New to Forums -- Planning trip to Europe

Hello!

My husband and I are planning on using our flight benefits in July to take a trip to Europe, and I found this site while doing research for the trip.

We've never used our standby benefits to fly international (nor have we ever been to Europe), and I'm kind of nervous about trying it. So, I'm hoping to find some helpful information on this site. We have standby benefits for Delta, US Airways, and United.

Right now, we're planning on taking our trip the third week of July. We're still pretty open about where we want to go, but we're thinking northern Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, or around that area. He'd also love to go to France (the Tour de France will be going on, so we're not sure how possible that would be). I'd really like to do an organized escorted tour where most of the travel plans are taken care of, but I don't know how feasible that is with flying standby.

Anyway, we'd really appreciate any tips/tricks on flying standby into/out of Europe or general Europe tips as well. Suggestions on threads that I should read would also be appreciated!

Thanks!

To be honest, summer Europe travel is very busy. You're probably better off looking at either spring or fall, unless you happen to see something wide open in both directions just before you go. That said, my experience (albeit relatively limited) with international standby travel is pretty similar to domestic. I just hang out a little closer to the gate in Europe, the one time flying out of HKG they cleared me at check in.

If you want a "training wheels" way of flying internationally, may I suggest Canada? There are some great cities to check out there. Depending on where you live, I'd suggest Vancouver, Toronto, Quebec City (if you speak French), Montreal (if you don't), or maybe even Edmonton if you want to check out the mall there.

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Originally Posted by spongebue

To be honest, summer Europe travel is very busy. You're probably better off looking at either spring or fall, unless you happen to see something wide open in both directions just before you go. That said, my experience (albeit relatively limited) with international standby travel is pretty similar to domestic. I just hang out a little closer to the gate in Europe, the one time flying out of HKG they cleared me at check in.

If you want a "training wheels" way of flying internationally, may I suggest Canada? There are some great cities to check out there. Depending on where you live, I'd suggest Vancouver, Toronto, Quebec City (if you speak French), Montreal (if you don't), or maybe even Edmonton if you want to check out the mall there.

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Agreed 100%. Summer bad timing..

As far as Europe--I don't think you have a prayer as OALs during the summer. DL has warnings already posted for employees/buddy pass riders for several cities. July is as problematic as you can get. I certainly would NOT commit to organized travel with standby--anywhere in EU. Tour de France? ACK--fuhgedabowdit. Why not shoot for Formula One or FIFA or Olympics or a Coronation? Just being practical and telling it like it is.
We had a forum member hoping to get back from Europe summer 2 yrs ago and she had to buy 2 OW tkts for a few thousand bucks.
My husband won't even travel in summer to MOST countries on standby and we have 26 yrs seniority. We typically wait until end Sept thru early Nov for popular destinations. Consider holidays and events in a region, prior to planning, as well.
Please keep asking questions. We promise to use a velvet glove when trying to smack some sense into you! hahaha This is the right place.

Like the others said.......very bad idea.
I also do not do NRSA travel during the summer for the most part.
Fall and Spring? No problem! Summer? Forget about it.

15-20 years ago it was not hard to do, but that is when carriers were flying 747s across the pond and there were no alliances....

Good luck!

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Originally Posted by spongebue

To be honest, summer Europe travel is very busy. You're probably better off looking at either spring or fall, unless you happen to see something wide open in both directions just before you go. That said, my experience (albeit relatively limited) with international standby travel is pretty similar to domestic. I just hang out a little closer to the gate in Europe, the one time flying out of HKG they cleared me at check in.

If you want a "training wheels" way of flying internationally, may I suggest Canada? There are some great cities to check out there. Depending on where you live, I'd suggest Vancouver, Toronto, Quebec City (if you speak French), Montreal (if you don't), or maybe even Edmonton if you want to check out the mall there.

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Am I reading this right? Vancouver (British Columbia), Toronto (Ontario) are ENGLISH SPEAKING provinces of Canada. MONTREAL which in the province of Quebec just like Quebec City is they speak FRENCH and ENGLISH.

Thank you all for your advice. I suspected it would be pretty difficult to travel to Europe during summer, so thanks for confirming. Unfortunately, July is the only time we'll be able to take a major trip this year, so looks like we need to consider other destination options!

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Originally Posted by 29palms

Am I reading this right? Vancouver (British Columbia), Toronto (Ontario) are ENGLISH SPEAKING provinces of Canada. MONTREAL which in the province of Quebec just like Quebec City is they speak FRENCH and ENGLISH.

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Sorry, I can see where that wasn't very well worded. I meant that Quebec City is good if you speak French, ignoring the rest of the cities listed. Otherwise, Montreal is relatively close in character but they're mostly bilingual.

oui oui.....


Dan

What is your starting point? and where do you want to end up at? are you located on the east coast or west coast?


Dan

Hi, Dan. I'm on the west coast. Don't really care where we end up; although, we'd like to go international, if possible. We have some free time in the middle of July, and probably have a max of 10 days for our trip.

If it helps any, I remember Mexico had some cities that were pretty open in mid August, that could be worth considering :)

As a Canadian I must interject... Canada is officially bilingual - English and French are the official languages. Provincially, the only truly bilingual province is New Brunswick. Ontario is very bilingual and along the Ontario border with Quebec you will hear more French then English. Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and British Columbia are majority English speaking, but have large populations that speak French. Quebec's official language is French, however English is spoken most everywhere except some of the smaller communities. Quebec City is very French, but you can get by with English (without major problems). Montreal is officially French, but it has a large English speaking population. Nova Scotia and Newfoundland are English speaking provinces, but have large populations that speak French.

Travelling Standby to Canada can also be difficult in the summer, especially if you plan on flying domestically. Canadians fly south in the winter but stay home and enjoy Canada during the summer. We only have two major domestic carriers here in Canada, so you may find that your options will be limited when trying to travel domestically. Hotels and car rentals will also be at a premium. That being said… The Calgary Stampede in July is fantastic and Canada Day on July 1^st in Ottawa – The Nation’s Capital – is something that should not be missed!
In regards to Europe, I agree with everyone on here. Not a good idea, to be honest unless you feel lucky and enjoy the prospect of paying thousands of dollars to get home – then I recommend just buying a confirmed ticket right from the get go.

I think that you need to beware of some on the generalisations made here ... if you will only travel on your own carrier, in a premium cabin and point to point then you will find such travel difficult .. if you have access to ZED fares and are flexible with your travel plans then its far easier. You need to put a bit of effort into planning the trip, decide wher you want to go and look at what interline options are available ... then get advice about loads around specific times and then make the decisions ...

Much of continental Europe vacations in July and August--many people have an entire month off. I certainly wouldn't plan on doing much in the way of OAL standby on zeds. If you can be flexible and book LCCs to get out of Europe...I'd think in that direction. Lots of people get stuck, even in cities like AMS, where DL has some 15 flights and summer is a beast getting back to the States. I would not treat nonreving in July in europe lightly.

I would agree with 'generalizations' are not great, but would say, 1st time out of the box using passes is not the best time to try Europe.. You need a very strong constitution.

I think I could the one that the Mrs. referred to about buying tickets back~ I did, to be sure to get back, but would have gotten back if I stuck with it out of BRU. I travel every year in July (including 3 Tour De France trips), but I am an Uber planner. I even travel in the summer with my sister who is a buddy, but I swear she has a horseshoe glued to her, so is not a great example.

Getting to Europe is never the problem, getting out is always a surprise and a nail biter/stressful. Saying it's impossible, if planned well, is not the case. 10 summers and counting have proven otherwise, I don't regret any of the trips.

Advice wise, I wouldn't feel comfortable not knowing someone on how they would react to the challenge, or would welcome the added stress.

Smithlis wasn't my reference but sounds like she can handle any nonrev situation with grace and clever actions. Maybe that buddy horseshoe is real!
This was FCO and I recommended getting to Pisa, based on DL loads. They would have made 2 different returns.Well, they didn't leave Rome but paid the price. The hubby had to jumpseat (how fun was that?) on OAL and mom/daughter got economy comfort seats on DL. I'm sure it was the trip of a lifetime but those conditions don't make for a pleasant ending, in my book.
I think we all agree that being able to nonrev is such a great privilege! How you make it happen easily isn't always so easy...

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Originally Posted by smithlis

I even travel in the summer with my sister who is a buddy, but I swear she has a horseshoe glued to her, so is not a great example.

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A horseshoe - you think it’ll work on Vegas flights? :D

Mig- LOL, no my DH got stuck for days in Vegas. I once routed myself thru Vegas to get home from a ski trip as an empty charter flight appeared from LAS to ATL and it was 'wide-open'. I ended up being 85th on the list, and only got on because I 'hovered at the desk' and they re counted seats. I'm brave, but I would never non-rev to Vegas, LOL.

My sister is so lucky that we sat in the terminal next to someone that had been stuck for 5 days in Copenhagen. She not only got biz, but she got the seat next to me -(I had a back up plan for her on a LCC to Edinbrugh and then home but she didn't need it). I always tell her it doesn't work that way, but it always does for her. She is very go with the flow, that's why I feel OK with her coming with on a buddy pass.

Mrs- Don't you love it when they don't take your advice? LOL. I agree, FCO is really hard. I routed my parents through Pisa as well. They also did not take my advice and came home from FCO in the back instead of Pisa in the front. I was even nice enough to provide the train schedules and hotel. They are troopers though and are usually pretty good non rev-ers.

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Originally Posted by smithlis

Mig- LOL, no my DH got stuck for days in Vegas. I once routed myself thru Vegas to get home from a ski trip as an empty charter flight appeared from LAS to ATL and it was 'wide-open'. I ended up being 85th on the list, and only got on because I 'hovered at the desk' and they re counted seats. I'm brave, but I would never non-rev to Vegas, LOL.

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Yeah, I couldn’t even non-rev out of Vegas on WN and they must have a L.A.flight every hour.
I don’t know how Vulindlela does it, he must make some pretty impressive sacrifice to the non-rev gods - probably wine.^_^

Makes me think of a former coworker. She could bring 60 friends on a plane with 50 seats. And everyone would still get on.

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Originally Posted by Migflanker

Yeah, I couldn’t even non-rev out of Vegas on WN and they must have a L.A.flight every hour.
I don’t know how Vulindlela does it, he must make some pretty impressive sacrifice to the non-rev gods - probably wine.^_^

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Lol!
I'll be doing again next month!

A lot depends on how flexible you are? Given that you have three airlines that you have benefits on it sounds like you are not an employee and are flying D3 or perhaps zed an even lower classification. I have been to Europe several times and my least favorite is the summer, nothing to do with the flights but if it's the only time you can go then your stuck. I may be responding late and if so, good luck. If not, consider sending me a PM or posting a little more detail. Unless we know your status and flexibility it's hard to give you much of a reply.