Europe Trip Revealed Part 5: Flight Itineraries

This is the fifth installment of the series. If you're new to my blog, you might want to read the previous parts first: part 1, part 2, part 3, and part 4.

It's less than 2 weeks to go, and I'm getting more and more anxious! It feels like there are still gazillion things to do, yet there is only little time left. I haven't even finished reading the guidebooks (yes, it's true, I have more than one guidebook). But enough about my anxiety. Let's get straight to the point of this post.

The plan is to fly open-jaw by KLM. The ticket price via KLM website was S$ 1,702. But I bought via travel agent (Chan Brothers) for S$ 1,671, which saved me a couple of bucks. That was even already including the additional 2% credit card charge imposed by the travel agent.

The first flight is from Singapore (SIN) to Nice (NCE) by on 6 March 2011 at 01.15 with transit via Amsterdam (AMS), just after midnight. There was an earlier flight by Air France on 5 March 2011 at 23.55. However, my annual insurance plan only covers a trip that does not exceed 90 days. As the flight on the 5th will be counted as one day (even though it's almost midnight), it's more beneficial for me to take the KLM flight so that I can have the maximum total duration 90 days for my trip.

The plane used for SIN-AMS leg is Boeing 777-300ER. This will be my first time flying with Boeing 777, although it's not a double-decker plane like the popular Boeing 747-400. I have also chosen the seat for this leg, after long research in flights websites of the best seat to take (click here to see the seating layout). I can't choose the seat for AMS-NCE leg though, which I think can only be done when checking-in.

At first, I was thinking of getting a 2-hour layover only, but I eventually chose a 5-hour-45-minute layover, hoping that I would have time to walk around Amsterdam city. If everything goes smoothly and there is no delay, I figured I would have 2 hours for touring the city, while already setting aside 45 minutes for getting through immigration, 30 minutes for getting into the city center by train, 30 minutes for getting back to the airport, and 2 hours for getting through security check and immigration again for the connecting flight to Nice.

But we'll see. The SIN-AMS flight will take about 13 hours! So if I get serious jet lag, or there is a delay, or it's too cold or raining outside, the backup plan is to wait (or sleep) in the Schiphol airport until the time of connecting flight.

I have been asking around in travel forums for advices on how to prevent jet lag. Most advised to sleep as much as possible (some suggested taking melatonin) and to not drink alcohol. I'm not a drinker, so avoiding alcohol should not be a problem. But how will I be able to sleep knowing that there are a lot of good in-flight movies and when the flight attendants regularly offering delicious meals? I surely wouldn't want to not savor all of those things after paying a lot for the ticket, would I?

My flight back to Singapore is on 2 June 2011 from Paris (CDG) by KLM with transit via Amsterdam. I chose the longest possible layover, which is10 hours. This time, I will definietely have more time (about 6 hours) to explore the city of Amsterdam. The seat for CDG-AMS leg can only be chosen when checking in. And I can't choose the seat for AMS-SIN leg yet, because the seat assignment is only open 90 days before departure date.

Now, how will I go from Nice to Paris then, you might ask. Well I'm not going straight to Paris from Nice, instead I'm flying to Rome (FCO) first by Alitalia. If I purchased one-way flight from Nice to Rome, it would cost me 300+ €. But I purchased an open-jaw ticket with a promo fare on NCE-FCO, FCO-CDG route which only cost me 121.2 €. Even budget airlines like EasyJet won't be able to top that price. The only catch is I won't get any mileage for this discounted fare.

 

I will stay in Rome for 4 nights before heading to Paris for 2 nights. Then I will go back to Singapore by the KLM flight mentioned above. So there it goes, my flight itinerary for the beginning and the end of my 3-month trip. The in-between itinerary is saved for another future post. Now, in addition to having to write the next posts, I still have a lot to read, and pack! Till next time.

UPDATE: read the sixth part here.