Some friends and I will go to Spain after our exams. Now we want to go by plane because it's easier to do also because someone will have to leave earlier. We plan to do this online but where to start? Does anyone have any experience with this stuff. Do I have to go to some plane company's site. Any things to watch out for? Thanks for the help!

In the Us there are several online company's that one can buy discount airfare, hotels and ground transportation. I wouldn't recommend them unless you are experienced with making travel arrangements. A good travel agent can save you a lot of money and get everything right.

We already have the hotel booked. Luckily we got some discount making it about as expensive or cheaper than where others stay. So it's no good idea doing this myself lol then I'll have the others look at it. The idea was going as cheap as possible but with a trustworthy company (or at least the most)

I assume you're gonna stay in a hotel ? In that case you'll need to visit a travel agency, they'll basically do all the work for you. If i were you, i'd take a bus. I know it takes much longer to get there, especially if you're aiming for the Costa del Sol, but the trip downthere is half the fun. Last time i went with a bunch of friends, we were boozing all the way from Utrecht to Llorett de Mar. None of us came sober out of the bus, now isn't that the best way to start a vacation ? :D

Besides, taking a bus saves hundreds of €'s, which you'll need for much better purposes overthere. [img]graemlins/hehe.gif[/img]

I dunno, 20+ hour bus journeys are not my idea of fun regardless of the amount of alcohol...

I'd fly there, get the journey part over with, but I hate travelling, I just like being there in the new places.

I usually either book directly on the airline's website (british airways is good for this) or go through a 3rd-party website which searches many other sites for offers. Try www.ebookers.com (I have bought plane tickets from them, they are reliable), www.cheapflights.com etc.

The way it works is that the airline allocates some number of seats to each agent selling them, so just because one agent/site says no seats at a particular price on a particular flights, it just means they've sold their allocation, so you still might get some elsewhere.

We already booked the hotel LOL. But since all my friends go flying and everyone will go at different days, all in the same week but not the same days I'd like to go with them. But it sounds like it's better they do the booking of the plane then.

That's quite long drinking that trip lol.We're going to Lorrett too (never thought I'd go there but well nearly everyone goes and it's going to be a lot of fun then).

Thanks for the info Vaskez. The links are for outside the Netherlands though and I'd rather have a Dutch company but I wasn't sure where to start at all so the info was really good [img]smile.gif[/img]

Llorett is fun if you like to go clubbing, i remember some of those joints as if it was yesterday since i've been there. Don't expect too much from the beach though, if i recall correctly it's not sand, but those sharp little pebblerocks. Good thing i'm not much of a sunbather, during daytime i was hanging out in English pubs, at night in clubs and tittybars. :D

Shame of the beach but our hotel has a swimming pool but we don't care that much I guess. Great to be out there anyway. Strange others went there for the beach over Turkey because the beaches there would be rocky. We'll be getting a club pass or something, should give us some discount on a few. The plan will probably be during daytime: beach/swimming pool/city perhaps a pub, dinner in the hotel, clubs, sleep, breakfast, sleeping at the beach/swimming pool, and repeat that. Others had exam trips and they'll go to see some cities, we might do that when we arrive or leave since we'll go via a large enough city for an airport and from what I hear Barcelona is close so I think we'll fly there.

That's an excellent idea for a daytrip, i believe Barcelona is somewhat 100 kms from Llorett. Once you get to the Ramblas, you never wanna leave there again. :D

Oh yeah, woops, forgot that they don't do flights starting from the Netherlands, oh well...

I don't know which sites do things from the Netherlands, but I book travel online frequently in the states. There are a couple of things that you can consider...

1. Don't be tied down to one city. There are three airports I can fly out of easily (my home airport and two others an hour away). There are two other major airports that are about three hours away. I've seen dramatic differences in fares between them -- I'll drive an hour to save $400 bucks. You have to play around a bit and know what your acceptible tolerance is.

2. Be flexible in your times and dates. There can be great variations in just a day or so.

3. Consider your alternatives. If you've got to be back Monday morning, it's not a good idea to grab the last plane Sunday night. If something goes wrong, you're toast.

4. Remember the first rule of travel: always get closer to your final destination. If you have a choice between taking a flight now that connects somewhere and lets you sit for three hours in that airport, take it. It's better than waiting in this airport for three hours to catch your original flight.

5. Smile. No matter what happens when travelling, it will soon be over. Get used to it, and move on. You'll be happier, and so will everyone else.

Thanks for the tips Bungleau! Well we booked just ago. It simply was impossible to get a cheaper flight since the airport we want to go to doesn't seem so popular (Girona) but we thought taxi fares would cancel out any bonus we'd get from travelling through other airports.

Exactly, and it's always worth paying a little extra for comfort (i.e. flying closer to destination) since a holiday is about comfort and relaxation [img]tongue.gif[/img] Well except, when you do sporting holidays...

Taxi fares will cancel out any savings, for sure. I rent cars when I go to other cities, and I'd need the car anyway, so there's no additional cost in my mind.

Besides... the additional drive can be part of the trip, adding to that comfort and relaxation if you want [img]smile.gif[/img] Okay, that's a stretch, but I'd rather save the extra money for a splendid meal or show or something at my destination.

The last option we had was drive ourselves but I'm not sure we would be allowed as only 3 of us plan to have a license by then and they all would have them for a short time only. But the only long trip will be between the airport and Llorett which is supposed to be around 30 km and we'll walk the rest. Can't wait before it's that time [img]smile.gif[/img] Gives me something to look out to during the exams [img]smile.gif[/img]

Fly Qantas via Australia ... Good enough for rainman it's good enough for you ;)

Rainman wasn't right in the head, and if you want these guys to fly to Llorett de Mar via Australia, then neither are you. :D

Rainman wasn't right in the head, and if you want these guys to fly to Llorett de Mar via Australia, then neither are you. :D </font>[/QUOTE][img]graemlins/whackya.gif[/img] dont bother me with small details like that Johnny .Bah! [img]tongue.gif[/img]