airfare....what would you do??

There's really no way to know. What do you expect will happen with the world economy in the next few months? With fuel prices? If you can predict those, then you can make a good guess as to what will happen with air fares. I think it's best to do what you are comfortable with, then don't look back and stop worrying about it. In any case, you already have figured out that flying open jaw will save you time, money and headaches, so you're ahead of the game even before you buy your ticket. That should make you feel better about whatever you end up paying.

Melissa, I doubt that the fares will vary that much, but in the same situation I'd probably monitor the prices but wait until early in the new year to purchase. I normally check both the travel websites (Orbitz, Travelocity, Priceline, etc.) as well as the airline websites. As this is your first trip to Europe, I'd suggest reading Europe Through The Back Door prior to your trip. It provides lots of good information on "how" to travel in Europe. The country-specific Guidebooks have lots of info on hotels, restaurants, transportation and sightseeing. Be sure to read the "Rail Skills" section carefully, as there are some potentially expensive "pitfalls" to be aware of when travelling by public transit in Italy. If you need more details, post another note. Good luck with your planning!

Think of it as $1450 each, not $2900, when comparing prices. That is completely in line with what we would pay at high season,filming from the West coast, so definitely not crazy. I am not one who looks for the cheapest fare, but the best price for a good flight- one that has only one stop at most in each direction, a short overall flight time, and good hours - departure in the early evening and arrival in Europethe next morning. We have found this minimizes lost time due to jet lag and flight fatigue, so is worth a bit more in terms of cost. We have also learned to save a bunch on early booking of lodging and train tickets, saving way more than we could by choosing to wait for a cheap airfare. Plus there is a lot of peace of mind that comes with having the flight portion of your trip all decided. Then you can get on with the rest of your planning. As for what I would do, maybe wait and watch into January, but not to wait to book much after that. Then I would jump on lodging deals.

So, $1,450 per person? I would call that a little on the higher end of things, just based on gut feeling and what I usually pay.

That is more or less what I paid from San Francisco to Florence (via Frankfurt) last July (w/Lufthansa). I bought the tickets maybe 2 months before. I remember I could have saved more than $200 by flying to Rome via Philadelphia (with US Airways). Didn't do it because I needed to be in Florence and going to Rome in the end would have cost me more (train+hotel on the night before return trip). I don't think you need to buy so far ahead. Houston is a United hub, therefore you should get some good options with UA or Lufthansa/Swiss (part of the Star Alliance). Just wait. However prices won't be much cheaper, maybe a couple hundred $$.

Airlines are getting better at controlling the economics of flight; supply and demand. I see no evidence that Summer fares will be at all cheaper this year than Summer, 2012. You probably have two options: (1) Suck it up and pay the big price. Then try to make it up by traveling in a frugal manner when you get to Europe.
(2) Change your dates and go earlier or later. April-May and Sept. 15th-Oct. Not everyone has variable dates, but many prefer not to travel to Europe when crowds are large and when it's so hot. (Their air conditioning is not up to our standards.) When airfares are at an all time high, it doesn't hurt to table buying flights until 60 days out. (We spent $720 R/T into London, out of Rome 4/12.)

David's analysis is wise. You are travelling at a peak time and will pay peak prices. That's true of hotels too although there are more choices so you can shop around. You have done good research to find that Air Canada option. Looking at current schedules, the one stop both going and coming will be for about four hours in Toronto. Never fun to wait that long, but Pearson Airport is big and fairly comfortable. And coming back, you will have plenty of time to clear US customs and immigration in Pearson. Using Delta/KLM, the one-stops offer either connections that are too tight for me, or stops that are equivalent to AC. So it's your choice.
Completely off topic, it is a pleasure to acknowledge Lubbock as the home of the great Buddy Holly.

Completely off topic, it is a pleasure to acknowledge Lubbock as the home of the great Buddy Holly. And the dynamic Red Raiders of Texas Tech, although how the new coach will do I don't know.

thanks everyone for your helpful posts! I appreciate it. Overall, I think having the "security" of our flights and travel dates is best since we are first timers. We will probably buy sooner rather than later. Yes home to Buddy Holly and my husband and I are both Texas Tech graduates!

Melissa ,I would pay about that much for my flights, so I don't think its totally out of line, and as others have said, I would pay for direct flights, and better connections, ( do not book tight connections, even "legal" ones can suck )

Yes the flights I am looking at only have one stop each way. Pat, what do you consider reasonable layover times? Is 2 hours sufficient?

I try to make the first leg of a trip to Europe a direct flight. If we miss a connection in Europe to our final destination, at least we are in Europe. I'd rather be stuck in Frankfurt or Munich, than Chicago, DC, or Newark. A missed connection in Europe might only mean a delay of a few hours, where a missed connection on the US side might mean a delay of 12-24 hours. Worst case, you could rent a car or take a train to your final destination. If you are stuck in the US, you have no choice but to wait for the next available flight.

From Houston IAH you can fly non stop to the following destinations in Europe (in parenthesis no. of departures-flight airline operator): AMS (1-UA and 1-KLM) FRA (1-LH and 1-UA) LHR (2-UA and 2-BA) CDG (1-AF) In parentheses are the operators, however consider that they are all codeshare flights within the same alliance, therefore you could by the ticket through any of the airlines in the codeshare flight. UA+LH are Star Alliance partners AF+KLM+DL are Sky Team partners.
BA+AA are One World partners If you can purchase a ticket with one of the above direct destinations as your first leg from Houston, it would be ideal. As the previous poster mentioned, going through a USA hub first (such as: Newark or New York or Chicago or Atlanta etc.) is a royal pain in the tail and highly increases the chances of missing the connection to Europe. Flying straight non stop from Texas to Europe is faster and with fewer chances of missing connection (and if you do, there are several flights withing Europe but generally only one or two a day from the US to Europe. Also if you miss the connection, let's say in New York, and you need to spend the night in NY because the next flight to Europe from NY is the next day, you are responsible for the hotel accommodations if the missed flight is not the fault of the airline (for example if it's due to weather, which is common if you fly through the NY area or Chicago). If you miss the connection in Europe, first of all you'll likely have to wait only a few hours to the next flight, but also the European airline will be required to reimburse your expenses for the delay (such as food and even hotel) even if it's not the fault of the airline (e.g. in case of delay due to weather). Moral of the story, fly straight non stop from Houston to Europe, if you can.

(cont'd). So, if you want to go from Houston IAH to Munich MUC and return from Rome FCO you should try to do the following, for example: Going: IAH->Europe(AMS or FRA or LHR or CDG)>MUC
Return: FCO>Europe(AMS or FRA or LHR or CDG)->IAH You want to make sure that IAH is the only airport you'll touch in the USA. Of course if you can and if the price is right. But when I go (from San Francisco) I sometimes pay more just to avoid going through the airports in the Northeast or the Midwest. Atlanta I mind less, since the weather in Atlanta is more predictable. But flying directly non stop from SFO to Europe saves several hours on my trip.

Nigel mentioned Buddy Holly. Wasn't Lubbock's Waylon Jennings supposed to be on his plane? Larry Gatlin, Delbert McClinton, Richie McDonald (Lone Star) and Natalie Maines also lived there. That's about 1/2 of Nashville. Mapquest says you're 338 miles west of DFW and about 550 miles NW of Houston.
Not are things larger in Texas, but they're also farther (away.) DFW's direct flights are also going into Europe thru Heathrow, Amsterdam and Frankfurt, which is about the same as Houston. Unfortunately, you're going at a high time. Your only options to improve the fare would be to go earlier in the year or go Sept 20th or later. Italy is very hot in June and July, and their A/C is not nearly as good as in the U.S. You said you're flying out of Houston. I don't believe that Lubbock commuter flights are any more expensive than if you drove to Houston.

Thanks all!! So many helpful tips. We are originally from Houston and would stay with family going and coming. Although it's the busiest time, my husband is a teacher so summer travel is best. Thanks y'all!

I know others have already mentioned looking for flights out of major hubs versus from Texas. We're a family of 4 planning our first visit over the summer months also. You may have already seen the flights from NYC to Dusseldorf and Munich for as low as $700? Last week I almost pulled the trigger on 4 flights to Dusseldorf for $645 ($2600 total for 4) - including all taxes and fees. The problem for us is that a majority of our time will be spent with my father in the UK. Booking flights on Ryanair from Dusseldorf to the UK after already spending a full day getting from Austin to JFK just didn't sound like much fun. Flights from DFW to JFK during this time are reasonable - deals are popping up all the time. We're using points to get us to NYC. Outbound flights on Icelandair depart JFK in the late evening giving us plenty of time to get from AUS to JFK. We may have to spend one night in NYC on our return but we'll just consider it part of the adventure. We're looking at $850 roundtrip from NYC to Heathrow. Total of $3400 RT for all 4 of us. As someone else mentioned, it is better to fly direct and decrease the chance of a headache, however, saving so much money to spend elsewhere on your trip might be something to consider. Just my two cents!
Have a fantastic trip!

Melissa have you checked fares from Lubbock? I've been looking at flights to Brussels in September, and the flight from Atlanta actually costs $55 more than the flight from Appleton, Wisconsin to Brussels, through Atlanta!
A couple years ago I really wanted to just fly to Amsterdam, but the route through Amsterdam to Hamburg was cheaper than just to Amsterdam. Go figure. :)

...I just looked at the flights....with just one change from Houston, that looks like what I'd pick, especially if you'd be staying with family and not leaving a car at the airport. From Lubbock it looks way too complicated, and the possibility of a flight being delayed increases. I also strongly recommend you read Europe Through the Back Door before you travel, actually BEFORE you do any more planning. It has so much good information!
Have a wonderful trip!

I kind of got lost in all the suggestions. I found no better prices, but I sure do like looking for them using ITA Matrix. I like their display. I was able to limit to one stop and found flights that go through Heathrow and Amsterdam. I agree with the person who said that non-stop to Europe with a connecting flight there is better than getting stuck in the US. By the way, I priced out non-stops going and coming home Houston-Amsterdam and then internal flights Amsterdam to Munich and Rome to Amsterdam. I found no cost savings that way.

thanks again for all of your wonderful suggestions! We just purchased our tickets! We are so excited for our first European trip!

Congrats on purchasing your tickets for your first trip to Europe. We have been several times and hope to go again early this fall when rates are lower. Just wanted to say that if you are nervous about losing your money should you have to cancel, I suggest you look into travel insurance. We use Travel Guard at travelguard.com, but there are others. We had to use it one time when we had booked a cruise, and we were so thankful that we had it. From one Texas to another, have a wonderful trip! I promise, it will just make you want to go again and again.