dublin to seefeld ...

looking to depart 27th december, and return 1st january ...


best departure is 07:00 with EI to MUNich, arriving at 10:45 for approx 125 eur ... with the train leaving the airport at 11:42 taking 3 hours, with 1 change required - costing 31 eur ... or a shared transfer using http://www.a-t-s.net/ for 45 eur taking just 2 hours !

there is also an EI flight departing at 12:30 to Zurich, arriving at 15:35 for 315 eur ...

or an EI flight departing at 15:30 to MUNich, arriving at 19:00 for 250 eur ...

an indirect option would depart at 12:50 via MANchester, arriving into Salzburg at 19:10 for 180 eur ...

there is a 15:45 EI flight to VIEnna, arriving at 19:30 for 150 eur ... but the train connection would be overnight - even the daytime train takes 7 hours.
there is also a cheap flight to Friedrichshafen departing 06:10, arriving 09:30 costing 55 eur, but the train connection is approx 5 hours !


best return flight is a 21:30 FR departure from Salzburg, arriving into Dublin at 23:00 for 80 eur ... the train connection leaves Seefeld at 15:46 arriving into the airport at 20:32 ... however, if we had a car, it is only about 2 hours drive ...

a week away in july / august ...

i'm looking for a week away - departing the weekend of sunday 29th july, and returning friday 3rd august ...

the best priced flights seem to be to Glasgow Prestwick departing Stansted at 08:40 on the Sunday with Ryanair ... and departing Prestwick at 17:35 on the Friday ... costing 55 gbp

the best price for car hire seems to be with SixT who have Ford Fiesta size vehicle for 136 eur ...

a week in ireland - july / august ...

i'm looking for flights from london to ireland ... departing the weekend of sunday 29th july, and returning friday 3rd august ...

the best priced flights seem to be to Kerry departing Stansted at 06:20 on the Sunday with Ryanair ... and departing Faranfore at 19:45 on the Friday ... costing 63 gbp

car hire for the week isn't cheap - the best price seems to be with Irish Car Rentals who have Ford Fiesta size vehicle for 204 eur ... with the next best being Avis with 285 eur ...

london to glasgow - august bank holiday weekend ...

as an alternative to travelling directly to edinburgh, travel [or at least the outbound leg] to Glasgow is a possibility, preferably departing london on the evening of friday 24th august ...

GNER has Saver Returns from 98.20 gbp ... but a friday 17:15 departure, arriving into Glasgow at 21:54, costs 17.50 gbp ... with a saturday 07:00 departure, arriving at 12:50, being 22.70 gbp ... a return train arriving into London at 01:30 [which would require a cab journey home] costs 17.50 gbp ... but a more sensible 00:15 London arrival is 42 gbp, and a more civilised 23:14 arrival into London costs 59 gbp - and most trips require a change !

thetrainline.com also has Saver Returns from 98.20 gbp ... and has the same 17:15 on the friday for 17.50 gbp ... with the Saturday 07:00 departure for 25.50 gbp, and with the 01:30 arrival back into London for 43 gbp, the 00:15 arrival for 67.50 gbp, and the 23:14 arrival for 84.50 gbp - all suggesting that the GNER site is the way to go ...

skyscanner show an Easyjet departure from Luton on Friday at 20:55, arriving at 22:10 for 33 gbp ... and another Luton departure at 08:40 on Saturday for 35 gbp ... with the best return flight being a bmi departure at 21:30 for 33 gbp ...


Update 4th July 2007
bmi have the Friday 21:35 and the Saturday 08:40 departures available with frequent flyer points - the cost of taxes and charges is 28.90 gbp ...

Update 15th August 2007
the cheapest single for the friday evening on either GNER or thetrainline is 42 gbp for the 18:00 departure [the 17:15 departure is now 97 gbp single], arriving into Glasgow at 23:30 ... with returns costing 98 gbp ...
the first train on saturday morning is at 06:19 and the single fare is 38.50 gbp ...
skyscanner has a Luton departure at 08:40 arriving into GLA at 09:55 for 58 gbp ...
airberlin [which doesn't show up on skyscanner] has a Stansted departure at 07:50 for 52 gbp ...

london to edinburgh - august bank holiday weekend ...

looking for train or plane travel departing london on saturday 25th in the morning, and returning late afternoon on monday 27th ...

the cheapest Saver Return on GNER [which looks remarkably like thetrainline.com] is 98 gbp ... but they have singles on the same trains which add up to 65 gbp - but the return arrives in after midnight, so a more sensible 22:19 arrival back into london puts the price up to 89 gbp ...

thetrainline.com has Saver Returns for 98.20 gbp and same singles for 67.50 gbp or 100 gbp ... showing that it's worth booking through the GNER website !

Skyscanner shows an 08:10 departure from Luton on Easyjet for 50 gbp ... with an Easyjet flight to Gatwick departing at 21:10, arriving into London at 22:40 for 44 gbp ... or perhaps a better option would be their 19:15 departure for Luton, arriving at 20:30 for 48 gbp ...

unfortunately Skyscanner has stopped listing BMI flights ... but they don't have any sensibly priced flights for the weekend - the cheapest being 162 gbp !

ScotAirways fly from London City, but they don't have any flights on the Saturday, and have just a single flight on the Monday evening ... the total price of a return, with a departure on the Friday evening is 189 gbp ...


Update 4th July 2007
bmi have the Saturday 06:50 [and ones from 15:00 onwards] departure, arriving at 08:10, available with frequent flyer points - the cost of taxes and charges is 28.90 gbp ... for the return to London, the 18:35 departure is available for 28.60 gbp, or 48.60 gbp and half the points ...

both thetrainline and First Scot Rail have an overnight Sleeper returning to London on the Monday night for 66 gbp ... it is not clear from either website what the cost of a return is ...

London - Tamworth ... for the Snowdome - again ...

thinking of travelling to Tamworth to try out the Snowdome on Sunday 25th March ...

thetrainline.com gives the price of singles at 33.30 gbp for most of the trains that day - apart from the 08.30 departure, arriving in Birmingham at 10:55, with the connecting bus arriving in Tamworth at 12:05 ...

sometimes singles to a major town are cheaper than connecting journeys or those to smaller towns, but singles to birmingham are all 34 gbp, apart from the same 08:30 departure which is 13.50 gbp ...

virgintrains.co.uk has the same prices for these journeys ...

countries visited map ...

PassportStamp.com is a useful way of recording which countries you've visited, and listing all your trips ... for posterity ...

it also produces a useful map showing where you've been ... and where's left !

easter ski trip to Flims ?

looking for somewhere within a reasonable distance of Zurich airport [already found reasonable priced flights] ...

Flims looks like a good location - it is about 90 minutes drive, has a reasonably snow record, and there are other resorts within a short drive, in case of poor conditions on the local mountains ... and it even has "backpacker" accommodation ...

the price of flights would be approximately 170 gbp

the price of car hire would be approximately 35 gbp per person

the price of accommodation and breakfast could be as little as 84 gbp

the price of the top ski and boot hire would approximately 100 gbp

and the price of the lift pass would be approximately 82 gbp

so the total price, before petrol, dinner and alcohol would be 470 gbp

car hire - zurich airport - 4 days ...

looking for a car with space for 4 adults and a reasonable amount of baggage, to collect from zurich airport on the evening of thursday 5th april, for 4 days ...


the best price directly from the car hire companies seems to be Hertz who have a Ford Focus for 173 gbp ...

although Holiday Autos [owned by Lastminute.com] have a Ford Mondeo Estate for 141 gbp ...

ski trip over easter ...

looking to fly out of heathrow on the evening of thursday 5th april, returning to any london airport on the evening of monday 9th april ...

Switzerland

Swiss.com have a flight to Zurich departing at 19:45 - 22:45 for 15 gbp, and a return flight into LCY departing at 18:35 - 19:20 is 92.50 gbp, totalling 169 gbp including taxes [they do not sell singles at sensible prices]

ba.com has a flight to Zurich departing at 15:50 - 18:30 for 82 gpb [the last flight is 209 gbp], with a return flight into LCY at 19:30 - 20:10 for 164 gbp, totalling 241 gbp including taxes ...

ba.com has a flight to Basel departing at 19:05 - 21:45 for 110 gbp, with a return flight departing at 18:05 - 18:50 for 125 gbp, totalling 233.50 gbp including taxes ...

Swiss.com flies to Geneva from LCY, and the return flights on Monday evening are a whopping 247.50 gbp plus tax !

ba.com has a flight to Geneva departing at 20:50 - 23:20 for 215 gbp, with a return flight into LGW at 18:25 - 19:00 for 215 gbp, totalling an eye watering 422 gbp including taxes !

Swiss.com flies to Basel from LCY, and the return flight on Monday evening is a whopping 243.50 gbp plus tax !!

Swiss.com flies to Berne from LCY, and the return flight on Monday evening is a whopping 285 gbp plus tax !!!

France

ba.com have flights to Lyon for 302 gbp each way, totalling 603 gbp including taxes ...

flybmi.com don't have any flights to Lyon on the Thursday, and their flight on the Monday is at lunchtime ...

airfrance.co.uk don't have any direct flights to Lyon on either day ...

ba.com doesn't have any flights to Grenoble on either the Thursday or the Monday ...

Italy

ba.com have a flight to Milan Malpensa departing at 19:25 - 22:20 for 117 gbp, with the return departing at 18:55 - 19:55 for 132 gbp, totalling 244 gbp including taxes ...

alitalia.co.uk has a flight to Milan Malpensa departing at 17:40 - 20:35, with a return departing at 18:00 - 19:05 for 249 gbp, totalling 249 gbp including taxes ...

flybmi.com only have flights to Venice at lunchtime on both days ...

Germany

ba.com has a flight to Munich departing at 17:25 - 20:20 for 115 gbp, with a return departing at 21:15 - 22:15 for 130 gbp, totalling 245 gbp including taxes ...

lufthansa.co.uk flights to Munich departing Thursday evening and returning Monday evening cost a very unreasonable 365 gbp ...

lufthansa.co.uk has a flight to Stuttgart departing at 18:40 - 21:15, with the return departing at 16:30 - 17:20 for 218 gbp including taxes ...

ba.com has a flight to Stuttgart departing at 20:05 - 22:40 for 111 gbp, with a return departing at 19:05 - 19:50 for 126 gbp, totalling 237 gbp including taxes ...


Austria - there doesn't seem to be any flights from LHR to Salzburg or Innsbruck

johannesburg to port elizabeth ...

looking to travel from Johannesburg to Port Elizabeth around saturday 5th may ...

1time.co.za only has 1 flight on the Sat [just before midday] for 399 ZAR [28 gbp], and 1 on the Sun for the same price ...

flysaa.com has 4 flights on the Sat each for 433 ZAR [31 gbp], and 5 flights on the Sun, 2 of which are 433 ZAR, and the last flight is 331 ZAR [23 gbp] ...

flynationwide.co.za has a single flight on the Sat for 473 ZAR [33 gbp] and 2 on the Sun for 416 ZAR [approx 29 gbp] ...

kulula.co.za has a flight on the Sat afternoon for 469 ZAR [33 gbp], and another in the morning for 499 ZAR [35 gbp], with 2 on the Sun for 469 ZAR and another for 499 ZAR ...

ba.com has 2 flights on the Sat and 3 on the Sun for 614 ZAR [43 gbp] ...

london - maputo ... pemba - london

looking to fly from London to Maputo, departing around Sat 14th Apr ... and Pemba [Mozambique] to London departing around Saturday 28th April ...

expedia.co.uk have flights with Virgin and SAA from 826 gbp ...

travelocity.co.uk has the same flights for 831 gbp ...

ebookers.co.uk has SAA flights for 882 gbp ...

opodo.co.uk is not able to quote on any flights ...

another option would be to book a LON - JNB return, and separate JNB-MPM and POL-JNB flights ... unfortunately flysaa.com does not display prices for the POL-JNB route ...


traveljungle.co.uk does not allow open jaw flights

trabber.com does not allow open jaw flights

majortravel.co.uk does not allow open jaw flights

london - johannesburg ...

looking to fly to Johannesburg, departing London around Fri 13th Apr ... and departing Johannesburg around Saturday 5th May ...

travelocity.co.uk have Kenya Airways for 444 gpb, but the return flight leaves early morning, arriving into London early morning ...

expedia.co.uk have AirFrance/KLM flights for 461 gbp, but the outbound flight leaves london early morning ... they also have Emirates flights for 487 gpb ... and DIRECT flights with SAA for 637 gbp ...

opodo.co.uk have Air France flights for 491 gbp ...

ebookers.co.uk have Kenya Airways for 452 gbp, and Emirates for 486 gbp ... SAA for 627 gbp, Virgin for 645 gpb, and BA for 655 gbp

majortravel.co.uk have KLM flights for 515 gbp ... and no availability on any other fares ...

traveljungle.co.uk have Kenya Airways and Emirates flight for similar prices, and Iberia for 468 gbp ...

trabber.com doesn't have any other fares ...


flysaa.com have flights for 617 gbp ...

virginatlantic.com have flights for 645 gbp ...

ba.com have flights for 1,127 gbp ...

dublin - johannesburg

looking to fly to Johannesburg, departing Dublin on Sat 14th Apr ... and departing Johannesburg on Saturday 5th May ...
travelocity.co.uk have AirFrance flights for 455 gbp

opodo.co.uk have KLM/AirFrance flights for 521 gbp

expedia.co.uk have KLM/AirFrance flights for the same price

ebookers.ie have BA flights for 816 eur

majortravel.co.uk does not have availability on any of its fares

johannesburg to maputo ...

looking to fly from JNB to MPM on Sat 14th or Sun 15th Apr ... returning on Sat 5th May ...

SAA have return flights for 2,016 ZAR - approx 220 eur, 146 gbp ...

SAA also have single flexible flights for 1,506 ZAR - approx 110 gbp ... but their website won't give a price on single inflexible flights ...

LAM do not have their April flights loaded on their website.

dublin - maputo ...

looking to fly to Maputo, departing Dublin on Sat 14th Apr ... and departing Maputo on Saturday 5th May ...
opodo.co.uk has Virgin flights via JNB for 675 gbp

travelocity.co.uk has KLM flights via AMS for 894 gbp

expedia.co.uk has TAP flights connecting in LIS for 940 gbp

ebookers.ie has the TAP flight for 1,425 eur

majortravel.co.uk does not have availability on any of its fares

london - maputo ...

looking to fly to Maputo, departing London on Sat 14th Apr ... and departing Maputo on Saturday 5th May ...

opodo.co.uk have Virgin/SAA flights for 544 gbp - departing LHR at 18:50, arriving in JNB at 06:55 with the connecting flight leaving at 13:50, arriving in MPM at 14:55. The return flight departs at 15:55 arriving in JNB at 17:05 with the connecting Virgin flight departing at 21:00, arriving in LHR at 06:55

expedia.co.uk have TAP flights for 657 gbp

travelocity.co.uk have the same flights for the same price - departing LGW at 16:00, arriving in LIS at 18:25 [or for an extra 5 quid, depart from LHR at 18:20] ... with the connecting flight departing LIS at 23:00 and arriving MPM at 10:45 the next day. on the way back the flight departs MPM at 10:40 arriving in LIS at 05:45 connecting to the LHR flight departing at 08:10 and arriving 10:45

the cheapest flights on ebookers.co.uk are SAA for 801 gbp

the best price on majortravel.co.uk is 764 gbp with SAA

airline-network.co.uk does not have availability on any of its fares

traveljungle.co.uk has the same Virgin and TAP fares as other websites