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CNN Live Saturday
CNN Weekend Getaways: Cheap Airfare to Europe
Aired February 14, 2004 - 12:48 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KELLI ARENA, CNN ANCHOR: Well, the dollar is still struggling against the euro. So you might think that makes it a bad time to travel to Europe. But travel agents say not so. Air fare deals are popping up all over the place.
And to clue us in on some of the bargains, Pauline Frommer, senior editor of Arthur Frommer's Budget Travel magazine. And she should know.
Pauline, I've got some vacation time. Where am I going?
PAULINE FROMMER, FROMMER'S BUDGET TRAVEL: Well, you could go to London right now and prices for air hotel packages are at a historic low. You would pay just $339 if you lived in New York or Boston for air fare and six nights there. It's never been cheaper.
If you're in Atlanta, it's about $100 more. Chicago, about $150 more. And so on.
It's still a tremendous and historic price for that. Of course, when you get to London...
ARENA: I was going to say that. When you get there, you really are, you know, facing some pretty steep prices, no?
FROMMER: Absolutely, yes.
Unfortunately, the dollar is at a 20-year low against the pound. It costs almost $2 now to buy a pound. I think it's $1.89 this morning. So, yes, prices for restaurants are higher. You're going to pay about a third more than you would have a year ago. But if you take off money on the big ticket items, if you save on the air fare, if you save on the hotel, you can still afford to go to London.
ARENA: OK. If I don't want to go to London, maybe a little rainy. Where am I going now? Ireland? Well, that's rainy there too.
FROMMER: Well, Ireland will be rainy, too. Ireland will be rainy, too.
But there's an amazing air fare deal there now from Air Lingus. You'll pay just $99 each way to Ireland in February. If you want to go in March, it's just $9 more. And Air Lingus also has discounts for May, September and October. In fact, if you ever want to go on -- on to Ireland, you want to get on the Air Lingus' e-mail list, because almost every month they have these air fare specials, and those in the know can knock a third off the price of the ticket there.
ARENA: And is that still the case? I mean, when they have these really fabulous promotions going? Are you still likely to get an even better price over the Internet? I mean, should people know that?
FROMMER: Well, yes you can. You can. Air Lingus does e-mails its preferred customers prices that aren't available to the general public. And the nice thing about Air Lingus is that $99 fare not only holds from New York, but also from Boston, Baltimore and the Midwest, Chicago. Usually flying to Europe is much more expensive from the Midwest.
ARENA: What about some place warm, Pauline? Where can I go?
FROMMER: Well, if you want to go to Spain, which will be warmer since it's in the Mediterranean region, there's a wonderful program that allows you to vacation for free in Spain.
You go to a little city in Valdevia (ph), which is up in the mountains, and you help Spaniards learn to speak English for two weeks. And in return for volunteering your time in this way, you get all free lodgings, you get free meals and you get to take a day trips with your students. And it's a wonderful way not only to have a free vacation, but also, to get to know actual Spaniards. And that, to my mind, is the greatest thing about travel, is meeting people in the places you go. This guarantees you that you will meet Spaniards.
ARENA: But you do obviously have to make a time -- a fairly huge time commitment in that (UNINTELLLIGIBLE).
FROMMER: Yes, it's about two weeks to do that. It's through a company called Vaughan Systems. You can find them on the Web at vaughanvillage.com. It's absolutely legit, and it's a wonderful, interesting kind of innovative vacation in Europe.
ARENA: All right. Pauline Frommer, thank you so much for the tips.
FROMMER: Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired February 14, 2004 - 12:48 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KELLI ARENA, CNN ANCHOR: Well, the dollar is still struggling against the euro. So you might think that makes it a bad time to travel to Europe. But travel agents say not so. Air fare deals are popping up all over the place.
And to clue us in on some of the bargains, Pauline Frommer, senior editor of Arthur Frommer's Budget Travel magazine. And she should know.
Pauline, I've got some vacation time. Where am I going?
PAULINE FROMMER, FROMMER'S BUDGET TRAVEL: Well, you could go to London right now and prices for air hotel packages are at a historic low. You would pay just $339 if you lived in New York or Boston for air fare and six nights there. It's never been cheaper.
If you're in Atlanta, it's about $100 more. Chicago, about $150 more. And so on.
It's still a tremendous and historic price for that. Of course, when you get to London...
ARENA: I was going to say that. When you get there, you really are, you know, facing some pretty steep prices, no?
FROMMER: Absolutely, yes.
Unfortunately, the dollar is at a 20-year low against the pound. It costs almost $2 now to buy a pound. I think it's $1.89 this morning. So, yes, prices for restaurants are higher. You're going to pay about a third more than you would have a year ago. But if you take off money on the big ticket items, if you save on the air fare, if you save on the hotel, you can still afford to go to London.
ARENA: OK. If I don't want to go to London, maybe a little rainy. Where am I going now? Ireland? Well, that's rainy there too.
FROMMER: Well, Ireland will be rainy, too. Ireland will be rainy, too.
But there's an amazing air fare deal there now from Air Lingus. You'll pay just $99 each way to Ireland in February. If you want to go in March, it's just $9 more. And Air Lingus also has discounts for May, September and October. In fact, if you ever want to go on -- on to Ireland, you want to get on the Air Lingus' e-mail list, because almost every month they have these air fare specials, and those in the know can knock a third off the price of the ticket there.
ARENA: And is that still the case? I mean, when they have these really fabulous promotions going? Are you still likely to get an even better price over the Internet? I mean, should people know that?
FROMMER: Well, yes you can. You can. Air Lingus does e-mails its preferred customers prices that aren't available to the general public. And the nice thing about Air Lingus is that $99 fare not only holds from New York, but also from Boston, Baltimore and the Midwest, Chicago. Usually flying to Europe is much more expensive from the Midwest.
ARENA: What about some place warm, Pauline? Where can I go?
FROMMER: Well, if you want to go to Spain, which will be warmer since it's in the Mediterranean region, there's a wonderful program that allows you to vacation for free in Spain.
You go to a little city in Valdevia (ph), which is up in the mountains, and you help Spaniards learn to speak English for two weeks. And in return for volunteering your time in this way, you get all free lodgings, you get free meals and you get to take a day trips with your students. And it's a wonderful way not only to have a free vacation, but also, to get to know actual Spaniards. And that, to my mind, is the greatest thing about travel, is meeting people in the places you go. This guarantees you that you will meet Spaniards.
ARENA: But you do obviously have to make a time -- a fairly huge time commitment in that (UNINTELLLIGIBLE).
FROMMER: Yes, it's about two weeks to do that. It's through a company called Vaughan Systems. You can find them on the Web at vaughanvillage.com. It's absolutely legit, and it's a wonderful, interesting kind of innovative vacation in Europe.
ARENA: All right. Pauline Frommer, thank you so much for the tips.
FROMMER: Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
