Maybe Going to Germany - Need INFO!

[pilots_wife]

We have an opportunity to stay with some friends in Germany. We are going to attempt to go in October. Can any please give me info on how we go about doing this? I tried to contact the pass bureau and was unsuccessful.

My 2 main questions are:
1. What is involved in using hubby's benefits to travel to Germany?
2. Once we're there, if our friend has a car to lend us, can we legally drive it?

TIA

[Kristie]

I have no idea about the car - we take train everywhere we go over there. It's cheaper than driving!!

benefits depend on who Hubby is with and if he has codeshare agreements with airlines that fly overseas. If they're codeshare, then it's like traveling ID90 style

where in germany are you going?

[Jan]

I hope you get to go during Oktoberfest! It's lots of fun:
http://www.discover-munich.info/muni...fest_guide.htm

Travel benefits depend on your husband's airline, who does he fly for? My husband flies for ExpressJet and I can fly on Continental's partners for free, except I have to pay the taxes. Another thing to consider is if the country has departure taxes (i.e. - Mexico charges 47.00 just to leave the country). I can't recall Germany having a departure tax.

If you mean a passport, then you need to apply as soon as possible because it takes a long time to get one back (like 6 months). You can get one expedited but it's expensive. Here's a link to passport info:
http://travel.state.gov/passport/passport_1738.html

I've never been anywhere in Europe where I needed a car (used trains, buses, and cabs - and in Germany the cabs are BMW's!). If you think gas is expensive in the US, you are in for a shock when you see the gas prices in Europe. Public transportation in Europe is light years ahead of the US. Cities have trains and buses, and there are high speed trains between European cities. Your friends should be able to give you transportation info for the area you are visiting. As for driving a car, you will need to check German laws on that. I thought about renting a car before I went, but glad I didn't. The autobahn wasn't as cool as I thought it might be, and I think they've actually imposed some speed limits on it now. And besides, you get to enjoy more beers when you don't have to drive ;-).

hth, and have a blast! Be sure to let us know how much fun you have!

Janice

[Jan]

Found a link on the Oktoberfest with some info on driving in Germany, mayhap this is useful:
http://www.discover-munich.info/gett...ing_safety.htm

hth,
Janice

[Kristie]

Oktoberfest is over on the 6th... but Zurich's oktoberfest runs until beginning of November.. so i'd suggest making a hop down there cuz Zurich's OKfest is just as awesome (we went last year)!!

yeah, i wasn't too impressed with the autobahn.. the only thing i liked about it was everyone was gonig about the same speed so you didn't have the bottlenecks we have here. I think public transportation over there is awesome - in no way like it is here....there's no way i'd drive a car over there simply because PT is a lot cheaper and you can drink while traveling!!

[rgphib]

Originally Posted by Jan

I can't recall Germany having a departure tax.

I'm pretty sure Germany does have a departure tax. I'll check with SIL (they were in Germany for 2 years) for clarification.

[Kristie]

well, I know for DAL a regular ID90 charge going overseas to just about anywhere Western Europe wise is around $300 roundtrip. I think we pay about @ $20 for the taxes going out of Germany.