It pays to be a drunk when you want to go to Finland or Sweden

Okay, so on Friday I was at a bar chatting with some kid. He introduces me to his girlfriend, who turns out to be this cute swedish girl from Stockholm. We start talking about WRC (her and I, not him) and how I really want to go watch Sweden or Finland and next thing I know, there telling me about a cheap way to get there.
So, I can just about always find a cheap flight to London. Anywhere from $300-600 usually. To Finland or Sweden always seems to be closer to $1500. So, the two sites are www.ryanair.com and www.easyjet.com I didn't check easyjet, cut RyanAir could get me to Tampere in Finland for as low as $63 roundtrip from London. They fly elsewhere and out of other places to, just another tool for anyone wishing to go overseas.

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Grant Hughes

That's good info !

I've had friends fly to Amsterdam, rent a car for 2 weeks, then drive to Denmark for about the same cost it would have cost them to fly directly into Copenhagen from either Seattle or from Vancouver.

You've only just discovered RyanAir and EasyJet?

Also from NY going East check outbound flights on AeroFlot, the Russian national airlines. I've seen R/T as low as $250 to Moscow. My Social Studies teacher in Highschool used to ride them back in the old CCCP, during summer breaks. Only airline in the world you can still smoke on.

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Scott Manley
Spokane, WA
86' XR4Ti
37

Fuck. I'll take them just to smoke. I rode an airline when I was 15 between Taiwan and Hong Kong that we smoked and drank beer on.

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Grant Hughes

I'm pretty pleased that there's no smoking on airplanes !

I remember when you could smoke on a plane, and used to sit in the token "non smoking" section. Pretty useless considering that the air is circulated through the same onboard system anyways.

First there was the... you can't smoke on the plane, then you can't smoke in the terminal... now you poor fucks are either sneaking one in the terminal toilet, or you're huffin' outside before you check in.

I'm pleased that I never started smoking !

Then again, I have plenty of other vises.

Some you can still do legally in public, while others you can't... except at Club Hedonism !

From the Aeroflot website-

"At the recommendation of doctors, we now offer smoking passengers anti-nicotine chewing gum."

Sorry Grant, they must have given in to internation pressures.

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Scott Manley
Spokane, WA
86' XR4Ti
37

"anti-nicotine chewing gum", as in regular chewing gum without nicotine.

Logic seems to suggest that they first stopped allowing smoking, then substituted smoking by passing out nicotine gum, and now only offer non nicotine gum.

Grant all is not lost, I bet you can still get one heck of a good vodka on their flights !

I'm sure half the people standing in line in customs are all smoking in the airport in Europe. That was Madrid, 2001, and the first time I quit smoking. Spent a few weeks cutting back, then hopped on the plane and said I'm done. I really have no problem not smoking for any given amount of time. As long as there aren't any cars or booze involved and I have a book I'm set. Gum and patches are lame.

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Grant Hughes

When I visit Denmark (Shhhhhhh) they're stuck in the 1970's as far as the perogative of the smoker being able to light up when he/she see's fit.

Nothing like sitting down for dinner and everyone lighting up as soon as the last bit of food is on it's way down their throats. Danish ciggies are pretty raunchy to boot.

Although it's not a bad price to pay to sit down and enjoy an afternoon of Akvavit, good beer, herrings, and open faced sandwiches.

Akvavit = good with beer chaser.

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In the long run reality always wins.

I 100% agree with you about the beer chaser.

I'm still not sure how my parents can sometimes "enjoy" it with breakfast. I've never found much enjoyment in it except with lunch and beer on the occasional weekend.

$804 with iceland air to Helsinki from baltimore but they usually add bout 200bones of tax.
$896 with Scandinavian Airlines to Helsinki from DC.

there are ways to get there for cheap-er.

the problem kinda is getting around. you see, i am lucky, my mother used to be a regional co-driver so she's a rally fan hence she takes the trip and pays for the rental car. she does a little sightseeing too so everyone's happy. did you know there REALLY is a yellow house right before the yellow house yump? the 'other' forum i was on got me contacts and stuff so i could go and hitch rides with finns. they think that the "F" in FRM stands for Finnish, but we all know what the truth is. so car rides are fun with the lads from the land of saunas.

being on a plane drunk S.U.C.K.S.!

"being on a plane drunk S.U.C.K.S.!"

The effects of one drink are magnified 2 to 3 times over the effects the same drink would have at sea level. So noting like sitting in the terminal pre-flight, while chucking back 3 doubles. Feeling fine, until you get up to altitude.

Which is the main reason you sometimes have a bunch of drunk rowdy assholes on a plane*.

* Naturally excludes Rally Anarchy members.

i was thinking more about the buzzing of the engines and how they give me a headache when sober so when drunk, it's un-bear-able.

Your telling me. I'm okay if drunk when coming back to Denver, but the couple of times flying into the low altitude lands, my head feels like it's going to explode. When I flew to Portland last April I had blood coming down the back of my throat. It sucks.

I've found flights from around $300 RT to London from Denver before. Not often, but they have been found. And $63 RT to Tampere from London, which is only about 40 short hitch hiked miles to Helsinki.

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Grant Hughes