Airline Tickets Budget

Where are you flying from? Secondly, it looks like you repeated some of your text. You can edit it by hitting the little "edit" button and then the "save changes" button.

You're looking for August-Sept 2016? Out of Newark? I think you're looking too early and have plenty of time to get a better fare. Most people don't buy a ticket this far out for a number of reasons - the major one being price and the second being potential schedule changes that you'll have to deal with until then (i.e. the airline will like you send you an automated e-mail every time an even infitesimal change in the schedule occurs).

When you're maybe 6-8 months out, see what the fares are then (and include Turkish Air and Berlin Air in your search if they fly out of where you are). If you end up choosing Iceland Air, seriously consider doing an Iceland layover - it is offered free if you fly them and very worthwhile.

Depends on large part on where you are flying from and when. Winter is cheaper than summer. Except for right around Christmas, that's expensive. Also, buying last minute is very expensive - good fares are often several months out. Or even more - up to a year.

Chicago to London in March is under $900. Just an example.

Use kayak.com to play with the variables

Late August to early September NYC to Munich is under $1000 for the random dates I chose. You may need to use other NY airports like JFK to get the best rates. Again, play with the variables.

Also when people use $1000 ballpark they mean coach. Plus will of course be more. You will have a hard time getting economy plus for $1000. Regular economy, yes. That's your call on if you want to pay the extra or not.

First, is your tour operator also quoting you a price on flights? Some of the big tour operators buy flights wholesale and can sell'em to you at a savings.
It's unclear where and when you're flying from and to. ? ? ? ? ? Can you please be a little clearer?

I think your higher prices on Icelandair are due to wanting economy plus. I saw tickets late-Aug to mid-Sep in regular economy running around $900 but economy plus added almost $750 to that. Sheesh, for that I'd suck it up and fly economy. I have flown to Europe twice from the west coast (longer flights than you) on Icelandair in regular economy and it was fine.

Are you sure you want to return to Munich from Geneva just to fly home? Why not fly open-jaw into Munich and home from Geneva. I tried that too and prices were about the same (as round trip to Munich) and would save you the internal flight from Geneva back to Munich.

Last week I booked economy open jaw to Paris next May, non-stop on United, returning from Budapest with the usual stop in Frankfurt, on Lufthansa for $1065. The day before the same route was $1475, so I decided it was time to book and not dither, waiting to see if it gets lower by some chance. My direct flight from Paris to Budapest on Air France was $90. I am pleased--preferred airlines, days and times that suit me, all good.

Sam, I believe the "repeated" info is his first post, which he is quoting. It was a response to another person's question on another thread. He says he is flying out of Newark and intends to travel August to mid-September.

Norwegian Air Shuttle is currently the cheapest way to get to Europe, and they fly JFK to London Gatwick. They also service 27 cities in Europe from Gatwick.
From Gatwick, you can also get to virtually any city on the continent for $100 or less on EasyJet, Vueling or other air carriers.
Norwegian Air Shuttle is also has flights into Gatwick from Los Angeles, Ft. Lauderdale, San Juan and Orlando.

Thanks for the responses. I am looking at taking the Rick Steves My Way Alpine tour that is from 05th September thru the 16th. I am wanting to leave on the 28th of August (out of EWR (Newark) so I can visit Munich as well as Vienna as the My Way Alpine 2016 tour does not cover those places. My plan is to stay in budget lodging and spend my time exploring rather than more expensive lodging. I will experience the mom and pop places Rick talks about while on his tour the 5th thru the 16th.

Agnes, you have made a couple good points. I didn't know if maybe I was looking too far in advance for airline tickets. I like to get air travel out of the way so as to start planning and tweeking my itinerary. The free layover is the second excellent point! Just when my first Navy tour was about 4 months from ending, I was given a "dream sheet" where you list 3 duty stations you would like to go to if you reinlist. Reykjavik was one of them. Unfortunately, Navy said if I did another 4 years, I would go to Naval Hospital Norfolk. That was not on my list. I got out. Now, it looks like I may get to take a quick 24 or 48 hour visit.

Others have mentioned the open jaw ticket. I will have to look into that. My husband says that it is a trip I have been wanting for years, and not try to let an airline ticket over $1k stop me from going. I know I want to travel "plus" economy rather than standard though. Anything over 3 hours on a plane in those cramped seats is torture to me. I will have to look into other airports such as Boston or Atlanta. One change of planes is more than enough. That is how I came up with Iclenand Airlines this last search. Before I would only consider direct flights. Plenty of those from Newark. Price dictated my willingness to accept a layover with change of planes. I only fly once a year to see friends in Maine. So there is no airline miles program for me.

Yes, if plus is a must-have for you (and I understand why it would be!), then get $1000 out of your mind. It's just not going to happen, unless you get very, very lucky. $1000 is a decent ballpark for basic economy - not plus, obviously you will need to pay more for plus.

You will want to look into open jaw, and also other airports. Is EWR a must, or could you use JFK (or Philadelphia, if you are in that part of NJ?). Sometimes going to a different airport will lower rates.

On Icelandair, you will save $50 flying home from Geneva on Saturday, Sept 17. Of course, you will spend more than that staying an extra day, but you are on vacation. You probably will not find Economy Comfort at a better price. Since it costs $600 to upgrade from Economy to Economy Comfort, and another $600 to go to Saga Class, you might think of going whole hog for max comfort. Or you split the diff and fly over Saga and home EC. The flight over is always the most tiring flying against the sun. Home bound with the sun is not so bad.

Hi NiraBlue,

Please check out regular economy on Lufthansa, SAS and British Airways. These airlines have fancier seats on larger planes in regular economy, compared to Icelandair Economy Comfort on their 757 airplanes. 757s have an interior with one center aisle versus larger planes that have two aisles making them more spacious.

If you want to maximize your personal space, I suggest reserving an aisle seat in the middle section of seats. Sitting on the aisle, along with eye shades, noise-cancelling headphones and inflatable neck pillow are my personal oasis on transatlantic flights.

Additionally, if you choose British Airways you can log in to your booking and choose an exit row seat 14 days before your flight. They save those seats until 14 days for their VIP passengers that don't fly in a premium cabin. Since they use large planes, this hasn't been an issue for me and I have been able to take advantage of that exit row option multiple times.

Good luck,
Nordheim

Hello NiraBlue. British Airways has flights from New York JFK airport, for very low prices for airline tickets. Their airplanes fly to London Heathrow Airport, and I think British airways has flights from London Heathrow airport to the Munich airport. And British Airways is in an alliance with other airlines. American Airlines has flights from New York JFK to London Heathrow airport, for a very low price for airlines tickets. American Airlines is in an alliance with other airlines that have flights from London to Munich. And other airlines have low prices for flights from London Gatwick Airport to Munich airport. I would choose a day time flight from New York JFK airport to London Heathrow Airport (LHR) with either British Airways or American Airlines. The airplane departs from JFK airport in the morning, and arrives at London Heathrow airport in the evening of that day. I would have overnight accommodation at a hotel located very near the Heathrow airport. The next day, in the morning I would fly from London Heathrow airport to the Munich airport. Or, in the morning, go from Heathrow airport to the London Gatwick airport, fly from Gatwick to Munich. I flew from Chicago in the morning, to London Heathrow airport, arriving there in the evening, twice.

Dublin is also often a cheaper European airport to fly into, (did a price check out of my local high cost airport today for next May-June and was getting $1100 compared to a $1800 ticket into LHR) and from there you can connect up with some budget-friendly intra-European options.

http://www.foxnews.com/travel/2015/08/14/no-golden-rule-to-best-time-to-buy-airline-tickets/
Sort of like how to win at Blackjack.

All the theories promote as much as $100 savings on an international flight!!! Wow!!!! Not really. I have never found a substantially cheaper ticket that didn't come with unacceptable strings attached.

My personal Rules:
1. Never buy a multi airline ticket unless they codeshare and you book both on one reservation number. Otherwise airline 2 has no obligation if you miss your flight because airline 1 was late arriving.
2. Minimum layover at an airport close to home is 1 hour. I have two airports close to home I will do this with.
3. Minimum outbound domestic layover after a 2.5 hour flight is 1.5 hours
4. Minimum layover in any airport in Europe is 1.5 hours. Paris and London, 2 hours
5. Minimum layover at US port of entry is 2 hours
6. Maximum layover is 3 hours or I reschedule and spend the night and do some sightseeing.
7. Aisle Seat
8. If I can't get a seat in the first 25% of the cabin I require another 15 minutes for the layover.

9. 1:55 is not 2 hours. The minimums are set low to give me a little more flexibility but for me they are absolute. In reality I would like another 20 minutes on each layover if I could.
10. On the short connecting flights to the international flight I look for connections with a backup. I like to see one later flight that will be able to make the same connection. I don't want to miss the international flight because of a delay in IAD or some such thing. I care a little less on the way home.

I search on all the major sites but I book at the airline site. Never cost me more. I have had two bad experiences with booking sites. One time the seats were split. When I questioned Orbitz they said seat assignments were only "requests" and it was my responsibility to call the airline and make or remake the seat assignment. Then I had a lost booking with one of the other sites. The airline said it was the fault of the booking company while the booking company said it was the fault of the Airline. In both instances someone wasn't being truthful, but if I go to the airline site and book I only have to deal with them.

If you go to AA or United or Lufthansa, etc. and the cheapest flight is $1150, then my flight will cost $1350.

Nira, you can comparison shop for seats at www.seatguru.com, which has seat maps and the cabin layouts for every airplane flown by every airline. Comparing the dimensions of the various seat offerings will help you decide what's best for you.

I think one of the other tricks to the cheap flights is being willing to be pretty flexible with where you fly into/out of. For example, as of today, WowAir (out of Iceland) has rt flights from Boston or DC to Berlin for $620. Of course, a domestic flight will cost about $150 rt from Boston to Newark. And then Berlin to Munich's flight is around $80, while Geneva to Berlin is $40. That's what quick searches found me (well that and I'm going to Berlin next year and already had that research done). WowAir was great when I flew on them but it is a very budget airline. Like IcelandAir, you're going to pay ala carte for any extra amenities. Still, all told, you could go as low as $900 for a rt. Its just a lot of juggling and airport transition.
Essentially, it comes down to what's more important and of value to you. If the extra money is necessary for sightseeing, dining, shopping, what have you, play the shuffle game and look at a variety of airlines & airports. If you would rather be able to fly on one airline with a simple flight, its going to cost extra.