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Air travel w/i Europe. How far in advance to purchase for best deals?

Posted by on

Hi,
I will be traveling to Europe next summer and I will be flying from Paris to Athens and then from Athen to Rome at the beginning of June. I was wondering how far in advance to purchase the tickets to get the best rate? I know sometimes if you buy too soon or wait to the last minute that it can be more expensive for domestic flights within the United States. I did not know if the same held true for air travel within Europe.

Right now, I can get 4 tickets for about $800 which isn't a bad deal, but I'm always looking to save even more money and if waiting a little longer can save me a few hundred than I would rather wait a bit.

Thanks!

Posted by
8158 posts

June July August are the peak travel months. $800 for 4 tickets sounds like a good price today for a flight next June. The prices generally go up as capacity decreases. Matter of fact i got a sales alert four days ago from Lufthansa related to summer european routes; the sale expired yesterday. I got sales alert from Easy Jet about 2 weeks ago for European flights in summer 2020

Posted by
6 posts

Thank you for your reply. I will go ahead and purchase then. :)

Posted by
4656 posts

Are you getting quotes on the European cheap airlines like EasyJet, Ryanair, etc or only from the larger global carriers? The cheapo lines are still reliable but sometimes are as inexpensive as 20euros. Not sure they quote as far out as this, however. The luggage limitations may make them less palatable, but worth checking.

Posted by
6 posts

I used Skyscanner.com and looked at everything both the budget carriers and regular airlines also. The prices were surprisingly similar.

Posted by
6113 posts

Tickets are available for both EasyJet and Ryanair for next summer. EasyJet don’t fly Paris-Athens in early June and Athens- Rome isn’t a route they fly. Ryanair fly from Paris Beauvais, 50 miles from Paris and Paris Vatry airport, almost 100 miles from Paris!

Prices are probably similar for all airlines as there is little competition for these routes. Prices usually head in one direction.

Posted by
35 posts

I use Hopper app. It depends where you live. I live near San Fransisco and got a round trip ticket, nonstop to Paris on United for $340 for December. I believe if you live by a major hub (NY, Chicago, SF) you may get a cheaper deal around January.

Posted by
3100 posts

Ryanair is cheap, cheap, cheap. Unless you have luggage of any reasonable size. They have tight restrictions on bags, and want you to check, which costs boucoup de buckos. That's how they getcha in Ryan. It's kind of faux cheapo.

Posted by
27908 posts

Especially if you're looking at RyanAir, do pay careful attention to the airports being used. Can you travel to and from them reasonably cheaply, or will there be a 100+ euro taxi involved? Will you have to get up at 4:30 AM to get to the obscure airports?

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