<p>DD is doing study abroad in Europe this Fall and I’m hoping to get some advice from the experienced parents here about the round-trip flight I need to get for her. I remember the nightmare stories a few months ago about students stranded in Heathrow as Christmas approached, and I filed away “avoid transferring through London in December” but that’s all I remember. Is Toronto a good transfer point? Is it better to do the transfer here in the US or Canada, or should she take a nonstop to Europe and transfer there? She’s never traveled alone and I want to make this as easy as possible for her. How reliable are the flights in August? Should we book her arrival a day ahead to make sure that she’s there on time? Should I wait and hope for the prices to drop or do they just go up from here?</p>
<p>There was some awful weather last December in Europe. By the time my D went to France in January, there were no problems. STA travel has good prices, and also a very reasonable fee for changing flights, at least to certain destinations. My D got in touch with others in her program via facebook. Turned out many of them were traveling from the US on the same flight, and then traveling to their host city together. If going a day early, she might miss some of that camaraderie. Though I think there are advantages to giving oneself a day to recover from jetlag. She should be fine no matter the airport, but I’d go with her feelings regarding whether she’d be more comfortable in the US vs. Europe. My only recent European airport experience was Frankfurt, and it was a model of efficiency, and certainly felt a less crazed than O’Hare. Toronto should be fine. Will transfer through there myself in the next month, so check back if you still need an answer.</p>
<p>My D studied in London last semester. She flew from LA via Toronto on Air Canada first because it was a less expensive flight and secondly because we like Air Canada (always on time…so far, and reliable). The latter was proved even more by the way they handled the weather drama at Heathrow when my D was stuck in that mess amongst thousands of other stranded passengers. Instead of passengers scrambling to find alternatives and ways to get back, AC took control by rebooking passengers themselves, communicating updates by email, doubling their personnel, available by phone, and sending extra aircraft once Heathrow was reopened.</p>
<p>It’s unlikely this will happen again though. </p>
<p>Toronto is an easy transfer point. Directions are clear, agents are around, and there are shops and cafes in the gates area. No need to go through security as an in transit passenger.</p>
<p>Is there no direct flight to your D’s destination?</p>
<p>Depending on where your D is going, check out Icelandair. Their flights do not show up on the sites that aggregate fares from various airlines. They don’t fly out of all US cities, but they are a nice airline and they had the best prices last year for D’s study abroad flights. I flew over and traveled with my D before her study abroad, so both D and I flew them with separate flights on the way back – no issues. The Reykjavik airport is fairly small and easy to navigate for a transfer, too. There may be other airlines that also don’t show up on those search sites that other parents could suggest.</p>
<p>We booked about now for August flights last year… it was too stressful for me to wait. When to book her flight depends on when her housing is available. You don’t want her to get there before she can move in, that is a hassle if she has a semester’s worth of luggage. But it is okay to book her to arrive on the first day the housing is available. If she were an experienced traveler, she might be able to handle storing her luggage and traveling by herself for a few days, but if she is new to this, I wouldn’t chance it. Better to have a delay and be a day or two late for her program than have the stress of being early without housing.</p>
<p>No telling what the weather will be like in various locations in December. It is all a gamble at that time. You just have to book and hope. Note, though, that European airlines are subject to more generous laws about paying for hotels and meals than US airlines are if they have to cancel her flight. Don’t know if Wikipedia links are allowed out here (sorry in advance if not…), but here is some info on this. Print it yourself, and send a copy with your D. [Regulation</a> 261/2004 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulation_261/2004]Regulation”>Air Passengers Rights Regulation - Wikipedia)</p>
<p>My family members who travel to Europe frequently stress the importance of taking a direct flight from North America to the final European destination if possible, rather than change in another European city. They have had several issues with connections there and feel it is better to have those issues in the US than overseas!</p>
<p>My D’s program recommended they arrive a day early and the whole group spent a week together in a youth hostel for orientation before the program began. She booked through STA for the ease of changing the return flight if necessary. Their rates were more reasonable than booking directly with the airlines.</p>
<p>Also for students currently enrolled - one may wish to try booking flights on [Cheap</a> Tickets for College Students and Faculty: Airfare, Rail and Hostel Deals](<a href=“http://www.studentuniverse.com%5DCheap”>http://www.studentuniverse.com) - I’ve found their prices to be competitive if not better with other sources like Expedia or Travelocity or Orbit</p>
<p>I wouldn’t worry much about it. Flying to Europe is no big deal and not really any more challenging that changing planes somewhere in the US. You can always get caught out by local weather, but that could happen changing planes in Atlanta or anywhere else.</p>
<p>If you want a nightmare flight, one of the legs of my daughter’s study abroad trip was a flight from Buenos Aires to Miami to O’Hare to Beijing. Buenos Aires and Beijing are literally on opposite sides of the globe – as far apart as any two cities can be. I think they were travelling for like 36 hours. And, the poor kid arrived in Beijing and they had lost her luggage! So, there she was in Beijing, jet lagged beyond belief, and all she had was the smelly clothes on her back. She survived. Her bag caught up with her two or three days later.</p>
<p>They figure it out. They deal.</p>
<p>Nonstop flights are the best option, if possible, whether traveling to Europe or elsewhere but especially for international flights. If you have a connection on the way back then customs needs to be cleared, whick means enough time for customs/immigration needs to be allocated, and then another flight caught whith a greater chance of missing the connection. </p>
<p>Of course not everyplace has nonstop flights to where you want to go. Do you have the option of a big airport near where you live? If not, the coming in/out of a fairly close one that has more frequent flights to your local airport can be helpful in the event you miss your connection - you can catch the next flight.</p>
<p>Thanks! You’re making me feel less stressed about this. She will fly out of Seattle and there are no direct flights to her final destination in Germany, but one transfer should do it. Her program has a bus leaving from the airport early afternoon to orientation in a town a couple hours away and their literature says that it’s very important that they arrive before that bus leaves.</p>
<p>I really like the idea of just having her connect with other kids in her program and travelling with them. I’ll hold off on buying a ticket until she gets a chance to check out Facebook.</p>
<p>Indiana, Lufthansa has many flight options to Germany out of Seatac. We always buy tickets directly on Lufthansa’s website. Frankfurt, Munich and Berlin are all very efficient airports. Avoid Amsterdam and Paris at all costs. For the extra level of peace of mind, your D can arrive a day or two early, explore the city and then return to the airport to catch the bus.</p>
<p>I’ll put in another plug for booking through STA. [Book</a> cheap student and teacher flights, hotels and hostels with STA Travel. | STA Travel | Home](<a href=“http://www.statravel.com/]Book”>http://www.statravel.com/) I used them for my son’s study abroad because I wanted the flexibility of changing the date with low cost.</p>
<p>Indiana, Germany too was hit very hard by that pre-Christmas weather. My daughter had planned a short trip to Germany from London before heading back home when all that hit; the airports in Germany were closed just as they were in London, though I think more airports got back online quicker than Heathrow did. That was a very unusual event, so chances are good that any weather incidents will be short lived.</p>
<p>My son will be on exchange with Rotary. They recommend an open-ended ticket, so he can come back any time, even though it costs more. Are any of the other programs recommending this?</p>
<p>My company is based in Amsterdam, so I’m there several times/year and travel all over the world the rest of the year. I would avoid Heathrow at all costs. It is a huge, horrible airport that is a mess to navigate for even seasoned travelers any day of the year. They also have interim security checkpoints that are a PITA. Last time through they completely pulled my carryon apart and I had to test my toothpaste in front of them. </p>
<p>Compared to most international airports, I think Amsterdam is easy to navigate. While it’s huge, it’s well marked and laid out a bit like OHare with the gates on long spokes that dump into a central hub. I know there is a non-stop to AMS from SeaTac, as my colleagues take it when we have meetings in the PacNW. I’m sure Luftansa also has non-stops. </p>
<p>If you have FF miles, they are often the best way to purchase tickets with a long time between arrival & departure dates, as changing the return flight is typically very easy.</p>
<p>Iceland Air had great results during the weather snafus in the UK…not so great when the volcano was involved, but they are somewhat Southwest in their viewpoint, rather practical and decently priced. When the bad winter storms hit the UK last December, they told me that connecting flights in Iceland would be held for the arrivals…nice.</p>
<p>Iceland flies out of SeaTac and we have had good luck with them</p>
<p>Non stop flights whenever possible if you want your bags to arrive with you. Avoid Heathrow (both of those points based on personal/business travel). Student Universe had good fares when we booked son’s flights for last fall’s semester abroad.</p>
<p>When my D studied abroad in Scotland, we booked the group flight (she had to fly to NY to connect). We did this even though we could have found a less expensive flight … but the peace of mind was worth it. </p>
<p>The group trip allowed one free change of return date, which was important because colleges in Scotland do not determine finals dates until the term begins. We were not sure when the term would be over, and we didn’t want any issues with the return.</p>
<p>Another important consideration was the weather, as the return was in December. As it worked out, D’s flight was the ONLY flight from Heathrow to JFK that day … and the flight home from NYC was the last one out that day. However, her friend was not able to get home from JFK, and the tour operator was able to assist her in making arrangements.</p>
<p>Another vote for Icelandair. Son was due to fly out of Heathrow on Virgin on that awful Saturday. After 4 more days in London, went out on Icelandair but was about an hour late getting into Keflavik for the connecting flight. No problem, they held the flight. I think that they are small enough to realize that there is no point sending an empty plane on to Kennedy when all their passengers are coming in from London and will be there soon!</p>
<p>DD was stuck in Romania for 24 hours and in Munich for 24 hours in Dec. She returned in early Jan and had a 1 1/2 hour layover at Heathrow. DH said there was no way she’d made her flight to Munich, but she did with time to spare. You just never know and there are no guarantees.</p>