It is time for a deserved holiday back to France! That trip is part of my 2013 financial goals and I can’t wait to go. May is a lovely season if you remember my travel tips for France, the days are sunny, there are 3 bank holidays making 3 long weekends, and my sister is turning 30. It is a perfect time to go. I have been spending so much time looking for flights to Europe that my head is dizzy.
I have a date with this beauty!!
My options are
1. Go to Guatemala City (9 hours night bus, $15, pretty straightforward) and catch a $1,200 flight to Europe
2. Go to Cancun, Mexico (15 hours, two buses, $50, two border crossings through Belize) and catch a $700 flight to Europe
3. Go to Cancun, catch a $330 one way flight to Europe, a $500 one way from Europe to NYC or Miami, spend a few days there, then fly Spirit for $80 back to Cancun or $150 back to Guatemala. Total around $1,000.
4. Go to the nearby airport and take a $1800 flight to Europe. Yes, they charge $600 more to fly locally, although a round trip to Guatemala City is “only” $300 so I could bundle with option 1 for $1500. I still think it is a steep price for a 300 miles flight to charge $300 since this is the price to fly to the US.
The third option is my favorite so far, but I would have to fly on April 30th to France (OMG that is freaking soon!!), and be back to Guatemala by May 21st to get those rates, afterwards it gets really expensive. I know for most of you 3 weeks holidays are forever but I like to travel slowly and have lots of places to be and people to see. It is the occasion to get back on my motorcycle and do a bit of traveling too, I may go to Croatia or Morocco and would like at least four or five weeks.
I think I could try to negotiate a layover in option 1 since most flights go through the US, although it would probably be Houston or Atlanta instead of New York or Miami. I have never been to the former but am not as excited to visit as I would be the later. I don’t think it would change the price much, and that $1,200 flight don’t get a lot more expensive come June.
If you know about cheap charter companies that fly the Europe to US route I’d love to hear about them! I have looked at Iceland Air and Aer Lingus who both quoted about $500 for a Europe to NY ticket. I also found LAX for $450 but the flight to Guatemala was much more expensive.
The US layover in option 3 would cost $300 compared to option 2, it would not only be a holiday extension but also a shopping trip, to buy a new laptop, a few clothes, some running shoes (because the lack of proper shoes is obviously the reason why I am not running /sarcasm), and a couple more items that are more expensive in Europe or Guatemala. I think I can save about $150-$200, mostly because of the laptop.
Since the shopping savings are lower than the cost of the layover I do need to look for stops in cities I want to (re)visit, not just head to the mall and hop back on the plane.
Once I land, I will get my lovely motorcycle and be independent, which is great since I don’t have to book train tickets on top! Depending on how many days the flight spans over, I am thinking about a few days in Paris, my dearest hometown, few days in the South, stopping en-route to visit my grandparents, then maybe Spain, Italy, Morocco or Croatia to visit some friends. It is going to be an intense month!
Have you planned your summer holiday? Where to?
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I’m not going to be going on any kind of an extended holiday. Probably a few scattered days off here and there. I would like to take a few weeks off, but it costs a lot to go anywhere and I don’t have friends or relatives I can bum a room from in any exotic lands.
Usually the cost of the flight makes up for the savings at the location. You can fly US to Guatemala for about $400 RT in normal times, $150 on offer, and get a good $25/night hotel, or a basic $5-$10/night. Or stay home, save on the flight but spend at least $50-$75 per night.
Ah Paris, have you stopped in Lyon too? Still one of my favourite places in France.
yes, there should be a Lyon stop on the way! I love that city too, and the food…
I love the idea of #3 myself. If I had the time, I’m not sure I could resist!
yes, that is a pretty cool one!
I would probably do option one since I wouldn’t want to deal with CBP in the US right now, especially at JFK. Maybe I say that because I have to deal with those idiots on a nearly daily basis via the telephone so I might be a little biased.
I am jealous that you get to tour Europe on a motorcycle. That is totally on my bucket list. Maybe I could use you as a broker and pay you a commision to find me a decent bike to buy and then sell when I am done? I really hope to see some pictures from your tours (which I am sure you’ll post). No matter what it sounds like a fantastic trip!
All we have planned so far is a trip to Vegas for my wife’s 30th B-day do over (since she had just had a baby right before her 30th last year). We also will need to see my sister in Baltimore since she just had a baby over the weekend. Other than that things are pretty much up in the air.
Also I don’t know if you have ever visited advrider.com but they would probably love it if you posted pictures of your touring adventures. They live for that stuff there.
I have, as well as horizonsunlimited, but it is quite the time suck! I’ll keep my blog as the main outlet. Plus a little tour de France and nearby countries is not much for them, I am not crossing the Sahara solo!
a do over bday, I love the idea! you guys will have a blast. Good point about the US transit, especially if I want to bring wine and/or cheese on the way back.
I do rent my bike if you are interested 🙂 At the moment it is with a friend who kept it running over winter but I am putting ads around to offer it to short term travelers. Unless you plan on taking several months off I guess it makes sense to rent.
I like #3 as well. I know more is involved with it, but it looks better and like something I would do. We have not planned anything for this summer yet. We may just do something simple and local. We’re saving for a bigger trip next year and travelling with three little ones…you need a vacation after it. 🙂
you need a vacation, the car needs a vacation, the grandparents you visited need a vacation! we used to go camping when I was young, a fun family adventure and you don’t have to go far.
I haven’t really travelled that much, as you might know. I have no plans this summer and am going to focus on stuff at my house such as working on our backyard and getting ready for our renter to move out end of July (and finding a new renter), as well as getting a few plumbing things fixed. I would love to travel, but it’s not exactly in the cards right now and I hope that when I have finances more in order and my wife and I both have our careers going (or side hustles bringing in more cash) that we can take a Europe vacation or travel down south (we love Belize!). Or maybe you can give us a cheap rental? 😉
sure! you have to enjoy Mayan ruins and the peace and quiet, but paired with a few days in Belize or the rest of Guatemala it can be a fantastic holiday.
Hey, I’m cheap… I’d go for #2 and save the $$$ for the actual vacation.
We also take our annual vacation in Spring, rather than summer. Last year was a roadtrip in the Northeast with Quebec City as the turning point. Next month hopefully will be Tahoe, Yosemite and whatever else presents itself when we’re in that neck of the woods. As you can tell, planning is not something we do much of. Such is the luxury of road tripping in the States 🙂
Sounds great! I loved the Rockies area and Yosemite is breathtaking.
Re option 2, yes it is cheap, although getting a $300 US layover instead of going to the US later this year is pretty cheap too. I may have forgotten to mention that the last time I came via Cancun, the border officials wanted a bribe and I may have jumped on the Guatemalan side without a Mexican exit stamp, so going directly to Europe may straighten that too and avoid border headaches haha…
Wow! I’d love to take a 3-5 week holiday. Unfortunately, that’s not in my cards right now. Short, 5 day trips are all I can spare. But I’m fine with that for now. As for your options, option 2 looks pretty good. And with option 3, isn’t that still a 15-hour bus ride? Good luck on whatever you choose!
Option 3 is a 15 hour bus ride one way, then I can go back to Guatemala straight from Miami or NY, and get a “free” US layover compared to the first option. And yes, a month holiday is a cool luxury, now I rarely take a week somewhere, or feel too rushed.
A 3 week holiday sounds like heaven to me right now! So many options there, I’d also be leaning towards option 3, always wanted to go to America. Hope you get it all sorted soon.
It sounds like you have a lot of thinking to do. I don’t even know which method I would choose. I don’t get that much time off from work, so these long trips are never on my mind. A long trip for me is a week. With a new baby, I don’t think we will be doing anything long this year. We will take a few trips to the mountains to enjoy a few extended weekends, but that is about it.
A baby make is much more complicated to plan anything, so small yet so many things to pack!
Sounds like a wonderful trip, Pauline! I don’t know enough about travel to give you advice there, but I know your wisdom will help you make the right choice. 🙂
I hope so too!
We haven’t planned anything in detail but we’ll be going to Sofia (another attempt at selling stuff) and then spend couple of weeks at the sea.
Did you manage to get your passport yet? I hope your attempt is successful. Will you go to the Black Sea?
No, thanks and yes :). About the passport thing, I’ll probably need to get to Sofia in June (before the school holidays flights are rather cheap) and try to sort it out.
Nice! I really enjoyed the coast around Nessebar, so different from the Mediterranean, and the food… hope you sort it out quickly to have more time on the beach.
Would your little wooden boat make it across the ocean? LOL! I have no idea about European airlines. We have a 10 day trip to the Pacific Northwest that will be completely free because of credit card rewards. Not as exciting as France, but we are looking forward to it. I can send you a guest post if you still need one. Let me know.
mind you, we have been using the roof as a sail, so it might just make it, although I may have to drop some wood if I want to get there before Christmas, that thing is heavy haha! Thanks for the guest post offer, I am about sorted out but still publish one every Wednesday so happy to have you whenever you want.
Option 1 sounds the best to me, because it’s splitting the difference cost wise and all the connections and going through different places sounds like of a headache to me, but I’m a bit different in that I don’t like getting from point a to point b. It stresses me out.
It is stressful indeed, but so is flying (I hate it!) and option 1 actually has 3 flights, 3 take offs, 3 landings, 6 sweaty palms nervously holding the seat. Going to Mexico overland is a pain but at least it is a direct flight to Belgium and then bus or train to Paris.
Well, whichever route you choose, I hope you have a safe and fun trip! 🙂 I would probably choose the cheapest ($700). But if I hadn’t already extensively visited NYC I’d definitely want to go. As for Miami: you already live in a tropical country!! lol Sorry, that’s the only thing that gets me jealous at all: nicer weather. It’d be so much easier to do stuff if there was never a day where snow got piled a meter high in a few hours.
I used to make fun of people here because they go to Miami 2-3 times a year, it is the mall of Latin America. They buy everything over there, clothes, household items… and come back with heavy suitcases to Guatemala. Now that I realize how complicated and/or expensive it is to get quality items around here I sort of get it (although since you are paying for a US trip anyway you could visit a different place each time) and got curious to make it a quick shopping stop on the way back. And check out the Art Deco for a day or two. But like you it has never been top of the list.
I don’t yet have my annual overseas trip planned. It’s my US year this year usually and I was thinking Thanksgiving perhaps. Actually today is a perfect day to think about it as I just for more than $1k in back pay!! I’ll put it in high interest savings for now, but food for though.
Interestingly, I find the options, like you listed, the most stressful part of travelling. Just the working out of ‘what’s best’ as a balance of money, dates, and even flight times. Sometimes the cost and inconvenience of a 4am flight or a 11pm flight can kill me – like you waste the day cause you check out and you don’t want to get hot and sweaty before a long haul, or your transport to the airport is limited due to the time. So whatever you chose, I hope it works wonderfully!
I like the time around Halloween too, it is festive, and usually quite mild weather wise. Have you thought about round the world tickets? Sometimes there are great offers with a stop in the US, one in Europe and one in SE Asia for a couple hundred more than just the US round trip. STA has good quotes.
Wow, you’ve really thought this through. Around here, it’s pretty common for people to take a month or more off when visiting family in Europe, so I don’t think that your plan is too bad.
It’s better to take it slow and enjoy yourself, I always hate rushing around on vacations. I feel like I’d be doing just that at work. Have fun with your planning and I cannot wait to hear how it turns out.
oh really? I thought 2 weeks was already a lot in the US. Do they accumulate holidays for a couple of years or just take unpaid leaves of absence?
That’s a great looking motorcycle! I rode (in the back, not the driver) along the Californian coastline and it was such a great experience – can’t wait to see your pics from the ride. So jealous if you make it to Croatia, as well – that’s definitely on my to-do list. I would probably choose Option 3 for adventure’s sake, though Option 1 if you just wanted to stick to something more simple.
Summers are for working, not vacationing! That said, I will be taking a week in late September to travel back to NJ for a wedding and visit family.
Instead of flying in to New York, you should fly into Denver instead. 😉
Pauline, how lovely it would be to think you could be coming through Houston. Lovely for us, but not for you. There is little here. So sad that I don’t recommend “my” city, but I want you to have a nice layover. If it ends up being Houston, please let us know!
Your research is nothing short of amazing. I get an education every time you post. Thank you!
I’m like you and used to spend days trying to find the best deals to go on holidays. I’d take the cheapest even if it meant it took a bit longer and some connecting flights, but that’s just me. I like to take my time travelling as well and normally went minimum 3 weeks up to over a month on holidays when I was living in the UK. I haven’t done it since I moved to Canada as prices are not like back home, not even close. I also don’t get the 8 weeks holidays like I used to either, now I get maybe 5-6 weeks although I don’t work a traditional work week like most here. If I go back to the UK with the wife I’ll be staying there for a bit then buying tickets from UK to where we want to go. I’d go with whatever option makes you comfortable mate. I think in your head you already know the answer! Cheers and looking forward to all the upcoming blog posts about your travels.
Pricey freakin’ options, all. But you’ll have spectacular fun, no doubt. Hopefully you’ll make some posts about your time in France;)
Well, the Mom in me who travels with two young children would say #1 because it appears to be the easiest. But the solo adult traveler in me appreciates the convenience of #1 but likes the idea of #3 better. 🙂 I love how you’re taking 3-4 weeks and traveling on your motorcycle. Sounds like a wonderful time and certainly look forward to the pictures. We’re going on a Mediterranean Disney Cruise this summer, so we’re all pretty excited.
Option 3 isn’t bad at all. It would allow you to not only go to Cancun but also see a few cities in the US on your round trip to France. A thousand isn’t bad when you compare when I went to Aruba back in 2003 and paid over $800 round trip there.
I hope you have a great time Pauline! I see the picture of the bike you mentioned before, that should be fun, I bet it’s patiently waiting to be ridden :). When we are ready and not working full time, I would like to spend six weeks in Europe. Two weeks in Spain, another two in France and two more putzing around a few more countries. Spain and France are the two musts though.