WhatNow

International travel in the fall is a very different animal from the summer.

kansas

Very true. I was actually going to add this, but forgot. We have aspirations of a fair amount of non-rev travel, but we also plan to avoid peak times at all costs.

trip

Cheap translantic flights.
https://www.norwegian.com/uk/destina...eTransit=False

SayAlt

Fly into London and out of Amsterdam. Take the trains everywhere in between.

Going2Baja

Fly any carrier w/ a US Flag on the body.

Baja.

PikeAV8R

Under normal circumstances I would not travel during the summer. I actually prefer to travel in September-early November and late January-late February or April-May. Things are less busy, travel is easier, and the weather is still just fine depending on where you go. We have family going in July and we plan on meeting with them for a period of the trip. As far as the infant goes, she travels very well, SO FAR. She's 3 months old and already been on 4 flights with not a peep on a single one. On more than one occasion we had people in the rows near us actually get up after the flight and say "wow I didn't even know there was a baby in the row next to us." As far as my wife she's pretty even keeled when it comes to non-reving. Aruba, Jamaica, Mexico, Australia, and all over the US. We have had our fair share of nonrev experiences. 3 days to leave for me once and 2 days to get to Australia. It's all part of the trip. Believe me I'm not looking forward to Europe in July but I can't drop an extra 2k on the trip.

D B Cooper

I've done zed on all the carrier's ive listed. All with exception of lot are easy to list and check in. I like to avoid Heathrow especially if connecting. Though the train to Paris is easy. Swiss has the best travel experience of the ones you've listed and Zurich is an easy airport to make connections. Also there are trains from Zurich to Paris. Klm and lufthansa are good carriers. With a family in the summer I would buy Zed's and plan train travel once over there.
British Airways
Finnair
KLM
LOT
Lufthansa
Swiss

PikeAV8R

Right now my plan is either SAS or Swiss there and hopefully KLM direct back. Thank you for the info. This is exactly the kind of heads up I was looking for. I figured worst case we can get somewhere and hop on a train to Paris.

hoover84

Two things never to do in the summer
1. non-rev to Europe
2. Disney Land/World

freezingflyboy

Trains around Europe are not exactly dirt cheap either, especially last minute. If you start pricing some trains between major cities for you and your family, it may change the cost equation of non-rev vs. buying a ticket. Something you may want to consider.

Truth be told, getting around in Europe I have had some decent luck finding bargains for regular tickets on EasyJet, Ryan Air and a few others. Sure, it's rock bottom service and a little more hassle than the train but most flights are under 2 hours and I can endure just about anything for 2 hours.