We are traveling July 2013 from NYC area to Europe (Ireland, London, Paris, Switz)For those of you who fly allot from the US, is there a better time to buy tickets? The price is up right now. Is waiting for a better price good or bad? What are the odds that they will go down in a couple of months. Thanks
Marlene
Posted by
Green Bay
21159 posts
Set up a fare alert with one of the travel sites (I use Orbitz). Keep eyes open because deals pop up at any time. Something is bound to show up in the next six months. I would think lowest fare option would be JFK>DUB, then use discount airlines and trains in Europe. I'm seeing roundtrip to Dublin from JFK for $800 in July right now.
Posted by
Bloomington, IL, USA
9371 posts
Unfortunately, there is no longer a "good" time to buy. Airline fares change constantly, up and down. As the previous poster suggested, setting up fare alerts might help. Also, watch the prices of the flights you are considering for awhile so you get an idea of what they are running, and be prepared to buy as soon as you see something acceptable. Then stop watching. You are traveling during peak tourist season, so don't expect to find any real bargains. But by watching carefully, and having fare alerts, you might find a sale.
Posted by
Toledo, Ohio, US
11613 posts
Check Boston to Dublin as well. Setting up fare alerts is a great idea. You can also get hotel deal alerts with some travel or hotel booking services.
Posted by
Huntsville, AL, USA
8319 posts
You can probably get a fair fare form NYC to Dublin. From there, you can catch a budget airline flight to London. London to Paris is very easy on the Eurostar (fast train). The train from Paris to Switzerland would work. Flights are much better if you could go earlier in the year. Prices go up dramatically on April 1st and June 1st. July and August are always ultra-busy months, and bargains will be hard or impossible to find. Some European countries essentially close for vacation 8/1 of every year. I used to try to see as many cities and countries--and drive as far as I could in two weeks and three weekends. It just wore me out. Now, we try to simplify our destinations to three places in 2 weeks, and we go the last couple of days in March. The winter weather has usually just left. I use http://matrix.itasoftware.com/ or Kayak.com to plan for flights. I watch the fares closely, and buy when there's a dip in prices around 60 days out. Prices currently quoted are pretty high. I only go when the prices are right.