Air travel options?

It comes down to this: If you buy separate tickets, you have an unprotected connection. If something goes wrong on the first part of the trip and you miss the connection, you are going to have to buy a replacement ticket at the last minute, and that is likely to be very, very painful. If I were going to do this, I would much, much prefer that the connection be in London rather than the US, because a last-minute rail or airline ticket from London to Scotland will not be nearly as costly as a last-minute transatlantic ticket.

This would be safer if you were able to spend the night at your transfer point, but even then there are no absolute guarantees.

Have you looked at flight schedules into both Glasgow and Edinburgh? They're only about an hour apart by train.

I would fly into London, enjoy a few days there, and then take the train to Edinburgh. You go city center to city center, have some nice sightseeing on the way, and avoid all the airport hassle.

Trains from Kings Cross station to Edinburgh make the journey in 4 hours 20 minutes ( some take longer). Right now you can get Advance tickets for mid-June dates for £42 on the trains departing Kings Cross at 11 am. You would arrive in the Edinburgh city center at 15:19.

We sometimes fly into Heathrow, spent a night or two in London and see some sights(once did a great day trip from London to Cambridge) before flying to BA to our final destination. This is partly because we like to fly Virgin. We never run out of things to see in the London area.

I forgot to post the link for checking and buying train tickets for London to Edinburgh.

http://ojp.nationalrail.co.uk/personal/home/search

Just in case there are more options that tried, have you searched flights via Google Flights or matrix ita software? These sites don't sell tickets and often offer more than expedia or similar.

I agree with Lola that if you go with the London option (staying a few days there then traveling to Scotland) take the train. We did this in 2017 in between 2 tours. We booked our tickets online and actually went first class which is very reasonable on weekends. Was so much more pleasant than getting to the airport then dealing with security. Also no charge for bags. Just be sure to bring the credit card you're charging the ticket on with you as it's needed to print it out at the station.

If you just want to spend a night at Heathrow, the Premier Inn at T4 normally has excellent rates.

Does your RS tour ends in Nice or Rome? How are you planning to get home from there? This might make a difference as to what airline you choose.

We like Aer Lingus, whose flights go direct from the US to Dublin. There are many connections from Dublin to Edinburgh, including on Ryanair. Flying home on Aer Lingus is nice because you can go through US customs/immigration in Dublin on the way home. When you arrive in the US, you can just pick up your luggage.

Which RS tour are you taking out of Paris the 14 day of France ending in Nice or the 14 day best of Europe ending in Rome?

Going to London a few days early then a train to Scotland seems like a nice way to go.

May we assume you know about and are looking at the Multi City option to find your flights to London and back from Nice or Rome. As opposed to two One Way fares.

"I have also looked at making my way stateside, booking that flight on my own, to a city with a Scotland direct flight.....any flaws in that logic? It kind of seemed more trouble than it is worth."

If you book all on one ticket, it's not any more trouble than a flight to London. I agree that you don't want to do this on separate tickets, though.

Since you have no nonstop flights from Arkansas to Europe, flying to either London or Glasgow or Edinburgh will all involve a change somewhere in the US. Coming back from Paris, you'll also have to make at least one change. It seems your closest airport is Northwest Arkansas Regional. A great trick I learned on this Forum: to find who flies where from an airport, look at the airport's Wikipedia page.

Doing that, I see that you can get flights on American to Charlotte, Dallas, or Los Angeles; on Delta to Atlanta or Minneapolis; and United to Chicago, Denver, Houston, San Francisco or Newark. Of course there are other options too, but these airports will in turn have nonstop flights to Europe, on the same carrier or a partner carrier, so you can fly on one ticket with one stop to Europe.

You will save money and hassle by flying into the UK and out of Paris (called "open jaw"). To find these flights, use the "multi city" or "multiple destinations" option on a website, rather than one way or round trip. Sometimes you have to hunt for this (on United's website, it's hidden under "advanced search").

Knowing all this, now go to Google Flights or Kayak. Put in XNA (Norhwest Arkansas Regional airport) as your origin and LON (all London airports) as your destination for your first leg, and PAR (all Paris airports) as your origin and XNA as your destination for your second leg. See what comes up. Then repeat, except try GLA (Glasgow) instead of LON. Finally, repeat with EDI (Edinburgh) instead of LON or GLA.

When evaluating flights, consider how long the transfer times are, and make sure you don't have to change airports (for instance, from Kennedy to LaGuardia in New York, or from Dulles to National in DC). And, be sure to post here what you're considering buying, BEFORE you buy it! Too often, people post only after they've bought non-refundable tickets, and it's too late to make changes.

Yes, it's a lot of work. But it's the only way to get the best flights for your needs.

Agree with Lola. Fly into London, spend a night or more, and then take a train to Scotland. From a cost and comfort standpoint you will come out ahead.

I hate making connections. I fly out of BNA, and we now have a direct flight from Nashville to London on British Air. But if I want to head to London on any other airline, I'm looking at multiple connections.

I would never do a domestic connection of less than two hours, especially changing planes at ORD. I'd say look at a different starting date OR look at other airlines and just know in advance that you're going to have to juggle connections. I agree that it's a pain, but it may be your only way to reach your starting point.

If your next point is Edinburgh, consider flying into London (or Manchester) and spending a night or two. Then head onto Scotland.

As someone pointed out above, if you book separate tickets, you risk losing your later flights if something delays your first one. If you're flight to Edinburgh is the next day, you may have enough room. I had an issue once flying American Air. I landed in London 12 hours later than expected, but because my tickets were all on the same reservation, they made sure I reached my final destination which was in Ireland. If those reservations had not been on the same ticket, then AA/BA would have had no obligation to transport me anywhere.

Be wary of any flights that have you transferring from an overseas flight to a U.S. flight in Chicago until they get their Air Train at ORD back up and running. (I fly in and out of Tulsa and learned the hard way last November. No fun.) you can google transport between air terminals at O’Hare to get an idea.

I agree with what Lola and others have said — fly into London and spend a night or two and then take the train up to Edinburgh.

Definitely fly into London and spend a night or two and then take the train up to Edinburgh. There are plenty of hotels in vicinity of St. Pancras and Euston Stations and make a good base to see the city.