Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Tips on travel agents or online tickets?

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Posted by Richard Hamilton (Member # 321) on 04-15-2008, 05:20 AM:

Anyone ever use any online sites to buy tickets? Any suggestions? My goal is to get from the States to Egypt next week and from there go to China, then later come back to the States. The cheapest I found online doing that was almost $5000 bucks. On the other hand, I can fly to Egypt and back to the States for about $1500, then fly to China and back to the States for around $1000. I also need to be able to change the departure dates for the Egypt to China flight in case I get stuck there.

At Megasystems and Ballantyne, I never had to deal with making the arrangements other than telling someone at the office what dates I needed. They both used a local travel agent.

Any advice is appreciated
Thanks, Rick

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 04-15-2008, 05:58 AM:

Trying to book a long-haul trip with only a week's notice makes it unlikely that you'll get a very good price, I'm afraid.

I've used two online flight booking services, one very good and the other not so.

The one I'd advise avoiding like a barge pole is Expedia. When I booked tickets for a conference in September last year about three months in advance, Expedia were offering £340 return for MME-BRU-PHX-ROC - a full £200 cheaper than KLM/Northwest, which I normally use. So I decided to give them a try. Two months later I got an email out of the blue saying that there'd been a clerical error, that this fare wasn't available after all, and did I want to pay them an extra £300 or have my booking cancelled and my card recredited? Of course by that time the other airlines' price had shot up, and I ended up paying over £800 for KLM/NW - £200 more than if I'd just booked with them in the first place.

KLM's own booking site, on the other hand, has always been completely reliable and hassle-free in my experience. It's sometimes £10-20 more than a big flight shop site for the same trip, but it usually offers you slightly better connections and you can ask for an exit row seat (essential for me, being 6'3") during the booking process.

However, given that NW has just been taken over by Delta, it might be an idea to stay clear of them until the merger of their two route systems has been done and any short-term teething troubles are out of the way.

Posted by Brad Allen (Member # 470) on 04-15-2008, 01:38 PM:

Rick, if your flying out of E'ville, that alone will jack up the price significantly. You may need to fly from St. Louis, Indy, Nashville or Louisville to get a decent price.

But then again, at this late date, you may not get a deal either.

My daughter travels weekly for work, and use's Expedia.com and hasn't had any problems. YMMV

Posted by Paul Mayer (Member # 355) on 04-15-2008, 02:04 PM:

I've had good results with Travelocity. Indeed YMMV.

Posted by Mike Heenan (Member # 392) on 04-15-2008, 05:29 PM:

I would do a search on a fare search engine like www.farecompare.com or www.kayak.com and see what the lowest one is, and then book it with the airline direct. Often the places like Orbitz or Travelocity add on a fee though it's usually not that much to worry about. I dont know about your route exactly, but you might want to consider an open jaw type ticket, or even a Round the world ticket with a few other stop overs , those tickets tend to be cheaper I think.

Posted by Richard Hamilton (Member # 321) on 04-28-2008, 10:24 AM:

Looks like I will have to make 2 seperate trips. My old travel agent looked for flights from Egypt to China, and couldn't find anything decent. Either too expensive, or airlines and flights he wouldn't recommend. So it will be easier to make 2 separate trips overseas.

The internet sites didn't show flights from Alexandria to China

Thanks for the links and advice, Rick

Posted by Rachel Craven (Member # 1016) on 04-28-2008, 12:19 PM:

I know you're all set... but I just need to post to disagree with Leo... =)

I've used Expedia MANY times, all flights within the US though. I've never had any problems with them. One of the flights from MA to WI actually got cancelled thru the airlines while I was at the airport, I called Expedia and they got me on another flight right away with no problems, and no added fees. Very good customer service! I will actually be using them to book an upcoming flight from Boston to Pensacola FL for a job interview... at a theater! God, I miss this biz! =)

Posted by Tim Reed (Member # 137) on 04-28-2008, 07:13 PM:

I don't know about flights, but I just tried to book a hotel through Expedia for a convention I'm going to in a couple weeks. After a quick check before hitting the commit button, I discovered that it was cheaper for me to book the room myself directly through the hotel's website. Same location, same hotel, same dates. $60 cheaper.

I've also noticed hotels my company books for me through Expedia are $20-$30 higher per night than if I just put the room on my card at the front desk! Same location, same hotel, same days of the week.

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 04-28-2008, 07:43 PM:

Richard... try to book at least three weeks in advance if at all possible. Prices can sonmetimes be as low as 1/2 of the short notice fare.

Mark

Posted by Louis Bornwasser (Member # 3063) on 04-28-2008, 08:54 PM:

Richard; fly back to Frankfurt or London, then onward to China. Those cities have direct flights with major airlines. I would say Paris, but I wouldn't even send the French to De Gaulle Airport!! Louis

Posted by Mike Heenan (Member # 392) on 04-28-2008, 11:20 PM:

I don't think Heathrow's any better for that matter, lol

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 04-29-2008, 01:21 AM:

Don't go anywhere near Heathrow if you can possibly help it. There are five different terminals: getting between any two requires a bus, taxi or train (or a long - as in, a mile plus - walk through underground walkways). Many airlines won't check your baggage through a connection, the immigration queues for non-EU arriving passengers can be horrendous and tales of delays and lost baggage are par for the course. As if that wasn't enough, the industrial relations situation there is volatile: there have been several wildcat strikes in the last few years, all of which caused major disruption. The runways are operating at around 95% capacity, which means that any minor incident or bad weather causes chaos.

For the last five years or so now I've connected through Amsterdam to and from long-haul flights, and have only once had any problem (in probably 20-30 trips). The whole airport is a single terminal under one roof, making for easy connections. The walks can be quite long, but there's an ample supply of free luggage carts. The only thing to watch is that if you're connecting from a flight from a non-Schengen area destination to one within the Schengen area, you have to go through passport control to get to the Schengen gates, and the queue for this can be long (especially early on a weekday morning, when all the long hauls have just landed). KLM reckon that allowing a 45-minute connection time is enough, but I once found out the hard way that it wasn't.

As for Expedia, I guess I was probably in a minority in having had a bad experience with them; either that or their UK setup is not as good as their US one. But I was seriously unimpressed that they turned round and said they wouldn't honour my (fully paid for) booking, months after I'd made it. Most other travel agents will rebook you at their expense if something like that happens, even if the letter of the law says they don't have to.

Posted by Richard Hamilton (Member # 321) on 05-08-2008, 09:57 AM:

O.K., another question.... On my other visits to Egypt, I always had my passport and visa pre-arranged by someone else in the office. This trip I am doing it by myself and am not sure which visa I need. My contact at the theater in Egypt was supposed to ask his boss, but he hasn't replied on that issue yet. My options for a visa are either a Tourist or Business visa. The Egypt Consulate in Chicago said I could get a Visa here, or at the airport in Alexandria Egypt. Obviously I want to make sure I can get into (and out of) the country once I get there. Still haven't bought tickets yet, am waiting on a few things to get finalized in writing.

I remember a desk where you could buy visas at the airport in Alexandria, but I never stopped to see what was involved.

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 05-08-2008, 10:59 AM:

The UK Egyptian Consulate site doesn't mention anything about getting your visa on arrival (only that tourists going to the beach resorts don't need one). Apart from your passport you don't need any other documents for a tourist visa. One of the footnotes says that for a business visa, you also need a letter from your employer. Annoyingly, the page doesn't tell you what (if any) the practical difference between a tourist and a business visa is. I would guess that a business visa is needed if you're going to do paid employment for or any trade with Egyptian citizens, but that is just a guess. The only thing I can suggest would be to give Chicago a ring, tell them exactly what you're going to be doing in Egypt and ask them what sort of visa you need to apply for.

Posted by Richard Hamilton (Member # 321) on 05-08-2008, 01:38 PM:

Leo,
I talked with the Consulate in Chicago before my last post. I tried to explain what I needed, which is a long term multi-entry visa. She said the Business visa is good for 3 months, multiple entries. I informed her that I will be going several times throughout the year and was asking about that, and if the theater calls for an emergency visit, how do I go? I don't want to send my passport to the consulate every three months to get a new visa stamped in it. She said "no problem, get your visa when you arrive in Alexandria", and also suggested that I talk to my employer in Egypt about what to do. She basically didn't give me any info.

I know I can just arrive with my passport, but most "tourists" don't go through customs with a box full of tools to sightsee. I just want to be as prepared as possible. I can usually talk my way through customs, because I'm not doing anything wrong. It's just that being an American and travelling by myself, I'm just slightly anxious about this trip.

Rick

EDIT
Never mind my last 2 posts about the visa. I just talked to a friend who did the video work at the theater and he said he always just buys the visa when he arrives in Egypt. Thanks Leo

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 05-08-2008, 03:01 PM:

Just found this. If I'm understanding it correctly, buying a visa on entry is easily done, and the only disadvantage of doing that rather than getting a three-month business visa is that if you're going to be making frequent visits, it'll cost you a bit more.

If I ever visit Egypt, I think I'll stay off the trains and resist the temptation to rent a quad bike, too!

Posted by Richard Hamilton (Member # 321) on 06-09-2008, 03:19 AM:

Just an update....The negotiations with the theater in Egypt are done, just waiting for money to be wired to my bank before I book the tickets. I talked to 2 travel agents here in the states. One was recommended by a friend, the price they gave me with a 3 week advance notice was about $2500 dollars. The other travel agent I use from Florida came up with a flight for right under $2000 with a two week notice.

I asked the first agent about ticket prices to China with a month or more notice, she said the tickets were over $2000. These prices along with domestic gas prices are a bitch when I am figuring long term service contracts.

On a side note, don't expect a new thread with pictures showing me with Egyptian hookers at a bar [Big Grin]

, unless anyone knows where to find one...or two...or three [Smile]

Rick

*Edit- I just talked to the theater in Egypt and they think the ticket prices are too high. I called American Airlines and the best price they could give me was $4200. Delta's price was $2200 to Cairo, they don't fly into Alexandria, which sucks because the bus ride from Cairo to Alexandria sucks. Delta's price to China with a 2 MONTH notice was $1700, almost double what it was a year ago.

[ 06-09-2008, 10:06 AM: Message edited by: Richard Hamilton ]

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 06-09-2008, 12:48 PM:

Ha I chuckle at the a-rabs telling you the ticket price is too high! Excuse me or aren't they the reason the ticket price(oil price) is so high in the first place??? So let them get someone else... of course that someone else doesn't exist. Actually you should be making a small profit on the tickets...

quote: Richard Hamilton
they don't fly into Alexandria, which sucks because the bus ride from Cairo to Alexandria sucks.

Can't be much worse than Greyhound...

Mark

Posted by Richard Hamilton (Member # 321) on 06-18-2008, 02:20 PM:

O.K., so I should get my itenerary from them tomorrow. It will be interesting to see the prices. They are using a travel agent there (Egypt) to get the tickets.

Rick

Posted by Richard Hamilton (Member # 321) on 08-21-2008, 02:12 PM:

After a couple of months of negotiations and scheduling conflicts, I finally got my ticket. 3 weeks in advance and still $1900. I fly from Evansville to Chicago to Frankfurt to Alexandria. Let's hope things are a little smoother than getting the tickets [Roll Eyes]