Thought I’d share a little travel hack that worked out really well for us.
Four of us are heading to Paris in early June, coming from DC and Detroit. Nonstops were pricey, cheap options had awful layovers, and nothing lined up cleanly for everyone. So we made our own layover.
Here’s what we did:
Three of us take Amtrak from near my parents’ place straight to NYC. Easy 6 hour ride, no airport stress.
Train gets us to EWR around 5:30pm, with time for a proper dinner together.
The fourth friend flies into EWR around 3pm.
Built in buffer in case anything goes wrong.
We all board the same nonstop flight out of EWR at 1am and land in Paris around 2pm.
Total cost for all four of us was $1,166.80, so under $300 each one way to Paris. Plus we all start the trip together and get one last decent meal before a long travel day.
Already found reasonable return flights too, roughly $350–$450 each from Madrid back to DC/DTW.
Not perfect for everyone, but if you’re flexible and willing to mix train + plane, DIY layovers can really pay off.
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