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Strategy
#2- Get to a major Airport in a Major US City
If you've done
any searching, you've probably come to the realization that
the best fares seem to be from the larger cities. In fact,
the fares seem to be the best from NY, Washington and Boston.
That is due to a number of reasons- they are the closest
cities in the US to Europe(less fuel to get there), most
airlines fly there(more competition to get your business)
and more flights with the same airlines(lots of people leave
from these cities).
You're probably
lamenting the fact that you live in a quiet, relatively
safe and unpolluted little town and have to pay exhorbitant
prices to escape it. Well, that's the price of living in
our paradise(I'm in the same boat in Carrboro, NC!). Of
course some of you are in relatively large towns in the
midwest, and even small cites(Minneapolis, Salt Lake City
and Seattle are a couple of examples)and still have the
airline ticket blues!
There are ways
to get lower fares...so it's not hopeless, but it may take
some time and searching. The first step is to search all
the ads you can find(a good place to start is on the right
column of my pages) to get an idea of the lowest fare on
a single ticket. That will give you a starting point and
then you can compare the cost, the time and the risks and
decide if saving the money you will is worth it.
Once you have
an idea of the cost from your closest airport to Athens
you should run a search from the closest major airport and
then run other searches from other major airports(especially
the east coast), to find the best fares. Remember to make
notes of where you found the fare, the dates and the cost-
you'll be surprised how bad your memory can be after you've
searched for a few(or a lot) and then you have to recall
which flight was from where with what airline on what date
and from which web site....
You now have
an idea of how much it is to fly out of your closest airport
and to a few of the major airports. Now you need to connect
the dot(s) and get to that airport as inexpensively(and
conveniently as you can).
If you have Frequent
Flyer miles to burn then that will most likely be the best
way. See how many miles it will cost to get to the major
city nearest you and to the city with the least expensive
flights to Europe. If you're willing to part with the number
of miles that it will cost you to get there...then you're
set..
Know
the Risks!
- If you use one set of tickets to get from your airport
the city with the lowest fares and another ticket to
get to Greece you will not be "protected"
if you miss a flight becuase another airline is late.(If
you are protected, the airline will get you to your
final destination since they were responsible for your
being late to your flight). This could cost you a lot
as you may have to buy a new ticket and even put yourself
up in a hotel if no flights are available!
-To minimize the risk, make sure there si PLENTY of
time between flights with different tickets(I would
be very hesitant to have anything less than 5+ hours)
-If you choose this route, I would seriously consider
Travel
Insurance. to minimize your risk. |
If you don't
have FF miles, then I would check the cost of taking a bus,
train, your own car(and paying for parking or leaving it
at a friend's or relative's place) or paying for flights.
Once you've done
the research and figured out how much it will cost for each
of the different options, you will be able to compare them
and make your decision.
My experience
has been that unless there is a SUPER sale to Europe, the
amount of money you save trying to piece together an itinerary
will be minimal and there could be an added amount of inconvenience.
But on the other
hand, with a little searching you may find a combination
of flights that could save you a couple of hundred dollars...or
more.
| I've
posted a link to the Google Search Engine on the bottom
of the page for you to continue your search with! |
Good Luck...and
let me know if I can help you with anything.....
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