My husband and i are taking the Germany, Austria, Switzerland My Way tour in June. We'll be traveling from Nashville to Vienna, and then home from Frankfurt. I'm having trouble finding airfares under $1,600 apiece. Is this normal for this time of year, and do any of you have recommendations on the best way to get a good fare? Travel agent or multi-city search on Kayak or Hipmunk?
Thanks.
Posted by
Green Bay
19963 posts
Are you sure it isn't going the other way, from Frankfurt to Vienna? That is the way it is listed on this website.
I find ITA Matrix a handy tool. just a brief look shows that RT Nashville to Frankfurt jumps from $1200 range to $1600 range June 12 and the rest of the month. It drops in July, and by late August is below $1200.
So adjusting the time you want to take the tour can have a big effect.
http://matrix.itasoftware.com/search.htm?session=bdc19f61-ea60-4f27-8a81-a888edd95cff
Start by using the calendar function as a round trip and a range of length-of-stay to give you an idea of price level. Since it is a 14 day tour, put in 14 to 19 days, the maximum range band is 7 days. Then try the same thing for your return. Then switch to the multicity function to check the prices for open jaw. Open jaw is just too complicated to work in the calendar mode, so use that to fine tune. You can also play around with alternate cities. You may just find that flying round trip to Zurich or Munich is a deal, and you could travel by train to Frankfurt and back from Vienna.
Posted by
OP
6 posts
Thanks, Sam. Appreciate it. And yes, it starts in Vienna.
Thanks for your help.
Posted by
Green Bay
19963 posts
Aha! The My Way tour goes in the reverse direction. Don't discount flying home from Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, or even Duesseldorf, all reachable by train from St Goar.
Posted by
Fort Collins, co
125 posts
We are taking this tour in September. We used FF miles for our airfare. Please report back after the tour with any recommendations. We are extending the tour on both ends.