MM Win: Trip to Europe and Saving Money

bmo88 · October 2015

Super excited. We are less than 2 months out from going to Europe for 19 days this December/January and we just finished booking everything last night.

The total cost of the trip will be around $6,300 for flights, hotels, food, entertainment and trains/in-country flights to go to London, Paris, Zurich, Venice, Rome and Barcelona.

We were able to save a ton of money on our trip by:

Credit Cards Rewards: Signed up for 2 travel rewards credit cards. We booked flights, train tickets and all hotels on them. They are 0% interest for 12 months, but we are paying them off in less than 5 months. Rewards: $1,000 toward future flights (using it go to Hawaii next October).
Hotels.com: Booked all hotels on it, got $40 rebate and got two nights free from their rewards program (saved $280 for future rooms).
Ebates: We linked through Ebates to book on hotels.com and got 4% back, so $98.80.

So in total, we saved $1,418.80 on our trip!

While it's a lot of money and the most money we have ever spent on a vacation, I am really happy with the overall cost given it's for two people and that it's almost 3 weeks. We hoping it to be the trip of a life time and we are excited that we were able to save a fair amount of money on it.

Xstatic3333 · October 2015

bmo88 said:
Super excited. We are less than 2 months out from going to Europe for 19 days this December/January and we just finished booking everything last night.

The total cost of the trip will be around $6,300 for flights, hotels, food, entertainment and trains/in-country flights to go to London, Paris, Zurich, Venice, Rome and Barcelona.

We were able to save a ton of money on our trip by:
Credit Cards Rewards: Signed up for 2 travel rewards credit cards. We booked flights, train tickets and all hotels on them. They are 0% interest for 12 months, but we are paying them off in less than 5 months. Rewards: $1,000 toward future flights (using it go to Hawaii next October).
Hotels.com: Booked all hotels on it, got $40 rebate and got two nights free from their rewards program (saved $280 for future rooms).
Ebates: We linked through Ebates to book on hotels.com and got 4% back, so $98.80.
So in total, we saved $1,418.9 on our trip!

Well done!

How did you find hotel prices to be? We're hoping to book lodging for our trip to Europe this week, but are leaning Air BnB.

bmo88 · October 2015

Xstatic3333: We considered Air BnB, but given we are only staying in each place for an average of 3-4 days, we decided it made more sense to do hotels.

We are staying in mostly 3 star hotels, but they all got ratings of 3.7 or higher out of 5. Also, they are within walking distance of the main attractions we are visiting. The average nightly rate is between $110-$140, including taxes and fees.

Sisugal · October 2015

I would much prefer you could pay off the CC in full than take 5 months to pay it off. You will be returning to that debt rather than a clean slate.
I hope you can plan ahead and have the next trip paid in full ahead of time (or have the cash on hand to pay that cc in full upon return).

bmo88 · October 2015

Sisugal: thanks for your input but we do actually have the cash to pay it in full. So we will not be returning to "debt." We prefer to keep that cash in the bank and pay it off in 5 months since it is 0% interest. We actually earn interest by having the money in the high interest savings account (about $5.56 a month). Not a ton, but nice perk.

We are not adverse to debt leveraging when there is no cost. We have access to over $40,000 in credit (which we have never come even close to using) and keeping $4,000 on a card for 5 months will not affect our scores since it is only 10%. We don't carry balances on any credit cards that have interest. We have $18,000 in the bank, but there is no urgency for us to pay it off since it isn't interest bearing.

We devised this plan and are quite comfortable with it.

dragonstarjk · October 2015

Sisugal said:

I would much prefer you could pay off the CC in full than take 5 months to pay it off. You will be returning to that debt rather than a clean slate.
I hope you can plan ahead and have the next trip paid in full ahead of time (or have the cash on hand to pay that cc in full upon return).

I find this somewhat rude. I know you are a regular here, which means you also know that everybody has different trains of thought on how to manage debt and not everybody here is in the 'must be debt free for life' crowd. I feel like we are all usually respectful of each other's plans and opinions. If she was asking for advice on this trip, that would be one thing, but she wasn't asking for advice or opinions; she was simply sharing something she is excited about that is MM-related, something we have all done numerous times--usually without judgement.

Xstatic3333 · October 2015

bmo88 said:
Xstatic3333: We considered Air BnB, but given we are only staying in each place for an average of 3-4 days, we decided it made more sense to do hotels.

We are staying in mostly 3 star hotels, but they all got ratings of 3.7 or higher out of 5. Also, they are within walking distance of the main attractions we are visiting. The average nightly rate is between $110-$140, including taxes and fees.

Makes sense. Those prices aren't bad! Maybe I'll take a quick look at hotels before committing.

brij2006 · October 2015

That's a good price for all of those stops. Also, great rates on the hotels. Are those prices before the ebates returns?

PS I have a soft spot for Europe. So you must share pictures when you get back.

hoffse · October 2015

Enjoy! You will love it. I have some tips for London and Paris to save money on sight-seeing there if you have plans to visit museums, churches, and monuments.

Also, I studied abroad in Rome. Easily my favorite city in the world (so far). Let me know if you have any questions

FYI, the hotel star rating system in Europe is completely different than the US. It has to do with amenities (spas, pools, etc.) more so than overall niceness. H and I have found 3 stars to usually be very nice and perfectly suited to our needs over there. It's hard to find 4 and 5 star hotels in those cities that don't cost an arm and a leg because the real estate it takes to add a pool in a Parisian hotel is ridiculous.

bmo88 · October 2015

brij2006: those prices are before ebates returns. Because it's the winter, we found that most hotels were about 20-25% cheaper with the exception of new year's. Surprisingly, Christmas time frame was cheap, but new year's is our most expensive and it was $140 a night in Barcelona.

bmo88 · October 2015

hoffse: Would love some tips on saving money on sightseeing and any recommended places to visit would be appreciated!

Yeah we were going for a basic hotel in a safe and convenient location. We weren't looking for any amenities other than WIFI, so it allowed us to keep our range affordable. I agree, there were some really nice hotels with lots of amenities and higher star rating, but they were $250+ a night. We figured we will be out and about most of the time, so no need to spend a lot on a hotel.

hoffse · October 2015

In London look at the 2-for-1 deals. You can print the coupons off before you leave. Buy a paper tube pass for the dates you are there and then you can get BOGO entry to LOTS of things, including the Tower of London and Westminster Abbey:

http://www.daysoutguide.co.uk/offers?county=2803&page=1

There is lots of info on TripAdvisor about the right kind of tube pass to buy so that it is valid. It can save you a TON of money, and what is nice is you haven't bought anything or committed yourself to anything before you are ready to visit.

Most of the major museums in London are free. If you only make it to one, I suggest the British Museum because it's probably the best archaeological museum in the world. Even non-museum people tend to really enjoy it. Their Egyptian collection in particular is spectacular.

For palaces and castles, I think we visited 5. Our favorite by a long shot was Windsor Castle. It's the queen's favorite too! One thing that surprised me was the royal gun, sword, and armor collection that is housed there. I'm not into that stuff, but I still thought it was amazing. My H went gaga over it. Windsor itself is a really adorable town, and it's an easy day trip (30-60 min) by train.

The Tower of London has to be done of course. That's where the crown jewels are housed. They are in the back of the site. I suggest getting there when they open and making a beeline for the crown jewels. See those first and then visit everything else. Even in the winter it will be packed if you go any later. I also suggest making Westminster Abbey another attraction you visit right when it opens. We waited until later in the morning, and it was so packed with people it was awful.

For Paris, check out the Paris Museum Pass. If you visit a couple of the big museums and monuments, it will likely pay for itself (easy enough to check). Virtually every big museum is on there, including the Louvre and Musee d'Orsay. Versailles is also on there. Also lots of monuments like the Arc d'Triomphe, etc. The really nice thing about it is you can return as many times as you want while the pass is valid. That's crucial if you don't want to be overwhelmed by the Louvre. We went twice (different wings). You can buy that pass at most of the museums or at the bigger train stations when you arrive.

http://en.parismuseumpass.com/

The absolute highlight for us in Paris was seeing Sainte-Chapelle. It's an architectural gem, with the best medieval stained glass in the world. We lined up before it opened, and we were the first ones inside. We had a few minutes with nobody else inside. I actually cried.

I'm not sure how long you will be in Rome, but the Vatican needs a day and the ancient stuff needs a day. You have to go through the Vatican Museum to see the Sistine Chapel. It's at the very end. If you aren't art people, just pay and walk through it. The Sistine Chapel will still blow your mind. If you ARE art people, the Vatican museum will be well worth your time. Their collection is phenomenal, and I liked it a lot more than the Louvre. My favorite museum in Rome other than the Vatican is the Borghese Gallery. Great collection with some heavy-hitter sculpture and easy to digest.

Not sure if you guys are church/cathedral people but if you are, Rome is it. I've visited probably 25-30 churches in that city, most of which are free. Some of Rome's best artwork is inside the churches. Top churches for me are probably Il Gesu and Sant'Ignazio di Loyola for the ceilings, San Zeno for the mosaics, and Santa Maria della Vittoria because it has Bernini's Ecstasy of St. Theresa.

Michelangelo's best sculpture (IMO) is not in the Vatican, but in this ugly little church called St. Peter's in chains. There's nothing else to see there except his sculpture of Moses, but it is way better than the Pieta or David. Also, it was free to visit while I was there and had very few crowds.

If you have more than 3 days, I would also think about taking a day and visiting Pompeii. It's easily the coolest thing I've ever seen. You take a train to Naples, hop a regional train that circumvents Mt. Vesuvius, and then you go into the site. When I was there it cost the same as the Colosseum, and it was 1000x more interesting with much smaller crowds. It's a long day, but do-able and completely worth it. If you think the Roman Forum is cool (and it is), it's got nothing on Pompeii.

hoffse · October 2015

I will also add that if this is your first trip together over there, you'll quickly discover what you do and don't enjoy visiting together. My H and I are very into churches and cathedrals, but it's because we like architecture, and we have both spent some time learning about it. Vaulting never ceases to amaze us. Neither of us are particularly religious.

We also like museums in smaller doses. I like spending an hour or two before moving on, so we seek out the smaller collections. The really big museums tend to overwhelm us. That's why the free museums in London are nice, and so is the Paris Museum Pass. You can visit sections of the bigger museums and then leave without feeling like you've wasted money.

I can promise you, if you are bored by something, you won't regret leaving early even if it's a "must-see." Been there, done that quite a few times.

We have started planning trips revolving around specific pieces of architecture and art we want to see. That's just us though. If you guys start to think that all the churches look the same (even though I can assure you they do NOT!) then maybe churches aren't for you and you guys should spend the rest of your trip focusing on something else.

Just don't feel like you need to check off a list of "must-sees." There's no such thing. Spend time doing what you guys find you enjoy, whether it's sight-seeing or spending a few hours over a long lunch.

PS: If you do fall in love with the churches (or other art), send me a PM while you are over there and tell me what you enjoy. I'll send you a list of stuff that doesn't make the front-page of guidebooks

JoanE2012 · October 2015

Ahhhh, sounds like a wonderful trip!

jessica490 · October 2015

Sounds like you scored a good deal, I'm sure you will have a blast!

short+sassy · October 2015

bmo88 said:

Xstatic3333: We considered Air BnB, but given we are only staying in each place for an average of 3-4 days, we decided it made more sense to do hotels.

We are staying in mostly 3 star hotels, but they all got ratings of 3.7 or higher out of 5. Also, they are within walking distance of the main attractions we are visiting. The average nightly rate is between $110-$140, including taxes and fees.

One of my coworkers went on a two-week trip to London/Ireland/Germany. They stayed in an AirBnB for both their London and Germany portions. For London, they absolutely loved the experience. It was a multi-family house and the owner also lived at the property. She was an awesome hostess and gave them lots of tips and info for making the most of their stay.

The German portion hit a problem. I forget all the details, but there was something about the key didn't fit or was missing and it turned into a huge hassle. But, once it was sorted out, they enjoyed the rest of the stay.

They saved a bunch of money by using AirBnB, though part of that is because it was a large family trip and they would have needed 2-3 hotel rooms everywhere they went vs. just renting a house.

Xstatic3333 · October 2015

short+sassy said:

bmo88 said:

Xstatic3333: We considered Air BnB, but given we are only staying in each place for an average of 3-4 days, we decided it made more sense to do hotels.

We are staying in mostly 3 star hotels, but they all got ratings of 3.7 or higher out of 5. Also, they are within walking distance of the main attractions we are visiting. The average nightly rate is between $110-$140, including taxes and fees.

One of my coworkers went on a two-week trip to London/Ireland/Germany. They stayed in an AirBnB for both their London and Germany portions. For London, they absolutely loved the experience. It was a multi-family house and the owner also lived at the property. She was an awesome hostess and gave them lots of tips and info for making the most of their stay.

The German portion hit a problem. I forget all the details, but there was something about the key didn't fit or was missing and it turned into a huge hassle. But, once it was sorted out, they enjoyed the rest of the stay.

They saved a bunch of money by using AirBnB, though part of that is because it was a large family trip and they would have needed 2-3 hotel rooms everywhere they went vs. just renting a house.

We ended up going with Airbnb and are just waiting to hear whether the host "approves" us. We already had one decline due to a time conflict. I'm really nervous-it's a beautiful apartment in one of the most historic neighborhoods is Amsterdam, the Jordaan, for only $81 a night! Thanks for sharing those experiences. It's always nice to hear reports, and it seems like with Airbnb they are almost always positive.

MM Win: Trip to Europe and Saving Money

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