Part 1
If only you might not know, I am an Aupair-girl. I went to Germany on October 11 2018. Yup, there I was, I will spend awhole year in Cologne, Germany. How was that feel ? I will say that it was like “roller-coaster” #nothyperball. Therefore I will share my experience how I could arrive in Germany safely and how I could handle that-roller-coaster-feel.
For some people, flight might be common things that you don’t have to worry about but if it would be your first experience then it’s normal if you will be nervous and scared but also a little bit excited in the same time. That’s why I called it “roller-coaster-feel”.
I am a thrifty person, who always find the best price for everything. It could be fun or stress out sometimes. But trust me, it will take you to have more experiences. Here is the first tip to find the best price for your flight ticket based on my experience :
- Download Skyscanner-apps
You can find the apps on Google playstore or App store. There are many advantages that this apps can be offered. First, in this apps you no longer have to multiple sites for cheap flight, Skyscanner brings all your flight options into one easy to use app. Second, they use colour-coded calendar and chart views so you will be helped to find the cheapest month and date to fly. The feature of this apps is also quite good because they not only give you the information about price and airplanes you are going to use but also the things that you must to pay attention to, such as how many times you will stop, how long you will be transferred, timezone difference and etc.
2. Try to use local train (Deutsch Bahn)
I’ve got hostfamily who is living in Cologne. Cologne is located in east Germany. It’s quiet far from the capital city (Berlin). You need around 6 hours from Berlin until you can reach Cologne. Mostly you can find cheapest ticket when you depart from its capital city. In my case it will be Berlin. So this is the calculation of mine :
Option 1 : Soekarno Hatta Aiport (CGK) – Cologne Airport (CGN) = Rp 8,000,000
Option 2 : Soekarno Hatta Aiport (CGK) – Berlin Tegel Airport (TXL) = Rp 3,500,000
+ Train (IC Bahn) (49,90€ + Tax 4,50€ = 54,40€) : Rp 925,000
Sum : Rp 4,425,000
So as you can see that you can save around Rp 3,575,000
Click here if you wanna know how Skyscanner and DeutschBahn Apps works.
It need to be noted that the calculation is taken from the cheapest price on Skyscanner Apps and the cheapest ticket can be obtained from selected date. In my case, I had to go on October, so I searched cheapest ticket around that date and fyi I booked the ticket 7 days before departure. Maybe it would be cheaper if you booked the ticket far away before you’ll go.
One more thing to note if you wanna go with train, is your luggage. Keep in mind that your convenience is above all. Moreover if you travel alone. You must be able to imagine yourself carry all your baggage along the trip. Indeed in each aiport there will be stroller for your baggage but you need to consider your transfer from airport to train station and in train station itself. Not all of train stations give you a convenience facilities such as stroller or escalator, if you bring quiet many and heavy luggage. My tip for this are :
- Just bring one luggage and one backpack bag or sling bag
Do not bring bag that you should carry on your hand. Your two hands is belong to your luggage in this case.
- Do not bring the luggage which contains more than 20kg.
When I went to Cologne with train, I brought luggage with 20 kg and trust me you definitely don’t want to feel it. It would be nice if you bring less than 20kg-luggage. Moreover, I brought not only 20kg-luggage but also 10kg-backpack bag and 5kg-hand bag. I’m such a tough woman, am I ? haha
Indeed I had received many helps from people around me. I am so grateful for that 😊
Eventhough I was struggle with my luggage, I’ve learned so many about pack a luggage. I’ll share you in here if you wanna know about the tips to pack your luggage efficiently.