Travel 2024
Good news: we’ve finalized the flight plans for the Summer 2024 trip.
In the following message, you will find (1) an explanation of our air travel plan, (2) details about the flights you should book, (3) instructions on ordering your tickets, (4) information about alternatives to these preferred flights, and (5) some additional flight-related suggestions.
Our Air Travel Plan
As we discussed at previous information sessions/by email, each participant will need to book their ticket individually. Although you will book your ticket individually, we’d like everyone to book the same group flight if possible. Those who fly with the group will benefit by having an airport shuttle to pick us up from the airport and take us (and more importantly our heavy bags) to our London flats (apartments). Some exceptions can be made, of course: for instance, people who are going to be somewhere other than North Carolina in July might want to fly directly from that location rather than returning to ECU before departure, while others may have air miles on carriers other than American Airlines (which is what services Gville). But if you book a flight that’s different from the booking provided below, you’ll have to either take a train from the airport to the city, and few train stations have escalators, which makes traveling with luggage rather frustrating, or you’ll need a taxi/Uber, which will cost around $120 each way. You may want to ask yourself if you’re really save much money if you have to add taxi/train costs on once you land. Aside from that practical matter, it’s just nicer to travel in a group, when possible. If you are going to fly separately, though, please see Section 4 below.
To make it possible to travel together, we’ve selected flights for which there are still lots of open seats. Nevertheless, it’s important to book your flight soon; we may have 10-12 travelers in our group, and we want to grab all our seats before others take them!
Flight details (a.k.a. “Book this itinerary!”)
Here’s a summary of the itinerary that you should book as soon as possible. If you wait to book, you might see that the times for these flights are adjusted slightly; this is normal for the airlines to modify schedules by up to 30 minutes. Just makes sure the flight numbers and dates are correct and know that if that’s correct, you’re on the right flights::
Outbound: Greenville to Charlotte to London-Heathrow
American: AA5788 (PGV-CLT)
Departs Greenville 14 June 2024 @ 6:04 pm
Arrive Charlotte 14 June 2024 @ 7:25 pmAmerican: AA734 (CLT-LHR)
Departs Charlotte 14 June 2024 @ 11:10 pm
Arrives London-Heathrow 15 June 2024 @ 12:10 pm
Inbound: London to Charlotte to Greenville
American: AA731 (LHR-CLT)
Departs London-Heathrow 7 July 2024 @ 9:15 am
Arrives Charlotte 7 July 2024 @ 1:05 pmAmerican: AA5788 (CLT-PGV)
Departs Charlotte 7 2024 @ 4:20 pm
Arrives Greenville 7 July 2024 @ 5:34 pm
If you want to take a different flight to Charlotte and meet us there and then fly with the group from CLT, please feel free to do that, especially if it saves you money. In that case, just make sure you’re on the right CLT-LHR flight # above and we’ll meet you in Charlotte. 😊
How to Book Your Tickets
The best way to book your ticket is directly through American Airlines website: https://www.aa.com. You can go through Expedia or Kayak or another reseller option, but the prices — at least at the moment — are not any better, not once you dig in and realize that the price those discount sites show you do not include everything. In my experience, when you book with the airline directly, you get better service should something go wrong, but if you like to live risky …
When you get to the American site, you can search for the trip as such:
Choose MAIN CABIN: When you search for flights and get results, you’ll see that you have two options with American. You can choose “Basic Economy” or “Main Cabin.” There’s usually a $100-200 difference but it is absolutely WORTH IT to book the Main Cabin. With Basic Economy, you have to pay to check your back ($100 each way), while Main Cabin includes one bag in the price. It costs $100 to check a back internationally, so you’ve not saved any money in the end; you’ve just delayed when you spend it. Likewise, Basic Economy does no give you a seat assignment until you get the airport – trust me, you do not want to risk that because if you don’t have a seat, the airline may very likely give your spot to someone else
REMEMBER: the flight numbers are everything! Make sure those are correct with the flight you book. The times sometimes shift depending on how the airlines modifies flight schedules, sometimes but up to an hour, so don’t be surprised if your time if 5 minutes or 10 minutes different from when I took the screenshot below. As long as the flight numbers are right, we’ll all be together on the same flight. Once you’ve selected the outbound and return flights, your screen should look like this:
Once you have selected both flights, to London and back, you should see a screen that looks like this one:
As you go through the process, you’ll see that you’re asked to enter your traveler information. This is very important: it MUST match what’s on your passport, so be sure you enter this information correctly.
Eventually, you may be asked to enter your Passport Number, so be sure to have it handy. If you haven’t gotten it yet, that’s fine. You can add that information later. As you go through the process, you’ll see that you’re asked to enter your traveler information. This is very important: your name MUST match what’s on your passport, so be sure you enter this information correctly.
Send me an email at BANKSW [at] ECU [dot] EDU to say that you’ve booked your ticket and what your itinerary is (Group from Gville; Group from CLT; or On My Own). If you are traveling on your own, please send a copy of your itinerary so that we know where you are and how we might best make plans to meet you once we’re all in London. We instructors will be three bundles of stress between now and the time that every student has booked a ticket. Please settle our nerves by telling us when you’ve booked.
If you want to share a seat with someone you know from the program, then just book your flights at the same time and choose seats together.
Alternate Bookings
Some of you already have plans to travel on different days or from different airports. You might need to book flights different from those listed above for one of these three reasons:
- You plan to be somewhere other than Greenville before our departure date, and you prefer to fly from where you are rather than coming back to Greenville to fly out with the group. Note that the direct flight from Charlotte is currently more expensive than flying from Greenville. If Charlotte is closer for you, you can just meet us at the gate in Charlotte (and of course book just that leg of the flight). But if you’re in eastern NC, there’s really no financial advantage to driving over to Charlotte. Just fly out of Greenville with the rest of us!
- You plan to go to Europe before our program or stay in Europe for additional travel after the trip ends (lucky you!)
- You wait too long and there are no more available seats on the specified flights.
In each of these three situations, the process of booking your flight remains the same, but, of course, the specific flights will differ. If you’re departing from an airport other than PGV (Greenville) (e.g., if you’re going to be in New York, Atlanta, Virginia Beach, or Peoria), you might want to search for the best fare from your location. If possible, try to get a booking in which you will be landing at London Heathrow Airport (LHR) before the group’s arrival time (12:00 pm). If you do that, we should be able to meet up in Heathrow so you can ride with us to the flats.
If you plan to travel in Europe (post-trip), note that you can book an “open jaw” flight (that is, a flight where you arrive in one airport, but return from a different airport —e.g., Greenville to London, then tour Europe by train, then Madrid to Greenville). The airline websites provide instructions for booking this type of flight. If you’re on the continent, an open-jaw booking may be cheaper than returning to London first. The exception is often Paris; if you’re visiting Paris, it may be cheaper to return to London and fly out the next day. I’m always happy to talk with you about travel if you’d like some suggestions.
IMPORTANT: If you plan to use an alternative booking, PLEASE let me know as soon as possible! I’ll keep a list of everyone’s booking status and knowing who is where will go a long way to easing my mind that we’ve not lost someone.
Additional Suggestions and Comments
- Become a member of the American Airlines frequent flyer miles program! It’s free, and this flight will give you almost 10,000 frequent flyer miles right from the start. (That’s nearly halfway to a free domestic flight, and almost 1/3 of the way to a flight to the Caribbean!) You can book your ticket first, then sign up for the miles program; as long as you’re a member before you board the plane, you can count the miles.
- Reminder: use the exact same name for your flight booking that you have on your passport. No nicknames or abbreviation! I go by “Will” but my passport says “William” so that’s what I put when booking a flight.
- Some of you may not be sure yet whether you’d like to travel after the program. It’s possible to book your tickets, arrive in London, decide that you’d like to stay longer, and change your return flight by paying a change fee. That fee is something like $200 plus any increase in the new booking. So it’s possible to be spontaneous, but if you know for sure that you’d like to stay longer, you’re better off booking the extended itinerary from the start.
That’s it for now! Please, please let me know (banksw [at] ecu [dot] edu) when you’ve booked your ticket. We’ll sleep better knowing everyone’s successfully booked. Summer is a busy travel time for London, and the earlier we’re all booked, the more likely it is that we can travel together. This is especially true if you’re planning to fly out of Greenville, since it’s a smaller plane and there are fewer seats available.
Have questions or need help? Just ask. We’re going to have a great trip!
