Is now too early to book a flight on Eurowings or Easyjet for May 2022?

I've used both airlines. Book now for the lower price as I know Easy Jet fares rise on a particular route as capacity reduces; during the pandemic buy only fully refundable tickets and expect changes.

Your flight is eight months from now. Schedules may change, new flights may be added.......who knows.

I've flown Easyjet many times without any problems. Just read their rules and regulations carefully.

If you buy your tickets now because you want the cheapest, cheapest, cheapest seats you can find, realize they will be non-refundable and limited on changes. If you just want to lock in seats, buy refundable tickets now and then as you get closer, switch to non-refundable cheaper seats.

Frank II; thank you for that idea. We need to book seats from Nice to Venice in May, and I was holding back since the ones I was looking at were non-refundable. I'll get back to the website and dig a bit more.

Thanks for your replies. I'm not looking for the cheapest necessarily, I'm more interested in making sure we get there.

Eurowings, which has the schedule I'm more interested in now, offers free booking changes with their "Smart" fares, but not refundable tickets. Refundable seems to be an option with their "Flexi" pricing, which isn't offered on this flight.

Maybe I'll wait a bit and see if more flights are added to both airlines giving us more options.

Maybe I'll wait a bit and see if more flights are added to both airlines giving us more options.

I would wait at least until early 2022 before trying to book this flight, just continue to monitor this route via skyscanner or google flights. Flight schedules are likely to change - and who knows if all of these airlines will still be in business next year anyway?

FWIW I have flown Easyjet multiple times, always opted for the top ticket price that allowed me to check a bag and select seats and also get priority check-in and boarding and IIRC more leeway on the size or number of carry-on items. It has been a couple of years and I don't remember what that ticket is called or if they still operate that way or not, but it did not add a lot to the ticket price. I would fly this airline again without hesitation, no complaints, flew on time, etc.

My 2 cents: I would fly to Berlin on the first date, not waiting until the next day just in case anything goes sideways on your flights. Just count on taking a cab from the airport to your hotel regardless when your plane lands, even late PM.

Jojo Rabbit, we were looking at that fare for our May flight. It's double or more of the cheapest fare, but allows carry on luggage (more than just the one small piece all travelers get), which would cover everything Stan and I carry. Plus, seat choice, early boarding, and some other minor benefits.

I figured the cost of this higher "class" of ticket was about the same as having to check a bag, but with the added benefits of early boarding and seat choice. There's an extra charge, but minor, something like €6, for extra leg room. Our flight is only an hour, so I don't know if I'll opt for that.

I'm doing this off the top of my head; I haven't actually looked at the fare schedule since last week, but I think I'm going to go ahead and book. There's only one flight a day from Nice to Venice, and at the present time, it looks like all the seats are available. Alitalia has a flight, but it's more expensive, it isn't non-stop, and they're going away anyway.

Jane:

The early check-in at Easyjet is a huge benefit and worth the cost - in effect, you are treated like a first class passenger in the US with a dedicated check in counter; only a handful of people pay for it on Easyjet, and you have a special area you wait in at the gate to board the plane early, too. Otherwise you get into a very long line if you are checking a bag, and another massive line at the gate.

Even on these short flights (although several of mine were 2+ hours), the extra legroom is very nice (but I am 6'4" and will always pay more for the legroom).

JoJo, thanks, for your reply. I think waiting a while may give us more options. Like, Jane, both of the flights I mentioned are pretty empty.

Given a choice when planning things, I usually opt for the earlier date in case things go wrong, as you said. I this case, I was hoping that with the extra full day in Dubrovnik, we could do a day trip to Montenegro that we had planned for last year after this trip. But, we could still have a fair amount of time in Dubrovnik on Saturday for other activities, then have most of the day in Berlin on Sunday, before the Berlin, Prague, Vienna tour starts.

You need to wait as long as possible, not only to ensure you're getting an accurate schedule but, frankly, in today's travel environment, that these airlines will still be flying in the spring. You'll never get your money back if they go bk, which is not unlikely at the moment.