I am going on the 21 day tour May/June 2015.
I found two tickets to get from US to Amsterdam.
One is $460 that stops in Iceland. The other is $2,300 non-stop.
For the return trip from Paris to US.
One ticket is $600 that leaves out of Charles de Gaulle.
Do you think the prices of these tickets will go down or are they pretty standard fare? Also, any thoughts on why the next highest fare to get to Amsterdam is $2,300?
Icelandair generally has the lowest fares to Europe, and you can take advantage of a stay in Iceland for up to a week with no additional cost. Also, Icelandair does not assign the 12 exit row seats until 3 hours before the flight so early arrivals can change their assigned seats and get the extra leg room !
it sounds like you are trying to buy two one-ways rather than using the multi-city option.
Try pricing your itinerary on a site like kayak.com. Select the multi-city option and enter the first leg as Your airport to AMS and the second leg as CDG to your airport.
Icelandic is a budget carrier and you pay for everything including meals. One way are far more expensive. You should be pricing open jaw tickets as described above.
I was looking at airfares for the end of March--last of the Winter fares. They are simply sky high to buy right now at around $1300 vs. the $728 airfare we took 3/28/2014. I'd hate to see what Summer prices are slated to be.
You might consider waiting until February or March to book your flights. By that time, the 4 big airline alliances should have a better idea on Spring traffic (flying to Europe) and adjustments will be made to airfares.
We often watch Matrix ITA weekly this time of the year to get a base line cost in our minds. And when we spot a one day airfare sale, we'll jump on it.
As you make plans for your trip do give yourselves an extra night or 2 ahead of your tour in Amsterdam or Haarlem. This will build in time for missed or cancelled flights. On my BOE one couple missed the first tour day because their flight from London was cancelled and everything else was full so it took all day for them to get rescheduled.
Tomorrow, as many of my group head home, about a third have had flights cancelled due to the Air France strike set for tomorrow.
Don't cut things too close.
Hockmasm - You don't say where your flight is originating. As others have mentioned you probaly want to fly open jaw. Take a look at kayak.com. for open jaw flights select multi-city.
i tried Kayak.com and the multi-city price was the same as if i just booked the tickets individually.
hockasm,
You said the price was the same for a multi-city as booking individually. Did you mean that Icelandair was the cheapest in both cases? How much was the next cheapest airline on multi-city itinerary? I can't imagine that all the other airlines cost $4600 or more for an open-jaw ticket as you indicated in your original post.
Please tell us the city you are departing from and the travel dates and perhaps someone can suggest other options.
i am leaving from IAD airport. Going to AMS.
Coming Home leaving CDG going to IAD.
May 21 departure
June 14 return
I just plugged into Kayak using multi-city option
first leg: IAD to AMS on 5/21
second leg: CDG to IAD on 6/14
The least expensive flight I see is $907 on Icelandair with one connection each way (through Expedia, a bit more on Icelandair website).
The least expensive non-stop flight I see is either KLM/Air France or United(both legs) for $1671.
I also typically fly out of IAD and often travel in May. What I've noticed is that prices generally go up several hundred dollars in mid-May. I've found that leaving prior to about May 10th usually lowers the cost. I usually watch flight prices for a while to see if prices go down and I rarely buy before February. However, you never know if prices will go down or up. Unfortunately, over the last couple of years prices have been pretty high and I haven't seen any great bargains.
The Icelandair flight is a good price for that time of year, but unfortunately it requires a connection. They do charge extra for food, but it is pretty easy to buy something in the airport to take on the plane with you. I flew Icelandair this year because they were substantially less expensive than any of the other flights. I normally prefer to fly non-stop, but this year I sacrificed the non-stop in order to save about $400.
Normally, I watch fares for a good six weeks before I book, and I'm not worried about booking until 8-12 weeks before my trip.
The exception is if I see a really good deal - maybe $650 round trip is the price I'd jump at right now. Otherwise, I watch the fares and book when I decide the price is about as good of deal as I'm going to get and before the seats are all booked.
so do you all think that the fares i found are reasonable? no need to wait to book them if i go with Iceland Air? they wont go any lower?
They might go lower or they might not. Unfortunately, none of us can predict.
If I could tell when airline fares go up or down I would be a millionare. No one know for sure if airfares will go up or down. When I went to Rome a couple of years ago the airfare was the same all year for the airline I flew.
If you feel like buying buy if you are unsure do not buy. But once you buy stop looking at airfares and be glad you have a seat.
