My Travel Blog
Time has gotten away from me... How is it possible that it has been over a month since my last post? Life became a bit of a whirlwind for me (surprise party for my mom, shower for my sister, couple of family roadtrips) and topped off with the worst head cold I've had in years. Laundry doesn't stop getting dirty and dinner doesn't cook itself, but I assume that's true for everyone. Well, anyone without a personal maid!
But, just because I've been absent from blogging doesn't mean my head still hasn't been in the European clouds. I've been helping a few different friends with their trip planning for this summer as well as tweaking our own plans. I got the Yotel booked for our long Amsterdam stopover and I'm already looking forward to their insanely comfortable beds. The only downside to the large family room I booked was that last year it sort of smelled like a chemical toilet in the room - but when you're completely exhausted that doesn't seem to matter too much when you're enveloped in 300 thread count comfort!
So, although I'm really looking forward to our trip this summer I'll admit I'm pretty excited for Hawaii in two weeks... coconuts and palm trees are pretty inviting this time of year!
Now I'm off to check out some locations in southern France for a friend who has a magical trip planned for June. Time to live vicariously...
Run - don't walk! If you are in any way thinking of going to Europe this summer (and in particular making Amsterdam a stop) you should check out KLM. Last week their prices were $400 cheaper than the week before, and I'm not sure if it's a seat sale or what, but they aren't advertising it with emails or on their website. My sister-in-law (who heard it from her mom) found the craziest prices for their family of five - and if we hadn't already booked our tickets with airmiles I would've been kicking myself!
But here's the craziest part... they got an entire extra leg (Amsterdam -> Paris) free! We were talking about multi-city flights and how they often are the same price or even cheaper, but in this case they actually wanted to fly in and out of Amsterdam but with an added side trip to Paris. They wanted to take the train one way (just for fun) so out of interest in KLM's multi-city boxes we put Calgary -> Amsterdam, Amsterdam -> Paris, and then Amsterdam -> Calgary. Believe it or not it's cheaper than just Calgary -> Amsterdam return. What?! That doesn't even make sense! They were originally going to fly with the charter airline Air Transat because it was significantly less expensive, but with this new turn of events they are now flying with a major airline (seat back tv's, more amenities) and have one leg of their Paris trip paid for. And in the end it was less than the charter airline.
I'm amazed. I had never thought to type in (what seemed to me) a random leg of a trip into a multi-destination flight search, it has always been a 'circle'. So, live and learn - and pass on the knowledge. Goes with the saying of "You don't know until you ask", or click, in this case. I'm not sure if this is a temporary sale, but it's worth checking out if KLM is a possibility for you this summer. Happy Travels!
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