So, you want to go to Europe? Let’s get you there!
It’s not as stressful as you may have been led to believe.
This is the First in a series of hopefully informative guides on things like flights, Airbnb,
and generally getting around in what to expect.
Let’s tackle the first and most obvious questions: how do I get there and how do I get
the best prices on flights? The answer is not one single thing. It’s a few things like
knowing when and what to check. I think the first thing you need to do is go to the
website Www.going.com and create an account that will alert you when airfare prices
go down from the airport near you. For instance, we live near Indianapolis so I have the
airport’s Chicago O’hare, Indianapolis, Louisville, and Cincinnati on alerts so that if
prices drop from any of those airports I know about it right away.
” When is the best time to book my flight??”
It used to be that to get the best price on airfare, you would have to book as soon as
flights became available, usually 11 months before travel. However, in our experience,
the best prices become available between 90 days and 30 days before travel. Using
Google Flights, I found this information very useful for the last year:
As you can see, leaving from either location, the best price was found in the 90 – 30 day
range, although it was different for each airport. Obviously this is not set in stone, but
current prices are quite high.
As far as airport to fly into for the retreat, you have your choice of two: Turin (Torino),
and Milan Malpensa (MXP). We have flown into Milan, mostly because it is a bit
cheaper. However, Torino is a smaller airport and closer to Asti, so you can make that
call yourself. Milan Malpensa is not terribly difficult to navigate, and once you arrive
you are essentially herded to customs and baggage claim. A couple of notes here, Italy
is a European Union country. If you have a stop at another EU country before you get
to Italy, you will be doing customs THERE. Once you get to Milan, you will most likely
just go straight to baggage claim.
So, to summarize:
1) Starting in June, keep an eye out for the best prices on flights from your closest
airports using Going, Google Flights, and Skyscanner.
2) I recommend using as few of stops as possible. If you can find a good deal on a
direct flight, jump on it.
3) Sort your searches based on duration of time traveled. And be aware that some
carriers (I’m looking at you, Icelandair), give you a cut rate deal only to make you
take a 20+ hour layover on the way home. Do your homework.
4) Don’t stress. The people working at the airport help desks have seen it all and
are usually very kind and answer all questions you might have. Its actually very
straightforward and a lot of the time it is just a matter of following the herd from
one location to the next. Always have your passport ready, and enjoy your trip!
In our next briefing, we will discuss car rental and trains, the pros and cons of both.
