Black Friday or Cyber Monday Specials

Don't wait til then just look everyday. The time you want to travel may not be discounted. The best deals to me come from the airlines that I have traveled with before and where I checked the box to be notified.

I agree - keep an eye out because there are some great deals out there now. Also, last year on that weekend, i scored 2 round trip tix from JFK to Milan for $659...total. Not each.

It's better to track fares over a few months and see how they fluctuate (and where the tradeoffs are between days of the week, connections, airports, etc.) vs. counting on any one or two special days of discounts. I'm not sure if airlines treat Black Friday or Cyber Mondays like big box retailers do, or if they have any special meaning at all. Whatever the case, those two days are just marketing gimmicks, so it's better for you to do more legwork on your own over a longer timeframe to secure a price that you're happy with. I use Matrix Itasoftware (https://matrix.itasoftware.com) using the "calendar of lowest fares" feature to look at fares over an entire calendar month across several airlines. You can also use Google Flights or Kayak - they perform essentially the same function.

What Stephen said. Last year for about a 10 day period starting before T-day, you could get R/T tickets to just about any major European city from the midwest, for $500-600 on Delta. I don't know if that was a promotion specifically tied to that holiday, but worth checking for, this time.

I agree - keep an eye out because there are some great deals out there
now. Also, last year on that weekend, i scored 2 round trip tix from
JFK to Milan for $659...total. Not each.

That's fantastic. Which airline?

The route I had been looking at has increased in price about $100 in the last month. Norwegians Fall sale would have been fantastic but their dates were for like through January. I'm hoping it goes back down.

I'm looking at flying to Edinburgh-ish from around LAX on or about April 13th. I'm thinking the cheapest (today) might be fly to Gatwick Norwegian and then take British Airways up to EDI.

The Flyer Talk 'Milage run' area is pretty good at compiling cheap fares. I regularly watch a few threads there for that purpose.

Thanks for posting this!

We are looking for tickets to South America for a tour next summer. I haven't booked anything yet, but I'm already watching fares. This is a great reminder to keep watching, especially then.

In my experience of buying tickets to LHR from the midwest (30 years) I tend to get the best deals when I buy early (Sept/Oct/Nov) for the summer of the following year. Last year, I got some crazy deals purchasing in Sept/October for the summer of 2017. However, Instead of my usual connection from St. Louis, I did book out of Chicago. I purchased my airline tickets for London July/August 2018 last week. The tickets were not as low as last year, but good at $750 round trip on AA non-stop flight. (That flight connecting from STL is priced at $1750). I just can't fathom how they can charge an extra $1000 for a one hour connecting flight. It makes no sense and I refuse to pay it. So look early, get creative and know that Europe doesn't typically go on sale the closer you get to the summer. However, having said this, you are planning a trip in April which is not a busy time for travel. track your flight(s) of choice and keep checking every day and buy when you you see a reasonable price. No one can tell if it will go up or down but I would certainly buy tickets for April before the end of January. I did notice some airlines last year where offering some sales in November. But it may not be your route and London is very popular.

Thanks everyone for the responses!

I purchased my airline tickets for London July/August 2018 last week. The tickets were not as low as last year, but good at $750 round trip on AA non-stop flight. (That flight connecting from STL is priced at $1750).

They make me crazy with this kind of stuff!! (secondary market person here too).

I got a great deal around that time for a trip to Madrid this past March. So it happens!

Continental: I purchased the tickets from JFK to Milan through British Airways. The flight is actually on an American Airlines plane as it's a codeshare. Emirates had a big sale for JFK to Milan and a lot of airlines matched the price (2 people, $799). I am an AARP member and you get a discount for each ticket on BA so that's why I purchased through them.

I was actually looking at British Airways and if you choose return trip instead of open jaw the prices are better. I was sort of flabbergasted at that since this forum has always advised open jaw. Now I have even one more thing to frequently check!

I sort of like the idea of BA. Bigger personal item and no weight restriction on the carry on. I don't think I'll need much more than 22 lbs but that's cutting it awfully close for my style of travel.

We missed the good deals on Delta last November because we weren't ready to commit. Kept watching the fares, and another blip of low fares came up for a week in early January. Not as good as November but at $800, still better than the normal range of $1200-1600 R/T from KC.

You can also sometimes shave some fat off multi-country open jaw tickets by knowing which way the airport taxes get charged. It's often cheaper to fly into the UK and out of somewhere else than vice versa because London charges a hefty departure tax on long haul flights ($130-$180 depending on current exchange rates for an economy ticket, significantly higher than that for 'luxury cabin' tickets) but that same departure tax on short haul intra-Europe departures is less than a handful of pound coins. Ireland generally has lower departure taxes, and while the tax difference alone wouldn't cover the difference, they also have generally cheap fares by European standards, and if you fancy two days in Dublin, into LHR and out of DUB (fill the jaw with a one way ticket on your cheap carrier of choice) is often going to be cost-effective.