We're considering a week vacation in the UK sometime between September and November. We've never traveled that time period so I don't know when airlines generally start putting those time periods on sale. Can anyone give me an idea?
Thanks!
Karen
Posted by
Ottawa, Canada
4555 posts
I think it's a bit of a crapshoot....keep checking places like Kayak.com until you find something you're comfortable with. I booked Syracuse-Madrid in mid-March for end-October at $500....I have a feeling it isn't going to get any cheaper than that! A couple of suggestions, too. The later in the September-November time period you book, the cheaper it will be, but chances of bad weather will increase. If you can, fly Tues-Thursday to find cheaper fares. And don't ignore airports an hour or two away (like Chattanooga) because you may find some excellent deal out of there. My SYR-MAD trip goes through Chicago...when I checked the fare on the same flight if I left from Chicago instead (my thought was to use points to get there) it registered at $740!!
Posted by
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
368 posts
They are available for sale now. We booked our September 2008 flights December 2007 (however, we should have waited because they ended up dropping 40% since then!)
Posted by
Davidson, NC, USA
82 posts
Keep in mind that the airlines will refund the difference if a fare drops as long as the fare is available on the exact flights you are holding. There is usually a $100-$200 "reissue charge" per ticket, but if the fare drops more than the reissue charge, you are good-to-go! Jon - you should contact your airline and ask about it if the fare has dropped that much!
Lisa
Posted by
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
368 posts
We are flying Zoom airlines which will not do a refund if the price changes. Considering it cost us $299.00 each way, it isn't that big of a deal. :-)
Posted by
Denver, CO, USA
1558 posts
Normally the sale fares for that part of the season won't be released till August when most of the summer season is done.
On one hand I would think that due to the high price of fuel, there will be less travelers and since the airlines have added so much capacity across the Atlantic they will have to reduce prices significantly in order to move the open seats
On the other hand the airlines may just decide to charge the actual fare and let the flights go out with tons of open seats...
I'm guessing it will be the former - that is my plans for thanksgiving - hoping to make it to Spain but will wait till after the summer to start looking
Posted by
Ottawa, Canada
4555 posts
...Or the airlines could simply be planning to cut capacity in the fall, once the busy tourist season is over, meaning the store of seats they have available now will be gone shortly. As I say, it's a crapshoot. If anyone thinks they'll get a better price than $500 SYR-MAD at the end of October, I'll eat my hat!