General Question about ED delivery

Hi all,

I have been browsing this forum for the past day or so. Thanks for all the great info and insight from all you members.

Got a few questions in which I can't quite find the answers yet, I am sure it may have been answered before but no luck searching...

Here they are:

1. Planning to go either late March or mid to late May. When do you think it's a better time to go (in terms of weather, airfare, hotels, etc)

2. Wonder if there's a way I can use FF miles to save some $$. Have anyone use AA miles to trave to the Munich (do they or their partners have direct flights?) How many miles and is it easy to get seats?

3. About the date of pickup. Do you request a date and ask dealer for confirmation? Once it's confirmed, how easy or difficult is it to change the pickup date? If I am using miles, I am sure it's difficult to find availability of seats, so what if there's no seats on the confirmed date? I would like to pickup the car on the first day that I arrived!

4. I can dropped off at different countries without additional fee?

5. Any hotel recommendations in Germany or Italy? Also considering using the SPG hotel points, anyone have experience with that?

6. Any tips for traveling with baby (about 1 year old) to Germany and probably Italy?

7. Can someone recommend me some itinarary if we plan to stay 7-8 days, like to visit Italy, Swiss, (possibly France)? We like to visit the big cities and some countryside (I say 60-70% big cities and 30-40% countryside).

Thanks for any input or suggestion. It obviously is the first ED, so also with the baby need to make sure the planning is done well =P

Kyle

Reply » General Question about ED delivery

Quote:

1. May is good. It's warmer and not as many tourist on the road.

2. I used ff miles and saved $2000. Check your airline.

3. If you never traveled that far before I would advise you not to get your car the first day. Jet lag can be a killer. Enjoying the experince is hard to do when you half asleep. And driving is ever harder

4. No fees.

5. Hotel rooms will not be hard to find at the time of year you're going.

6. Good luck traveling with a young'en. They tend to cry on the plane right next to me, that's another ticket, and besides at 1 year old, they are to young to help in driving. But if you insist....God's speed.

7. Go to Amazon.com and order a Michelin map of Germany. They have the roads marked as scenic so this will give you plenty of time to map out your route.

Anyother questions just pm me.

Reply » General Question about ED delivery

1. I agree. The weather is better in May, and everyone is feasting on the asparagus by then.

2. Should be, but I'm not in AAdvantage so I dunno. Remember that BMW offers airfare discounts in conjunction with Lufthansa.

3. I'd recommend seeing when you can get a good ticket and then planning the delivery date around that. Typically, you can name your date as long as you order the car at least 6-8 weeks ahead of your arrival in Germany.

4. Yes.

5. See 6.

6. Wife and I took our 2yr old daughter with us to visit German in-laws. We got a room at the Kempinski on the MUC grounds the first day to spare ourselves a trip to Munich proper and sleep off jet lag. If convenience to the airport is a priority the Kempinski is a terrific place. Spring for the concierge floor room and get free breakfast, then snacks and drinks (incl beer and wine - what a country!) all day and evening. Extremely convenient for travelers with children. Also, there is an EDEKA market right at the airport where you can get diapers. When you travel, provide opportunity for naps at regular times, don't overplan for any particular day, and figure in kid-friendly activities. We spent some time at playgrounds, and went to a puppet show that was a blast!

7. Europe is full of beautiful places. It's really difficult to go wrong.

Finally, it's worth noting that you can do ED without speaking any German at all. All the folks at the factory and at Harms seemed surprised to hear me speaking German, and they are at least as accustomed to doing business in English.

Reply » General Question about ED delivery

Quote:

3. I'd recommend seeing when you can get a good ticket and then planning the delivery date around that. Typically, you can name your date as long as you order the car at least 6-8 weeks ahead of your arrival in Germany.
.

Yeah, if you're using FF miles, I'd check tickets first. But it's not hard to change the date if you're still well in advance, and especially not during "high" season (summer). In fact, I changed my date in late August only about 6 weeks in advance, once I realized the tickets and travel dates I initially had planned weren't going to work.

Reply » General Question about ED delivery

I used United FF miles to book my trip - 50,000 miles for coach roundtrip. I took a leap of faith and booked my flight prior to receiving confirmation on my ED date. Fortunately it worked out fine, but I also submitted my paperwork 3 months in advance. If you have the time, which it sounds like you do, I would get confirmation on your delivery date, then book your flights around it. If American can't make it work, they should be able to check other airlines and get you a flight that works.

Reply » General Question about ED delivery

kylechang, here is my 2 cents worth:

1) 6 and one-half dozen: Late March = Spring Break/Easter weekend. Late May = Beginning of summer travel season. Airfare for both are gonna be high as well as hard to book w/ FF. Weather wise March is probably a bit cooler.

3) You can usually move back on dates but its alot harder to move up in dates.

4) Yes, unlike Volvo Oversea program, BMW does not make you pay for the add'l cost in dropping off countries other than Germany.

6) Not a good idea. Everyone on the plane will hate you. You will also have to tote around a baby seat (is it E.U. approved?? I doubt you can get one here in US that meets the EU standard) as additional luggage. Can you get the in-laws to watch for their grandkids for a week??!!

Just my 2 cents worth.

beewang

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