Originally Posted by Pomster

My friends who are masters of finding the best flights have worked this out.

International flights leaving from London attract the horrendously huge UK departure tax....flights going to Paris are 'local' (EU) and so attract the far lower departure tax.

We are flying Heathrow to outside EU and 60pct of our flight cost is tax...we should have flown via Paris and attracted the lower French taxes.

Originally Posted by bcworld

The difference between LHR departure taxes and CDG departure taxes is about £85. I'm not sure how much of a saving there is to be had really factoring in the costs of the separate flight & risks of misconnecting. Is it worth the hassle?

However if you actually plan to stop on the way or simply object on principle to paying the UK APD then fair enough.

Originally Posted by GarryP

Thing is, if you are going to have to change planes anyway, to get one that connects to Newcastle, then doing it at Amsterdam (that doesn't have APD) makes sense - since it much less hectic than Heathrow as well (anyone fancy changing terminals there?).

Also, IIRC its only the outbound flight where you have to play stopover games.

Originally Posted by bcworld

Not sure if this is what you mean but if you start your journey NCL-AMS then on the same ticket connect onwards to Aus you still pay the full amount of APD for travel to Aus.

Originally Posted by irishbloo

We had an overnight stay in Paris in August.We stayed in a nice but cheap hotel.We loved doing all the sightseeing and crammed in loads.In the end we wish we had booked some extra nights.Went up the Eiffel Tower and the kids got to eat snails.Is it possible for your daughter to fly to Paris and start your holiday there.

Originally Posted by jazzys

Thats what i'm thinking of doing now, BUT, i'm thinking the baggage allowance on the Paris to Newcastle leg and back will be nowhere near what i can have on the oz to paris flight.

Figuring that could be a problem.

PS, How bad is Qantas / British airways on that journey?

Anyone flew china airlines?

Originally Posted by irishbloo

We did Air Asia to Paris and luggage no problem apart from we couldnt sent it through as we were getting off so we did have to do a bit of dragging around.

Originally Posted by jazzys

What weight of luggage are you allowed on a short flight from paris to the UK these days?

Any idea?