Flights to Budapest

What are the airline search engines telling you? Just plug it in and see what you get. My quick search (5 mins) said, NO.

Only U.S. flight into Budapest is from Philadelphia on American Airlines. Isn't that the South NJ Airport for all practical purposes?

David, actually the AA flight isn't going this winter. Might return in the spring.

There are LOT direct flights from JFK. But its only two days a week (this winter) which is why people, if they are going to research, should do it properly. Looks like it goes to three days a week in the Spring, but still couldn't find the AA flight.

Easy Traveler. One thing Frank said was correct. Best to do your own research. This is a great site for subjective information but the amount of inaccurate objective information is alarmingly high. Everyone wants to be an expert; none are.

For airlines I like to use Google Flights. In this instance I put in starting in Budapest and ending in United States; one way; non-stop. Then knowing that light markets like Budapest are often only served a few days a week, I checked Sunday, Monday, Tuesday ... etc. The only hit I got was LOT. Sometimes these things can be seasonal too, so pick your dates and check. Maybe May or June the AA flight will return. Once I find my flight on Google, 9 times out of 10 I book it direct with the airline. I'm not a big fan of the brokers and generally I can find the same flight at the same price on the airline website. If the brokers do have cheaper flights often there is something wrong with them like unreasonably long or short lay overs or separate tickets or odd and long routes.

It is unfortunate that there isn't better air service to Budapest from the US - just the LOT service referenced above from JFK (also from ORD) a few times a week, and the seasonal AA service from Philadelphia. I did read somewhere that AA is adding service next year, though I forget where from (Maybe ORD?). It's such an amazing destination. Vienna also lacks service from the US carriers, although Austrian does fly from several cities. FWIW, when we went to those cities earlier in the fall, we opted for British Airways, which had excellent (albeit long) connections to both cities at Heathrow.

I'm fortunate in that I can fly Turkish relatively cheaply. Occasionally BA, but Heathrow is a zoo.

If the brokers do have cheaper flights often there is something wrong with them like unreasonably long or short lay overs or separate tickets or odd and long routes.

James, I had coffee with a friend today and he was complaining that Air Canada bumped him from a Vancouver - Dallas flight (about 2 hrs 40 min) to a Vancouver -Toronto - Dallas flight (about 10.5 hours). He books all of his flights through Expedia, never going to the airlines website ever, including this one. Claims he's never had problems before. I explained that in this case Air Canada is probably pushing him to that longer flight to make room for passengers booking directly on their own site. Kind of like a punishment. Plus he says he isn't collecting Aeroplan as he's going through Expedia so missing out on that FWIW.

He's trying to work it out with Air Canada but not having much success. He insists he will continue booking through Expedia in the future. Reminds me of something about horses and water...

Ive tried to use the brokers, but the deal has never been worth it. I did have a friend recently that did get a better price using something that I think was called Student Air or something similar. When he got to his connecting airport he discovered an earlier connection on the same airline. No go. Would have required purchasing new tickets....

"Occasionally BA, but Heathrow is a zoo. "

I can safely report that 5 hours is enough time to connect at Heathrow

Two hours is my bare minimum at Heathrow. 2.5 or 3 makes me happier.

In addition to looking at search engines, a great trick I learned on this forum: To find out who flies from an airport, look at that airport's Wikipedia page. Here's Budapest: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budapest_Ferenc_Liszt_International_Airport#Passenger

Just be aware that if a flight is "seasonal," the season can be long or short, and not only are some flights not daily, but some are as infrequent as once a week. For instance, Philadelphia to Venice goes daily for about 6 months of the year, while Philadelphia to Dubrovnik goes 3 days a week for about 3 months of the year.