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  1. Stephan the Painter

    Trainline and registering!

    Mostly everything's going to work perfectly, but every article I ever read about people having problems changing tickets or getting refunds, says it's better to book directly with whoever you're traveling with. If there's a problem, you'll have to negotiate through a third-party representative...
  2. Stephan the Painter

    An Alternate Route from Madrid to SJPP through Bayonne

    Nice journey! Lucky. But of course, getting on a plane is almost always quicker than getting on land transport. And for people like me, who don't like to fly, this is a pretty good alternative that I don't think many people are aware of. And buses or trains pretty seldom get canceled or...
  3. Stephan the Painter

    An Alternate Route from Madrid to SJPP through Bayonne

    An all-year alternate route to SJPP instead of going through Pamplona. If you're starting your trip in Madrid, there seem to be multiple buses every day from Madrid to Bayonne, France. A direct Bla Bla bus (6 hrs.), but sometimes ALSA is listed ( 9 hrs., with a connection). Various starting...
  4. Stephan the Painter

    My Travel / Transport Approach to Camino Frances Internationally via Paris

    It sounds like a good simple plan. I would've booked a multi-city flight and flown back from Madrid or Lisbon, so I could just take a bus or train back to those cities. But it's good to know that you had success with Express Bouricult A tribute to Rube Goldberg. So, no, not like this…
  5. Stephan the Painter

    Need info on traveling by train from Madrid to SJPP in April

    Hi, there are several posts about the subject. Here's one for staying in Madrid https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/staying-in-madrid.84211/ Most people take a train to Pamplona and then there's a bus that leaves about 1 o'clock that goes to SJPP. If you look at the Rome to Rio...
  6. Stephan the Painter

    Resupply on Shoes

    @Drifter , The only way it sounds to me like it's going to work easily is the suggestion that was made early on in this post by several people. Ship your shoes from within France to SJDPP: And I agree with you, what you outlined in the previous post sounds way too complicated to me.... Good luck.
  7. Stephan the Painter

    Bus/train - From Santiago to Porto

    You're welcome! The flights actually might be cheaper and better if you look 8 to 12 weeks ahead of your trip. But it's hard to say for sure. Hope you and your niece have a great Camino!
  8. Stephan the Painter

    Bus/train - From Santiago to Porto

    You just have to know which websites to look at that give you the clearest information. For flights, I found the best thing to check his Google flights. I quickly checked flights from Santiago to Edinburgh on July 12 and there were flights, but they cost an arm and a leg, and take forever...
  9. Stephan the Painter

    Bus/train - From Santiago to Porto

    It's probably too early to purchase the tickets but there's a couple trains and a couple buses a day. Check the Rome to Rio website or app. Also Google maps website or app is good. Once you decide if you want to take a bus or a train go to the Spanish national bus website, ALSA, or the...
  10. Stephan the Painter

    Resupply on Shoes

    Whatever you do, I would ignore the suggestions to have a friend ship them from out of the EU to yourself. They might get tied up in customs. You just never know. And to other posters, if you did not read the OP's post carefully, he already has the shoes, and it's a style that is not made...
  11. Stephan the Painter

    Pros & Cons of One-way Flights

    I do the same thing. I’m always trying to convince friends of mine to use the system. It’s really no trouble at all. Once I even paid myself through my PayPal account money to qualify. I lost the 2% PayPal fee, but the credit card didn’t blink. And I came out far ahead With free flights. It’s...
  12. Stephan the Painter

    Pros & Cons of One-way Flights

    and @Damien Reynolds The nice thing about Google flights is so far any tickets they showed me that I wanted, the booking links sent to the airline websites. I've read enough horror stories about people booking through third parties that I won't do it. Because then your contract is not actually...
  13. Stephan the Painter

    Pros & Cons of One-way Flights

    It might've been that way in the past, but as of now, there are no refund fees at all for travel booked with miles on United Airlines. https://www.united.com/ual/en/us/fly/mileageplus/awards/travel/ticketing.html It's good to hear you had a positive experience with AA miles, because I just got...
  14. Stephan the Painter

    Pros & Cons of One-way Flights

    That happened to me also when I tried to change the ticket a couple of days in advance; not that much but it was like $1000. I guess changing is not a realistic option unless you have a couple of weeks. 'Google Flights" seems to be the best website for finding retail tickets for me. Google just...
  15. Stephan the Painter

    Pros & Cons of One-way Flights

    I think nowadays, most of the airlines offer tickets without change fees. So you only have to pay the difference in cost between the two tickets. This is not every ticket, but most of them. For instance, United offers a “basic economy” ticket, and then an “economy“ticket. “Basic economy”...
  16. Stephan the Painter

    Pros & Cons of One-way Flights

    I never understood that either. I'm one of those people who accumulates airline miles with the help of credit cards. With airline miles, usually two one-way and round-trip tickets are the same amount of miles. For the last 10 years, I've managed to accumulate enough miles, using promotions...
  17. Stephan the Painter

    Travel Question - Car rental and driver's license

    I ended up making a claim On a credit card for about €1200 of damage to a car in Spain. It took about six months but eventually they paid. But what you want is to use a credit card that lists it as “primary“ car rental insurance, as opposed to secondary. If it’s secondary, they’re going to...
  18. Stephan the Painter

    Pros & Cons of One-way Flights

    I also prefer to book one-way flights to europe from the US. For me it’s much better because I’m usually not sure of the exact dates I want go back home. And I always end up leaving from a different city, because part of it is going somewhere new! I think many people do this, and have no...
  19. Stephan the Painter

    Travel Question - Car rental and driver's license

    In 2022 when I rented a car, the prices were all over the place. I was in santiago trying to rent a car for a month and it was usually at least €2000. But I started checking other cities and saved €1000 by taking a train to Leon and picking up a car there. So I think there’s some demand...
  20. Stephan the Painter

    Travel Question - Car rental and driver's license

    I rented a car in 2022 in Spain. Also for me, car rental prices were much cheaper in Spain then in North America or many other places. But just make sure that you read all the fine print and extra charges so you don’t get any surprises. A foreign country drop fee could be high. You don’t need...

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