On November 1st I booked a flight for Spring Break for my family of four to Croatia.
I wasn’t exactly looking to go there at the moment but there were amazing fares to the country (from the US) for around $250 to $300. When I got home from work, I booked a short trip which would give us 6 full days in Croatia.
The total cost for Kim, Lucas, Theo and I came to $1,177.72 ($294.43 per person).
There were some concerns with the flight I booked. However, due to the deal, the best option was to book quickly, figuring I could always decide to cancel within 24 hours.
My two concerns:
- Considering the flights were in Basic Economy there was some worries related to luggage.
- A bigger issue for me was that I always planned to visit Croatia as a month- long trip to see most of the country while also including places nearby like Montenegro, Bosnia & Herzegovina and Slovenia (to finish off seeing all of the Balkans).
Why we canceled:
- I called British Airways customer service on the way to work the following morning to find out about the baggage allowance for Basic Economy fares. Based on what I was told, there was no way we could bring what we’d need for the trip. Regardless of this, I had pretty much decided we’d be canceling due to reason #2.
- Like I mentioned above, I’ve been saving a visit to Croatia to do a bigger trip there. Flying roundtrip to Zagreb would allow us time to see that city and possibly do a day trip or two. Another option I was considering was including a visit to Slovenia which is less than two hours away. I really felt that this trip was going to be way too rushed and not worth it. We can always go another time and do the trip the way we always envisioned it!
While it was painful to cancel a sub $300 flight to Europe, I feel that it was the right decision for us. Basic economy sounds like a real pain, especially when traveling with kids.
And while I’m not against short trips to Europe, (we’ve done our share) this one just didn’t seem right to me.
Jan- Thanks for the suggestions!
DaninMCI- When I initially booked, I said to Kim it would be a short visit and we’d go again. The thing is, is that it just didn’t seem like the way I wanted to do the trip. BTW- I’m not against short country visits with the idea of returning in the future to see more.
I don’t blame you for cancelling as sometimes it just isn’t worth it. I do think we can fall into a trap of dreaming of a trip to a place and in the back of our mind that it’s a once in a lifetime chance. Like we can’t go more than once. We are also limited to vacation days. I’ll look forward to your trip report when you do go.
I can understand that Croatia in 6 days would hardly seem worth it, especially for a family. I don’t know what your flight times would be but if they were lengthy that would be a deciding factor as it takes a while to get over long flights. We live in Australia and I certainly wouldn’t go anywhere in Europe for 6 days. Croatia will be worth the wait though. It has lots of things to see and do. I suggest Zagreb, Zadar, Plitvice Lakes (Krka National Park also if you have time) Skradin (jumping off point to Krka) Split (jump to islands) Dubrovnik. We did a neat detour (driving) from Croatia to Mostar (BiH) and South to Trebinje (BiH) across the mountain border into Montenegro to Bay of Kotor and Budva before dropping our vehicle in Dubrovnik.
Ruth- We’re in Brooklyn, NY and our flights would’ve been from JFK. So what did you think of Croatia? I’ve only heard great things!
Lenin1991- It’s always good to look at something like what do we really need! The thing is that I didn’t cancel based on the luggage issue, it was more about not rushing the destination.
It may be time to question “what we’d need for the trip”: I’ve done 10 days in Europe with a young child out of a single carry on.
Can you disclose from what city in the US you booked? I went to Croatia in May and the total airfare from Los Angeles was less than $600 (which I consider a good price). Now, the luggage allowance was minimal. We were restricted to carry on luggage weighing 10 kg (about 22 pounds). We had to pay for anything outside that range. That was good for us since we prefer to travel with the minimum. I understand your decision of canceling because of the time you were going to spend on Croatia. We spent two weeks in the country and barely scratched the surface.
Earl Lee- Thanks! That’s awesome that you’re going over the summer. We’ll definitely get there. It’s an idea for this summer but that all depends on airfare or mileage availability which I wouldn’t expect to find!
I would have loved to have read your trip report to Croatia. I’m FINALLY planning to visit. I booked to go for 15 days in July and can’t wait.