Lufthansa has very cheap airfares from USA to Rīga for departures from October 29 through December 13.
A Boston to Riga roundtrip flight (Oct. 30 to Nov. 6) priced out at $403. Can’t beat that, can you, unless you paddle a canoe?
Lauris

That IS a great deal!!  Too bad these rates don’t apply to the month of September or the spring, summer months; but of course, that would be far too much to hope for. 

Irena

it is not too expensive in Europe really.

“...With approach of an autumn аirBaltic declares sale of tickets. 20 000 cheap tickets for you. On flights in September and October. Tickets are accessible on all direct flights of airBaltic.

Riga- Liepaja from LVL 9.70
Bergen, Berlin, Hamburg, Oslo, Stavanger, Helsinki from LVL 13.60
Goteborg, Gomel, Vilnius, Stockholm, Tallinn from LVL 19
Brussels, Vienna, Dublin, Dusseldorf, Copenhagen, London, Milan, Munich, Paris, Rome, Istanbul, Zurich from LVL 29
Kaliningrad, Kiev, Minsk, Moscow, Odessa, Saint Petersburg fromLVL 39 Athens, Baku, Barcelona, Simferopol, Tbilisi from LVL 49
Tel-Aviv from LVL 99
Liepaja- Riga from LVL 1.10 Hamburg from LVL 5 Copenhagen from LVL 19 “

Why not airBaltic?

Ar Cienu,

Juris

I’ve heard that Baltic Air, unfortunately, is having problems, competition with Ryan Air.  Not sure what other airlines connect with Baltic Air.  Lufthansa, SAS?  This time around my mother flew Northwest to Amsterdam and then on to Riga. She was very dissatisfied with NW, the service.  The plane from Boston’s Logan was an hour late in departing all because of ONE person and some delayed luggage problem.  Consequently, when she arrived in Amsterdam, she missed the flight to Riga and had to wait 11 hours for another one.  In Amsterdam, they only have 2 flights to Riga; one in the am and the other in the pm.  The only compensation was a “free lunch”, which wasn’t really free at all, she had to add a few more dollars of her own to pay for it.  So much for traveling with Northwest…

Irena

Irena,

Sorry to hear of your mother’s problems in AMS. This is somewhat unusual; a passenger does not show up, or is otherwise delayed and the airline has to remove his/her luggage from the plane. Did your mother actually fly Air Baltic betwen AMS and RIX? Logic would be to have flown KLM, which is a NWA partner. We have used these same flights for my mother-in-law twice now and have been very pleased.

As far as I know, Air Baltic only connects with SAS, and occasionally with other major carriers but in no pattern I can understand. We will be flying to Latvia in a couple of weeks and have booked flights with Aer Lingus and Air Baltic. The challenge here is that they are separate tickets and thus we have no protection if something goes awry. But to be safe, we have booked our flights one day apart, i.e., we will stay overnight in Dublin, just in case one flight or the other is delayed.

By the way, we have already been notified by Air Baltic of two flight changes on our return flight to Dublin. We have had to cut short our trip to Latvia by a day and a half as a result. :-(

Pierre

PS: TNSTAAFL!  :-)

Hi again!

I’m not exactly sure what the problem was at Logan with the person/luggage.  The story gets a bit fuzzy in the retelling.

As far as I can surmise, when I briefly looked at my mother’s itinary, there was no mention of any connecting flight with Air Baltic; NW, KLM were listed as continuing on to RIX.  At first, I thought that NW and/or KLM simply did not want to pay to have them (my mother and the other passengers on the same flight bound for Riga), board another airline.  But according to my cousin in Latvia, there are only 2 flights in and out of AMS per day that go to Riga, so therein lay the problem and was why there was an 11 hour delay. 

This is part and parcel of how things can go awry when traveling, especially abroad.  I remember many a time sitting, sleeping or trying to at airports because of interminably long delays and I’m sure I am not alone.  I do hope there are no major gliches (delays, lost days) and that you and your wife have a wonderful visit.  I love reading travelogues!

Laimigu celu!

Irena

PS When my friend last went to LV, she and her husband also flew Aer Lingus and decided to stay in Dublin for a day or two.  Impressions, of course, can be subjective and having said that, hers was not too favorable re: Dublin, people’s attitudes toward Latvians, Poles--foreigners.

Yes, international travel can be an adventure, both good and bad. we have been lucky so far, and hopefully I haven’t jinxed anything.

For my mother-in-law’s travels, we always request wheelchair assistance (or whatever it’s called), not so much because of any disability on her part (although I know she appreciates the buggy ride in Schipol), but rather to guarantee (sp?) someone will be there to make sure she gets to her connecting flight and/or takes care of any glitches that might happen. We have yet to be fully tested on that one. Plus, she doesn’t speak a word of English, maybe a bit of Russian.

I’ve got a bit of Irish blood in me, so I’ll pick a fight in Dublin if I have too! :-)

Pierre

Labdien,
my very best experience was with using KLM to Riga; first of all, we love the airports there-very convenient, easy to connect etc...If you flight is delayed, there are lot of things to do; and, if you are late for your flight you still have another flight in the evening…
And, btw-Happy Thanksgiving to everybody....