Flight home to UK advice.

[Kclif]

Hi,
Could members advise on when to book return flight home to the UK.?
I plan on walking the Camino in June of next year.
Advice on prebooking flight before starting / during or once completed?
I know easyJet fly to / from Santiago de Compostela Airport, but their prices very greatly from very cheap if booked in advance to very expensive if booked at short notice or at the airport.
Thx

 

[Robo]

Welcome to the World of budget airlines
In fact most airlines, hotels, ...
I tend to book a long way out, but with a flexi fare.
That way I can change the date/flight closer to the time.
Once I know what day I'm likely to reach SDC.

 

[Bradypus]

Depends on how much advance planning you are happy to do. Do you have a very clear idea of when you will be arriving in Santiago? It might be very frustrating to find that you have arrived several days ahead of your ETA, or to find that you are making slower progress than planned and feel pressure to rush or skip stages. I prefer to book my flights just a few days before reaching Santiago: if you include A Coruna and Vigo as well as Santiago as your departure point there are usually fairly cheap flights back to the UK to be found even at short notice. If you would prefer the security of having a fixed reservation then booking a few months in advance would probably get you a flight to the UK for less than £50. I generally use kayak.co.uk as my search engine for flights.

 

[Anamiri]

We flew from Santiago to Paris, and thought it was pretty cheap. The airport is so close to Santiago that its very convenient too. And of course its full of returning pilgrims so a good vibe on the flight.

 

[Brenda Luco]

We flew from Santiago to Paris, and thought it was pretty cheap. The airport is so close to Santiago that its very convenient too. And of course its full of returning pilgrims so a good vibe on the flight.

My question is along same lines but slightly different .
Do you need to have a return flight number and date of return for custom forms they hand out on the plane?
I chose to fly one way and will book the return flight when I am ready to fly back home to Calgary , Canada. I didn’t want the worry of a deadline .
I’m flying into Gatwick and then Biarritz.

 

[Bradypus]

@Brenda Luco You might get more replies if you post your question in a thread of its own - the title for this one is specific to the UK and those who know first-hand about the technicalities of travelling from the other side of the pond may not be reading this.

 

[Brenda Luco]

@Brenda Luco You might get more replies if you post your question in a thread of its own - the title for this one is specific to the UK and those who know first-hand about the technicalities of travelling from the other side of the pond may not be reading this.

 

[Brenda Luco]

Thanks! How do you post a thread?

 

[Bradypus]

Thanks! How do you post a thread?

If you go to this page - https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/forums/traveling-to-from-the-camino.19/ - you should find a button that says "Post thread" near the top of the page. Click on that and a text entry box should pop-up where you enter the title you want for your post and then below that the text of your message. Once you are ready you can preview the post and then post it by clicking on the buttons below the text entry box.

 

[MikeJS]

I always book my flights home when I am about 5 days away from Santiago and am confident of my arrival date. Never had a problem getting home within a few days of my wanted time.

 

[Marchioness]

It's best to leave yourself some wiggle room. Definitely don't book before you even leave unless you can't bear not to.

Having to be somewhere by a certain date is one sure way to sap the fun out of your camino. It's better to be able to take your time, take rest days when and where you need them and change your pace if you want to.

We walked all the way to Santiago without booking then decided to walk to Finesterre on the spur of the moment. We booked our tickets home from La Coruna while we were in Cee, about 8km from Finesterre and even that was only because we found a lovely little travel agent.

Leave yourself some room for spontaneity!

Enjoy! Buen Camino!

Marchioness

 

[Brenda Luco]

I want the wiggle room ...no question there. I just want to know if the custom form upon entry to Europe from Canada REQUIRES that you have a specific return date and a flight number...if it doesn’t great!!!

 

[Marchioness]

I want the wiggle room ...no question there. I just want to know if the custom form upon entry to Europe from Canada REQUIRES that you have a specific return date and a flight number...if it doesn’t great!!!

Hi Brenda, My reply was for returning to the UK. I'm afraid I don't know about the Canada requirements, sorry.

 

[Orford girl]

Hi,
Could members advise on when to book return flight home to the UK.?
I plan on walking the Camino in June of next year.
Advice on prebooking flight before starting / during or once completed?
I know easyJet fly to / from Santiago de Compostela Airport, but their prices very greatly from very cheap if booked in advance to very expensive if booked at short notice or at the airport.
Thx

You might check from Bilbao. You can not fill in these numbers on customs - only when you there and returning.
Buen camino.

 

[Glenshiro]

As a (very) rough rule, easyJet prices are usually lowest about 2 months before departure.

 

[Kiwi-family]

Fancy that! Being able to stay away as long as you like and go home when you are ready. Apart from the cost (return flights are definitely cheaper than two one-way ones from NZ), I don’t think I’d be allowed to leave on a one-way ticket.....I might never come home!

 

[Helen1]

Hi Karl,

If you have to hurry home I would book 2 flights. If you're walking peak season looks like Ryanair is going to be 110-300+ euros at short notice (Santiago is a pretty popular airport). Booked ahead it looks like you can get flights for 26 euros. Brierly will give you an idea of how many days most people take, add a couple more days if you want to go to Finisterre, add or subtract depending on how far you think you can walk each day, how many rest days you want, how long you want to spend in Santiago, etc.

Helen

 

[Kclif]

Thank you all for all your advice and comments.