STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

bex · Chanel

Updated with Poll: Planning trip to England/France- Need Advice!

bex · Chanel

RE: Planning trip to England/France- Need Advice!

Ritz · Dooney & Bourke

hi bex! i'm a little confused.. will you only be in england for the 10-12 days? or do you plan to travel?

I'm fairly certain your hilton points would transfer, but not 100%. i would just check the hilton websites, call a cust. service #, etc. I know my friends parents used points at a hotel, but can't remember what chain it was.

if you want to travel during the time you are there, look into BMI, ryanair, etc. you can get flights for pretty cheap on those airlines, although you would have to book much later, obviously.

as for money, when I lived in london and we travelled (Paris, Rome, Amsterdam, Dublin, usually for 3 days each) each trip ended up costing around $1000 when I factored in travel, hotel - we stayed in nicer hostels but still hostels, eating (at least 1 good meal each weekend, usually 2), and shopping ( i did a lot of this as well). basically everything there costs the same as it does here, but double b/c of the conversion rates, which sucks, b/c spending 500 on a short trip say, to NYC wouldn't seem bad but $1000 is a lot for a weekend!

that said, i think $3k would be sufficient, particularly if you are not including shopping in that (which it seems you are not??)

as for flying TO europe, definitely check out virgin air.. i had an awesome flight there and back!:)

LA Gal · Kenneth Cole

i'm sure you already know this, but london and paris and incredibly expensive - i was in london over thanksgiving and was in shock over the prices of everything - food, hotels, transport, shopping (i actually didn't really shop at all because nothing made sense given the inflated prices and horrible exchange rate). and i spent a semester in london 3 years ago, so i thought i knew what to expect price-wise - but i was way off!

i'm 99.9% certain that you can use your hilton points to stay at hilton hotels in london and paris - do some research on hilton's website before you call hilton cs - figure out which hotel you'd like to stay at and do a comparison between paying with $$ and paying with points. i stayed in london on points (for another hotel chain) and given how expensive hotels are in london, it made a lot of sense to stay on points (the conversion in that case is in your favor, am i making sense?). and by paying with points, you'll save a lot of money that you otherwise would have used for your hotel.

also, check out the europe forums at www.fodors.com - there are lots of people there who can recommend places to eat, ways to save money while you're there, and what to expect price-wise.

bex · Chanel

thanks ritz and LA Gal

i'm pretty certain my hotel points go over there too considering when i get my diamond VIP booklet it shows hotels in japan, europe, etc. but i'm going to call to double check anyway.

the 10-12 days includes: thursday fly in and stay in london, friday & saturday stay at hotel where wedding is in london. possibly leave sunday for paris- stay in paris until tues/wed- come back to london and stay until saturday/sunday.

thats the plan... tentatively...

$3K includes shopping- and that would be just for me... total allottment for the trip with my BF and I together is $6K. We are each planning to spend $3K. still sound like enough?

when i studied abroad in 2000- i spent 4 days in london and spent $1000 and didn't have to pay for a place to stay or food i stayed with my friend (who is getting married this year) and her family and they pretty much took care of everything. apparently- i shop too much!

Ritz · Dooney & Bourke

honestly, i don't know that $3k would be enough, unless you two are very willing to stick to a set budget, particularly if you can't use your points at the hotel the wedding is at.. I would budget $4k each so you have breathing room, and then at the best you can have some left over later!

don't forget, if you buy anything expensive ( i think over 100 pounds?not sure how many euro) you can get VAT tax back.. but this means you have to get to the airport fairly early... with the VAT tax, a lot of designer purchases in Paris end up being abt. comparable to here... and you get to say you got it in europe!

let me know if you want any specific ideas for london! i'm sure your bf knows a lot too though.

ILoveChoo · Hermes

is the 3k including the flight? I think its def. doable! I spent 2 weeks in London and Paris 2 years ago and didn't spend nearly that (and I wasn't doing the hostel thing either- that's just not me!). Just plan ahead a little. I also found that dining in London was a lot more $$ than in Paris.

bex · Chanel

ILoveChoo wrote:

is the 3k including the flight? I think its def. doable! I spent 2 weeks in London and Paris 2 years ago and didn't spend nearly that (and I wasn't doing the hostel thing either- that's just not me!). Just plan ahead a little. I also found that dining in London was a lot more $$ than in Paris.

$3K including flight and thats per person. As in, my BF is planning on $3K for himself and i am planning on $3K myself...

i'm a little worried b/c Ritz feels it isn't though... so i'd love others to chime in... perhaps i need to attach a poll

hmmm

Ritz · Dooney & Bourke

RE: Updated with Poll: Planning trip to England/France- Need Advice!

gingembre1 · Kate Spade

$3,000 - $500 (airfare to/from England) - $100 (airfare to/from France) = $2,400

If you're in Europe for ~12, you'll be paying about $75/each per night for a decent hotel. That leaves you ~$125/person for food, sightseeing, shopping, etc/day. An average restaurant in Paris, prix-fixe, 3-course menu will be about 17-20 Euros. Nicer restaurants - 35-60 Euros for the prix-fixe. If you enjoy falafel and sandwich grec, then that takes care of lunch everyday, and there's always panini.

Hmm, doable, but without much room for extras, or much shopping. Personally, I was able to do 3 weeks in Europe, traveling through France, Switzerland, and Italy, on less than $1000. That included my Eurail pass, hostels, food, and lots of great activities. But I can also survive on baguettes, cheese, and panini. So Europe can really be as cheap or expensive as you want it to be.

Are you planning on just staying in Paris? One of my favorite trips in France was to Normandie and Mont St. Michel. The Cote d'Or was also worth visiting.

-- Edited by gingembre1 at 12:33, 2006-03-01

bex · Chanel

okay, since all hotels are paid for- i'm going to say its doable to take 2 people to london and france for 10-12 days on $5K. you guys all factored in the hotels- which is a HUGE cost per day.

and gingembre1: thanks for the suggestions- i've actually already seen all those places when i lived in france. i am taking the boyfriend to giverney to see monet's place (that was probably one of my best day trips when i was there) since he didn't see that when he went through france the last time.