Finding Flights
Getting a last minute plane ticket for the week after thanksgiving is not something I recommend.
We were planning on flying Delta, because is was the cheapest, and one of the only airlines that didn't have an overnight stay somewhere in Europe. I have been checking their website every other day making sure the price did not change, see if there were any new deals, etc.
Today it is the first thing I look at. The price at Delta has tripled. Now it's $2500 each if we leave on Monday or Tuesday. Crap.
So I went to all of the other airlines I knew flew out of Chicago - United, same thing. British Airways - better, but still high. Then Nothwest Airlines. They're having a sale, and we can get tickets for approx. $700 each. I have no idea what Andrei's ticket will cost - I have to call because he's a minor. They quoted me a price of $1000 but that may change.
But, Northwest (partnered with KLM) does not fly direct from the US to Moscow - we'll have to layover in Amsterdam. The problem with that is Andrei is not really a citizen of any country until we land in the US. So he's not allowed in any other country - thus we won't be albe to leave the airport with him. We can get a 24 transit visa and I've heard that it is not difficult in Amsterdam - you can do it right at passport control and it is free. But you never know what kind of glitches you might come across.
So here are our options. Let me know which one you think is best.
1. Fly through Amsterdam, don't bother with the transit visa, and suffer through a 12 hour layover at the airport. Be cranky and overtired the entire trip, but be in Chicago the next day.
2. Fly through Amsterdam, get the transit visa, find a hotel and taxi (do you know Dutch? I do not) and then make it back to the airport by 6 the next morning. - Risk getting lost and having to pay a ton for food and a hotel when you don't understand the language.
3. Fly through Amsterdam and immediately get on another plane to Memphis/Detroit/Minniapolis and have another dangerously short layover there. Risk having your luggage lost and missing your connection because of the possible delay at Immigration when we land in the US.
4. Go a completly different route and fly Aeroflot (Russian airline) direct from NYC but then have to book a completely different airline from Chicago to New York -again, risking lost luggage, missed connections, etc. The price is comparable though. They do not have an adoption rate though, and I don't know how much Andrei's ticket will cost.
Any ideas?
We were planning on flying Delta, because is was the cheapest, and one of the only airlines that didn't have an overnight stay somewhere in Europe. I have been checking their website every other day making sure the price did not change, see if there were any new deals, etc.
Today it is the first thing I look at. The price at Delta has tripled. Now it's $2500 each if we leave on Monday or Tuesday. Crap.
So I went to all of the other airlines I knew flew out of Chicago - United, same thing. British Airways - better, but still high. Then Nothwest Airlines. They're having a sale, and we can get tickets for approx. $700 each. I have no idea what Andrei's ticket will cost - I have to call because he's a minor. They quoted me a price of $1000 but that may change.
But, Northwest (partnered with KLM) does not fly direct from the US to Moscow - we'll have to layover in Amsterdam. The problem with that is Andrei is not really a citizen of any country until we land in the US. So he's not allowed in any other country - thus we won't be albe to leave the airport with him. We can get a 24 transit visa and I've heard that it is not difficult in Amsterdam - you can do it right at passport control and it is free. But you never know what kind of glitches you might come across.
So here are our options. Let me know which one you think is best.
1. Fly through Amsterdam, don't bother with the transit visa, and suffer through a 12 hour layover at the airport. Be cranky and overtired the entire trip, but be in Chicago the next day.
2. Fly through Amsterdam, get the transit visa, find a hotel and taxi (do you know Dutch? I do not) and then make it back to the airport by 6 the next morning. - Risk getting lost and having to pay a ton for food and a hotel when you don't understand the language.
3. Fly through Amsterdam and immediately get on another plane to Memphis/Detroit/Minniapolis and have another dangerously short layover there. Risk having your luggage lost and missing your connection because of the possible delay at Immigration when we land in the US.
4. Go a completly different route and fly Aeroflot (Russian airline) direct from NYC but then have to book a completely different airline from Chicago to New York -again, risking lost luggage, missed connections, etc. The price is comparable though. They do not have an adoption rate though, and I don't know how much Andrei's ticket will cost.
Any ideas?
posted by Tracy at 9:41 AM
1 Comments:
i guess i'm commenting too late since i see that you've already gotten your ticket. but i just wanted to say that everyone speaks english in amsterdam, there's an easy train from the airport to the historic city center, and i know an awesome little house hotel right on the canals where the owner cooks a great breakfast spread for you. oh, well. glad you got a ticket.
oh, and i had to overnight in ethiopia this summer--that whole transit thing--but they didn't even stamp my passport since i wasn't officially entering the country.
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