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TOOLS : [SECTION] : Strong Euro? No Problem! These days, it takes $1.33 to buy one Euro and $1.92 to buy a single British Pound. Yes, my friends, a trip to Europe has become quite the pricey proposition in this era of punishing exchange rates. Add to that massive amounts of Euroflation, the phenomenon that, ever since most of Western Europe adopted a single currency, has inflated the price of everything from a liter of milk to a hotel room for the night. Does that mean we should just stay home this year? Not at all. Welcome to "Strong Euro? No Problem!" the ReidsGuides.com Travel Show for March 21, 2005. Last spring, I made a nine-day trip to Apulia, the "heel" of Italy's boot and a far less expensive region than, say, Florence or Venice. Even though I found a cheap airfare and car rental, stayed only in one- and two-star hotels, ate in modest little family-run restaurants for dinner and had sandwiches most lunches, my total bill still came to a shocking $2,900. That's why I've compiled this list of ten money-saving tips to help whittle down the unavoidably high price tag of a European holiday. Now, I'm not going to tell you to avoid the big cities--though that would, of course, be cheaper--or to skip the major sights and museums, despite steep admissions charges. These tips are all about how to have your Paris-London-Venice vacation without breaking the bank. 1. Find the Cheapest Airfare Forget about your frequent flier miles and just shop around for the cheapest transatlantic airfare--which you're unlikely to find on Orbitz, Travelocity, or Expedia. Those major booking engines can be useful in getting a sense of the general cost for a particular route, but since they only include major carriers, often tack on their own fees, and ignore such money-saving options as consolidators, you can find better prices elsewhere. There are two main places to search. First, check out going price at airfare consolidator Destination Europe (888-223-5555, www.autoeurope.com), which has special agreements with several major airlines to provide cut rates. Then see if you can beat that using an online aggregator, which is a search engine that will sift through all the major airline Web sites, the sales, and other resources for you. The best are Momondo.com, Vayama.com 2. Consider a Packaged Vacation A package is not a guided tour; it's just a way of buying your hotel and airfare at the same time in order to save money on both. You still travel independently, and your vacation is your own--you do with your own time whatever it is you want. As a rough price guide, roundtrip airfare from, say, New York or Boston plus five or six nights' lodging in a major European city—London, Paris, Rome, etc.—usually starts around $399 to $699 per person for two people traveling together—'course prices do go up during the summer high season. Flights from other US gateways add on around from $20 to $100 from cities on the East Coast up to as much as $300 or more as you move west. The accommodations on vacation packages are usually pretty bland--tourist-class hotels, often near the train station--but the savings can be a substantial. And besides, you can usually pick a nicer hotel with a better location for a modest additional fee. The best-priced packages are invariably offered by one of four companies: Go-Today.com (800-227-3235, www.go-today.com), Off Peak Traveler (no phone, www.offpeaktraveler.com), Octopus Travel (866-462-8678, www.octopustravel-us.com), and Gate 1 Travel (800-682-3333, www.gate1travel.com). For air-car packages, you should also check out Destination Europe (888-223-5555, www.autoeurope.com), and for mix-and-match packages including airfare, hotels, car rental for a few days perhaps, and some train tickets, try Euro Vacations (877-471-3876, www.eurovacations.com). Of course there are specialists who do packages to certain countries and certain regions of Europe, and I've got a list of a lot of them at ReidsGuides.com. more >>
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