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Hi folks

Total newbie to multi-stop travel. I'm trying to book a flight for 2 people from CA (USA)-->Northern Italy (Milan / Florence)-->Istanbul--->Bangkok--->CA

is airtreks the best way to go about it? I had things all lined up with a travel agent and, due to circumstances too lengthy to describe here, our price is now $4900/person. Travel is from approx 6/10/08 to 8/5/08. Very flexible on dates.

I'm afraid the aforementioned error may have screwed us...so i'm posting here. If I'm posting in the wrong place, please forgive me...any help will be appreciated..

thanks

matt

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1

have you tried looking at kayak.com?

Punch in the individual routes then total the costs.

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2

If you have time, have a look in the lonely planet Gap Year guide. They discuss RTW tickets in some depth.

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3

Did you mean $4900 for both? You can just buy those flights as one-way segments, on major airlines, for something like
$700 Cal-Milan
$300 Milan-Istanbul
$700 Istanbul-Bangkok
$800 Bangkok-US

Just plug in your dates at Kayak or whatever travel engine you prefer, or call any decent agent. You could even go a few hundred dollars cheaper by using budget airlines on the Italy-Istanbul route (say, 100 bucks Milan-Istanbul on myair). Don't pay more than $2000/person for these flights.

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4

thanks for the info. I will check out the lonely planet gap year guide...

airtreks has come back with a fare of $3155.00 each. I will check out kayak.com (never heard of that).

matt

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5

ok...from kayak.com

did the multi-destinations and got $2705...lots of screwy airlines (czech, etc.), but I assume that's OK.

plugged in 1-ways @ kayak and added 'em up (plus using myair for italy to instanbul: $2343.

I'm a little nervous about booking this way...should I be? Never done it before. Should I post the details of the flights here?

matt

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6

That seems about right, though you could do a little bit better with some flexibility on dates. When I looked (using your start and end, and just plugging in the middle flights randomly) from San Fran, I see SFO-Milan (680 on Aer Lingus), Milan-Istanbul (~100 on myair, which I've never flown, but which looks OK), Istanbul to Bangkok (660 on Qatar, a fine airline), and Bangkok-SFO (800 on Asiana, also a nice airline). So something a bit below $2300; these flights would surely be cheaper if you were going in the summer! There's nothing to fear about booking these yourself online - you'll almost certainly just get an e-ticket and be on your way. If you really don't to, write down the flights, call Airtreks or any travel agent, and have them book the dates and flights you specify. You likely will pay a small fee for this, though, and it's perfectly straightforward to book them yourself.

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7

Hi folks

well, we picked up our flight from CA to Italy, but are a little stuck on two things...

(1) myair is a great deal, but I can't figure out their luggage allowanced. 18kg total, for all pieces? Do you just pay for extra weight? What is the best way to deal with myair's luggage issues?

(2) kayak.com had us for asiana airlines for $802. It then sent me to asiana's site to book and they wanted $1046. What gives? Nothing about $802 anywhere on their site...

If I should be posting these questions elsewhere / another section, let me know...

thanks

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8

ok, here's the baggage policy:

he limit of weight of the registered baggage is 18 kg total for a maximum number of three pieces of baggages, whose dimension among length - height - depth shouldn't exceed 160 cm, and it is subject to the payment of a supplement for a single baggage shown at the check-in for the embarkation in the hold. Up to the limit of weight of kg 18, every passenger will have to pay for every single flight. Here are the supplements:
online payment:
- Euro 7.00 for a piece of baggage
- Euro 14.00 for two pieces of baggage
- Euro 21.00 for three pieces of baggages
Payment at the airport (check-in):
- Euro 14.00 for a piece of baggage
- Euro 28.00 for two pieces of baggage
- Euro 42.00 for three pieces of baggages
Infants do not have right to baggage allowance. The weight limit for the recorded baggage is per passenger, personal, not cumulative and/or condivisibile with that of other passengers; that is to say it cannot be shared with the passengers flying on the same flight in order to avoid the payment of the supplement if the baggage exceeds the free allowance. Only one hand baggage (unchecked baggage) not exceeding 7 kg and the dimensions of 115 cm (sum of length, height and width) is allowed on board. myair.com strongly recommends all passengers to provide their baggage with an identification tag indicating their name, surname and address.

so, i think that means 1-3 pieces, with a max cumulative weight of 18kg. That's 39.6lbs. What is the best strategy for dealing with this?

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9
  1. don't worry so much.

  2. RTW tickets are only good if you have set time and schedule. otherwise, if you are more flexible, book it yourself.

no matter what you do, you are getting screwed on the 4900 figure...way to high.. way way to high...


-Matt
nomadicmatt.com

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