One of the next steps in planning a trip is figuring out the details: When are you going? How will you be traveling (car? boat? airplane?) What route are you going to take? How much will it cost?
There are four of us going to India in August: me, Raja, and his sons, who I call Monkey and the Man Cub. (Ya know, like Mowgli from The Jungle Book?) I'll use these nicknames here, just for privacy's sake.
We decided to go at the end of the summer, so that the boys get a regular summer vacation first, but we wanted to come back a little bit before Labor Day, as school starts right after that, and we will need some time to get ready for school. The dates we've chosen to go are from August 11 (my 41st birthday!) to September 2.
Because we are going to Chennai, we have to go by air. The distance from Portland, Oregon, USA to Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India is 8,151 miles, so walking, driving or taking a boat is pretty much out of the picture. We will be taking an airplane. Actually, we will be purchasing seats on an airplane, as just "taking" one is sort of against the law.
Flying so far can be very expensive. Just looking on expedia.com, the cost of round-trip tickets (depending on the airline and how many stops it makes) range from $1,443.00 to $8,077.00: and that's just for one ticket!
Raja is a very good shopper, and found us tickets that cost even less. Keep in mind that when you buy a ticket, it comes with lots of extra fees and taxes: U.S. Transportation Tax, a Security Fee, and other Combined Taxes. These can mean an added 400.00 or so to your charge. Per ticket.
Because we agreed to make 3 stops between Portland and Chennai, the tickets cost $1,325.00 per adult, and $1,125.00 per child. Not including any extra costs, can you figure out how much Raja spent on tickets to Chennai? Wow, he's a nice guy, isn't he?
So, let's look at our itinerary. The itinerary is the plan of travel.
Our itinerary (for our trip there) looks somewhat like this:
Wednesday Aug 11
PDX (Portland)-SFO (San Francisco)
UNITED AIRLINES
Departing At 07:04am
Arriving At 09:00am
Duration 01hr(s) :56min(s)
Status Confirmed
Class Economy
Aircraft AIRBUS INDUSTRIE A319 JET
Meals 0 Stops 0
Distance (in Miles) 0550
Wednesday Aug 11
SFO (San Francisco)-HKG (Hong Kong)
UNITED AIRLINES
Departing At 01:20pm
INTERNATIONAL TERMINAL
Arriving At 06:05pm
Thu, Aug 12
Duration 13hr(s) :45min(s)
Status Confirmed Class Economy
Aircraft BOEING 747 JET
Meals Lunch Stops 0
Distance (in Miles) 6915
Thursday Aug 12
HKG (Hong Kong)-BOM (Mumbai)
JET AIRWAYS
Departing At 07:15pm
Arriving At 11:05pm
Duration 06hr(s) :20min(s)
Status Confirmed Class Economy
Aircraft AIRBUS INDUSTRIE A332 JET
Meals Dinner, Breakfast Stops 0
Distance (in Miles) 2655
Friday Aug 13
BOM (Mumbai)-MAA (Chennai)
JET AIRWAYS
Departing At 06:45am
Arriving At 08:35am
Duration 01hr(s) :50min(s)
Status Confirmed Class Economy
Aircraft BOEING 737 800 JET
Meals Breakfast Stops 0
Distance (in Miles) 0644
You may notice that the letters given for the airports sort of match the names of the cities they are attached to...(PDX=Portland, SFO=San Francisco, HKG=Hong Kong) But what about the last two?How does BOM=Mumbai and MAA=Chennai? Well, that's because the cities changed names several years ago. Mumbai used to be called Bombay, and Chennai used to be called Madras. The names were changed in the mid-1990s. Many people thought the names were more culturally correct, and less connected to the times when the British ruled India (they used to rule a lot of the world, including lands that are now part of the U.S. and Canada) but some people, including Raja, felt sad, as if part of their childhood and their culture was changing forever.
Using the Itinerary above, answer these Questions:
1. How many miles are we traveling in all?
2. How long will our trip take, not including layovers (breaks in between flights)?
3. How long will all the layovers add to our travel time?
4. Research the time difference between Portland and Chennai. What time is it in both places now? What time is it where you live? It could be tomorrow in one place, or yesterday in another, depending on your perspective. Weird, huh?
5. Of all those cities, which one would you most like to visit?
Challenge:
Choose a destination, a timeline, a mode of transportation, and a route. Research costs. Make a plan. Create your own itinerary.
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