I am going to Switzerland in June 2009 with a large group, 5 adults and 15 or so teens. The leader of the group is concerned about the cost of flights and is wondering if we should try to purchase our airline tickets now? We are flexable as to where we fly in and out of to a point. Any suggestions?
Posted by
Shoreline, WA
216 posts
I don't think it's prudent to purchase a year ahead - despite the run-up in airline pricing. A lot of things can happen that influence scheduling and prices - war, inflation, economic disruption, airline mergers, load factors, and the like.
Typically, airlines to Europe offer discounted fares in mid-winter or early spring for the coming summer. Except it hasn't happened this year. Still, prices for air travel are bound to fluctuate seasonally and watching them via kayak.com or similar bots (maybe with alerts scheduled) is helpful.
Switzerland (mostly Zürich) is easily accessed by major airlines, but your best bet may be to take a flight to a hub like Frankfurt or Paris and then transfer to a local run. Swissair is not known for good budget pricing, although you may get lucky if you remain vigilant.
Posted by
Knoxville, TN, USA
7209 posts
You can't buy airline tickets more than 1 year ahead of time.
Posted by
Newport Beach, CA, USA
769 posts
Usually its 11 months ahead at most. To use miles - you should look at 11-10 months ahead for summer since those fill up fast! For purchase - you can try right now putting in the dates you want for 2008 (just as an example) and find out how many or few are left. Lufthansa and Swiss have good deals on line - and they almost always go up - eventhough they have specials it may be tough to get those deals for your exact days. Safe to say fees and oil will go up - so this Fall - looks at getting the flights lined up. You might want to try using a reputable agent - or call the Swiss/Lufthansa and ask about group kids deals (they may be able to help).