International Travel Advice (Read 715 times)

I've been to Bulgaria, but it's been several years.  I fly internationally a few times a year, mostly Asia and central/south America.  I use travelocity more than anything else, but you can do Kayak or google around.  It can vary quite a bit, but nobody has special secret inside deals like they did years ago and my impression is they all end up with basically the same prices and the same flights.

I think travel agents still exist, seems like I used one in the past few years at some point, and they can save you some hassle for a pretty small fee.  About half the trips someone in the company sends me an email that says "is this itinerary okay?" and all I have to do is say "yes".  The other half I buy myself and it can be a hassle.  A couple times I've been at the computer for hours straight trying to get an almost last minute ticket and getting really frustrated because things just weren't working out or put in all my info and hit "submit" only to find out that I couldn't get that price for that flight for some reason.

If you go to a website with "cheap" in the title, they have hard to believe prices but when you actually try to buy the ticket, you can't get that price and it ends up being the same as travelocity or one of those.  And compare prices with all taxes.  But I think they are all pretty transparent about that these days.

So I'd try travelocity or one of those and I'd consider giving a travel agent a call.  If the agent has the same price, it might be worth their 20 or 40 dollar fee.

well shoot.  I rarely even check this website anymore and I ended up typing that whole thing for a long dead thread.  Looks like someone bumped it for spam purposes.

Take a look at the date of this thread.  The wedding in question has either resulted in a preschooler or a divorce by now.  

Orbitz, Kayak, and the like are good for searches, but I usually end up booking at the company's website. Cancellation is usually a bit less if you have to do so. Lots of good tips listed here. The only countries I've been to where I never worried about getting ripped off or mugged at gunpoint were Japan and Taiwan. In Europe, be careful of your bags in train stations. And don't carry a wallet, and watch handbags. If you can, always learn some basic things to say in their language. And always lead with it. It's a sign of respect and that you're not one of those Americans that expects the world to automatically serve them in English. Most likely, you'll arrive in the morning over there and will want to sleep. Just stay up and force yourself to adjust to the time zone. First few days can be exhausting. Enjoy the food!

Well, just realized I wrote this for a dead thread!

Oh, well