Hi all,
I'll be traveling from London to Nice, France in June. Is it better to buy a plane ticket here in US, or buy it from within the EU? I'm guessing it will be much cheaper to buy it from within (or through) the EU. Which airlines tend to have the best pricing? When is the best time to purchase the ticket? Any other considerations?
Thanks
The earlier you buy, the better. I see Easyjet has flights from Stansted, Gatwick and Luton for as low as 33 GBP ($50 US) in June, but the prices are all over the place depending on your desired departure date.
If you buy now, your credit card will make the currency change automatically.
Some airline search engines that you use at home might not pick up many European budget airlines. www.skyscanner.com will reflect a good variety of them, with EasyJet being a pretty common choice.
P.S. Many of these only take bookings online, not through travel agents or even phone.
Easyjet and many other airline sites don't care where you are when you book. Prices for all the budget airlines are cheaper the earlier you book, they never go down. They always quote prices in the currency of your starting point, so London to Nice would be priced in £ (GBP).
List of airlines flying from London to Nice Côte d'Azur Airport:
As the others have mentioned, many airlines use a "sliding scale" with prices increasing at the flight fills. Therefore it's an advantage to book early. However, the cheaper tickets are usually non-refundable and non-changeable so choose carefully. Be sure to read the Terms & Conditions on the airline website, especially related to luggage as budget airlines can be very strict about that.
I normally use easyJet whenever possible and will be flying with them again this year. I prefer using LGW when possible as transportation from London Victoria is easy. If you decide to use a flight from LGW, you'll need to take the small people mover to the terminal used by easyJet (only takes a few minutes).
It doesn't matter where you are when you buy the ticket. As with all tickets, the earlier you buy, the cheaper the price. Buy asap - two months ago would have been even better.
The best time to buy European airline tickets is 6 to 9 months ahead of schedule, as prices only head one way.
If you have check in luggage, check the total fares with baggage, as many of the value airlines charge per bag. Easyjet etc is likely to be cheaper than say Air France or BA. Fares are likely to be higher at the weekend and the cheaper fares are those for early or very late departures.
