Belgium
France
Germany
Netherlands
Switzerland
WESTERN EUROPE
TRAVELING FROM NORTH AMERICA. Travel Avenue (®800-333-3335; www.trave- lavenue.com) searches for the best available published fares and then uses sev eral consolidators to attempt to beat that fare. NOW Voyager, 74 Varick St. Ste. 307, New York, NY 10013 (® 212-431-1616; www.nowvoyagertravel.com) arranges discounted flights, mostly from New York, to Barcelona, London, Madrid, Milan, Paris, and Rome. Other consolidators worth trying are Pennsylvania Travel (®877- 251-6866; www.patravel.com), Rebel (® 800-227-3235; www.rebeltours.com), and Cheap Tickets (® 800-377-1000; www.cheaptickets.com). Yet more consolidators on the web include the Internet Travel Network (www.itn.com), Flights.com (www.flights.com), and TravelHUB (www.travelhub.com).
TRAVELING FROM THE UK, AUSTRALIA, AND NEW ZEALAND. In the UK, the Air Travel Advisory Bureau (®020 7636 5000; www.atab.co.uk) has the names of reliable consolidators and discount flight specialists. From Australia and New Zealand, look for consolidator ads in the travel section of the Sydney Morning Herald.
CHARTER FLIGHTS
Charters are flights a tour operator contracts with an airline to fly extra loads of passengers during peak season. Charter flights fly less frequently than major air lines, make refunds particularly difficult, and are almost always fully booked. Schedules and itineraries may also change or be cancelled at the last moment (as late as 48 hours before the trip, and without a full refund), and check-in, boarding, and baggage claim are often pretty slow. However, they can also be cheaper.
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