Cheap at Twice the Price

I bought a one-way ticket to Paris from London yesterday. For months I've know that I have to be in Paris by April 20th to meet my mom, but I didn't know wether to take the chunnel or fly, where would I sleep, that sort of thing. It's one of the many little decisions about my trip that I just kept putting off.

But yesterday I decided that I wanted to arrive in Paris a day before my mom. I looked at train prices, I looked at airline prices and flying was cheaper, by half. I was relieved, actually, that flying was cheaper because even though I am terrified of flying, the idea of speeding along under the tremendous weight of all that water in the English Channel sends me into a claustrophobic panic.

So, there were fairly inexpensive early morning flights that meant rising before dawn. There were cheap early afternoon flights, which would ruin the day in London AND Paris. There was one super expensive flight with the perfect departure and arrival time. Then there was a 2 p.m.-ish flight which was about $40 bucks more than the late afternoon/pre-dawn flights.

I sat for a good 20 minutes haggling with my inner economist (who has not been at his desk for very long) and debated wether I should spend the extra $40 bucks to arrive two hours earlier in Paris, giving me a full evening in the City of Lights to wander around by myself before my mom arrives in the morning. $40 dollars for 2 hours.....that's $20 bucks an hour....for Paris.






It was an easy $40 to spend when seen in that light.