HELP --Tryin' To Get To Holland

Last May KeeWee and I flew to Holland to compete in the European Steel Challenge Championships. I was the only American in the match, so, in effect, I represented the US of A, and I think I did fairly well, although I could have done much better.


Mr. C. at last year's European Steel Challenge Championships in Winterswijk, Hollland.
This May we would like to return and again shoot in the European Steel Challenge Championships. Unfortunately there is a hitch.

Last year I was able to buy round trip coach tickets for $611 each. This year the same flights are almost $1,200 each. We both have very small incomes and an increase of this amount is huge considering our finances. I have a few frequent flier miles, but not enough to be of much help.

To make it a bit more complicated, there is only one flight out of Seattle that is a non-stop to Holland, a KLM flight run by Northwest. If I wasn't traveling with firearms, plane changes and/or multiple stops would be worth considering, but with a suitcase full of race guns, losing your bags for a few days in Minneapolis, Chicago, Los Angeles, London, or Iceland could be a huge nightmare, and the guns may never be seen again. Even if the guns arrived in Holland a couple of days late it defeats the purpose of the trip since I wouldn't be able to compete with the guns I practice with.

I looked into donations of frequent flier miles, and Delta/Northwest charge .01 per mile donated plus $30 to do the transfer into my account. A single ticket to Holland requires 60,000 to 75,000 miles per ticket, which means $630 to $780 per ticket just to transfer the miles into my account. The transfer cost is higher that what I paid last year to just buy the tickets outright!

I'm checking the air fares daily, but so far there have been no drops in prices.

Do any of you have any good ideas on how Keewee and I can get to Amsterdam around May 12th., and get back home around the 18th?

All thoughts and ideas greatly appreciated!