San Francisco to Paris air costs

You should also check Delta. They code-share with Air France, and there is a non-stop flight from SFO to CDG. Unfortunately, it's usually more expensive, but it's worth looking into.

Depends -- how committed are you to doing this trip in June? Are you willing to cancel your plans if prices go up? How much would prices have to rise for that to happen ?
There's no Black Friday for airfares - there "may" be some sales coming but there's no magic number of days before or day of the week.

What do you mean you do not want xl airways? What is that?

I do not know about United or American Airways as we always fly British Airways. I have tracked their prices for summer travel and they seem to be at their lowest in fall. After the new year they start upward and never look back. Maybe the US airlines are different. But the west coast prices are always higher than what you may hear about, those people are talking about east coast fares.

You need to think about what kind of flight you want---direst to Paris, one stop, or two. Prices can vary depending on those choices. But I would never, for example, fly Emirates to get to Europe no matter how cheap, as they go way out of the way.

@ Sasha: XL Airways is a low cost airline.

I fly from San Francisco to Paris 2 or 3 times per year and this year I am finding that prices are quite high. I prefer United or other Star Alliance airlines and prices that I have seen are generally between $1,500 and $1,800 in economy. I'd sign up for fare alerts and be prepared to buy at any time when you spot a good sale. If you do not mind a one-stop flight, take a look at Air Canada. They have flights to Europe with connections through Toronto or Montreal that are often well priced compared to other airlines. But don't wait until April because from what I have seen prices only increase and there are no fare sales.

Try looking at fares out of LAX as I normally fly out of SFO but this summer found LAX to be $200-$400 cheaper so I was able to fly Southwest to LAX for $120 and used the money saved to buy an exit row seat on the transatlantic flight. I live in Sac so it also saved me a trip to SFO from Sac. I would look at Virgin America from SFO to LAX if it works for you. good luck

JHK is not the OP.
Aer Lingus has good fares in June with a change of planes in Dublin.

Hi, Susan, one thing I've noticed is that after I check prices the price always goes up a little the next time I check in. So, my best advice is to do it now and do it quickly, that is, decide you're going to buy tickets and then do the transaction without logging off and coming back.

Susan,

I just check Priceline for a round trip fare, June 9 to June 19. $1,428. I would grab this now. It's an Aer Lingus flight that only takes 14 hours each way. Good luck.

I've been watching the various threads about prices and when to buy. I think I've gleaned the following main points.

Value is more than simply the price of the airfare. Value items on a flight to Europe include routings and travel time (non-stop vs. making a connection), Seating and comfort (economy plus vs. economy), and an individual's comfort level with the airline itself.

What most people are truly looking for is the best value they can get on their flight. Price is certainly a major component of that decision, but it shouldn't be the only component. You will need to decide what is the highest priority for your personal situation.

There is no magic time to buy. An excellent article in the Wall Street Journal did a review of airline price trends for International Flights recently. It showed that in general (I'm sure that there is always an exception) that tickets bought more than 6 months out from a trip tended to be slightly less expensive and that there were not major price breaks in the last 6 months leading up to travel.
Many recent articles in the travel section of the newspaper have predicted that airline fares will not be going down anytime soon.

The time to buy is when you feel that the routing and price are going to meet your needs and you can live with them. Once you buy, don't keep second guessing yourself. That will take away from your enjoyment of the trip.

Good luck on finding a flight and I hope you have a great trip.

@Carol what a great summary post. You hit it all. I think people drive themselves crazy trying to chase the elusive lowest price fares, when you will just never know that you got "the best".

I tracked prices for June departure last year SFO to Paris, and I also decided not to take XL Airways, even thought it was tempting! I remember in Sept. finding a $1400 flight (one stop). My hubby (who never plans trips) told me to hold off that prices would go down. I knew better, but decided to go with his advice. I watched the prices slowly climb, and climb and finally I decided to jump when I gave up that they would come down. I bought in December when I found a nonstop for over $1600 (United). For me the number of stops and layover is also an important factor, and I found a lot of expensive flights with terrible schedules! I was hoping for a nonstop, so I just went with it. I continued to track even after I bought, and the tickets never did come down in price. They continued to go up (not a ton) but the decent flights where gone and only left with high price poor schedule.

So, I'd say if you find a price you can live with, and a good schedule, go for it now!

For our trip next June, I bought our SFO-CDG tickets shortly after they were made available, in late July or early August. Price was $1803 pp rt. I've tracked it since, and it's been drifting upwards. The price is now closer to $1850 pp rt. As another poster mentioned, you can get one-stop tickets, through Montreal or Quebec via Air Canada, for around $1400. For me, it was worth the extra $400 or so to save 4-8 hours in travel time. YMMV. Also look at Aer Lingus, which has good fares via Dublin.

When I checked June flights today (arbitrary dates) the cheapest one-stop flights were $1177 on Aer Lingus, cheapest non-stops were $1848 on Air France. Flight times were 3-4 hrs longer on the Aer Lingus flights but I'm usually willing to throw in one stop (if it's in Europe rather than here in US) to save $700. 'Best' flights are all a matter of personal preference and often cheapest are not the best but sometimes they are. Best thing to do is decide if you want non-stops or are willing to sacrifice a little time and convenience for lower price and then decide what you're willing to pay, then watch flights for 2 or 3 weeks and see what's doing. If you see what you consider a decent price for the type of flight you want, go for it and don't look back.

I am flying to France from SFO in June on Aer Lingus for $1100. This is a pretty good deal. I would check out aerlingus.com.