Discount airline ticket to europe

Tips from an expert on taking the kids to Europe in high season on a limited budget.

Toying with the idea of taking the family to Europe next summer? You wouldn't be rushing things if you bought the tickets as a holiday gift. High-season travel always requires planning way ahead, and going with kids makes you even less flexible. To keep costs--and stress--under control, work out as many details as you can now because you're bound to be in for some surprises after you arrive.

That was my experience last summer, when I took a long-talked-about three-week trip to Italy with my son, Alec, 11. I'd earned enough mileage through my Sprint Rewards long-distance account for two free tickets to Europe. When I discovered that Air France offered a free stopover to members of the Sprint program, I jumped at the chance to throw in a visit to Paris. From there, we would take a day trip to Normandy so that Alec, a World War II history buff, could visit the D-Day beaches.

Back in 1982, I spent three months ambling from Athens to Amsterdam on a shoestring budget of $1,800. With Alec in tow, I couldn't very well crash in youth hostels and hitchhike. But to splurge on cultural activities, I wanted to save on the basics--by staying in moderately priced hotels that were nonetheless clean and convenient, eating simply, and using public transportation.

CHARTING OUR COURSE

As I plotted our itinerary--three nights in Paris, nine nights in Rome, three nights in Sorrento, and three nights in Siena to catch the medieval-style Palio horse race--I settled on a total cost of $3,000. We didn't quite make it.

Here's what I learned from my summer vacation.

FREE AIRLINE TICKETS: AREN'T ALWAYS FREE. Because we wanted to travel in June, which is high season, I redeemed my air miles a year in advance. However, I ended up changing our departure date at the last minute and paying a $100-per-ticket change fee--plus $90 in airline taxes.

BARGAIN DIGS GO QUICKLY. For recommendations on reasonably priced hotels, which I defined as those charging a rate of $100 or less per night, I consulted the Paris and Rome Eyewitness Travel Guides (DK Publishing, $24.95 each), Rick Steves' Italy (John Muir Publications, $14.95) and Frommer's Italy (Macmillan, $19.95). Their descriptions were reliable and their prices up to date, but several of my first choices were full by the dine I got around to making reservations in April, two months before our departure.

Two of the family-run hotels in Italy where I booked rooms required advance deposits but didn't accept credit cards--a common practice among such establishments. I wasn't willing to send traveler's checks or cash, as the hotels preferred, so I ended up sending money orders via FedEx.

In Paris I found a $99-per-night rate at a Timhotel Europe (a European chain similar to Best Western) through Hotel Reservations Network (www.hoteldiscount.com; 800-964-6835). I reserved by phone and was required to prepay $360, the total cost for three nights, including tax.

SOMETIMES IT PAYS TO UPGRADE. I was satisfied with our Paris hotel, which was located near the Opera; it served free breakfast and had a tiny elevator that captivated Alec. (He also loved wandering around Notre Dame, which didn't cost a cent, but was unimpressed by the Louvre, also free for kids.)

Our accommodations in Rome weren't as pleasant. Our pensione, the Hotel Navona (011-39-06-686-4203), on the second floor of a Renaissance palazzo that had seen better days, had plenty of atmosphere, an attractive price ($74 a night) and a great location in the center of the city's historic district. But it was short on amenities. The first room we stayed in there had its own minuscule bathroom with a shower and faced a quiet courtyard. But when we returned later in our trip, we had to share a bathroom, which was often occupied and was accessible only by walking through the family dining room. The whine of speeding Vespas on a neighboring street made it difficult to sleep, and so did the stifling heat.

Meanwhile, for $145 a night, friends we met in Rome were far more comfortable in an air-conditioned hotel that had rooms with spotless private baths and an underground breakfast room in the ruins of an ancient Roman theater.

PLAN TO USE ATMs. I was unhappy about the $5 fee my bank charges for each transaction at an international ATM, so I decided to rely on a combination of bank and credit cards, traveler's checks and cash.

But when I did have to exchange money, the fees were shocking--ranging from 7.5% to 9.5%. In the end, it turned out to be less expensive to use the bank card, even though I racked up $30 in ATM fees (see "Q&A," Nov.).

DOUBLE-CHECK YOUR TAB, AND COUNT YOUR CHANGE. To save on meals in Paris and Rome, Alec and I either stayed in hotels that included breakfast or ate breakfast standing at a street-corner food bar. In Rome, despite the fact that we always ordered the same thing--a cappuccino, two pastries and a cold drink--from the same place, the price inexplicably varied, from 4,400 lire to 7,200 lire.

And twice when we ate in restaurants we were charged exorbitant amounts that did not seem to add up. When I asked the waiter to itemize the bill, he agreed to charge us less. Because you pay for items that are usually free in the U.S., such as bread and water, I learned to speak up when we didn't want something that was placed on the table.

DON'T BANK ON DISCOUNTS FOR KIDS. I had figured that Alec was still young enough to qualify for reduced admission fees. As it turned out, however, he had to pay full freight at a number of attractions. Many Italian institutions parcel out children's discounts based on nationality, and invariably Americans don't qualify. In Paris, admission policies varied: Alec paid full price at the Eiffel Tower, but got a discount at the zoo.

As it happened, many of our most memorable experiences were free. Alec was fascinated by the decaying German bunkers on the Normandy coast. He thought the fantastic parade of Sienese men--dressed in armor and medieval costumes at the Palio was "awesome."

And even when we had to pay two full admissions, ii felt we got a great value compared with, say, admission to Walt Disney World or your typical U.S. amusement park. For $13 we could explore the real thing--a 2,000-year-old dead city (Pompeii)--where we walked over ruts left by ancient chariots and visited an amphitheater where gladiators had fought to the death.

BOOKING TRAINS AND CARS IN ADVANCE IS A MIXED BAG. For touring the D-Day beaches, I reserved a car through Kemwel Holiday Auto (800-678-0678), one of several car-rental wholesalers that rent Avis, Hertz and other brand-name cars overseas at a discount. Kemwel markets mainly through travel agents and tour operators, and you must book in the U.S. prior to your departure to get the best rates.

The Kemwel rate of $50 a day for a stick-shift economy car included insurance and tax. One pleasant surprise: The car had a diesel engine, so we avoided the notoriously steep charges for gasoline, which costs three to four times more in Europe than in the U.S. We owed the car-rental company only $7 for fuel.

To pick up our car in Caen, we took a train from Paris. Reserved in the U.S., the tickets cost $118, including a half-price discount for Alec and a $10-per-ticket handling fee. Next time I'd eliminate the handling charge by buying the tickets in Paris.

The cost of the seven-passenger van we rented with our friends in Sorrento was steep--$535 for three days (Kemwel's required minimum)--especially because we drove it for only two days. We might have paid less by renting a van directly from a local agency that charged $150 a day--although with my limited Italian I couldn't tell if that price included insurance and taxes. One advantage of booking in advance is knowing what you're paying for.

When we got home, I called Kemwel to question the three-day minimum (which had been waived for the car I rented in Caen). The customer-service representative agreed to refund us about $120, after I provided proof of the two-day rental.

DON'T BE SURPRISED If YOU BUST YOUR BUDGET. Our final tally came to about $4,000, not including ATM lees and the cost of long-term airport parking while we were away. Having learned from our experience, I think I can do better next time. And fortunately, the frequent-flier points are already starting to add up.

Reporter: James Ramage