Airfare question

[lladage]

We've never been to Europe before, so I have an airfare question for anyone and everyone to post their opinion. When is the best time to buy airfare to Europe? We live in central IL, and I was hoping to find airfare for $1000 or less pp for next summer. I've found $1161 from our local airport. Should I book it now, or should I wait and hope airfares come down in the next couple of months? If the consensus is that this is probably as good as it gets, I want to book these flights since we would only have 1 connection each way.

 

Thanks for everybody's help.

 

Lynn

[ottergal]

We've never been to Europe before, so I have an airfare question for anyone and everyone to post their opinion. When is the best time to buy airfare to Europe? We live in central IL, and I was hoping to find airfare for $1000 or less pp for next summer. I've found $1161 from our local airport. Should I book it now, or should I wait and hope airfares come down in the next couple of months? If the consensus is that this is probably as good as it gets, I want to book these flights since we would only have 1 connection each way.

 

Thanks for everybody's help.

 

Lynn

 

I went through this whole thing earlier this year buying tickets to Australia (so not exactly Europe, but international at least). I think it's a crapshoot, and if you're close to what you want to pay and you have the schedule you want, I personally would book them. We waited until about 8 weeks before hand to buy our tickets, and we paid about what we would have paid had we bought them 6 weeks before that.

 

You also reduce the stress factor if you just buy them.

 

So a lot has to do with your own comfort level. You can probably afford to wait and track a couple of weeks to see what's happening.

[swisskris]

Booking airfare to Europe is like a science...lol

 

We fly to Canada at least once a year from Switz and find that depending on when you go in summer and which city you fly out of makes a huge difference.

 

For example, flying to Venice is much more expensive than Paris or London. Flying in May is much less expensive than in July or August.

 

If you are going to EU in July or August then a fare for less than 1000 USD will be difficult if you are flying to Italy.

 

If you are flying in May you can often get fares for about 6 to 700$....airlines will have a sale in January and February.

 

I would suggest waiting until after Christmas for the seat sales.

[Nanatravel]

IMHO, the $1100 w/ one stop or change isn't bad. But as mentioned, you still have some time. I wouldn't wait much longer than the beginning of February. Most important is where your change of plane takes place and the amount of time in between flights; two hours may seem long, but it is good to allow getting from one gate to another, customs on the way back and any unforseen delays. Check out the Europe ports of call board, too. On there you will find various information about different airports and which to avoid. You don't want a connection to a foreign regional airplane as carry-on rules vary. Transferring from Heathrow to Gatwick can also be a challenge.

 

We were lucky with USAir through Philadelphis to Barcelona and returning from Venice for this past Med cruise.

 

Bon Voyage

Nanatravel

[lladage]

Thanks to everyone for their opinions so far. To be more specific, we want to fly from central IL to Copenhagen on June 26 (expecting an overnight flight to arrive in Copenhagen on June 27), and fly back from Copenhagen on July 9. Our connection on the flight to Europe would be about 3 hours in Chicago O'Hare, and our connection on the way back would be about 2 hours in Washington, DC. They seem to be almost ideal flight connections, I was just hoping they would cost a little less. Even pricing directly out of O'Hare would be minimal savings, totally eaten up by the parking fees (our local airport has free parking).

 

I'm willing to wait a little longer, but think I should probably book by Thanksgiving. It seems that I've heard airfares are lower for a few hours in the very early morning on Mondays or Tuesday. Does anybody know if that's true? Thanks again.

 

Lynn

[donaldsc]

You might check out a site called farecast.com. They attempt to tell whether fares are likely to go up or down. I have not used them, however.

 

DON

[junglejane]

I recently bought our tickets for our June 16 Mediterranean cruise. I also agonized over whether I should wait, but finally decided to go ahead. The main reason I decided to go ahead is that we're traveling with children. Keeping our itinerary to one connection was a top priority. That meant we only had three options, British Airways, Delta and US Airways. BA was the cheapest but would've required the LHR-LGW shuttle. Both BA and US Air have had a lot of bad press lately. so I figured the Delta itinerary was our "ideal connection." When I found a "good" fare (about $1350pp --compared to $1721pp as of today) for the exact Delta itinerary I wanted, I grabbed it. If we had been willing to make 2 connections, we would've had a lot more flexibility.

 

So if it's important to you to have only one connection, I would figure out how many options you have to do that. If you don't have many options, then maybe buy sooner rather than later. You might also try looking at seat selection. For us, the BCN-ATL return flight we wanted already looks pretty full.

 

One more thing: we also bought travel insurance, which gives us some protection in case we have to cancel (for a covered reason, of course.)

 

--Junglejane

[lladage]

OK, folks. Our son just informed us that we will have to claim our luggage in DC in order to go thru customs and immigration. Is this true? If so, I don't think the layover in DC is long enough. Obviously, I have a lot to learn about international travel. Thanks again to everybody with any answers.

 

Lynn

[aaerobear]

Yes, you will have to claim your luggage in DC (as you will ant ANY other gateway in the US) before continuing to you final destination. Three hours is MORE than sufficient in Dulles, have done it many times.

[YoPhilly]

One more suggestion for you...trying pricing RT from NYC to Copenhagen, and a RT from your hometown to NYC. Depending on your hometown, you might save some money. BUT you will have to claim and re-check your luggage in NYC.

 

Also, check kayak dot com for a comparison of fares.

[Pam in CA]

Yes, you will have to claim your luggage in DC (as you will ant ANY other gateway in the US) before continuing to you final destination. Three hours is MORE than sufficient in Dulles, have done it many times.

This is correct. I did this just over a month ago and it worked out fine. You pretty much breeze through Immigration, then go to the carousel to get your luggage. Once you get your luggage (use a cart), you wheel it a very short distance to the "in transit" luggage area and leave the cart. Your baggage will already have your final destination tag on it so it really couldn't be easier. The only hassle is that your international flight comes into one area and you most likely have to walk the entire length of the terminal to get to your domestic flight. Three hours is more than enough time, even if your flight from Europe takes off late.

 

The one thing I would avoid is changing planes in Heathrow. It's awful. A terrible experience. Last year, I priced flights from Boston to Heathrow for July 2006 and the pricing was about $900 then... and that was considered a pretty good price. That was for a daytime, non-stop flight.

[tcdtcd]

Thanks to everyone for their opinions so far. To be more specific, we want to fly from central IL to Copenhagen on June 26 (expecting an overnight flight to arrive in Copenhagen on June 27), and fly back from Copenhagen on July 9. Our connection on the flight to Europe would be about 3 hours in Chicago O'Hare, and our connection on the way back would be about 2 hours in Washington, DC. They seem to be almost ideal flight connections, I was just hoping they would cost a little less. Even pricing directly out of O'Hare would be minimal savings, totally eaten up by the parking fees (our local airport has free parking).

 

I'm willing to wait a little longer, but think I should probably book by Thanksgiving. It seems that I've heard airfares are lower for a few hours in the very early morning on Mondays or Tuesday. Does anybody know if that's true? Thanks again.

 

Lynn -

Chicago area cruiser/frequent flyer here. Overall, $1161 doesn't sound too bad, given its a mid-summer departure, and your return is just after the July 4 holiday. Two other things to check before booking would be a Milwaukee departure (almost always less than ORD, even though its only 70 miles north), or an Indianapolis departure. If neither are substancially less, I'd hop on the fares you quoted.

[ottergal]

You might check out a site called farecast.com. They attempt to tell whether fares are likely to go up or down. I have not used them, however.

 

DON

 

 

I think they're only good up to 120 days or so out. I've was trying to look at Christmas travel to Boston from Seattle and it's not available yet.

[fti]

Note so it is clear that you only have to claim your luggage at your first point of entry into the US - not your last point of departure from the US.

 

If it is any consolation, fares from most cities to Europe this past summer were well over $1000 so from central IL to Copenhagen, your fare looks pretty good.

 

I too would not wait until next February to book - I would try to book by end of the year. I hope you are checking with consolidators and not just looking on airline web sites. International air fare is one area that traditional travel agents (and consolidators) do better than online. Reason: airlines technically can not offer discounts on international airfares to the public but they can to consolidators who then resell international tickets at a discount.

 

John

[JPRLHR]

We've never been to Europe before, so I have an airfare question for anyone and everyone to post their opinion. When is the best time to buy airfare to Europe? We live in central IL, and I was hoping to find airfare for $1000 or less pp for next summer. I've found $1161 from our local airport. Should I book it now, or should I wait and hope airfares come down in the next couple of months? If the consensus is that this is probably as good as it gets, I want to book these flights since we would only have 1 connection each way.

 

Thanks for everybody's help.

 

Lynn

 

 

I'd take the fare you're being offered now as I really wouldn't expect it to get any cheaper. CPH is not a major hub in europe like for instance LHR, CDG, FRA etc so there isn't the competitiopn to drive prices down and with far less frequency of flights there by comparison to the others cities above there is less spare capacity.

[dcl1710]

When we did Copenhagen (and if you are doing the Baltic cruise you will LOVE it), I watched for 2 weeks and noticed Tuesdays had the lowest price. Not by much, but lower. If you get near when final payment is due the cruise line takes a good portion of the seats and the price goes up. We did the same with Barcelona this year. The one thing is that I would attempt to avoid ORD - it is a dreadful airport and has one of the WORST takeoff times. Good luck with your plans!

[fti]

When we did Copenhagen (and if you are doing the Baltic cruise you will LOVE it), I watched for 2 weeks and noticed Tuesdays had the lowest price. Not by much, but lower. If you get near when final payment is due the cruise line takes a good portion of the seats and the price goes up. We did the same with Barcelona this year. The one thing is that I would attempt to avoid ORD - it is a dreadful airport and has one of the WORST takeoff times. Good luck with your plans!

 

Sometimes it is unavoidable - the OP mentioned that the most direct is from central IL to Chicago to Copenhagen. I guess they could throw in 1 or 2 extra plane changes just to avoid ORD but then even a 4 hour delay at ORD would probably still be quicker in the long run.

[cherylandtk]

Lynn,

 

All good advice here, but you might also post your question in the Cruise Air forum, again with the specific dates and airports. Greatam and Flyertalker have extensive experience and access to fare programs not otherwise available and can give you some more options for your routing and prices.

[FlyerTalker]

Farecast only does its predictive service for itineraries within 90 days.

[Stevesan]

Check with your airline. Some will adjust your fare if it goes down more than $100. That should take the worry out of booking early.