I haven%26#39;t been able to find any frequent flyer flights on United from LA to Paris next March when we%26#39;ll be vacationing there. Then last night I checked some other cities in the general area and found I CAN get a free flight for my wife %26amp; I there. Cities like Brussels, London, Amsterdam, and Frankfurt. (Not Dusseldorf, for some reason).
I think this ends up being a boon for us, since I wanted to go to Brussels anyway, and my wife is lobbying for a return visit to London. And the money we save on airfare covers the train and a few extra days%26#39; lodging.
Still, I%26#39;m a little surprised why we can get flights to (what seem to me like) smaller airports that are farther from LA, but not Paris. Am I missing something?
Now I%26#39;m off to research train travel between Paris and some of those cities...
-Mark
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Part of the problem may be that Easter is early (in mid-March) in 2008, so that%26#39;s a popular time to go to Paris.
I have had several trips when I flew to Brussels because I couldn%26#39;t get FF tickets to Paris - that works really well, and the train to Paris is quite fast (whether you go from the airport, or spend a day or two in Brussels first). I also have flown into London and out of Paris, spending a few days in London first and then taking the train to Paris (about three hours).
Even if you have to fly out of Brussels as well, it would not be a big deal given how fast the trains are now (although you would want to travel the day/night before, so you don%26#39;t have to worry about getting all the way from Paris to the airport at Brussels in one morning).
This sounds like a very workable solution to the problem created by the fact that most airlines seem to have a total of 3 FF seats on each flight, and they are never available.
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When I try to use my American Airlines from Boston to Paris (there is a non stop in summer) they always want me to go through NYC. Cannot understand that either.
I think it is easier to fly into Brussels that into London AND the train station is right at the airport (in the %26quot;basement%26quot;) so you can catch a train to gare du Midi and there hop on Thalys to Paris (1h21 minutes). Should you stay in Brussels, get train (in %26quot;basement%26quot;) to gare centrale (central station) and stay at a hotel near Grand Place like Ibis, Novotel or carrefour de l%26#39;Europe. You can walk from train station there and be in the hear of Brussels. Who would want to miss mussels with French Fries and mustard!.
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Hi Mark,
I would suggest Brussels as a better choice than London. The Thalys train is very quick and very easy to reach from the airport compared to London. Of course if you plan to stop in either Brussels or London for a few days then choose for whichever city you prefer to see not the train station!
Amsterdam and Frankfurt are not so convenient (unless you fly in which case watch out for your baggage alowance as European flights often have less allowance (20kg) than transatlantic).
I guess the free flights are fewer to Paris as demand is greater and supply smaller.
Have a good trip,
Jon
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Last night we booked our frequent flyer trips in %26amp; out of Brussels. Got good seating assignments %26amp; everything. To make it work we needed to put a day or two on either end, which bookend our Paris vacation with some time in Belgium. We%26#39;re very excited about it!
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Since you%26#39;re going to have some time in Brussels, I would suggest looking at a day trip to Bruges (lovely small town, looks pretty much like it would have in the 1400s when it was a major economic center of Europe before its harbor silted up). Take a look at Trip Advisor%26#39;s Bruges (Brugge) forum for more information.
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Yeah, we%26#39;ve already started thinking about Brugges, doing our research here on TA and elsewhere. Thanks for the tip.
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