JFK > BRU
JFK > BRU, Belgium
Deciding to pack up life and leave the country is a difficult decision but once your flights are booked the rest is easy. Just kidding nothing about travel is easy. But this will be a decision you will want to stand behind with calculated research from a blog like ours: Meet you there. The next step is deciding your destination(s). Once you’ve done that you’ve come to the part in the road where you need to do as much research as you can to get the most cost effective travel accommodations.
Perhaps one of the most difficult elements of planning our round-the-world trip was picking where to fly in and out of. We spent a number of days researching different combinations of international airports - while keeping in mind our first areas to hit would be: Holland, Belgium, France, Spain, Germany & Italy. We know Brussels, Belgium to be a central location for European travel – so we started looking for flights from Denver to Brussels, Belgium. Let us break down some of our essential tips that we used before we even booked our flights - and how we settled on our flight leaving from JFK, New York > Brussels, Belgium:
Clearing search history
Picking the best international airport hub & deciding on one-way travel
Skyscanner
numerous travel sites
Research from others’ living and traveling abroad
-Clearing search history: I found this trick on twitter, a good place for travel advice, world news and general information. It’s good to go on twitter when looking for travel advice, tips, tricks and even deals. I thought this clearing search history to be a total myth at first but it totally make sense, as travel sites and search engines use your recently searched history to display ad and marketing material. Be sure to clear all your search histories to ensure you’ll find the cheapest rates with whatever travels site you're using. My girlfriend and I sat next to each other comparing flight rates seeing who was able to lock into the best price. Flying inexpensively is crucial when you plan to circumvent the world.
-One-Way Ticket Travel & International hubs: After researching some different travel blogs we were cautioned that booking one-way travel can be extremely costly, and sometimes not even work. We were fortunate to find some quality one-way ticket rates from JFK to Brussels, Belgium. This worked perfectly for our situation as we have no plans “to return” until we complete seeing everything on our dream list. We are aware some difficulties may lie ahead traveling with and without certain visa restrictions but we plan to educate ourselves and you when we come across this information more clearly.
** Leave comments with and travel tips/advice for going into certain countries with one way tickets.
We originally planned to leave from DIA (Denver International Airport) but as our travel searches dragged on we discovered some cheaper alternatives may have exist. As I have mentioned before its important to familiarize yourself with some of the bigger international hubs that exist such as: JFK, DIA, LAX, MIA (some bigger US hubs) but also larger international airports that exist in other countries as well. Research, research, research the countries you plan to visit plus find the best airports to travel into and never stop reading other travelers advice. Now here’s how we locked in our ticket prices...
-Skyscanner: This website I found on a fellow travel bloggers site. This was probably the easiest travel search engine I’ve ever used and the most useful. It’s as simple as putting in a destination. You can definitely filter the search if needed to accommodate your locations and times. I suggest being flexible with these for if your search is to in depth you might not find the most affordable flights. As we stated above were flying into Brussels, Belgium granted our flight is a one way we only payed $560. Also, as we decided we let skyscanner choose our departure city which was extremely cost effective. When we used skyscanner it brought up even cheaper flights. After reviewing some of the other airlines that we were unfamiliar with EX: airline xyz (name forgot) was the first option for $420 too good to be true honestly. After reading reviews guests wrote the vessel was so outdated it still had ashtrays installed in the seats. That was enough for us to both move on to the next price. After researching a couple of the lower prices we opted for the price of $560 with United Airlines. Which we have traveled with United before and have always had good experiences. Our flight is only 7 hours but it’s nice to know we’ll be comfortable for the first leg of our trip. One thing I’ll tell you to watch out for with skyscanner is which booking site its redirecting you to, to purchase your ticket. Some websites didn’t offer travel insurance. I think the final website we purchased from was Kayak (we also decided to go with travel insurance). Always google the name of the booking sites & travel companies you're putting your credit card numbers into as we quickly turned away from one website due to poor reviews. We plan to book a rental car to get us to JFK and off we go - Europe here we come.
-Research and read other websites and blogs to gather lots of information - at the same time its very important to sort thru misinformation/opinions but soak in quality facts from real travelers.
Thanks for reading - more posts on the way like picking the perfect backpacks, preparing to leave life in the states & photography sessions…we have so much preparation to do - wish us luck & give us some time until we check back next.
Please leave us any tips, suggestion or advice you may have- help us, help you!
Until next time ~ we hope someday…to
MEET YOU THERE.