June 2013...got tickets already!

[David243]

Hey everyone!

I don't usually post too often, but I just wanted to let everyone know that I found a pretty amazing deal arriving in June and returning in August from Los Angeles. Tickets were only $750 into Dusseldorf, and from there my wife and I are taking a bus to Brussels and then flying through Ryanair to Biarritz, and so forth. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw how inexpensive RT tickets were! I'd been looking at arriving in Madrid or Paris ($1200-1400 RT right now). This helps our budget so much! It's amazing when things work out so perfectly.

So now I'm walking the Camino for sure! I couldn't be more excited.

Have a great day everyone

David

 

[wayfarer]

Have a great Camino David, you will love it.

Buen Camino.

 

[MMMoffitt]

That is awesome! I am also doing the Camino in June 2013. It is very encouraging to know that there are great travel deals to be had!

Buen Camino

 

[Mark2012]

You will have an amazing time.

I walked the Camino Frances (and then on to Finisterre and Muxia) in May and June this year and it was the most rewarding and enjoyable experience of my life to date.

You're most likely going to feel a bit of anxiety as it draws closer, but pay it no heed, or else choose to enjoy it!

 

[David243]

Thank you everyone for the encouraging words!

You will have an amazing time.

I walked the Camino Frances (and then on to Finisterre and Muxia) in May and June this year and it was the most rewarding and enjoyable experience of my life to date.

You're most likely going to feel a bit of anxiety as it draws closer, but pay it no heed, or else choose to enjoy it!

I too am planning to walk to Finisterre and Muxia from St Jean. I am already feeling a bit of anxiety, but mainly in relation to things regarding my life here when I'm gone. I'm staying positive, though, just knowing things will work out positively. There are too many signs around me along with my gut instinct telling me that this is the right decision to make. I'm so glad I bought the tickets, because now there's nothing holding me back. Now time to save money!

That is awesome! I am also doing the Camino in June 2013. It is very encouraging to know that there are great travel deals to be had!

Take advantage of the deals when you can!! I hope to run into you on the Camino in June, MMMofitt!

 

[Deleted member 3000]

And I don´t even buy green bananas anymore...

Have a great trip; that is a long flight. Buen camino.

 

[Debianne]

Hello!
I live in Canada (3hrs north of Toronto, Ontario) and am going the French route September 2013, still wondering how cold its going to be hiking this time of year but where did you go to book your flight? I think it may be too early for me to book and I also have one burning question,,,how on earth will I get luggage of 'nicer' clothes to Santiago? I'm not sure where I'd be staying, I hear one can stay at someones house for cheaper but that doesn't help much if I need to send luggage ahead.

Sorry, that last question was rather mute but its all the little things that add up to bigger questions!

Take care and happy and safe journey! If you'd like you can keep me apprised of how cold it is!

Yours,
Debi

 

[Al the optimist]

Why not "not bother" and use the money saved to treat yourself at the end of your Camino?

 

[David243]

Hello! I live in Canada (3hrs north of Toronto, Ontario) and am going the French route September 2013, still wondering how cold it
s going to be hiking this time of year but where did you go to book your flight? I think it may be too early for me to book and I also have one burning question,,,how on earth will I get luggage of 'nicer' clothes to Santiago? I'm not sure where I'd be staying, I hear one can stay at someones house for cheaper but that doesn't help much if I need to send luggage ahead.

I bought my plane tickets through cheapoair.com, but I did my searches through skyscanner.com. To be honest, I wasn't expecting to buy my plane tickets until January-March, but I was just doing daily searches anyway to see if some random low airfare popped up. I was just searching for flights from LA to Madrid, Paris, London and Dublin, but I decided to broaden my search a little bit and once I put in any city in Germany the prices dropped about $500! For a second I thought I would wait until later to see if tickets from LA to these other places would drop that low, but to be honest from what I've seen it's pretty rare to see summer tickets that low. Plus, this way I have an excuse to explore a couple of cities I've never been to on my way to St Jean 8).

I'm sorry I can't answer your other questions! It's my first camino

 

[chavesrm]

That is a good deal! Hopefully we will see you there. We are also doing El Camino Frances in June of next year and are equally excited about it.

Rolando

 

[traveling quilter]

I just started looking for tickets for May 2013 and I saw your post! thanks for the great info on getting a cheap air fare!
I too was looking for a flight from LAX into Paris or London, but it's so expensive.
Buen Camino
Norma

 

[Terrri]

I am planning on going in May/June 2013 and have started looking at tickets. I haven't looked as far as Germany though. Is it still worth it even with the cost to get to your Camino starting point? I am still trying to figure out the logistics of getting to St. Jean and haven't seen any prices yet. I know when we went to France a couple of years ago the price I saw in the fall was at least $300 cheaper than what we ended up paying in February. I am probably not going to go many places other than Spain. For me the cheapest I have seen so far was actually Lisbon. It must be exiting to know there is no backing out now!

 

[Mmc_56]

Hi Debianne,
We flew Air Transat from Calgary to London Gatwick, Easyjet to Barcelona, then returning Easyjet Madrid to Manchester, Air Transat Manchester to Calgary. Easyjet and Ryanair fly very cheaply in Europe, and your flights from Toronto are so much cheaper, you should be able to get a good deal to get to Europe....be sure to check out all kinds of combinations

We shipped a small bag with "nice" clothes to ourselves, via the Post Office...Correos...from Barcelona to Santiago....worked great for us. Wore them to sightsee in Barcelona, then had them for sightseeing after Santiago.

 

[Terrri]

Mmc_56, I will be flying out of Calgary or Spokane. Do you mind my asking what your ticket to London cost? The cheapest I have found so far is just over $1000 to Lisbon. Wondering if I should spend a bit more just to get me closer to where I want to start from. So many options.

 

[tyrrek]

Mmc_56, I will be flying out of Calgary or Spokane. Do you mind my asking what your ticket to London cost? The cheapest I have found so far is just over $1000 to Lisbon. Wondering if I should spend a bit more just to get me closer to where I want to start from. So many options.

If going through London check out the Stansted-Biarritz route even if arriving at Gatwick, which couldn't be further away from Stansted! (I imagine a couple of hours in the bus.) Depending on flight times it may or may not work out for you. Biarritz to SJPP is a really easy-going journey and a good chance to meet other pilgs before you even start walking or get your accommodation and pilgrim passport etc.

The Transat flights through Manchester are not daily as far as I understand (I'm not sure about London) and I think they might be seasonal as well. Good luck with your planning! You'll find St Jean PP one way or the other, and will be exhausted, but the next day will blow away the cobwebs! Buen Camino!

 

[David243]

Is it still worth it even with the cost to get to your Camino starting point?

Actually, yes. You can take a bus from Dusseldorf to Brussels for 27.90 Euros, and then take a Ryanair flight from Brussels to Biarritz. That would be the cheapest option probably...one could also take a bus to Paris and take the train from there or Easyjet...we're having a hard time deciding, because we've been to Brussels before but never Paris. It would be much more expensive to go through Paris than Brussels, but it might be worth it...or not...who knows . We'll probably decide last minute or something

 

[Mmc_56]

Hi Terri,
Our AT flight, after taxes, was $830...Cal-Lon, Man-Cal. From Calgary, AT only flies to Gatwick in London, and for some strange reason, it was cheaper to buy a multi-destination ticket than a round trip ticket, so that's why we flew back from Manchester. We wanted to be tourists in Barcelona and get used to the time change before we walked, so that's why we flew to there. Easyjet flights Lon Gat-Barc, Madrid-Man cost $175, with one checked bag. It cost us 50€ to take the train from Barcelona to Pamplona, and bus from Pamplona to SJPDP.

Flying in and out from different cities let us be tourists in more cities as well When we were going that far, we wanted to do that as well.We picked the cheapest days to fly and went then, rather than pick what day we were flying, and look for flights that day...our schedule was flexible. We flew mid Aug. and I booked early June. AT does not fly Cal-Lon or Man-Cal every day.

Good Luck with your plans !

 

[MMMoffitt]

YEA! I just purchased my ticket today! It's actually going to happen! I'm so excited!
Buen Camino

--mmmoffitt

 

[Terrri]

Thanks for the responses.

That is interesting about the multi destination ticket being cheaper. Will have to keep that option open. I also like your idea about shipping your "tourist" clothes that you wore before the camino on ahead so you didn't have to carry them and still had something clean to wear at the end.

I looked up Biarritz and it definitely looks like a town I would want to see, it is on the coast after all.

I can see I just have to be diligent in looking at air fare. The prices I saw the other day have all changed - the cheapest one has gone up a few hundred and some of the more expensive ones have gone down in price.

I few years ago we bought tickets and then noticed a week later the price had gone down. That was thru United and we called them and they gave us vouchers for the price difference. Something to consider but not sure which airlines have that policy or if United even still has that policy.

Good thing I like planning trips!

 

[David243]

YEA! I just purchased my ticket today! It's actually going to happen! I'm so excited!

That's awesome! Where did you end up booking through? Are you still going in June? I'm looking at beginning my walk around Sunday June 16 or Monday June 17...all depends on which route I take to get there. In any case, buen camino!

 

[Debianne]

Not sure if I'm posting in the right area but one burning question is how to I get my 'tourist' clothes to my final destination when I don't know where I'm staying? Do I book ahead? A friend told me they stayed in Santiago not at a hotel but a B&B type place where it was much cheaper then hotel. I'm going September 2013 and though I have many other questions this had been weighing on my mind.

Take care!
Debi

 

[mspath]

Not sure if I'm posting in the right area but one burning question is how to I get my 'tourist' clothes to my final destination when I don't know where I'm staying? Do I book ahead? A friend told me they stayed in Santiago not at a hotel but a B&B type place where it was much cheaper then hotel. I'm going September 2013 and though I have many other questions this had been weighing on my mind.

Take care!
Debi

Debi,

Click on the Search Forum line in the blue rectangle above, enter the words package and Santiago and click again to see many earlier responses to this question.

Happy planning and Buen Camino,

Margaret Meredith

 

[CaminoKris2013]

Actually, I too, have been looking from some good flights. I had considered flying into Germany, but then when I checked train costs, etc. from Germany, it really wasn't that much cheaper. My thoughts right now is to fly out of Miami (live about 4 hours away and can take a bus down) to Madrid on a direct flight. Then I can get myself to SJPP. For me, it would have cost more to go to Germany even if I get a good flight, because of the train costs.

CaminoKris2013

 

[MMMoffitt]

I found a great multi destination ticket on cheap air.co; flying into Paris and leaving out of Madrid. I will most likely start the Camino on June 16!

 

[David243]

I found a great multi destination ticket on cheap air.co; flying into Paris and leaving out of Madrid. I will most likely start the Camino on June 16!

Congrats on finding amazing airfare. Are you thinking of taking the train or fly from Paris? I am so excited to be on the "officially bought plane tickets" stage, but it's sad to know there is so much time left before I can go. Hopefully I run into you at some point. My wife and I will be starting at the exact same time! Keep an eye out for us...I have a beard and curly hair and am usually pretty hard to miss :lol: Regardless, I wish you the best in your plans and travel for the Camino.

 

[Mmc_56]

Hi Debi,
I just mailed them to myself in Santiago ...the Post Office will keep the parcel, I believe, for a month. Be sure to address it to your name on your passport, as you will need that for ID to pick your parcel up. I made an address label at home, took it with me, applied it to the box I bought at the post office. Pretty easy...the girl at the Post Office spoke a little English, I speak a little Spanish, so we were good Don't remember the cost, but do remember thinking it was quite cheap to mail.

 

[MMMoffitt]

Thank you! I'm walking solo, so I'll keep a look out for you and your wife! I'm flying into Paris and from there I suppose I will take a train to St. Jean. I have not worked out the final details. My flight leaves from the US on June 13th, so I'll have a few days to rest before the journey begins!

 

[canadiandude]

Congrats on the tickets, David! I'm still planning my Camino but my wife and I are also aiming for a June/July Camino starting in SJPdP. We haven't booked anything because the timing all depends on when my wife can get her vacation time from work nut hopefully that will be sorted out by New Years. Since we now live in Sweden, we can take a direct RyanAir flight to Biarritz, then bus to Bayonne and finally, train to SJPdP where we will spend a couple of days sightseeing before beginning our Camino. We hope to see you and others starting around the same time and we both wish you all a Buen Camino!

 

[chavesrm]

Camino Frances, here comes the Chaves Clan +1! We got our tickets this week from Des Moines to Madrid. So we are committed for sure now and very excited! We will start in SJPdP on June 1st or 2nd, depending on the jetlag. We will be flying on May 30th and arriving the next day and hope to make it to the start on the same day or the morning after. Any advice on going from Madrid to SJPdP is really appreciated.

Rolando

 

[crogh]

Hi Rolando,
Just wondering what kind of deal you got on your tickets. I have been checkingg every day for weeks on Delta to get tickes from Boise, ID to Madrid. But they are very high. Can't seem to find a better deal. Hope you got a good deal. Glad to hear you bought yours, that makes it official. I want to do the same. Would appreciate a reply. Thanks.
Nikki

 

[Terrri]

Nikki, I am also checking almost everyday but I am checking on expedia because they give you the prices from multiple airlines. I have booked directly thru expedia before, have also gotten refunds from expedia with no issues. Mostly I just use expedia to find cheap flights then compare them with the actual airline and go with whoever is the cheapest. I also change the day of week and that makes a difference. I have found flights for around $1000 but want to get closer to SJPDP because I figure any savings will just get eaten up with having to travel once over there not to mention time used up at the beginning and end of the walk if I have to travel too far to the airport. I am flying out of Calgary or Spokane.

 

[crogh]

Thanks Terrri,
I will try Expedia and see what happens. I would be thrilled if I could find tickets for around $1000. Appreciate the tip.
Nikki

 

[jiggy]

I bought tickets on American Airlines into Madrid from Seattle for $904. I found the price on Kayak.com,
I hope this is helpful. We leave June 13 and return August.
Jiggy
Live, laugh, love

 

[tyrrek]

I bought tickets on American Airlines into Madrid from Seattle for $904. I found the price on Kayak.com,
I hope this is helpful. We leave June 13 and return August.
Jiggy
Live, laugh, love

Well done! Great deal, especially at that time of year. Buen Camino!

 

[Kiwi-family]

Clean tourist clothes?
OK the clean bit is not a problem - you wash your walking clothes every day or so, and your after-waking clothes as needed.
But you want tourist clothes? Non-pilgrim clothes?
We took our two sets of clothes (shorts and shirt) plus a pair of trousers. I must say we looked really out of place walking down Fleet Street on a Monday monring when everyone else was in suits - I think we were the only pilgrim-ish folks in all of London. But it didn't bother us in the slightest. Didn't seem to bother anyone else for that matter.
In fact, you know what....in some ways it prolonged the pilgrim-feel :lol:

 

[tyrrek]

...we looked really out of place walking down Fleet Street on a Monday monring when everyone else was in suits - I think we were the only pilgrim-ish folks in all of London.

Ha ha! Who isn't a pilgrim in London?! They've come from all over the UK and the world looking for something (usually not spiritual or religious), sometimes finding it, sometimes not, sometimes pretending they have.

I wouldn't recommend a suit on the Camino, though. :lol: Buen Camino!

 

[chavesrm]

Hi Rolando,
Just wondering what kind of deal you got on your tickets. I have been checkingg every day for weeks on Delta to get tickes from Boise, ID to Madrid. But they are very high. Can't seem to find a better deal. Hope you got a good deal. Glad to hear you bought yours, that makes it official. I want to do the same. Would appreciate a reply. Thanks.
Nikki

We got the tickets for $960 flying with Iberia. One tip is looking on Kayak.com or other online services on Wednesday night. Usually they offer their best deals at that time.

Good luck!

 

[APokey1]

Hello! I'm going to be doing the Caminos Norte and Primitivo in July/August 2013 and got tickets from Denver-Paris/Paris-Biarritz/Santiago-Paris/Paris-Denver just a week or so ago! Our tickets from Denver to Paris were $940, which seemed pretty good. I have a friend who owns a travel agency in Oviedo and she was able to get all of our tickets for us... If you need advice or assistance with tickets you are welcome to contact her. She said it was okay if I shared her contact info as she is happy to help peregrinos with travel arranagements.. Her name is Belen and you can reach her at belen@viajesalas.com.

Thank you for all of the great things I have learned on this forum!
Buen Camino!
Shari

 

[Forrest]

Hello everyone!

I am flying from Toronto, Canada, into Paris on the 26th of May and returning from Barcelona in July. The best price I found was with Air France, at around 850 all in return.

I will arrive early in the morning in Paris and leave on the high spped train to SJPP a few hours later. (so long as my flight is not delayed. I am hoping to be able to catch some sleep on the train, arrive late afternoon and head out the next day on the camino.

looking forward to meeting some of you hopefully!

 

[ffp13]

If only air fares from Oz to Europe were under $1k I'd be walking more often

 

[dduroy]

I purchased Houston to Madrid with Delta a couple of months ago for $1050.00 through Expedia.