have their pros and cons. Unless you are all meeting up in LAX, price flying through other cities. I think SFO has service to MUC, but it isn’t that much of a plane ride from FRA and often doesn’t cost extra. Some of the best flight experiences I’ve had have been on Lufthansa, but where you will be visiting will depend on who you fly. Unless it is much cheaper, flying something like LAX-FRA-LHR is not the best choice. If the carryon restrictions weren’t in effect, I’d also suggest looking at connecting through Canada, but now, idk.</p>
<p>Thanks–we will all be in LA in mid-May, so that would probably be where we start from. Appreciate everyone’s thoughts on this. We don’t have much experience with travel to Europe. I’m still waiting to connect with the kids & see what they’re interested in.</p>
<p>Munich is a very nice airport, as is amsterdam. Frankfurt is huge and a bit confusing, but otherwise okay. I too would avoid CDG if possible. Lufthansa is amazing, far and above the best airline that I have flown on. </p>
<p>If you’re going to a bunch of different cities I would book air and hotel separately.</p>
<p>We go a couple times per year so here are a couple of thoughts…</p>
<p>1-Try to get at least 1 1/2 hours between connecting flights coming home via Amsterdam. “They” say you can do it with 50 minutes, but it is not worth the stress.</p>
<p>2-Since Delta took over Northwest, they seem to only show you flights with multiple connections which add several hours to your trip. Go to KLM.com where you can look up ALL the Northwest flights and then call Delta and tell them which ones you want. (I fly out of Minneapolis and instead of the direct to Amsterdam they want me to add another stop in Detroit or Atlanta) </p>
<p>3-Go to TripAdvisor.com , forums, select country and then you can narrow it down by city. Once you get to the city you want, on the left side go to hotels and read the reviews. These people are amazingly helpful (it is like a CC for travelers)</p>
<p>4-Flying USA to Europe has a luggage weight limit of about 50lbs, but if you are traveling within Europe that weight limit goes down to about 40 lbs. </p>
<p>5-The Airbus 330 is a great plane to travel on. Individual video monitors and every other row has an electrical outlet under the seat to charge your laptop or video game.</p>
<p>6-If you are going to book your own flights within Europe there are great deals if you book early and book round trip. (just don’t use the return ticket)</p>