Advice on flight options for Amsterdam/Paris trip

[jo]

H all,

As some of you may know, we are going to Amsterdam and Paris next May. We are spending the first week in Amsterday and the second week in Paris. I've been checking flight prices out of Montreal and have found a couple of different deals.

I'm wondering what would be easier and make more sense between these 2 options:

Fly to and from Paris direct with Air Transat, $1703.12 total for 2 including taxes.
We would land in Paris around 11:30 am and I would have to get to Gard du Nord to take the train to Amsterdam. I've gone on the SNCF website and there should be trains leaving in the mid to late afternoon, putting us in Amsterdam around 8pm.

Fly to Amsterdam and out of Paris, with British Airways, with a stopover in London (Heathrow), $1894 total for 2 including taxes. This avoids us having to take a train after an overnight flight, but I've heard horror stories about transferring at Heathrow.

Both are great prices, just wondering which hassle is worse, the direct flight with a 4 hour train ride the same day, or the multi-city flights with a change of planes and all the issues that entails.

The one option we are not interested in is flying in and out of Amsterdam because I don't want to leave Paris at the end of our 2 week trip to get back to Amsterdam for the flight home. I realize we are doing the same thing in reverse order if we fly into Paris but that is still 1 travel day and it's taking place at the beginning of our trip. I really want to avoid losing my second to last day of vacation traveling to Amsterdam for an overnight at an airport hotel to fly home the next day. That is a wasted day to me.

Hoping from some advice from you seasoned travelers out there.

Thanks

Jo

[Jody]

Actually they probably come out at about the same price if you factor in the train fare.I think I paid about $120.00 for a 1 way ticket to A'dam. If you allow enough time at Heathrow the transfer should not be too bad. They may even fly out of the same terminal.BA could probably tell you that.

[ray]

Are you thinking you would be taking the train from Amsterdam to Paris after your first week?
If so, You might try Lufthansa multi city from Montreal to Amsterdam, and then from Paris to Montreal. You could bypass London that way.

[jo]

Hi Ray, yes we will be taking the train from Amsterdam back to paris after the first week. I'm hoping to book exactly 90 days before our travel dates and get a 50euro prem rate for the 2 of us. I will try the Lufthansa site to see what kind of rates they have.

Thanks
Jo

modified to add that the multicity fare by Lufthansa is $2567 at the moment, so back to the drawing board.

Do you guys think I am too early in looking at air fares and will they go down closer to year end, especially with the lowering of oil prices lately?

[Sandy M]

Hi Jo,

Wow, that's a pretty steep air fare - I think I'd wait a little bit and the fares will probably go down, but that's your call. I found a web site today and checked prices for Des Moines to Paris and found a very reasonable fare - I used www.cheapoair.com - you might try that and see what fares you can find. Also, once you get past May 5th or so, everything goes up as you are then in a busier travel time which is undoubtedly affecting the fares you are finding.

Personally, I would fly into Amsterdam and out of Paris - I have made transfers at Heathrow before and haven't had any trouble. Also, I have made the train trip from Paris to Amsterdam several times and I go directly to the Thalys web site www.thalys.com - I think you may find better fares that way - at least I have in the past.

Sandy M

[jo]

Hi Sandra,

Thanks for the cheapoair link, I have bookmarked them and will keep checking prices. The 2 times we have gone to Paris, we booked our flights very early and I guess I am a little nervous about waiting too long and not getting the dates I want. Is the general consensus that prices will go down from here for May 2009?

Jo (I just want it to be May NOW!)