I love planning! I am the family planner, the Julie on the love boat. (I have no idea what that means - I am too young for the love boat...my mom called me that on a family trip to Bermuda) Family jokes aside... I really enjoy it, especially when I am planning a trip - almost more than the trip itself. I discovered Next Vacay, a $25 yearly service that lets you know about awesome flight deals from your preferred airport. Next Vacay sent me an email about a great flight to Scotland that lined up with my upcoming April break - score! www.nextvacay.com Next Vacay uses Google Flights to find amazing options for travel - and they promise to only send you to cool places. Looking through google flights, I realized it was the same price to fly into Scotland and out of England - since I have never been to either country and there is only about an 8 hour drive between the two cities, we decided to go for it. Flights: $903.80 for two people DIRECT on Norweigan including cancelation insurance which was $48 each RT. Providence, RI to Edinburgh - $362.00 London to Boston - $541.80 Flying with a budget airline: You may not want to do it - They don't feed you...and they don't let you bring any substantial baggage without charging you a ton of money. They don't even let you pick your seat! It would have cost $45 per person each way to pick our seat. That would have added $180 to our flights. I do not like the idea of not sitting next to my husband and I may decide after this trip that the added cost is worth it... Food: buy snacks and bring sandwiches with you on the airplane. Airplane food is kinda gross - I don't feel the need to pay $45 per meal for crappy food. Luggage: This can be a deal breaker for some people - my mom brings more than this to my house when she comes over for dinner. For us - it is not a big deal! I frequently shop at TJ Maxx and Marshals and they usually have a great selection of luggage (bring a measuring tape - they are about $60 for this size) Since all of our trips max out at a week long - I have found it pretty easy to pack light. Added benefit: We are never going to lose our luggage and we don't have to wait to pick it up!!! Norwegian's Luggage Policy: One carry-on bag included
Edinburgh - Found a great deal on Airbnb for a cute apartment. It cost $218.60 for two nights, it is within walking distance to everything in the city center and has all of the amenities you need for a comfortable stay. www.airbnb.com/rooms/5956098?s=51
Our last stop will be London! I found a really cool looking narrow boat on a river in central London to stay in for $446.17 for 2 nights. Arden and I stayed on a barge on the Seine in Paris and loved it so we decided to stay in something similar on this trip. www.airbnb.com/rooms/7580184?s=51 I still need to book a car for our trip and I plan on picking it up when we leave Edinburgh and dropping it off at the airport before going inside of the city of London - I heard that is not a good idea to drive around in the city. we haven't thought through everything we would like to do over there - so please send me suggestions if you have any.
Total of trip so far: Flights: $903.80 USD Hotels/Airbnb: $1518.23 USD = $2322.03 USD
2 Comments
|