First., I booked a tour for my last day in Oslo: a train down the
famed Flam valley, a cruise down the fjords, and an overnight train
back from Bergen. Beginning Wednesday at 7:42 AM, returning 11PM
arriving 7AM on the 22nd of July . Had to be bought at *least* four
days in advance, which combined with overbooked dates, ruled out any
overnight time in Bergen.
Braathens SAFE, one of three domestic airlines took an hour to figure
out how their "partner" worked -- mind you, Northwest doesn't even
have an Oslo number yet -- but changed my flight to one day earlier
for $150. Arriving into LA 6:42PM Thursday the 22nd.
I also took advantage of their 25-and-under offer: half-price tickets
when bought *less* than seven days from departure (even more
discounted for standby-day-of-flight: Oslo-Trondheim for $50!?). I'm
going to see the Midnight Sun, which starts this weekend north of the
Arctic Circle. Out to Tromso at 11AM Saturday the 17th, back at
1:30 PM Monday. Came to about $210; if you book even further ahead,
they had a few seats on summer promotion for $170.
The upshot is that TRAVELMAN, sufficiently spooked by the threat of a
week's enforced vacationing idleness in Oslo, added 2,000 miles and
26 more hours of travel...
Sobe,
Rohit