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Thanks, canis_major. For some reason the FAQ and "Contact Us" links were not operating when I was trying, although I had seen them a day or so earlier. But the good news (for me, at least), is that eventually, just as I was about to give up, the site magically accepted my reservation, and so...
Does anyone know how to contact Ryanair? I am trying to book a flight online from Santiago to Madrid (which I managed to do successfully last year when I first walked the Camino), and it keeps telling me that my contact info is missing or incorrect. Then it throws me back to the beginning to...
Thanks, Laurie. Yes, now I think I can make the 10:45 bus to Pamplona, then the one at 5:30 to St. Jean. I'm grateful for your suggestion to carry on the poles.
Well, so far so good. I got my Lekis (disassembled and inside my pack) through security at my home airport with no problem, and now I'm at the Atlanta airport, where I won't have to re-enter security, waiting on my flight to Madrid. I thought I'd report that success to the forum.
Buen camino to...
I see that for my departure date from Santiago to Madrid (2 Nov.), the RyanAir fare is only 18.69€ for an online purchase (including taxes and fees, apparently). Checking my pack, since it will be under 15 kilo, will be another 15€ if done online, for a total of 33.69€. This seems somewhat...
Here is a bit of additional intelligence. Yesterday I drove to our airport and took my dismantled trekking poles inside to ask the TSA agent on duty whether I could pack them in my pack as a carry-on. Without hesitation, she said yes. So now that's my plan. I also showed her my plastic...
Not so crazy! Sounds like an idea worth thinking about. A friend of mine fashioned a cardboard box or tube for her hiking poles and knife, then checked them but carried on her mochila. The only disadvantage to that system is that one has to wait in baggage claim for the poles to appear on the...
Laurie, you mentioned putting the poles in a duffel bag. What do you do with that bag once you arrive? I assume you don't carry it in your pack on the Camino (or maybe it's very lightweight and you do). Do you store it somewhere, or ship it ahead, or what?
For the return trip, I do plan to...
That's helpful info, Createspace. My flight will land (if on time) at 08:35. Do you think that would have left you enough time to have caught the 10:45 bus to Pamplona?
Frank
Alan,
All I really know about the price is what I see on the ALSA bus website. For my dates of travel, the fare from Madrid/Barajas T4 to Pamplona is shown as 30.84€, and the fare from Pamplona to St. Jean is 20€. I do not know whether ALSA allows discounts for senior citizens, as RENFE does...
Hmmm. Thanks for that input, Laurie and Dbebble. I'm now tempted to chance it, leaving time to execute Plan B if some overzealous TSA official objects. If so, I'll report back. Of course, the small pocket knife would have to stay behind, and I'd just buy a cheap one in France or Spain.
While...
I would like to resurrect this topic, as I'm flying from the US to Madrid via Delta in late September. Does anyone have any current intelligence on whether it's still necessary to check trekking poles, or whether one can dismantle them into sections and carry them on in one's mochila? I know...
I fully agree, and I have planned to spend two nights in St. Jean. I'm looking forward to enjoying the village. I once lived in southern France and will appreciate reconnecting a bit with it.
That is very helpful, Whariwharangi, and I really appreciate your going to the trouble to provide those links. You're right that it's too late for me to change my flight, having bought the ticket to Madrid, but I will look into other ways to get from there to St. Jean.
This morning at a...
Thanks, Whariwharangi. I appreciate that cautionary advice. My backup plan probably would be either to take the shuttle train from the airport into Atocha, then catch a train to Pamplona (there's one at 11:35). Or take a later bus (13:15) to Pamplona and spend the night there. I had not...
Let me add a brief question to the ones I asked above: Does anyone see a problem in waiting to buy my bus tickets after arrival at the Madrid airport? Thanks.
I plan to leave the US on 22 September and arrive in Madrid the morning of the 23d. I would welcome feedback on the following plan for getting from Barajas airport to St. Jean Pied-de-Port:
I arrive on Delta at 08:35, Terminal 1;
I claim my baggage (just trekking poles and a small knife, since...
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