Alternate to flying to Paris

Hi Jim. Are you flying out of Florida? What's your itinerary in Europe? Have you looked at flying out of other airports in the U.S., like Newark or NYC airports? That might be a cheaper option and you could book a separate round-trip ticket from Orlando to and from the departure city. If London isn't on your itinerary, I would try to find other options of getting to a city on your itinerary. If you decide to fly into London, leave A LOT of time between your arrival and your departure on a train or other form of transportation because things can happen. A few years ago I did something similar to what you're considering and my checked bag got lost and I missed my flight from London to Paris and had to purchase new tickets.

Jim, this is not answering your question directly but points out possible other options. You could check airberlin. They fly out of Ft. Myers to Duesseldorf in Germany but not every day. I think they also have flights out of Tampa (again, not daily) but I don't know to where in Germany. They fly all over Europe, too (in Paris, they use Charles de Gaulle/CDG). A lof of Germans in Florida fly back and forth a lot. You'd have to take the train to Paris or another flight but if it's a lot cheaper it may be worth it. Also, be aware that they have restrictions on luggage weight and size, especially in Europe. This is a "domestic free call" number for airberlin in the U.S. 1-866-266-5588 and this is the website I used to check on flights out of Ft. Myers:
http://www.airberlin.com/site/aims.php?LANG=eng&SHOW=DEP

Hi Jim, On our 2008 trip, we flew round trip to LHR. Upon arrival, we went to St. Pancras station and took the Eurostar to Paris. We booked a train leaving six hours after our expected landing time. This gave us a cushion if the plane was late. Since it wasn't, we had time to visit the British library, very close to St. Pancras, and have a pleasant lunch at the train station.........After enjoying Paris, we got a rental car and toured Brittany, Normandy, and northern France, before returning the car at Calais and taking the ferry and then train back to London for a few days.

Cynthia has a great thought. From LHR, you take the Picadilly metro line to the Kings Cross station (about an hour). St. Pancras train station is next door to the King's Cross metro station. They are connected by an underground tunnel. If you get the chance, the British Library is on the next block from St. Panras. It's literally 3 minutes away. For lunch, I would suggest the really great cafeteria in the British Library. This is of course after you see the Magna Carta and other original manusripts in a special room on the first floor. Entry to the library is free.

But the question is, are you saving any money? I just did a quick search on Delta, and the difference was about $120 per person. That could quickly get eaten up by Eurostar tickets, tube, taxi, etc. You'd have to have a little cash in London, then you'd probably have some left over. And most importantly, you're using a day on each end of your vacation just doing more traveling. You could do it if you wanted to, but do you want to?

Jim, I was going to raise the same point that Karen mentioned. In order to determine which travel method is least expensive, you'll have to include the costs of the EuroStar, and other transportation in the overall calculation. If your ultimate destination is Paris, you may find after all factors are considered, that it's actually cheaper just to book a flight to Paris. Cheers!

Second what the previous posters said. How much are you really saving? Also you need to look into the time involved, do you really want to fly from Florida to Newark,Nj to save a couple of hundred dollars and consider the time of year, if winter can have flight delays. Think this through carefully to see if it is worth saving a few hundred dollars.

I for one am very tired when I get off the transatlantic plane and want to get to my hotel room as fast as possible. Please consider how tired you will be of making connections, sitting upright in the same clothes and watching your suitcase after you add several hours more travel. Does not sound like a good start to a vacation, no matter how long you are staying.
Now coming home, I can almost see the attraction in squeezing in a few more sights!

There is no guarantee that you can get into your room for some rest after a long flight. Many, if not most, transatlantic flights from the U.S. arrive in the early to mid-morning. Hotels will usually hold your bags for you, but most hotels have mid-afternoon check-in. If the previous night's guests have not departed, you may find yourself roaming city streets, waiting for shops to open, or camped out in the lobby for a few hours. The train from London to Paris may not save you any money, but you should be able to rest during the journey and, if you time it right, you could get to Paris in time for hotel check-in.

We always fly to London from Dallas and Eurostar to Paris after a night or two enjoying London. We avoid CDG deliberately and have found the Eurostar between those cities is a delightful experience. City center to city center then a taxi or metro/tube to the front doors of our hotels is hard to beat. We book our Eurostar tickets at 120 days prior to travel and it's about $240-$255USD for two, or more, depending on the time and day of the week. www.seat61.com can enlighten you about the Eurostar and maybe a ferry from England to France, which we've done as well. If you go beyond Paris then using trains and/rental cars is another issue. We enjoy taking the trains from Paris to other French destinations and most often use a reserved rental car to further explore. It's all easily doable via the internet using www.tripadvisor.com and asking lots of questions there.

Thank you all for the information and the things to ponder. We are planing a 2 week tour around France, Italy, and Spain. I have worked in Spain, and we have done the cruise thing in the past. My wife and I love to research and make informed decisions, and I am so surprised to get so much feedback. Thanks again to all!
Jim

Since you are planning to see three countries, I suggest you fly into one country and home from another if at all possible to save you from back tracking.

I have done this. One thing to watch is the taxes... they are often MUCH higher into London so the savings may not be as high. So make sure you are comparing the FINAL prices. Also leave LOTS of time for connections. I found a cheap airfare London to Paris and allowed 4 hours. Remember that if you miss the plane/train you may be stuck buying a full fare ticket that costs LOTS more then your savings. (I got an intro fare, Business Boston to London for about $1300 total so the savings were worth it as that was cheaper then a coach fare to CDG, but it takes something like that for me to do it)

I fly to London, take the Tube to the St Pancras/Kings Cross area, then stay overnight at a nearby hotel. I may have to kill a few hours before I can get into my reserved room, but that gives me time to start dealing with jetlag. I catch an early Eurostar train to Paris the next day. By the time I arrive at my hotel, I can usually get into my room there. United Airlines used to fly non-stop to Paris, but no more. The last time I flew to Paris I had a 4-hrs layover at Heathrow. That was a real killer for me. I decided I would find a way getting to Paris that wasn't so stressful. My first day in Europe is a loss anyway because of the exhaustion and jetlag. I figure I might as well do the two-part trip and arrive in Paris rested. The other option would be for me to find an airline that would take me non-stop to Paris. I may look into that. I use United because I'm in their frequent-flyer program.

Swan,
Would you mind posting the hotels you have used near the station? I was going to do this, but I found such a good airline deal on AF that I went with "plan b". However, using frequent flyer miles it's often easier to get to London then anywhere else.... So, free comes with a price.

Jim, if you spend the night in London you will definitely eat up any savings from flying into London. Plus you would eat up one day of the vacation you planned for Paris, Italy and Spain. Or more if your flight is London Rt and you have to return there at the end. Your best option, time-wise, is to fly into Paris and out from your last city, maybe either Madrid or Rome. Check flight prices for several cities and you might find something that works best, price wise.

Hi Jim, My wife and are doing this for a trip in April. At this point in time, there is a considerable difference between the prices to the two cities that there is a couple hundred dollars saved after purchasing the flights and Eurostar tickets.