Got plane tickets!

Last week I finally bought my plane tickets. There were many back-and-forth discussions about the best course to take (tlv-lax and then back lax-tlv, or tlv-san and then back from Seattle...), and many price shifts, and annoying web sites showing not-current information.

At the end, I used a local travel agency, just to make sure I understand the change policy of the ticket I'm getting, and to have someone to call when I'm in the middle of nowhere and in need of some travel-related assistance. The route itself was something a fellow Israeli hiker was talking about TLV-CDG-ORD-SAN, and the price was ~$1360 (back from Seattle). I can live with that. We will both be on the same flight, and start the trail together.

The date, you ask? I'll be taking off (and landing, actually. Because of the time differences) at April 9th. I guess we will start around the 11th, or maybe 12th. We will see how the jet lag and general tiredness hits us.

Tickets to the USA

I have been looking on flights to the US for a while now, trying to figure out when I should start my hike, and what airlines to pick/airports to go through.

At first, I checked out flying to San Diego in April, and come back home from Seattle. I was checking out two websites - Matrix and hipmunk, and was surprised that they did not show the same flights and prices. I found some really cheap flights through Istanbul, but I couldn't book anything through the Matrix site, and when I tried looking for those same flights on other sites (Expedia, for example), they were much more expensive.

I later discovered that flying to LAX would be cheaper anyway, being a larger international airport, and only about 1 hour away from San Diego by bus. Flying back home from there might be easier as well, and I'll just have to get there somehow from wherever I'll be when I end my hike. So TLV-LAX-TLV it is (probably).

Looking more into the different prices on different sites, I think I got it figured out now - Matrix shows prices for tickets that are not available anymore. I don't know what it's good for. But it seems as though hipmunk really does show relevant results, which is very helpful indeed. It also offers links to other sites for direct purchase of these same tickets, for the noted price. Just what I was looking for. hipmunk.com 1 - Matrix 0

And now, the small matter of deciding when I start my hike. I was hoping on avoiding doing the Seder (Passover evening family dinner) at home, and taking off several days before, around April 10th. The plan was to start hiking on the 13th, and catch the Lunar eclipse of the 14th from the trail. It seems as though I will postpone my start date by about a week, so I can fly over with another Israeli who wants to do the Seder at home. We might take off around the 15th, and start hiking on the 18th or 19th. But nothing is set in stone yet.