Airfare prices

I don't dare to predict the direction of airfares.

There's no rail service between southern Spain and Portugal. If you fly into Seville (which wouldn't be inexpensive for me but may be a better deal from your home airport), you'll need to take a bus to Faro.

Is September really should season in Europe anymore? I don't think so. I'd say you have to wait until 2nd part of October, beginning of November nowadays for really cheap fares. Although you don't say what sky high is and where you are flying from.

If it helps any, I just did a search on Hopper for mid-September for 2 weeks from JFK to Lisbon and basic economy was around $600. Hopper says prices will vary, but probably won't go lower and finally start to rise around July. So take that for what it's worth.

In your shoes I might wait just a little bit longer but that's just me.

Are you planning to fly in and out of different cities? If so, you should be shopping for a multi-city ticket, not two one-day tickets.

Been watching flights to Europe since Thanksgiving. They’re expensive this year. Supply and demand!

hey hey Renee
WOW you're right on airfares being crazy and all over the board. with all the thousands of people traveling nowdays, shoulder season is no longer happening. many festivals, fairs, conventions, wine tasting & harvesting season, supply and demand.
we use to travel then since students go back to school, fares were "cheaper" had budget airlines with great deals, not now. many remote workers can travel anytime and anywhere with great WIFI and do, more liquid money available and they are willing to pay the higher rates even with hotels/apartments, inflation, residents owning places are trying to re-coop what they lost during pandemic. social media/instagram causes a lot of interest. people are looking for smaller towns/villages to get out of the madness out there.
lots of posters are all looking for more budget places with low expectations and having hard time finding them. big cities are so so busy & crowded, all wanting to go and do the same as others.
my family lives on the big island of hawaii (yes the 5.7 earthquake today), wanted to visit in april and cost is $150 more than what i paid in august last year. i do cringe but don't have to pay for hotel, rental car, washer/dryer and i do buy groceries and cook for my family of 5. takes me a while to shop trying to find bargain deals
put an alert for airfare fares and when the price is what you are good with, book it and don't look back. before booking airfare make sure you have hotels booked within rates you like, add in the cost of trains/bus transportation costs if you fly to cheaper airport but need to get elsewhere. look at multi-city fares, fly into one place and out from another without back tracking. good luck and have fun.
aloha

We flew open jaw to Porto and from Faro in September 2023. We booked our tickets in March, about 6 months out. We flew British Air and paid about CAD$1400. Average flight time was about 16 hrs with 1-2 stops

I just checked the same flights for September 2024. Price is about CAD$1225. However, the average flight time is about 24 hours with 1-2 stops.

Possibly, if you wait until March, better flights might be released by the airlines. The other likely possibility is that all of the better flight times have already been released and been sold out and what is left are the long flights at the lower price. That just leaves you with other airlines with their much higher priced shorter flights.

Good luck.

Fubpig: March, about 6 months out. We flew British Air and paid about CAD$1400.

Was that two seat or one.

Renee you have to be diligent about checking. In early mid January I was checking non stop RT Seattle to Heathrow with comfort+ seats. The flight I wanted was not available. I just happened to look further down and found a flight on Delta for 83,000 pts (approx. $900) each. And I picked our seats in an empty plane. Also because it was later in the day we move to the day before and will have an extra day to get to Lisbon for RS Sept 18 tour.

My point is don’t give up look and look again and you will know when you find the good deal. Look at different dates and times. Good luck and safe travels
Don

thanks everyone for the encouragement. I have recently seen prices coming down somewhat. I have been noticing that prices really drop, three days after all my hotel bookings which I had already reserved. Since this has been a consistent observation, I went in and changed all my hotels to "3 days later." Surprisingly, I also saved $500 in hotel prices! Now I am pretty sure I will find an affordable flight.