"grusl" wrote in message
news:ga02sv$vp6$1@registered.motzarella.org...
>
> "Mark of Aus" wrote in message
> news:ga00pn$2u1q$1@adenine.netfront.net...
>> We are a family of four (2adults, 2 children) who are planning to travel
>> from Australia to Europe next March/April. This is our first trip outside
>> of Australia and we are trying to arrange a suitable place to stopover en
>> route to avoid the crippling jetlag of such a long journey.
>> I have a couple (read infinity) of questions (apologies if they are
>> stupid):
>>
>> 1. Are stopovers of a standard duration? Is it more expensive to stay a
>> few days (2/3) rather than 24 hours? I notice airline booking sites do
>> not have a stopover option when booking.
>>
>> 2. I harbour a long held desire to visit Scotland but am unsure how cold
>> and/or miserable it might be in Feb/March. Is Iona out of the question?
>>
>> Any info gratefully appreciated.
>>
>
> I'm a fan of stopovers when time permits. Depending on what you're all
> interested in, you could do, say, Hong Kong and Dubai; both are reasonably
> family-friendly, I'm told. A few years ago, I took EK SIN-CMB-DXB-LHR
> because it was (a) a cheaper ticket and (b) included a place I'd never
> been.
>
> Stopovers can be of pretty much any length, depending upon flight
> availability, and can cost either more or less in terms of air tickets.
> (Plus of course the usual hotel charges, etc.)
>
> I imagine Scotland would be cold and wet, but that's possible in July too.
>
> I've crossposted to rec.travel.air because by the time you hit Europe,
> you're pretty much at your destination.
>
> Cheers,
> George W Russell
> Bangalore
>
>
I would strongly recommend talking to a *specialist* travel agency. In the
UK one such I would recommend is Trailfinders. I can't find the reference
on their website but Google says:
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?ie=UTF-8&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&q=trailfinders+sydney&fb=1&view=text&latlng=2080567132979663955&sa=X&oi=local_result&resnum=1&ct=result
Also try STA.
The reason why most web sites don't provide tools for the kind of trip you
want is they fall outside the 80/20 rule. The websites are designed to
provide 80% of the bookings that people want (which are usually simple
A/B/A. The other 20% have too many variables to be handled through the
web.
Generally, you will find that airlines will offer generous terms if you stop
at their hub. So, Cathay will be good for a stop in Hong Long, Singapore
for... Singapore etc. Unfortunately, they also offer the best fare if you
travel everywhere with them. Thus Cathay will expect you to come home via
Hong Kong. But, that's where an agency can come in. They can sometimes
put together (for example) an Australia/Singapore/Bangkok fare on Singapore
with a Bangkok/Dubai/UK fare on Emirates. But you take a risk doing things
like this. If the EK flight mis connects at Dubai they will simply put you
on another flight. But, because you will have two separate tickets a
misconnect in Bangkok could end up with having to buy a new ticket so leave
time (like a night minimum) where you change tickets in both directions.
Think about where you want to fly from in Australia then do the same in the
UK. Emirates have flights to a number of UK airports (Heathrow, Gatwick,
Newcastle and Glasgow come to mind but do check). Most airlines will allow
you to fly into one place and out from another without penalty so you don't
*have* to go through London both ways, if you don't want to.
Consider a round the world fare. Probably slightly more expensive than a
simple round trip but the way they are structured you might be able to do
something like Australia, Hong Kong, Dubai, London, New York, San Francisco,
Australia using a combination of Qantas, Cathay, British Airways and
American Airlines (who are all members of the oneWorld alliance) or
Singapore, Cairo, London, Washington, Los Angeles using Star Alliance
carriers. gain, a good, specialist, agency will be able to guide you
through the maze.
But remember, agencies are there to sell. You need to ask all the
questions you want answered. You do also need to know some of the
questions (like where do you want to go). Don't always accept their first
answer. Hang up, think, call again, get someone different to talk to, ask
different questions. Ask more than one agency.
Scotland (even the UK in general) in February. Daylight will be short (and
get shorter the further North you go). Weather has a fairly strong
possibility of inclemency and that applies to the whole of the UK, not just
Scotland. But that's a big generalisation and different parts of the
country have significant microclimates. The positive side is that there
will be fewer tourists around so you get more space and (hopefully) better
rates.
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