Here's our itinerary:
Fly into Lisbon and spend one night there.
The next day, visit Fatima on our way to Porto.
Stay in Porto for 2 nights
Tour the Duoro River valley for 3 days and nights with Portugal Green Walks
Back to the apartment in Porto for 7 more days
Take the train to Sintra via Lisbon
Stay in Sintra for 2 nights
Stay in Lisbon for 3 nights
Fly home from Lisbon
19 days total
So, we're off! Janet will meet us at SeaTac, and Nancy will be in Lisbon when we get there.
Nancy flew from Portland to San Francisco to catch her flight on TAP Airlines, which was nonstop to Lisbon from there.
Our flight, on British Airways, departed at about 8:00 p.m. We all booked our tickets using frequent flier miles, many months before departure. My miles are on British, and it seems to me I could book the tickets about 350 days prior to departure. I usually jump right on it, and get the tickets booked so I don't have to worry about it. Pam and Janet were using Alaska miles to book their British flights, and had the same timeline. As much as I love the British non-stop flight to London from Seattle, the fees added to the "free" tickets are very high compared to other airlines. We each paid over $500 for fees on our coach tickets. Other airlines charge less than $100 for the same.
Pam and Janet sat in the back of the coach section, the advantage being that they were able to reserve 2 seats on the side, a window and an aisle. Farther forward, the sides had 3 seats each, so to have an aisle and a window would mean a stranger in the middle seat. Gail and I were excited about our upgrade to Premium Economy, costing more miles and fees, but which we heard would provide more legroom and wider seats. Sadly, we were seated in the middle two seats of four, with gentlemen on both sides, on the aisles. It didn't seem that special, or more comfortable, but when comparing our experience with Janet and Pam, it sounded like we might have had more dinner choices.
My main complaint about all this is that in order to book seats more than 24 hours ahead of the flight, we needed to pay extra. The booking fee was $75 per person for just the Seattle to London leg, and $80 each for London back to Seattle. Seems like it would create lots of good will from passengers toward British Airways to drop this system.
We had a nice dinner, along with a selection of wines, and cocktails and other beverages had been offered to us soon after takeoff. And, there were lots of movie options on our seat-back screens to help pass the time.
I am reading your Portugal blog and taking notes for Late Sept into Oct. Have to add, we used Alaska miles to fly British Air, too. $$$ For next Jan Feb to Dubai to visit our daughter’s fam. Crazy airport fees. And then, seat assignments can be $$$. The good thing. We broke up the direct 15-hour flight had we used Emirates. And, I decided to use all our miles. Flew business there and comfort home. For Portugal, we fly Aer Lingus. We will see how that goes.
ReplyDeleteThe British ‘taxes and fees’ are mysterious. No one else charges that kind of money for a ‘free’ ticket. Even so, if you’re on a 747, I’d suggest paying now to get seats upstairs, for the long flight. It’s like being on a private plane, and those seats will be gone by the time you can book for free.
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