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Expert travelers to the rescue. :-)

We are starting our European vacation flying from Orlando to London then next day to Gothenburg for $1,387.16 total.

We (4 adults) find ourselves on the last leg of our vacation in Paris on July 21st. We need to end up in Tallahassee, Florida (travel by rental car) preferably on Saturday, July 22nd or Sunday, July 23rd. Flying into Tallahassee is cost-prohibitive so arriving at Ft. Lauderdale (FLL), Orlando (ORL) or even Miami International (MIA) and getting a rental car is our best option.

Here are some of the options we've considered (price per person):

  1. Travel straight from Paris to Orlando - $890 .50 (14h 15m) - total $3,562
  2. Travel straight from Paris to Ft. Lauderdale - $1,148 .66 (16h 51m) - total $4,594.64
  3. Travel straight from Paris to Miami - $1,047 .80 (12h 40m) - total $4,191.2
  4. Travel to Stockholm ($135.60) on 7/21 (stay in a hotel ~$250) then to Ft. Lauderdale- $477 .26 (10h 5m) - total $2,701.44
  5. Travel straight from Paris to Atlanta- $649.16 (17h 35m) - total $2,596.64
  6. Travel straight from Paris to Jacksonville - $771.96 (17h 2m) - total $3,087.84

I was hoping that there was some way to go from Paris in the morning on 7/22 to Stockholm and continue to Orlando, but can't find a connection to make. There is only one airline (Aer Lingus) that has the $890.50 rate, the next airline is nearly $1,600.

It's a tough pill to swallow paying nearly two to three times as much to come home as it was to get to Europe. Any helpful tips or advice would be appreciated. If the advice is "that's just the way it is... grin and bear it," I will do so.

Posted by
28078 posts

I'm confused about how Stockholm figures into your plan.

I hope someone here familiar with flight options into Florida can help.

This is what Google Flights comes up with for July 22, traveling from Paris to Florida. Choose the least expensive destination that's workable for you, and put it in the box where you see "Florida", then work your way upward, price-wise. Although Google Flights is pretty comprehensive (I see Icelandair), I don't believe it covers Norwegian Air Shuttle, which I think flies into Orlando (?) and might work for you.

For future reference, if you're paying for flights to Europe (as opposed to cashing in frequent-flyer miles), it's often substantially cheaper to buy a multi-city ("open-jaw") ticket rather than two one-ways. You might have been able to get a good price for an itinerary like Florida-Gothenburg [should have been Florida-London] // Paris-Florida.

Posted by
1046 posts

I am not sure I understand your dilemma. Did you buy a one-way ticket to Europe flying from Orlando to London? Then taking a connecting flight the next day to Gothenburg? If you finish your journey in Paris - why are you wanting to fly back North to Stockholm to not make a stop but just to get a flight into Orlando? You would be better to either buy a round trip ticket - Orlando to London (use EuroStar to get back into London from Paris) or better still, pick the multi-city tab and buy open jaw flying into London and returning from Paris into what ever airport is cheapest and nearest to your final destination. Its is not cost effective to buy one-way tickets to Europe. if you live near Tallahassee, can you not get a connecting flight from one of the main airports? Driving from Miami to Tallahassee after a long flight is something I would not want to do. American Airlines have a return flight for $1588 going from Tallahassee via Miami to London . Choosing multi city from Tallahassee to London via Miami and Paris to TLH via Charlotte for $1474 for total trip. (just an example). Your one-way tickets will cost at least this much each effectively doubling the price of your journey to and from Europe.

Posted by
21153 posts

Gee, what airline are you using to get to Gothenburg?
That is the gotcha, cheap one way over, expensive one way back. Average: about what everybody else pays, around $1200 per person.

Posted by
42 posts

I would pick option #5. $1000 cheaper than option #1 and about the same drive time.

That puts your total airfare around $4K. Not terrible for 4 adults.

Posted by
8319 posts

You may be over analyzing the situation and the options.
Have you looked at Norwegian Air Shuttle from Orlando? They're flying to Gatwick, Oslo, Copenhagen and Paris (starting 7/31). And they can connect you to their domestic flights within Europe from those cities too.
Throwing Ft. Lauderdale or Miami as options coming home would be difficult as Tallahassee's a long, long road trip to get home from there.
We've flow 5 legs with them on 2 separate trips to and from Orlando. Flying from Budapest to Boston next month is only $238 each person one way.
See: Norwegian.com

Posted by
11613 posts

Wouldn't Atlanta be closer to Tallahassee?

And why one-way tickets?

Posted by
64 posts

Yes. I purchased one-way tickets (a mistake apparently). I didn't know better so I'm now trying to find the most affordable way to get to Tallahassee. The only reason I'd consider going to Stockholm is because tickets from Paris to Stockholm are relatively inexpensive and from Stockholm to ORL or FLL are more affordable. The fact that I can't arrive in Stockholm and immediately go to ORL/FLL the same day makes that option less attractive.

My best option now is options 5 or 6. This will probably be a one-time trip for our family (kids are about to move out soon) but my wife and I will benefit from lesson's learned on this trip.

Posted by
3522 posts

You may be able to change the one way tickets into open jaw round trips. (Open jaw means you arrive in one city (Gothenburg) but return from another (Paris).) There will still be a change fee, but I am willing to bet that, if your airline allows it, the total including fees will come in costing a whole lot less than what you have found for two one way tickets. You will have to call and talk with your airline.

Sometimes it makes sense to buy one way tickets like if you are traveling within a single country. But as soon as you cross continents, the price seems to always sky rocket.

Posted by
11294 posts

"I purchased one-way tickets (a mistake apparently)."

Alas, yes. The budget airlines don't have different prices for one way flights, but the other airlines sure do. Next time, instead of one way flights, look for "multi city" or "multiple destination" flights, all on one ticket. These are much cheaper than two one-ways.

I'd start with Mark's suggestion; see if you can get your current ticket changed. Even with change fees, it may be cheaper than two one-ways.

Posted by
64 posts

How do I search multiple flights on Travelocity? I'm trying "multi-city" but get "We've searched more than 400 airlines that we sell, and couldn't find any flights for your current search."

We have 4 flights to make for our trip:

  1. Orlando - London (7/1) - reserved already for $1159.96 on Condor Airlines
  2. London - Gothenburg (7/3) - reserved already for $227.20 on Norwegian Air Shuttle
  3. Stockholm - Munich (7/10) - reserved already for $333.45 on AirBaltic
  4. Paris - [Orlando or Jacksonville or Atlanta] (7/22)- needing to make the trip home. Unless we can find a better deal, we are looking at arriving in Jacksonville for $771/ticket or Atlanta for $649/ticket.

I am very happy with the rates for the first 3 trips for my family of 4. I guess I would have to contact all 3 airlines and pay a switching fee if possible. Booking these budget airlines doesn't give me much flexibility.

Posted by
1261 posts

Hi James. We're all in this together learning - hopefully your info / experience will help others. For multi city, try just the two flights to and from Europe; keep your middle two flights as is. For instance, I tried Orlando to London for July 1 and Paris to Orlando for July 22 and I see a round trip fare of $755. If this made sense, you could inquire if there is any refund possibility on your Condor flights (doubtful), or just not use them. Enjoy your trip!

Posted by
11294 posts

Sometimes instead of "multi city" it's called "multiple destinations." That's the case with Travelocity. On any flight website, look for it next to "one way" and "round trip."

Do look also at the budget carriers that offer one-way pricing, as Tom_MN suggested.

Posted by
64 posts

Hi James. We're all in this together learning - hopefully your info / experience will help others. For multi city, try just the two flights to and from Europe; keep your middle two flights as is. For instance, I tried Orlando to London for July 1 and Paris to Orlando for July 22 and I see a round trip fare of $755. If this made sense, you could inquire if there is any refund possibility on your Condor flights (doubtful), or just not use them. Enjoy your trip!

In order to possibly help others needing to fly in and out of different European airports, "Open Jaw" or "Multi City" was the way to go. In the end, it cost me about $80 extra (per person * 4) total by traveling "one way" both ways.

We are travelling Condor back from Paris to Orlando for $619/person. I tried negotiating with them, to no avail (not surprised as it was my mistake). Lesson learned ($) and I'm not dwelling on it any longer.

Posted by
10198 posts

James -- Good for you. You took a much smaller hit than I might have feared -- and good for you for taking on that information and moving on. Be sure to post other questions pertinent to your plans so people can offer advice on the on-the-ground elements of your trip.