Filed under: Travel diary | Étiquettes: Cathay Pacific, STA Travel, Travel diary
I am very very proud and pleased to tell you that today, I finally booked my flights to Bali!
I went as planned to STA at 1:30. I have to say, I was pretty warmed up already because I checked the flights again on Internet and they were almost twice as more expensive as they were the week before. And I originally booked this appointment last week! Anyway, after a 40m wait on one of the seat in the STA branch, I finally got to speak to Jess. Poor girl, she was so sorry for making me wait that my anger suddenly fell and we started devising together the best way to get there. She managed to find a flight for 625£, which I upgraded to 699£ to gain time and hopefully comfort. I’m flying with Cathay Pacific. Apparently they have just refurbished all of their flights which should guarantee a minimum comfort on board. One stop in Hong Kong and 27h later, I will be in Bali. The other option was to flight with Quatar airlines but there was an 8h wait in Quatar and you can’t come out of the airport because you need a visa. The decision was made and we sealed the pact.
Blimey! I don’t think I’ve ever paid that much money in one go! I suddenly freaked out. 4 months is long! What if I don’t like it? What if I want to go home? What if I run out of money over there? What if I get sick?… I have been preparing this trip for a while now but it’s been a dream so far and seeing it becoming a reality is quite something! There’s no turning back now, no way to chicken out! Of course I can still cancel, I took an insurance in case something happens but why would I want to do that?
So the next step will be the visas. I thought STA Travel would sort it out for me but Jess said she couldn’t because I’m French and the legislation may change compare to England. Damn!
Photo courtesy of RodBegby – Flickr
I eventually got an email on Thursday from STA. Right. A bit late but since I haven’t booked anything yet, I thought I would give them the benefit of the doubt and phone back. My appointment tomorrow is booked and confirmed. Yes, a week later I will finally get my flights and everything that goes with it.
Yooohhooo! I’m excited!
Filed under: Travel diary | Étiquettes: Fligt booking, STA Travel, Travel diary
… didn’t call me back. It’s Wednesday and they didn’t call me back. And the flights have already raised.
I might just buy my tickets online tonight.
Filed under: Travel diary, Travel Tips, Uncategorized | Étiquettes: Connaisseurs du Voyage, Flights, STA Travel
The crucial question.
There was an article in Guardian Travel last week saying that given the actual economic climate, the earlier you book your flight the better it is. I’ve got to say that flights have been a bit of a concern for me, several reasons for that:
– The first one was that I had to tell my boss first about my travel projects. If I was leaving my company this wouldn’t have been an issue but negotiating a sabbatical has other implications. I would have waited a little bit longer to get a pay rise and maybe a promotion but I can’t afford waiting until the last minute and use up half of my travel budget for the flights so I had to make a choice.
– Then there was the fact that I needed to stick to Laure and Kawtar’s plans. They booked their RTW trip through Les Connaisseurs du voyage, a French Travel Agent specialised in RTW trips. The thing is that not all the travel agents serve the same destinations. Fortunately for me the plans are simple: Bali and Bangkok are two popular destinations and also my only flights. The rest of the transports will be by bus, train or car and we will manage this when there.
– The last (but not the least) challenge was finding the cheapest flights. I have been crawling the web trying to find the best deals. I went to different travel agents websites in France and England, checked the flight directly on several airlines’ websites, waited for the sales, I’ve been on all the forums and subscribed to pretty much all the travel eNewsletters to find the best deals.
You know what? I’m bored of filling up the search cases again and again. I have decided to book with STA Travel and indulge a little bit of luxury. I’ve booked an appointment in their Covent Garden branch next Wednesday and I will let them do the work for me. They have pretty cheap flights for under 26 years old (595£ for the two flights London-Bali/Bangkok-London) and they can sort out all the visas, advise me on the transport options in between the cities we will visit, book the first accommodations, the travel insurance and tell me which jabs I need before I go. So I am now free to think about where I want to go rather than how I want to get there. And I like that!
Midi sur l'Asie 