So round $1000 is a ``reasonable'' price for a US-to-Europe round trip? It just feels like I should be able to get one for a lot cheaper than that. But I haven't been to Europe in ages, so maybe I'm just deluding myself.

If you can get a cheap flight to London, you may consider flying the last bit with EasyJet.

National car rentals do exist, although they'r not very popular. They have a booth at Schiphol Airport, though.
Minimum age is usually 21 years. Consider Avis and EasyCar too.
Most rental cars are manual, you'd have to pay considerably more for an automatic.

Pim

In case anyone else needs to know, there is a 6 Euro per day surcharge for renters under 25 in Amsterdam. Minimum renter's age is 21 and maximum is 75.

Compare that 6 Euro/day with $25/day I pay in the states and it's a good deal. This from National Car Rental by the way.

National car rentals do exist, although they'r not very popular.

They are very popular with me. As far as I can see, they will always have my business. In the US, it is common for car rental companies to not rent to under 25 year-olds period. Because National will rent to me now, they have my customer loyalty. I am even an Emerald Club member for them.

I have intended to get to each Euro meet as it has come around, but events (or the emptiness of my bank account!) have always conspired against me - such is the cruel hand of fate

I voted for the original date in June, because I don't think any of the dates in July will be convenient. July 18th - 20th might be a possibility, but I guess I'll have to wait and see how the vote goes... fingers crossed!

Bitt, also look at indirect (from this end) flights - DC might be a good choice.

Oh, my lord. Going to Frankfurt or Amsterdam would cost well less than $400, about a third of the cost to fly to London. Whodathunk? What would be the cost of transportation to Amersfoort from Frankfurt or Amsterdam? Maybe I could rent a car and drive.

Indirect didn't seem to make a load of difference.

Lowest price to fly into Frankfurt is $615 for me. Flying into Amsterdam is at least $830.

Frankfurt seems to be a 6+ hour drive away from Amersfoort.

What would be the cost of transportation to Amersfoort from Frankfurt or Amsterdam? Maybe I could rent a car and drive.

Anytime I got to scope out train schedules in Europe, I go to DB's schedule Web page. It includes many schedules outside of Germany. I think you could get a train right from Schiphol to Amersfoort. Frankfurt, too, but longer probably with a change or two. In any case, it is ridiculously easy to change to the train at both of those airports.

Dang, I have to go to Dublin from about July 5 to the 13th for a wedding, but if I tried to sneak away for a meet, I might get shot by the mother of the groom.

Actually, it looks like it's only about 60km from Amsterdam to Amersfoort, so I might just drive. (Assuming I can come.) I'd rather do that anyway, I think.

Huh. You're around New York, right? (Hmmm. Stony Point?) That's odd, because Orbitz shows me a flight fron RDU to JFK to AMS for $415 a person.

I'm looking at July 3 - July 10 (so I can do aome other vacationing at the same time). I see similar things from JFK (via other cities or not).

Any ideas about the rules for driving in the Netherlands? Do I have to apply for some international license or anything? Where can I read a manual for road signs, markings, etc.?

just checked Orbitz and I got Air France for $540.

JFK -> Paris -> AMS

That's the best deal yet. I checked them last night and they were more expensive. By the way, I have been consistently checking June 12-16.

Wow. I'm definitely voting for July 4, then. Flights are way cheaper for some reason.

Now the prices are back up to $1000 all around. What's the deal?

The pricing is definitely fluctuating a lot.

What's the deal?

I've had the impression for a long time that, instead of the normal solutions such as Postgres or MySQL, airline booking web sites are instead all backed by one little bloke in the back room of a souk bar somewhere in North Africa, rolling an enormous number of twenty-sided dice.

Peter

Any ideas about the rules for driving in the Netherlands? Do I have to apply for some international license or anything? Where can I read a manual for road signs, markings, etc.?

AAA has a generic signage guide. No special license needed (in all of EU, I think). IMO, if you can remember one sign -- the white bar on red DO NOT ENTER -- you are good to go! Seriously, the prohibitive signs are usually intuitive enough to keep you out of danger, and most folks can make their way without too much stress or time getting lost...

I'm pretty sure he's rolling something in addition to dice.

yep.. it looks like all the flights for me (msp to ams) are $1200-$1300. I think I'm going to use the excuse to take a longer vacation in ams, and use my frequent flier miles.. free ticket yay!

I've had the impression for a long time that, instead of the normal solutions such as Postgres or MySQL, airline booking web sites are instead all backed by one little bloke in the back room of a souk bar somewhere in North Africa, rolling an enormous number of twenty-sided dice.

yep, that's me. we're not in north africa, mind you, but you should see my dice collection.

--dan.

don't ya know it.

--dan.

I'm starting to think that the travel agents are right, that you should use them and not rely on the internet sites.

I swear to you that Orbitz showed me a round-trip flight from RDU to AMS via JFK for July 3, returning July 10, for less than $400. Now it only shows flights nearing to over to well over $1000.

I swear to you that Orbitz showed me a round-trip flight from RDU to AMS via JFK for July 3, returning July 10, for less than $400. Now it only shows flights nearing to over to well over $1000.

hmm, <$400 seems pretty low for summer travel to europe, unless it's a really unpopular route at off-peak times. this far in advance, i wouldn't expect to see that kind of discounting.

there is a major sale fare being announced tomorrow, but it's for spring travel (through april 30 for transatlantic flights). example: NYC-AMS for $244 round-trip.

orbitz gets the best fares available from most major airlines -- it's in our contracts. we often get access to fares that the airlines themselves don't offer on their own sites. i just booked a flight today from chicago to anchorage in july. the orbitz price was $443, and the same flight on the airline's own site was $667.

you have to be careful when you shop for travel these days, whether on the internet or from a travel agent. if you find a particularly good fare, check to see if there are any strings attached (details of the fare rules, can it be changed, is it a consolidator fare, does it qualify to earn miles, etc), and check the commission/fee structure of the agent as well. orbitz always sells regular inventory, same as you'd find elsewhere, but often at much more attractive prices.

--dan.

I had an amazing experience with a cross country flight (san jose - D.C.) where a $133 fare would show up in the evenings. I watched it appear and disappear at least twice before booking it. The airlines have an amazing ability to get the most you're personally willing to pay out of you for a flight. It doesn't always work, but most of the time it does.

One simple explanation is that we all like to think that if we wait a few days, the price will go down. In actuality, prices usualy go up as you get closer, so you wait and wait, slowly seeing prices go up until you realize that you won't be able to afford anything more, and book it. Sometimes they'll blink first, and have a sale, but you can't count on it. This far out they're still hoping to pick up people who can't sleep unless they have a plane ticket, and won't have any sales on travel that far out. Seeing as mid-june to mid-july is the peak season, there isn't much hope in fares coming down too far, but they'll probably come down some.

Matthew

Mmm.. I'm saving my frequent flyer miles to get Jane & I to Australia (First Class all the way) next fall, so this meet is gonna have to be on a pay ticket in cattle clas.. err.. "economy class" for me.

So, the sooner the date is fixed, the sooner I/we can hunt down those mythical cheap tickets for cross-pond flights!

Cheers

Um.



I think that my sub-$400 flights were for Feb 3-10. I didn't realize that the browser was resetting the months but not the days.

Just remember that the speed limit signs are in km/h, not mph .

Keep checking the airline web sites until you get a fare you like. I just bought tickets from LHR to SFO at £260 (about $400) including taxes with United. What a bargain!

Rob