Wilson European Vacation - 23 May to 9 July 2011

[QF WP]

No, it's not National Lampoons

Background

Mrs LW wants to spend her 40th birthday over in France in late June 2011 and also be at her best friends' 40th birthday on 31 May in London (she was our Chief Bridesmaid). As most here know, we also have 2 young children - at the time, they will be 4 and 18 months old and yes, they're coming with us . So to be a good husband, I've decided to take my accrued Long Service Leave and take 7 weeks off work.

I've followed a number of threads in the past SYD/LHR with a baby as well as Securing an infant in flight (in J) that I will be reviewing again now to give me further assistance along the way.

Flights
Thankfully, I've been accruing AAdvantage miles since 2003 (see my separate thread) and have been able to find and book the following outbound flights:

Date           From            To                      Flight  Seats
Mon 23 May 11  [B]14:50 [/B]Brisbane  [B]18:15  [/B]Perth            [U]QF597[/U]   1A, 1B, 1E 
Mon 23 May 11  [B]22:15 [/B]Perth     [B]06:05  [/B]Hong Kong        QF067   1A, 1B, 1E 
Tue 24 May 11  [B]09:55 [/B]Hong Kong [B]16:00 [/B]London (Heathrow) CX257   Seating cannot be confirmed

Now whilst it's not the most direct route, at the time of booking (within a week of the maximum time limit possible) it was the best option for us. I've also taken the bulkhead seats given we also bought an infant seat for my son and we may need the bassinet on the International sectors and we do want to sit together (as I'm sure other pax would rather as well).

On the return sectors, I've been very generous and found seats for my wife and daughter in First Class [being Mrs LW's birthday and all ] (well, let's be honest, there weren't 3 x J seats available). So my son and I are in the following Business seats (and I probably don't care what seats they're in):

Date          From                      To                Flight    Seats
Tue 5 Jul 11  [B]22:30   [/B]London (Heathrow) [B]17:20  [/B]Hong Kong  QF030     18J 
Fri 8 Jul 11  [B]19:00   [/B]Hong Kong         [B]06:00  [/B]Melbourne  QF030     18J 
Sat 9 Jul 11  [B]10:05   [/B]Melbourne         [B]12:15  [/B]Brisbane   QF612      3D

and the girls will be thumbing their noses at us from the pointy end on the QF30 sectors. I chose upstairs at the back due to access to the toilet (as well as to the FA's when I need a break) but should I look at Bassinet seats at the front of Business (and should that be upstairs or downstairs).

So as we haven't flown International Long Haul for over 3 years, there are going to be lots of questions...but more as I post the rest (it's a little late now)

 

[QF WP]

As you would expect, we have done a spreadsheet looking at where we'll be each day:

Mon 23/05 Brisbane > Perth > Hong Kong Flying
Tue 24/04 Hong Kong > London Flying
Wed 25/05 London Resting
Thu 26/05 London Sightseeing
Fri 27/05 London Sightseeing then travelling 
Sat 28/05 TBA Chief Bridesmaid's 40th Party
Sun 29/05 TBA Chief Bridesmaid's 40th Party
Mon 30/05 TBA Travel from Party back to London
Tue 31/05 London Sightseeing
Wed 01/06 London > Prague Flying
Thu 02/06 Prague Sightseeing
Fri 03/06 Prague Sightseeing
Sat 04/06 Prague > Nuremburg 250kms
Sun 05/06 Nuremburg
Mon 06/06 Nuremburg > Stuttgart 202 kms
Tue 07/06 Stuttgart
Wed 08/06 Stuttgart > Bern 350kms
Thu 09/06 Bern
Fri 10/06 Bern
Sat 11/06 Bern
Sun 12/06 Bern > Lyon 317 kms
Mon 13/06 Lyon
Tue 14/06 Lyon > Nimes 252 kms (alterative Avignon)
Wed 15/06 Nimes 
Thu 16/06 Nimes > Toulouse 288 kms
Fri 17/06 Toulouse Sightseeing (no prizes for guessing what I'm doing today - Airbus Tour)
Sat 18/06 Toulouse > SW France (Sarlat?) ~156 kms (have to re-check this)
Sun 19/06 SW France (Sarlat?)
Mon 20/06 SW France (Sarlat?)
Tue 21/06 SW France (Sarlat?)
Wed 22/06 SW France (Sarlat?)
Thu 23/06 SW France (Sarlat?)
Fri 24/06 SW France (Sarlat?)
Sat 25/06 SW France (Sarlat?)
Sun 26/06 SW France (Sarlat?)
Mon 27/06 SW France (Sarlat?)
Tue 28/06 SW France (Sarlat?)
Wed 29/06 SW France (Sarlat?)
Thu 30/06 Sarlat > Bordeaux (by car) then Bordeaux > Paris (via TVG)
Fri 01/07 Paris
Sat 02/07 Paris
Sun 03/07 Paris
Mon 04/07 Paris City > Paris CDG (evening Metro to close by hotel)
Tue 05/07 Paris CDG > Heathrow > Hong Kong
Wed 06/07 Hong Kong
Thu 06/07 Hong Kong
Fri 08/07 Hong Kong > Melbourne
Sat 09/07 Melbourne > Brisbane

 

[QF WP]

Saved for European travel questions

 

[QF WP]

Other General information

 

[QF WP]

serfty came up with this gem:

What you can do is call CX on 131 747 with your booking details and get their PNR number (CUPID is the GDS). You might also make seating requests.

You can then use this on www.cathaypacific.com to verify/reselect seats.:!:

I thought that when I made the booking, Dave Noble told me that CX only opened up their seating 6 months before flight - so I thought that window wasn't open yet (well, November 23 would be 6 months prior - so almost there). Who can confirm/deny?

 

[samh004]

I thought that when I made the booking, Dave Noble told me that CX only opened up their seating 6 months before flight - so I thought that window wasn't open yet (well, November 23 would be 6 months prior - so almost there). Who can confirm/deny?

I recently got a CX MPC email advising that 1W members can now preselect seats on their website. If you have the PNR, or whatever you need on their site, enter your QFF number and try yourself.

I think that’s the answer to the question you’re asking, or have I gone wrong?

 

[QF WP]

Will have to try that samh004. Thanks.

 

[ellen10]

Lindsay - what a great trip you have planned. I will leave all the flight info to the experts, but was wondering if you wanted feedback on your itinerary.

Hope you don't mind me offering some information from our trip Sept/Oct last year to France. We had a wonderful time. I wrote a trip report on Fodors about it if you are interested.

We rented an apartment in Paris for 6 nights, excellent. We also rented a rural farmhouse in Provence for 2 weeks, just magic. And a townhouse in Sarlat for a week.

You mentioned staying at either Nimes or Avignon. Depending on where you want to visit in Provence Avignon may be a more central location. Although if you have a car somewhere out of Avignon may be better for access to Provincial villages, etc.

Sarlat has a great market in town on Saturdays(the best one) and Wednesdays. The Dorodogne River area is great.

There is no train from TGV from Sarlat. You would have to go via Bordeaux.

Hope this info helpful to you

 

[serfty]

... CX only opened up their seating 6 months before flight ... Who can confirm/deny?

That has been the case in the past. It may still be so, but there's no harm in asking.

 

[QF WP]

Lindsay - what a great trip you have planned. I will leave all the flight info to the experts, but was wondering if you wanted feedback on your itinerary.

Absolutely! Whilst the places are probably set in hardening concrete, where we are staying and what we will be doing (sightseeing) still has yet to be decided.

Hope you don't mind me offering some information from our trip Sept/Oct last year to France. We had a wonderful time. I wrote a trip report on Fodors about it if you are interested.

We rented an apartment in Paris for 6 nights, excellent. We also rented a rural farmhouse in Provence for 2 weeks, just magic. And a townhouse in Sarlat for a week.

I've read your Fodors TR , but hadn't realised you posted here as well :idea:. In Sarlat we are currently looking at Le hameau du sentier des sources in their La métairie basse, looks like being E 1,430 for 12 nights, including a cot and bedding. Was a dearth of reviews on much around Sarlat and we are looking at a house-stay or farm-stay, rather than an apartment in the townships. Space for the kids to run around, a more rural setting and not be concerned about traffic etc.

You mentioned staying at either Nimes or Avignon. Depending on where you want to visit in Provence Avignon may be a more central location. Although if you have a car somewhere out of Avignon may be better for access to Provincial villages, etc.

We haven't got to where we want to visit in these areas yet, however yes, we will have leased/hired a car. We wanted the trips between places to be short as that will give us opportunities to stop and admire the scenery.

Sarlat has a great market in town on Saturdays(the best one) and Wednesdays. The Dorodogne River area is great.

I had made my wife aware of the markets and showed her photo's from a website. Needless to say, that will be the shopping area for our staples.

There is no train from TGV from Sarlat. You would have to go via Bordeaux.

Correct, I hadn't updated the spreadsheet to reflect . We both agreed driving in and arournd Paris won't be high on our agenda - foot power will rule the day.

Hope this info helpful to you

YES! This is exactly why I need the community knowledge. Thanks fro taking the time to reply

 

[QF WP]

Sometimes (very rarely), I am thankful for a cancelled flight. In this instance, Qantas have cancelled our PER/HKG flight. However, it was humerous to see that the AA system then had automatically booked us back onto a QF flight PER/SYD, to connect to QF87 which would get us to HKG in time for the remaining CX flight to LHR.

The funniest part was that the return PER/SYD flight left 2 hours before we actually arrived in PER, so was an impossible connection.

So I rang AA Res in UK and the lady saw the problem immediately. I offered the obvious solution (having already looked at whether there were any QF BNE/SYD flights with 3x U seat availability that would get us to SYD in time to connect with QF87). Needless to say, we are now re-booked on QF545 - but she did put me on hold for a long time to check whether she needed to charge me a change fee, even thought I knew the answer and had told her.

So now our flights look a lot better:

Date           From            To                      Flight  Seats
Mon 23 May 11  [B]17:15 [/B]Brisbane  [B]18:50  [/B]Sydney           QF545   4A, 4B, 4E 
Mon 23 May 11  [B]22:05 [/B]Sydney    [B]05:40  [/B]Hong Kong        QF087   3A, 3B, 3E 
Tue 24 May 11  [B]09:55 [/B]Hong Kong [B]16:00 [/B]London (Heathrow) CX257   16A, 16D & 16K

I have also requested a bassinet seat for QF87 & CX257, we'll see how that goes.

All in all, a shorter set of flights now and much better.

 

[QF WP]

By contrast, another QF change of flight details (QF 30 on both sectors now 10 hours later), have given us an interesting set of inbound flights.

So the new flights are:

Date          From                      To                    Flight    Seats
Tue 5 Jul 11  [B]07.35[/B]  Paris (CDG)       [B]07.55[/B]  London (LHR)    BA303  
Tue 5 Jul 11  [B]22:30  [/B]London (Heathrow) [B]17:20 (+1)  [/B]Hong Kong  QF030     18J 
Fri 8 Jul 11  [B]18:55  [/B]Hong Kong         [B]06:00 (+1) [/B]Melbourne   QF030     18J 
Sat 9 Jul 11  [B]10:05  [/B]Melbourne         [B]12:15  [/B]Brisbane        QF612     3D

One real positive is that we now don't have to overnight at MEL (thus saving probably $250 and the problem of whether it would be the Parkroyal or Holiday Inn). The negative is that we have only 48 hours in HKG; but both the long haul are overnight flights

 

[QF WP]

The final flight I needed to book were the London to Prague flights, so when a recent BA sale was on, I snagged the flight we wanted:

Date          From                   To                 Flight    Seats     Equip
Wed 1 Jun 11  [B]10.55[/B]  London (LHR)    [B]13.55[/B]  Prague      BA860     12 D,E,F  A321/2

So now all the flights are booked and paid, it's onto the accommodation

 

[RB]

Am I seeing a 14 odd hour stopover at LHR after a 7.35am takeoff from CDG?-looks like a long day

 

[QF WP]

RB, yes you are correct. Actually works in well with our plans, as we (read - my wife) will have done some shopping in London (GAP, Next, etc) and wants to bring it home.

After checking out prices for shipping the stuff home, or paying for it on the BA flight (and lugging it around Europe with us), we felt it is easier to leave the (new) bag full of shopping with friends at Boston Manor. We are planning to get a day room at a hotel at Heathrow, so I'll deposit the kids and Mrs LW there and then go and pick it up; bring it back and check it in (we'll have no trouble, as Mrs LW and mini#1 are both flying First and we'll have only checked in 2 bags between the 4 of us at CDG).

At least, that's the plan. Can you or anybody else see any flaws? Yes, we know that BA might not interline our bags CDG/LHR/HKG because of the long delay, they might not want to be responsible for our bags during the long layover), so we might need to pick them up, clear Customs and check back in. If they do check us through, then happy days.

 

[RB]

Saw these today when doing some reading for our own trip in May, recommended by a Fodors reader


www.dientzenhofer.cz, and general info

Prague Travel Guide | Fodor's Travel Guides

 

[alieninperth]

I've been to Prague a few times and I can throughly recommend it to everyone. I have only been there as a young single male so I am not sure how it would work with kids. the most important thing to remember is to bring a waterproof and good walking boots. Being a very, very old city, Prague has some very narrow and uneven streets, these are also the streets where you get the best feel for the city.

Assuming that you are staying in a self contained apartment/house I would recommend anywhere between Wesleslas Square, the old town/Charles Bridge, and the castle. There is (or at least used to be) a very large supermarket in this area (Tesco) which stocked everything from food to clothes and household items. There is also a multitude of markets and stalls around the place where you can pick up tacky tourist or authentic folk trinkets depending on your point of view/the stall that you are at.

The beer halls are also good for getting a feel for the area, just be careful here as the beer will keep coming until you tell them to stop.

Your trip sounds like it will be great fun, I am more than a little jealous. Have a great time.

 

[QF WP]

alieninperth, PRG is my wife's favourite city in Europe and she took me to it on our last trip there (before kids), where indeed we did both the places you mention. We have a picture of Charles' Bridge over our bed, so you can guess how much she loves it.

Been looking at accom lately and still not decided.

 

[QF WP]

Sorry to be tardy, thanks RB for the Fodor's reviews

Try finding rooms that will fit 2 adults & 2 kids . Had done comparisons of Hilton, PC and SPG and was about to confirm the desired ones, when I remembered I have an open Accor account, so checked them for England & Europe destinations.

That's thrown a cat amongt the pigeons. Accor is some serious competition on the $ side. Particularly given that I have 30 nights of accom to book

I'll have no trouble qualifying Plat on PC, however I was also trying to re-qual HH Gold (I lose Gold tomorrow and thus using Hilton's MVP Fast Track to re-qual Gold and then the overall stays will maintain it for 2012).

Hmmm, decisions, conundrums :-|.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

alieninperth, PRG is my wife's favourite city in Europe and she took me to it on our last trip there (before kids), where indeed we did both the places you mention. We have a picture of Charles' Bridge over our bed, so you can guess how much she loves it.

Been looking at accom lately and still not decided.

LW sounds like it could mean mini#3 is around the corner?

What about being really corny & doing one of those love song dedication numbers on the From the Heart channel. You'd need to be reasonably quick as you have to request it 8 weeks prior to the first day of the month you are travelling.

Wonder if any other AFFers have done this yet?