European Tours II

[betty]

thanks mama squeak

[chinita8]

ciao bellas! currently here in Spain and im extending my trip!
Which airline should i take back to Manila from London? Anybody tried CX? Sa kanila kasi yung nakita ko shortest flight on my chosen day e. Any ideas?
TIA

=)

Has tried CX for our London trip a couple of years ago. Stop-over is HKG. First time to take CX to Europe as we have always opted for Lufthansa on our previous Europe trips. I love our CX flight - new plane, good food, spacious leg room and lavatories -- loved it Highly recommended

[naughtybrat]

Anybody here who knows how I can send a balikbayan box from Paris? I'll be going to tour kasi for a month and I've a feeling sobra sobra yung dala ko + shopping in Paris = excess luggage. Cathay naman charges so much for excess weight, something like $60 per kilo. So I was thinking I'd send some of my stuff na lang via balikbayan boxes kaya lang I don't know paano. Help?

Hello sis! Funny coz the same thing happened to me, 1 week pa Lang and napuno na luggage ko. I'll find the contact number of the agent then I'll pm you

[naughtybrat]

Has tried CX for our London trip a couple of years ago. Stop-over is HKG. First time to take CX to Europe as we have always opted for Lufthansa on our previous Europe trips. I love our CX flight - new plane, good food, spacious leg room and lavatories -- loved it Highly recommended

Thanks sis. I'll book it na

[mama squeak!]

Hello sis! Funny coz the same thing happened to me, 1 week pa Lang and napuno na luggage ko. I'll find the contact number of the agent then I'll pm you

sis, were you able to avail of the tax rebate when you had your items shipped? What did you present to the customs officer when you left the EU? Please share your experience here para we'll get some tips from you.

 

[melodymedley]

Whew! I finishes reading the first thread and this one. Was actually lurking in the first thread since last year but I didn't pay much attention to the super detailed postings. So I reread it.

It has been a dream of mine to travel to Europe. I started saving for this trip two years ago with the intention of joining World Youth Day 2011 in Spain tapos side tours na lang to other countries. But I changed my mind. I want to tour EU one step at a time. The thing is, I don't have any travel buddies for this trip. I plan to go on late September or October this year. 21 days.

I am quite familiar with organizing DIY trip. But most of them for local destinations lang. I've never done solo also.

I want to do a DIY trip pero wala akong kasama... hence walang kukuha ng picture ko.  I am quite a camwhore pa naman. 

Been reading on joining tours like Contiki or Globus. Relatively expensive but it will spare me the planning work and I will have travel buddies who can take my pictures. hahaha! Are there any local tour groups who organize Contiki-trips for Filipino joiners lang?

[naughtybrat]

Ok what I did was ship the old stuff and filled our luggages with ones that we bought. some people say that sometimes the customs doesn't check your purchases. My parents already left and They told me that they were checked. Good thing coz I didnt want to take any chances kasi i extended my trip, yung marerefund na tax madami na rin ako mabibili dun! Might as well do what we did para Hindi masayang

And also pre book your excess baggage. Get the maximum weight possible!!

As for the tours, teenagers get contiki, globus naman parang pang 30-40+. Expensive! But if you have the money, why not?

 

[mama squeak!]

@melodymedley - I know sis gt76 will be joining a Contiki tour this coming June na. She'll be combining the tour with a DIY. Since you have a budget of 5K you can well afford to join the tour plus DIY mo either the start or the end  of the tour just like what gt76 will be doing. I think she'll be DIYing Paris, the last stop of her tour. Try to check Contiki's website for the shortest tour you can get then ma-fulfill yung wish mo na may kasama. Then DIY mo after the tour para relax mode ka lang.

Unfortunately, Contiki is an international company and no travel agency here can dictate na puros pinoy. Unless the local TA will get all the slots of the tour then you're lucky puro pinoy. But I think it will be more interesting to meet other nationalities on the tour. You get to make a lot of friends that way.

Or if you can wait until spring next year you can come with us. Yun lang Italy lang kami mag-concentrate ni hubby. And if you don't mind travelling with another couple (there will be 4 of us in our 40s), you are more than welcome to join us.

 

[[-c-h-a-]]

I can say for a fact that majority of Contiki europe tours attendees are Australians
Nabasa ko sya sa contiki forum before, may nagsabi na bakit daw ganun, parang karamihan daw Aussies ang nagttour with Contiki na mahilig daw pala magtravel ang mga aussies kahit bata.. kakatawa yun topic na yun kasi lahat naman sila in agreement!

[mooncake and leaves]

Pero ang Contiki, you can't choose who you'll be sharing a room with, right? I think it's really for solo travelers kasi my bf and I were thinking of joining them kaso yun nga, we won't be able to share a room.

I think another GTer, CoolChick if I'm not mistaken, joined Contiki before for Spain.

[[-c-h-a-]]

If you're a solo traveller, they will pick your roommate for you. But if you're going with your partner, kayo shempre magkasama sa kwarto.

We asked them before about this kasi and they said hindi nila kayo paghihiwalayin.

[mooncake and leaves]

^ ah ok thanks. do they customize trips din ba?

[mama squeak!]

Cha's correct if solo ka they choose sino makakasama mo of the same gender of course. But you can request them also if you prefer to be alone in the room (mas expensive) or dalawa lang kayo in a room. The cheapest is the triple sharing. You can also request kung gusto mo Asian nationality kung meron man sasama sa tour. And if you're travelling with a friend/friends male or famale they won't separate you unless you request otherwise.

I don't think they have customised tours but I may be wrong. Check their website na lang or you can always email them.

 

[melodymedley]

Wow! Thanks for your replies sissies! I've been pretty busy this weekend reading and reviewing GT and Pex threads and links. Overwhelming info. Every now and then, I decide to join a group tour, and then  I decide otherwise after a few pages. Nyahahaha. Still keeping my mind open to various options.  Will definitely hangout in this thread more often. Keep the info coming!

[naughtybrat]

Isn't contiki tours for 26 and below only? Yung mga nakikita ko naman na kasama sa contiki are really young. I mean like teens. and yes most are Aussies! Fun to meet other people but then again I think they're charging too much. Try Expat explore

[[-c-h-a-]]

^well, they said their tours are for 18-35

mooncake, no they don't customize trips

[naughtybrat]

Oh great! Should be fun then!

[mooncake and leaves]

mama_squeak and cha: thanks. ok lang sa akin ang contiki for europe. 'di ko talaga keri mag-spend ng 5k though. ang sakit masyado.

[mama squeak!]

^No, we don't but if you're an Asia Miles member you can redeem extra baggage allowance by increments of 10Kgs.

 

[naughtybrat]

Oh my, have to check the baggage weight limit for CX din pala.

Sis wickedlovely I already sent you a pm. Please check your inbox.

Girls, you might want to check Expat explore for tours as well. I think they have reasonable prices.