Airlines are wierd.

[dagibbs]

I'm looking at a potential climbing trip to the Swiss alps this summer.

I don't know where I'm going to fly into, but I'm looking at either Geneva or Zurich. And, I'm looking at flying out of Montreal (since I'll be coming back just before Anticipation).

Apparently for 60K miles, I can fly YUL-GVA-ZHR and ZHR-GVA-YUL. But, if I just want to fly YUL-GVA and GVA-YUL that will cost me 86K miles. It takes the exact same flights on the YUL-GVA-YUL segment. Yet, to fly a shorter distance, using fewer seats and less gas and luggage handling will cost 40% more.

[edit for clarity: the shorter route is a proper subset of the longer. Exact same flights, just the longer one adds more stuff to the end (going)/start(returning) of the other route. ]

I don't understand.

(P.S. when are they going to convert to air-kms?)

Comments

[dagibbs.livejournal.com]

In air miles -- probably not. NA - Europe is probably a basic 60K where-ever I end up, if I find the cheap options.

If I really do need to end up in Geneva, getting from Zurich to there by train might be better. I'm just not actually (yet) sure where I need to end up, was looking at both, and was just goggled by the comparison.

[rmeidaking.livejournal.com]

How long will you be there? The Swiss Rail Pass is a terrific bargain if you're going to be there for more than a couple of days. It's not worth it to get the First Class upgrade either; second class is pretty nice in Switzerland.

One can get from one end of the country to the other in a day if one times it right; I did a loop from Meiringen through Bern and Zurich one day, and a there-and-back trip from Meiringen to the Matterhorn another day. I will have to go back to do the Glacier Express. I have a serious itch to get a EurailPass and do this throughout Europe, but that will have to wait a couple of years (until the budget recovers).

[dagibbs.livejournal.com]

Depends on the plan, but probably there for about 2 weeks. I'm not sure what I'd be doing for transportation.