International Airline Travel Tips - European Trip Planning

The airline's hub city is important when planning international travel. Reduce stress and keep checked bags traveling on the same plane you're on.

Now that you have the idea, and you’re feeling excited about possibly living abroad, turn your fantasy into a reality with a good game plan.

Countless considerations arise when you first start planning a slow travel international adventure. After, “What city do you want to live in?” the next 3 questions might be:

1. Where’s your international hub located?
2. Do you have a favorite airline company?
3. How are you going to pay for your flight?

My love of travel began at a very young age. When I was a kid, my dad worked for American Airlines at Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix, Arizona. Then, when I was 8, he was fortunate to transfer, within American's network, to San Diego, California. Of course, my favorite airline was AA. With parents who loved to travel, we were always jetting off somewhere, usually during the off-season. At that time, San Diego was a growing city. However, we’d have to make an international flight connection in Dallas/Fort Worth or Chicago.

As you may know, one of the benefits of working in the airline industry is discount airline tickets and the possibility of flying on partner airlines. I was privileged to have flown on several iconic international airlines such as BOAC, Braniff, Mexicana, Pan Am, and TWA. These airlines are from a bygone era and long defunct but nostalgia still reigns as evidenced by recent film and television shows. Nowadays you have many International airline partners to choose from, with the additional benefit of shared mileage programs.

INTERNATIONAL HUB LOCATIONS

and FAVORITE AIRLINES

(CC0 1.0) Durango, Colorado Rim View
Population 18,500
Slow Travel Tales

In midlife, having moved to the small town of Durango, Colorado, my choice of international hub city became either Denver, Colorado or Phoenix, Arizona. I decided on Phoenix because of my preference for American Airlines and because I didn't want to fly in a small propeller airplane over mountains. Moreover, I certainly didn't want to risk possibly getting stranded in an airport shut down because of snow. For me, Phoenix was good because of flat land and sunny skies.

Durango is a wonderful four season small town to live in. It’s also a great place to visit for outdoor sports such as skiing, mountain biking, and river rafting. The City of Durango and various airline companies collaborate to keep consistent flight options available. The type of plane used was determined by seasonal travel and passenger load fluctuation. Airline companies used 90 seat medium size jets, then pared back to 19 seat propeller airplanes, and later implemented 40 seat turbo props. Presently, American Eagle serves Durango to Phoenix, AZ and Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX, and United Express to Denver, CO. The passenger seating capacity of the jets flown ranges from 50 to 90.

CONNECTIONS and PLANE CHANGES

Terminals / Top: Left Durango - Right Phoenix
Bottom: Left San Diego - Right London
© Maps Respective Companies As Noted
© concept Slow Travel Tales

Departing from and returning to a small U.S. city home base presents the dilemma of dealing with returning from overseas into your international hub city; and then, not being able to get back home the same day because the last flight has departed.

Another dilemma is dealing with departing your U.S. city home base to a hub city, making connections, and then changing planes again at the international hub, to begin the overseas flight.

On a London trip, for a 3-month higher educational sabbatical, I departed Los Angeles to Chicago to connect with a London flight. Although I planned for possible flight delays, it wasn’t enough. By the time I got to the Chicago gate, my seat had been given to a standby passenger and the plane was pushing back from the gate. It was the last flight of the day to London and the representative said “There’s room on the next flight to Madrid, do you want to list for it?” I said, “ Yes” as I needed to cross the Atlantic Ocean as soon as possible. Therefore, I decided to deal with my problem in Madrid. Upon arrival, I immediately bought a one-way ticket on the next flight to London. Yes, my checked luggage was still in Chicago and it took days for it to catch up to me in London.

For me, travel is supposed to be fun and these situations have stress inherently built into them.

As I mentioned earlier, American Airlines had been my airline of choice for many years. Until I discovered British Airways! They have a wonderful direct flight from San Diego to London Heathrow in 10 1/2 hours. Therefore, my two base/hub cities are now San Diego and London. From London, I can easily take the Eurostar or British Airways to Paris or Brussels or catch another direct British Airways flight to Berlin, Munich and Vienna, Rome or Madrid and return.

The point: even if you’re traveling on a very low budget, it’s worth it to try to book a direct/non-stop international flight to your destination of choice. In addition, it’s worth the peace of mind that goes along with knowing that your bags, likely, won’t get lost on a direct flight. However, it might be a little more research work for you during your early planning stage. If you decide on a good international hub, and a direct/nonstop flight, that sets you up for an efficient and pleasant first leg of your journey. Careful planning at the beginning, thinking of contingencies, anticipating problems and creating solutions in advance, will ensure the likelihood of a good and enjoyable round trip airline experience.

In 2011, when I began my slow travel living in the UK and Europe, I would depart from Durango to Phoenix to San Diego a couple days before my international flight. I’d stay over in San Diego, and visit friends and family. On the return, back into the country, I’d do the same. Therefore, I had no stress and no lost luggage.

If you’re currently living in a smaller city without direct international flights, I’d bet you have family or friends that would be happy to have you visit before and after your slow travel living. In addition, you might even be able to get a lower priced direct international round trip airline ticket.

LIVING IN A FLAT aka APARTMENT

Another important consideration during early planning is: Where will you be staying in your city of choice? In future articles, I’ll be discussing this more. However, now is a good time to mention, that it’s a good idea to think about your accommodation as you consider what time is best to arrive in your destination city.

As a single female traveling alone, I’m writing from the ’slow travel living’ standpoint. This, for me, is staying in a city for 3 months. I always live in an apartment aka flat. When choosing a direct flight, it’s best if you can choose one that will arrive in the morning or by midafternoon. Allowance must be given for the uncertain length of time it will take deplaning, making your way through passport control, collecting your luggage, securing your ground transportation and the actual time it will take to get to your new apartment home. Try to allow enough daylight hours after arrival for whatever will come next during your first day. If you’re going straight to your new flat to check in, daylight hours make it easier to find the location, meet the representative, look over the flat, take possession of the keys and venture forth in your new neighborhood to get your bearings.

On my winter Paris trip, the flat representative was very late for our 2:30 pm meeting outside the residential building. I made several phone calls but only got voice mail. After a while, I went into contingency mode and looked at the other buildings nearby for a hotel I could go to as a worst-case scenario. In the end, it all worked out. However, the sun had set and I had to navigate in the dark to find my neighborhood grocery store.

The same situation arises if you’ll be making a flight connection to a different foreign city on your first day. On my winter trip to Berlin, I arrived at the flat after 11 pm. In Rome, I arrived after 10 pm. Sometimes, these late apartment arrivals are unavoidable. Planning and good communication will minimize misunderstandings for you and the owner/manager. Fortunately, my flat owners were understanding and didn’t charge more money for a late night check in and the inconvenience.

In addition, having said the above regarding apartments, I definitely do not purchase my airline tickets until I’m absolutely positive that I’ve secured an acceptable apartment/flat for 3 months. There will be more on this subject in articles to come.

PAYING FOR YOUR FLIGHT

and OTHER EXPENSES

The early planning stage is also the time to think about travel expenses and your slow travel living budget. I implemented a 3-year travel plan but started working on my plan a year ahead while I was still working with a departure date after retirement. I knew I needed to start saving money for the upfront expenses that would need to be paid, such as:

- Round trip international airline tickets
- One way domestic airline ticket

- Credit card deposit/payment - 1st month apartment rent or
- Cash €1000 euros - 1st month apartment rent

- International health insurance policy - 1st month payment

- Storage unit - personal items - 1st month payment
- Miscellaneous costs - buy new items to take to Europe

- Cash, pre converted to euros

- Small laptop

- Walking shoes

- Dual voltage travel hair dryer

- TSA luggage locks

- Vitamin supply, etc.

As a solo, retired traveler, I needed all these types of expenses paid in full upfront with a zero credit card balance. Upon my European arrival, I would rely solely on my small fixed retirement income. I would only be using my Visa Debit Card, which is associated with my primary personal checking account. From then on, my credit card would only be used for an emergency.

With British Airways, I signed up for their mileage/loyalty program. However, it wasn’t until my third travel year that I began using my accrued mileage toward one way flights within the UK and European Union. If you have mileage you’ve been amassing, by all means, do your research to see if you can bump yourself up from Economy to Premium Economy or Premium Economy to Business Class.

I’ll be writing more about booking a slow travel flight in the future. But, it’s worth mentioning here that I always buy my tickets directly through the airline’s website. Also, I don’t buy my round trip airline ticket until I’m near my departure date because I want to push my return date to the farthest the airline will allow. I try to push it out to at least 9 to 10 months so I can plan to stay 3 months in each city. I also don’t buy travel insurance. Once I’m overseas, if I change my mind and decide to return early, I would just pay the airline company's ticket change fee.

Below is airline and city information that I compiled from various sources including American Airlines, British Airways, Delta Air Lines, and United Airlines. It’s now all in one place for easy understanding.

Thanks for spending some of your time with me today. New articles will gradually post, so, if you’re interested, please return to see what’s new. If you have a question, get in touch. Perhaps I’ll start a FAQ page for Q and A. In the meantime, I encourage you to continue imagining the possibilities for your own slow travel living.

“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness…”
from the book “Innocents Abroad” by Mark Twain

SLOW TRAVEL TALES

Distance to London, UK

CITY	MILES	CITY	MILES
Washington DC	3671	Austin, Texas	4921
San Diego, California	5489	Paris, France	213
Brussels, Belgium	218	Berlin, Germany	579
Munich, Germany	571	Vienna, Austria	768
Rome, Italy	892	Madrid, Spain	786

BRITISH AIRWAYS

BRITISH AIRWAYS
Direct / Non-Stop Flights

CITY	TIME
Washington, DC to London	7 hr 15 min
Austin, TX to London	9 hr 25 min
San Diego, CA to London Heathrow	10 hr 35 min

BRITISH AIRWAYS

3 Examples of

Direct Flights to London

WASHINGTON, DC to LONDON, UK - 3671 MILES
Flight Number: BA 292 - Direct	Departing: Dulles Int’l (IAD)
Departure Time: 22:20 / 10:20 pm Boeing 747 Jet	Total Journey Time: 7 hours 15 minutes
Arrival Time:10:35 Terminal 5	Arriving: Heathrow (LHR) London
First Class Club/Business Traveller Plus/Premium Economy Traveller/Economy

AUSTIN, TX to LONDON, UK - 4921 Miles
Flight Number: BA 190 - Direct	Departing: Austin-Bergstrom Intl (AUS)
Departure Time: 18:35 / 6:35 pm Boeing 747 Jet	Total Journey Time 9 hours 25 minutes
Arrival Time: 10:00 am Terminal 5	Arriving: Heathrow (LHR) London
First Class Club/Business Traveller Plus/Premium Economy Traveller/Economy

SAN DIEGO, CA to LONDON, UK - 5489 MILES
Flight Number: BA 272 Terminal 2	Direct - Departing: Lindbergh Field (SAN)
Departure Time: 20:45 / 8:45 pm Boeing 777 Jet	Total Journey Time: 10 hours 35 minutes
Arrival Time: 15:20 / 3:20 pm Terminal 5	Arriving Heathrow (LHR) London
First Class Club/Business Traveller Plus/Premium Economy Traveller/Economy

* Arrival and departure times are approximate

due to seasonal and timetable changes

BRITISH AIRWAYS

U.S. Airports - Direct Flights

to London Heathrow (LHR)

Amarillo (AMA)	Atlanta (ATL)	Austin (AUS)
Baltimore (BWI)	Boston (BOS)	Charlotte (CLT)
Chicago (ORD)	Dallas Ft Worth (DFW)	Denver (DEN)
Detroit (DTW)	Ft Lauderdale (FLL)	Honolulu (HNL)
Houston (IAH)	Kansas City (MCI)	Las Vegas (LAS)
Los Angeles (LAX)	Miami (MIA)	Minneapolis St Paul (MSP)
Nashville (BNA)	New Orleans (MSY)	New York (EWR)
New York (JFK)	Orlando (MCO)	Philadelphia (PHL)
Phoenix (PHX)	Portland (PDX)	Raleigh-Durham (RDU)
Saint Louis (STL)	Salt Lake City (SLC)	San Diego (San)
San Francisco (SFO)	San Jose (SJO)	Seattle (SEA)
Tampa (TPA)	Washington (DCA)	Washington (IAD)

AMERICAN AIRLINES

AMERICAN AIRLINES - Major U.S. Cities Served

- Dallas-Fort Worth International

- Charlotte-Douglas International

- Chicago O’Hare International

- Philadelphia International

- Phoenix Sky Harbor International

- Miami International

- Ronald Reagan Washington International

- Los Angeles International

- New York City’s John F. Kennedy International

- New York La Guardia Airport

*Regional service is operated by independent and subsidiary carriers under the brand name of AMERICAN EAGLE.

AMERICAN AIRLINES and BRITISH AIRWAYS

ONEWORLD ALLIANCE is a partnership of airlines, each with stellar reputations, working together as one. Mileage accrued from any of these airlines can be redeemed for flights through the whole of oneworld’s global network. The member airlines are:

Cathay Pacific Airways	Finnair	Iberia - owned by British Airways
Japan Airlines	LATAM Airlines	Malaysia Airlines
Qantas	Qatar Airways	Royal Jordanian
S7 Airlines	Sri Lankan Airlines

DELTA AIRLINES

DELTA AIRLINES - Major U.S. Cities Served

- Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International

- Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County

- Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International

- New York City’s John F. Kennedy International

- New York City’s La Guardia Airport

- Boston’s Logan International

- Los Angeles International

- Minneapolis-St. Paul International

- Salt Lake City International

- Seattle-Tacoma International

* Regional service is operated by independent and subsidiary carriers under the brand name of DELTA CONNECTION.

And 3 International Hubs

- Amsterdam Airport Schiphol

- Tokyo Narita Intl Airport

- Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport

DELTA'S SKY TEAM

Partner airlines allow mileage accrued from these airlines to be redeemed for flights. The members are:

Aeroflot	Aerolineas Argentinas	Air Europa
Air France	Alitalia	China Airlines
China Eastern	China Southern	Czech Airlines
Garuda Indonesia	Kenya Airways	KLM Royal Dutch Airlines
Korean Air	Middle East Airlines	Sandia
TAROM	Vietnam Airlines	Xiamen

UNITED AIRLINES

UNITED AIRLINES - Major U.S. Cities Served

- Chicago O’Hare International

- Houston, Texas’ George Bush Intercontinental

- Denver International

- Los Angeles International

- Newark Liberty International

- San Francisco International

- Washington Dulles International

- Guam A.B. Wan Pat International

* Regional service is operated by independent and subsidiary carriers under the brand name of UNITED EXPRESS.

And 1 International Hub

- Tokyo Narita International

UNITED’S STAR ALLIANCE

Partner airlines allow mileage accrued from these airlines to be redeemed for flights. The members are:

Adria Airways	Aegean Airlines	Air Canada
Air China	Air India	Air New Zealand
ANA	Asiana Airlines	Austrian Airlines
Avianca	Avianca Brasil	Brussels Airlines
Copa Airlines	Croatia Airlines	Egypt Air
Ethiopian Airlines	EVA Air	LOT Polish Airlines
Lufthansa	SAS	Shenzhen Airlines
Singapore Airlines	South African Airways	Swiss International
TAP Portugal	Thai Airways Int’l	Turkish Airlines

SLOW TRAVEL TALES

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