Items we need

For Our trip to Europe.
Please add in the comments section all items suggested to bring.

I will consolidate this into a final list in a later post.

some possible items-
http://www.ricksteves.com/plan/tips/packlist.htm

-Poon

Flight Info

For completeness I'm adding our Flight info.

Flying Via US Airways. Theres a huge gap in between connecting flights since the other flights had less than an hour in between. So it was either a huge gap in between or very little.

Tickets were $905 for each person. We are flying "Open Jaw" into one city and out another city that the same Airline flies out/into. It cost less to just fly round trip to Frankfurt. "Open Jaw" flights must be booked from US Airways site. Select the multiple Cities option and just enter two different cities.

Strangely "Open Jaw" is not the same as buying two one way tickets... Buying two one way tickets would of cost us about 50% more.

For Round Trip/one way flights I found that Farechase on Yahoo worked best.

***Update Feb 14 Ticket prices are even cheaper now about $800 for our Open Jaw itinerary... too bad we can't change now, Also Updated the Flight Times Below***

Flying into Europe from LAX to Frankfurt Germany
Leaving Europe from Madrid Spain to LAX.

Flying into Europe March 28th, arrive next day:

9:05 AM 28 Mar 2008 Depart Los Angeles, CA
4:33 PM 28 Mar 2008 Arrive Charlotte, NC
Airbus A321 Travel Time: 4 h 28 m
On-Time: 90-100%

9:00 PM 28 Mar 2008 Depart Charlotte, NC
10:35 AM 29 Mar 2008 Arrive Frankfurt, Germany
Airbus A333 Time: 8 h 35 m

Leaving Europe on April 12th:

1:05 PM 12 Apr 2008 Depart Madrid, Spain
3:45 PM 12 Apr 2008 Arrive Philadelphia, PA
Boeing 767 Travel Time: 8 h 40m

6:15 PM 12 Apr 2008 Depart Philadelphia, PA
9:20 PM 12 Apr 2008 Arrive Los Angeles, CA
Airbus A321 Travel Time: 6 h 5 m
On-Time: 40-50%

-Poon

Meeting Agenda for Dec 1, Meeting

This is the agenda for our First Euorpe Meeting. Rui will be teleconferencing in via skype.
The meeting minutes will be posted following the meeting.

Selection of EuroPass and first night in Frankfurt are critical for Rui's Visa (since his Visa was initially rejected( for lack of documentation))

1) Any necessary Documentation (status of pending documentation)

2) Cities/Countries/attractions to Visit, Alternate cities as well (in case of problems)

3) EuroPass (which one?) (What is the earliest they can be purchased?)

4) Intra europe flights (if any?)

5) Hotels (specifically at least one night in Frankfurt/Germany) (plan as many as possible?)

6) Transportation to/from LAX

7) Necessary travel gear (ie laptop, usb bridge)

8) Necessary medicine
(I heard going to see doctor is kind of difficult in Europe, and you need prescription to buy Medicine) - Rui

Recommend Flu Shots (Flu season in Europe) -Poon

9) Maps for each city we go.
(This suggestion is from my landlord, she suggest to buy a detail map for each city and it will save us a lot of time to travel inside of the city) - Rui

(You'll get a decent Europe rail map with your rail pass purchase.)- about.com europe article

(Do we need to buy? Ed and I have GPS. Should we buy in US or Europe?)-Poon

10) Communication Methods
(I hope we never get lost with each other, but if we do, we need a way communicate to regroup)- Rui

(If we lose Rui we will probably never see him again... No big loss though!)-Poon

11) Voltage Converters
(Most of Europe countries will use 220V except Spain 110V, so prepare voltage converter for your electronic) -Rui

(Voltage Converters or Just plug adapters, Please check the electronics you intend to bring ahead of time?)-Poon


12) Clothes
(It will be cold in Germany and other part of Europe) - Rui

13) Credit Cards/ATM cards/how to get money/buy things in europe
(Remember to call Credit Card/Bank to notify of travel)-Poon

14) Transportation between cities and within (plan as much as possible)

15) Student Travel Cards
(necessary?)

16) Learning Foreign Lanugauge
Rui-German, Poon- Italian, Ed-French? Good Idea?
-Poon