Tips on flights from US to Paris?

[Shooshie]

My daughter is flying to Paris soon (less than a month), and we need tips on airlines, airfares, and Eurail Passes. She'll be there probably 6 weeks, at least. Maybe 2 months. Any tips would be appreciated. Preferably those which save money at no loss of security. For example, I'm not going to put my daughter on Nigerian Airways, or something of that nature. (sorry, Niger, but your citizens have not instilled trust in me of late)

Thanks in advance,

Shoosh

[OldTimey]

out of dallas, there are daily flights with American. Daily flights out Atlanta with Delta, and Continental with Houston. You could try Air France too, see what they offer. There was a law that just got overturned (not sure if it has been taken out of effect yet) that forced airlines that depart from the us to europe to either be:

1)an american carrier
2)a carrier based in the country it was flying into.

So, you can't take say, a British Airways plane direct from the US to Paris. (This is supposed to change soon though!) Once it does, prices should go way down.

Eurail pass is cool, because traveling by train is a great way to see Europe...however, there are many low cost airlines in Europe, so if she is just going city hopping, between 4-5 big cities it might be cheaper to fly. If she is going to be moving around quite a bit, the railway is the way to go because practically every city/town has a rail station near the city centre.

good luck!

[OldTimey]

ps- a Nigerian is not from Niger! They are from Nigeria. A person (or the main airline of Niger, im assuming would be) Nigerien/Nigerien Airlines etc.

[Budmas21]

Just a tip for your daughter... when she gets there, the train system can help you get around pretty well. Grab a schedule and I'm sure she's smart enough to figure it out after a bit. The trains in Paris stop running by 10 PM or 12 PM, can't recall exactly, so if she's out and about, she needs to make sure to catch the last train. Being American, she's use to probably having her meat cooked through as well... for some reason, the French don't tend to cook their meat items all the way as we do here in the states. If she can handle the restaurants out there, she'll be fine, but if she just has to have something American, there's a Hard Rock Cafe there and they serve the same items as they do in the states (cooked the same, too). Be weary of pickpockets in the train areas. These guys tend to jump on the trains at one stop and are off the train by the next stop. I know of a handful of people that has had this happen to them. I'm not trying to scare anyone, I'm just telling you from my experience of being there (I work for a French Aircraft Company, so I had to go to Paris to do some work). Most of the people are really nice. Tell her to go and site see. It cost money to go up to the top of the Eiffel Tower (just an FYI). Lots of Cafe's and such. On Sundays, shops don't open until late in the evening, so she may want to keep some food in her room, as most places would be closed if she's on the normal eating schedule. Anyway, that's my two cents and hope it helps out.

[SixStringGeek]

My daughter is flying to Paris soon (less than a month), and we need tips on airlines, airfares, and Eurail Passes.

I lived in Paris for about 8 months. To get there, try http://kayak.com - pretty hardcore and complete search engine. If she's going to use Paris as a base and take short trips, then she might as well buy a Carte Orange - available weekly or monthly (best deal) which lets you ride the metro and RTAP all you like. To travel Europe - EasyJet is often competitive with the rails - sometimes cheaper - but not so scenic.

FWIW, avoid the trap of taking the taxis to the city from CDG Airport. It is muy expensive. There is a cheap (RTAP?) train that runs from CDG to Gare du Nord every half hour or so. From the Gare du Nord you can go anywhere as it is departure point for the high speed trains.

If she's going to base herself in Paris - http://www.nyhabitat.com/ is a good place to find nice little flats that are cheaper than hotels and you can cook in them.

Jonesing for home food? Indianas is in all the major places and serves big american style cheeseburgers - although they have the disturbing habit of topping them with fried eggs if you don't stop them. I would give the Buffalo Grill a miss no matter how desperate you are. In almost all cases better snackage can be gotten from either local bistros or one of the zillion Turkish or Greek Gyro shops that are as common as coffee houses in Seattle.

Ditto about the Metro stopping running surprisingly early. Its easy to get stranded on the wrong end of town after dinner.

I'm sure I have lots more advice if you have specific questions but off the top of my head, these are the biggies.

[BradLyons]

Shooshie,

Get ahold of me tomorrow, one of my best clients is from France---he'd be happy to fill me in on information as well as any contacts over there that might be good for her. If it's okay with you, I can even pass his your email address along to him--he's a great guy.

[Aliens/Santa Monica Bay]

Hello Shooshie!
The Aliens in Santa Monica Bay would like to offer our help for your daughter's flight to Paris France.
The Grey Aliens may want to go along too.

Adios amigo!

[The Grey Aliens]

Hello,

We would like to go to Paris, but we heard that the French do not like beer. Also we cannot afford the price of UFO gasoline. But if we can hitch a ride with The Aliens in Santa Monica Bay, we would be happy to go with Shooshie.

Short of that, we recommend British Airways. They are very nice people.

Also Shooshie, we have a question. Is Monkey Man leader of the Earth? We saw Charlton Heston's great documentary Planet of the Apes and discovered that fact.



Your Pals,
The Grey Aliens

[Shooshie]

Guys, I'm printing this out. I'll follow up on everything that seems hopeful. Maybe the aliens could just beam her over to Paris? Yes? Or at least give her a ride in their ship?

I appreciate it guys.


Shooshie

[BradLyons]

Guys, I'm printing this out. I'll follow up on everything that seems hopeful. Maybe the aliens could just beam her over to Paris? Yes? Or at least give her a ride in their ship?

I appreciate it guys.


Shooshie

Hey, that would be A LOT cheaper!

[kinnylandrum]

FWIW, avoid the trap of taking the taxis to the city from CDG Airport. It is muy expensive. There is a cheap (RTAP?) train that runs from CDG to Gare du Nord every half hour or so. From the Gare du Nord you can go anywhere as it is departure point for the high speed trains.

I literally got back from Paris last week (for a vacation). Although it was only the first time I'd been there, my wife and I did take the train from CDG to Place St. Michel on the Rive Gauche. Only 8 euros and pretty easy. It's the RER, B line I think. Plus Air France was very easy and good service, though I only flew tourist and can never sleep on planes.

[OldTimey]

though I only flew tourist and can never sleep on planes.

That's what those special magic pills you get at western doctors are for....

[Aliens/Santa Monica Bay]

Hello,
We would like to go to Paris, but we heard that the French do not like beer. Also we cannot afford the price of UFO gasoline. But if we can hitch a ride with The Aliens in Santa Monica Bay, we would be happy to go with Shooshie.
Short of that, we recommend British Airways. They are very nice people.
Also Shooshie, we have a question. Is Monkey Man leader of the Earth? We saw Charlton Heston's great documentary Planet of the Apes and discovered that fact.
Your Pals,
The Grey Aliens

Hello Rejected By Shooshie's Group Grey Aliens!

Shooshie ignored our attempts to become one with his group.
His daughter bought a ticket on her own.
She does not trust Shooshie's judgment.
Either should we.
We thought your offer was philanthropic.
We're hurt.
We're going back to Santa Monica Bay.
We'll be in touch

Adios amigos.

[Nigel Keay]

The Metro doesn't shut down quite that early, and has even been extended recently to around 2am on Saturday evenings, but if you miss it there's now a cool new bike system in place called Velib. I saw on TV that there's about 25,000 in service and the first 30 minutes is free of charge. I have a composer friend, originally from the USA actually, who goes everywhere for free by Velib, he has it all calculated out to get the bike back to a post before the 30 minutes is up, then takes another one if necessary. When we finally got into biking we were amazed at how much all the cycle-ways have been upgraded thanks to the current mayor.

[inhouseprod]

Hey Shooshie -

I don't know how much it might help with Airfare, but when I've been in europe, we found that Rick Steve's books really provided a lot of great information for those traveling on a budget. From what hotels to stay in to Eurail passes, etc. It's very detailed and not the normal, expensive, touristy stuff you get from other travel related sources.

www.ricksteves.com

Order his Paris guide book - you'll end up saving 50x what you pay for it....