Airfare for fall 2025 to EDI

I think this weekend (Online Monday) would be the cheapest sale on flights. 2 weeks ago I purchased RT tickets SEA to Glasgow for $800 for May, 2025 on IcelandAir economy standard.

Your first sentence is the correct answer....

Fares for next September are based on previous models and predictive trends for
next fall. No one knows what events might impact or change the overall pricing
model and it's 11 months out.

If you do purchase now, just be aware of the exchangeability and changeability
of the fare that you buy, in case things change going through 2025.

I booked last month Chicago to Edinburgh for Sept., paying $1525 for economy plus on United. Last year, for the same flight in May, I paid $1136 for economy. I went with economy plus this time because United uses a smaller plane (Boeing 757-200) for that route and I was pretty cramped in economy.

Looks like your flight is also on a 757.

I don’t think you’ll do much better than $1284. If that’s a price you can live with, I would just book now and be done with it.

My last several flights (mostly to London, and none to Edinburgh) have been full, and unless things change dramatically for flying, I don’t see airlines having an incentive to drop their prices. I’d say get your tickets now, before someone else gets them.

We took trips in September 2021, 2022, and 2023. Maybe kids are back in school, but people are still flying in great numbers it seems. That was true for Italy, Denmark, and Norway, in addition to London.

Unless you’re visiting Edinburgh during peak festival time, 10 months in advance is a tad early for getting the best deals on airfares. The airlines usually only put flights up for sale 12 months in advance at the earliest. And they have little incentive to lower the fares 10-11 months in advance unless they are facing a liquidity crunch. I would recommend signing up for a fare alert on Google Flights for IAD and Baltimore ( BWI) or similar and keeping an eye on fares beginning in January. For international fares, generally 5-8 months prior to the departure date is the sweet spot for the best airfares.
A good resource for airfares is www.Skyscanner.com

Thank you all for your thoughts. We did just read about Travel Tuesday as well as Cyber Monday being an opportunity for some discounts. I think I will wait and check those out just to see.

We usually fly IcelandAir because they offer a good connection from Medford OR, although you have to go to Glasgow. I also usually buy our tickets on the day they are available (330days in advance), because I've never seen lower prices and I'm a little OCD. IcelandAir offers "deals" all year long, but they are never for May travel. I need extra legroom or premium economy/business to fit in the seat, and the last minute prices never include those. I could never not have reservations just a few months before traveling unless I lost interest in getting any sleep.

Another option that just came into discussion is flying out of Richmond (would cut down traveling longer to Dulles). There is an American Airlines flight that connects in Philadelphia and onward to Edinburgh, but the layover time is 1:10. We only will have carryon luggage but I wonder if this is too short of a layover time. Does anyone have any experience with that airport and minimums?

I assume the key is the direct flight? I’m tracking Boston to Edinburgh flights for October 2025 and getting $700 round trip with stops in Heathrow. Regardless, I suggest you go into google flights and track the flight you are looking at.

There is an American Airlines flight that connects in Philadelphia and onward to Edinburgh, but the layover time is 1:10. We only will have carryon luggage but I wonder if this is too short of a layover time. Does anyone have any experience with that airport and minimums?

I avoid the Philadelphia airport for international connecting flights, have had multiple bad experiences over the years, both on going to Europe, and also on the return and going through immigration and US customs. YMMV, but that airport has some real issues with making connections.

All of this is good to know, thank you. I thought that connection seemed really tight and I did a bit more reading and it seems other people have had bad experiences, too, Jojo. I think we will keep looking for another route. We may just stick to Dulles as well.

Mustlovedogs, we did a connecting flight through Philly on our way to Edinburgh. Unfortunately, our flight out of Charlotte left VERY late. We were coming into Philly dejected, knowing there was no way we would make the connection. Much to our surprise and delight the pilot announced a gate change, brought our plane into the international terminal right next to our Scotland flight. Then the crew told everyone to stay seated while we deplaned and dashed to the neighboring gate where the flight was fully loaded and they were holding the door for us. We were lowly economy flyers and not movie stars :). Luckily we were traveling carry-on only. But…..chances of that happening a second time are slim. I would want more than an hour layover. BTW, I’m another one that buys tickets as soon as they are released and have not been disappointed.

Hi Kathy, that’s the kind of worry you don’t need before a long flight for sure! So glad you were able to get a seat. I think our best bet time wise is the NS flight out of Dulles. The reason we were looking at RIC is due to my daughter and her fur baby, who my husband was possibly going to take care of for the week. Leaving from a closer airport could reduce the time needed to take care of that situation (if he pet sits, he needs to go get her little guy) but I think maybe by trying to help with one situation, it could be adding complexity to the flight itinerary. I’m going to give tomorrow a look and if nothing changes, most likely will take the plunge.

Just to keep in mind that Edinburgh and Glasgow are so close that if the flight times or prices are better for Glasgow, it's super easy to head to Edinburgh if you fly into Glasgow.

Kim, I hadn’t considered that. I just checked and Iceland Air has a really good sale on rn to Glasgow. It would involve a little over an hour layover in Reykjavik. How much time would be involved getting to the train station for Edinburgh? Just considering the cost savings with ease of arriving in Edinburgh proper. Thanks for the suggestion!

Well, I've been looking the last few weeks at Delta for Spokane to EDI in late June. The prices have been around $1600-$1800 but today I looked again at the Delta site and they've jacked the prices up to $3100+...so...I'm gonna wait. (insert eye roll emoji!). There was allegedly a sale going on for SkyMiles members for Early Winter but that is not useful to me.

@ Mustlovedogs = Once out of GLA airport it's only 30 minutes to Queen Street Station, then another hour to Edinburgh. Even if you had just missed a bus at the Airport and then just missed a train it should never be more than a 2 hour transfer.
3 hours from landing to arriving at Edinburgh Waverley is a generous estimate.

Couple of general comments:

Everybody seems to have their tried and true method to get cheap tickets, all probably just false confidence. Personally, for a September trip, I would not get excited about buying tickets for another couple months, maybe even February or March. There really is no incentive for the airlines to discount tickets this far in advance, as you approach 6 months and the plane is still empty, then they might cut some deals.

Do start tracking the price, mainly so you know what is a good price. There are tools on the web that can help with this somewhat, but even then, past prices really are of little predictive value as times and the economy changes.

In todays world, understand your change options. I used to say pick a price that is not too greedy, if you see it, take it, and never look again. Now do the same but keep watching it, if it goes down a couple hundred, rebook, take the cost difference in an e-credit in your airline account.

Using different airports is mentioned, fine, just understand the total cost of your choice. I see it in my town all the time. We are a regional airport, but just under 4 hours from 2 major hubs. More than once I have had friends tell me about the great tickets they got for a hundred or two less than flying out of our airport. Then they start thing about the 4 hour drive each way, the gas, the tolls, maybe a hotel for a night or two, parking cost, and that few hundred Dollar savings just evaporates. I cannot overestimate the value of landing, driving 15 minutes and collapsing in my own recliner after half a day, or more, of flying to get home. Your situation may vary, maybe have to drive long distances regardless, but do not overlook smaller, nearer airports. Sometimes the tickets are actually cheaper.

Hmmmm. Opinions on Iceland Air, anyone?

Any airline is fine. Make it easy on yourself and take the nonstop flight into Edinburgh. :-) There’s just too many things that can go wrong when you start adding in a connecting flight and then adding in flying into a city that is not your destination city. I always go for the lower stress option.

We've flown Icelandair three times to Dublin and Glasgow. The Reykjavik airport is tiny, and short connections are not a problem. We have picked them because they have a connection to a feeder airport into Seattle which gets us to our destination before noon, giving us a chance to do something besides check-in and go to sleep. They also have short overall flights. We always pay for extra legroom, and on several occasions, they've changed from a 767 to 757 or vice versa and my legroom got lost (and refunded). Don't expect lavish meals (we've learned to take our own) and don't expect more than a few movie choices, mostly Iceland promotions. They also have free stopovers in Reykjavik which we used one time on the way home. They have a bidding system for Saga upgrades, and we've found that the shorter leg of the flight always has space for the minimum bid to get upgraded.

Hmmmm. Opinions on Iceland Air, anyone?

Personally, I’d go with the non-stop to EDI unless you are getting significant savings on Icelandair. I’ve only flown Icelandair once and it was fine but a bit more of a “budget” airline feel (e.g., you have to pay for a meal). For what it is worth, I flew IAD to LHR on United last September and the price was in the $800 range. I bought the ticket in July for a September departure; I rarely buy tickets more than 3 months out. EDI is usually a little more expensive than LHR; $1284 seems a little high but who knows what prices will be next year.

If you have some flexibility, check different days of the week. Last year, I flew on a Wednesday because the flight was less than other days of the week.

We’ve flown Icelandair from Denver a few times, when they were particularly lower-priced than the competition after starting service about 10 years ago. We used them for a trip to iceland, as well as shuttling to/from elsewhere in Europe, which involved a fairly quick connection at the small Reykjavik airport. They’re no longer inexpensive, though, and it’s been a long time since we’ve flown them.

OP, just be glad you can get a nonstop! In order to get anything close to that price for April Columbus Ohio to Edinburgh, we had to book 2 layovers on the way there (1 ok return) or fork over another $1100 for 2 ticket with 1 layover. It's so frustrating. Prices just keep increasing too. I clear my history and check as my adult stepson and his gf haven't purchased their tickets. We're excited to see Scotland but cannot believe 2 layover flights still cost way more than past UK and Europe flights with 1 layover. At this point we're just glad our international airport is only 20 mins awsy! Soooo, did you wait or pull the trigger?

Well…… there’s been a change luvcat. Too busy atm to elaborate, but bc of a couple of factors that kept pulling at me (and causing me to truly hedge against pulling the trigger on that EDI plan) I decided to pivot and now we are going to spend the bulk of our week on the Isle of Arran. I really, really wanted a slower paced, explore the natural beauty of one area kind of holiday in the UK. Decided to honor what my heart really wanted to do. I’m much more at peace with this plan. We’re going to fly in/out of Glasgow instead, but we will need to connect somewhere as there aren’t any non stops available. It’s all good though. We’re super excited!

If you're going to Arran for a week one little side trip you might like to look at, which is a bit different is a side day trip to Holy Isle, just off Arran- https://www.holyisle.org/

Ah Stuart, there you are! :) I told mardee in a pm that I was almost embarrassed to say that I once again did a geographical pivot from my seemingly ever changing UK vacation plans because I felt guilty that you and so many others on the forum were so generous with your time and shared info with me that isn’t going to be needed just yet.

Just so you know it is not all for naught, I have a notebook that I am keeping with dividers full of the train and bus schedules, site visit information, etc. It will be used someday! I told my kids at Thanksgiving, and hopefully this isn’t too morose a thought for anyone, that if I leave this earth home before I get to use my RS notes and experience the places I have targeted, they are to pack them (or load them into their phones bc you know that’s what they would do) and go to each with me in their hearts :)

I saw the boat trip out to Holy Isle. It looks like something we would love to do!

For what it's worth whenever we fly to the States (which is generally to either JFK or Seattle) we drive down to Glasgow from Skye, then fly BA to Heathrow and onwards to our destination in the States, so far always a direct flight from Heathrow. We always fly on one BA ticket and the way the prices work usually means that the internal Glasgow to London flight is free. There are numerous flights each day between Glasgow and Heathrow, so if your transatlantic flight is delayed you can usually get on another flight up to Glasgow. We

Hi Skyegirl, that’s the carrier I am looking mainly at rn. The layover at LHR on the inbound part is 1:55, with the connection also being out of terminal 5. On the outbound, it’s a 3 hour layover. BA has a better time for us to get back in to IAD and then back to our homes, too. Some of the other carriers get back much later into the evening. I was looking at KLM and Aer Lingus options, but BA for now seems to be the best match. Thank you so much for your advice and help!

IAD is our International airport; but, I hate it with the fiery, white-hot passion of ten thousand suns. We sometimes fly out of Charlottesville which has connections to Charlotte, Atlanta and Philadelphia, JFK, etc. With two flights you can get anywhere on United, American or Delta and the codeshares. You might look at this as an option to Richmond. Parking is much less expensive than Dulles and you don’t have to navigate the miserable shuttle buses or the crazy inter- terminal shuttle. Good luck.

@mustlovedogs- no worries about your change of plans.

Maybe start a new thread now for Arran.

I must admit I hadn't thought about flying from Glasgow. I am equidistant from Newcastle, Manchester, Edinburgh and Glasgow airports.
But just hadn't thought of a Glasgow connection for me personally. I had looked at connections from Inverness to LHR to avoid Air Passenger Duty but the saving is largely offset by the higher air fare. Glasgow is an interesting thought- I like the airport from using it for Loganair internal flights.
My latest iteration is called Newcastle [England] to Newcastle [WA] just to be pithy which is based on a connection from Newcastle to LHR.
My plans also lurch widely, so you are not alone. For 14 years I have been working on a WA trip which showcased how good public transport is in WA. Which is now in an 8 year delay due to personal circumstances.
Suddenly, in the last ten days, it has become a road trip and I don't know how that happened.
That actually changes where I arrive at, as arriving at YVR for Seattle makes much less sense if it is a road trip.

MLD, Glasgow is a nice airport. I flew in and out of it in 2023 and really liked it. It's not that big, several good airport hotels if you need them (I think I mentioned the HIX to you), and quick and easy to get into town on the Glasgow Airport Express, which is a fun double-decker purple bus that will get you into the city in 15 minutes. :-)

If you were going direct from Glasgow Airport to Arran or any other Clyde Port you would cut two sides off the triangle and take McGills #757 bus to it's terminus at Paisley Gilmour Street Railway Station every 30 minutes- literally to the Station Door (16 minute journey) and catch the train to the port there. All trains to all ports stop there, 11 minutes into their journey from Glasgow Central.

As it is an airport route it is configured to take luggage.

One of the less well known routes from the airport.

There is also one bus a day direct from the airport to Tarbert (Loch Fyne) for Lochranza, but it doesn't tie in well with Lochranza sailings in either direction as it is timed more for Islay and Gigha passengers. Also two buses a day direct to the Isle of Skye to and from the Airport.

Thank you Stuart! So just to make sure I understand, once through customs at the airport we find the McGills bus 757 and ride till its terminus at Paisley Gilmour Street Railway Station then catch the train (that will be coming from Central Station on route to the port)? Not go into Glasgow and the train station from the airport, then? I will make note of this. I’m looking at a flight that arrives at 9:40. With the CalMac ferry schedule you posted recently, I would like to be able to make the one at 11:15 (:30 don’t have ut in front if me rn) Do you think using that route will help?
I’m going to start a new thread after this post :)

It would help but it is a one hour train ride from Glasgow to Ardrossan Harbour.

So the 1006 bus from the Airport arrives Paisley Station at 1022, for the 1025 to Ardrossan Harbour, arrives 1105 for the 1115 boat.
That is theoretically possible, but excessively tight. If the bus was on time I could make it, but for a tourist, hmmm.

I think you are on the G!en Sannox from Troon at 1335. Trains from Paisley at 1040, 1110, 1140 and 1210 for the 32 minute train ride. Then a free shuttle bus to the port, although it should be a 10 minute walk.
I say should as I haven't done it since the days of the Troon to Northern Ireland boats. When the Glen Sannox enters service then I will find out.

I wouldn't book train or ferry until arrival, no cost advantage in doing so. And Scotrail trains have free wi-fi.
But let's take this down to the new Arran thread.

PS- You will have cleared immigration and customs at Heathrow as you switch planes, so you just walk off the plane and out the door at Glasgow, the same as you would on a US domestic flight.

Unless the new timetable changes things,CalMac has a schedule that includes GLA Central to Brodick in one "covered" booking (as the airlines would describe it).

It may change with the much higher capacity next year, but the Sail Rail ticket (available from any station in Scotland, not just Glasgow Central) has not been recommended for the last two years. It gives no priority over boarding, and capacity has been too tight leading to through booked passengers being turned away at times.

At one stage the ticket had been withdrawn (I encountered that first hand one time, from the Clerk at Glasgow Central).

Also sail rail can't be purchased on line or at ticket machines, only from a ticket clerk, and it offers no cost advantage.

That is why, currently, advice is to book foot pax space through CalMac direct and the train ticket separately.