Original plan
PreservedPublished full budget · per traveler
Decision page
Two routes, one clear winner.
The trip plan is the recommendation: it removes the Scotland reversal, adds Berlin without adding a night, reaches Prague at 11:25 on Nov 5, and preserves the direct Italy spine plus nonstop Rome–SFO return.
Recommended · trip plan
Intercity flights nonstop
Intercity trains direct
Prague Nov 5–8
Choose Dublin → Islay → Edinburgh → London → Berlin → Prague
It satisfies every hard stop with less backtracking. No paid pre-tournament Prague night is required; Berlin supplies the two sightseeing days that Prague no longer needs to hold.
Cost comparison
Switch the view. Published totals include each page’s selected categories; the core view is the clean route-and-hotel comparison.
$6,822–7,802
Trip plan
RecommendedPublished full budget · per traveler
Core transport + hotels: original plan $4,465–4,690 pp; trip plan $4,560–4,880 pp — a controlled increase of $95–190 pp for Berlin and the cleaner Scotland order.
Why the headline falls: the original plan included $262–407 pp for hockey/courier handling; the trip plan correctly uses $0 because equipment is handled outside the trip. Normalized without hockey, the original is $6,560–7,395 pp versus $6,655–7,585 for the trip plan.
Route shape
Original plan
Edinburgh first forces a westward reversal through Glasgow before returning east/south.
Dublin→Edinburgh→Glasgow→Islay→Glasgow→London→Prague
Trip plan
Islay is handled immediately after Glasgow; Edinburgh then sits naturally on the direct east-coast line to London.
Dublin→Glasgow→Islay→Glasgow→Edinburgh→London→Berlin→Prague
What actually changes
| Measure | Original plan | Trip plan |
|---|---|---|
| Dates | Oct 23–Nov 14 · 23 days | Oct 23–Nov 14 · unchanged |
| Required places | Dublin, Edinburgh, Islay, London, Prague, Rome, Amalfi | All retained + Berlin |
| Paid nights | 18 + 3 tournament nights | 18 + 3 tournament nights · unchanged |
| Scotland order | Edinburgh → Glasgow → Islay → Glasgow → London | Glasgow → Islay → Glasgow → Edinburgh → London |
| London onward | U2 8783 nonstop to Prague | U2 8631 nonstop to Berlin; RJ 171 direct to Prague |
| New must-see stop | None | Berlin · 3 nights, 2 full days |
| Prague boundary | Arrives Nov 2; 3 paid sightseeing nights | Arrives Nov 5 at 11:25; tournament Nov 5–8 |
| Italy | PRG–FCO nonstop; direct rail/car spine; FCO–SFO nonstop | Unchanged |
| Hockey equipment | Route page budgeted courier handling | Third-party handoff; $0 and no route constraint |
| Gross published total | $6,822–7,802 pp | $6,655–7,585 pp |
| 170k UR treatment | $1,700–3,400 pair potential value | Same conditional value; trip totals stay gross until exact award or portal inventory is found |
Prague arrival control
Selected · Nov 5
RJ 171 leaves Berlin Hbf 07:28 and reaches Praha hl.n. 11:25, 35 minutes before noon. Go straight to tournament lodging; make no independent booking that afternoon.
Nov 4 buffer switch
Take the same RJ 171 one day earlier, cut Berlin to two nights and buy one Prague night. Same direct route; roughly $0–60 more per pair, subject to live hotel rates.
Decision rule
Keep Nov 5 while the welcome event allows midday arrival. Switch to Nov 4 if its confirmed call time moves earlier or rail works materially reduce the 35-minute margin.