Is this a good price for my flights next fall?

I think the fact that it is premium economy makes this a fair price from the West Coast, and I just don't have experience with Chicago prices. They may be around the same?

I suppose my main questions are, "Does this fit your budget? Are the connections convenient?" If the answer is yes to both, why not go ahead and purchase?

Next September is way off, I would hang tight and just track fares for now (I would even say it's too early to do that). There is no hurry to accept a rather mediocre/ poor fare like $1468.

@Agnes, did you notice that this was for premium economy????

I have to tell you that I don't think that this is a mediocre price for that level of flight.

@Carol - My apologies, you are right, I did not notice that important tidbit. But I would still contend that booking this early would subject the OP to many itinerary changes that it's still not worth it. I don't think airline schedules are "solid" this early out. I would only buy if the price was incredible.

I would be pleased with that price for Premium Economy from Phila.

I typically reserve early. For my France tour this past fall, I booked the flights in November 2021. So glad I did because with all the crazy gas prices, airfare went through the roof. I paid $800 for a non-stop flight from Chicago to Paris in premium economy, and it jumped to $1,600 a few months before the trip. Google Flights is who/what told me to jump on it, even though they had no idea about the upcoming gas price surges.🧙‍♀️ I believe they use Predictive Analytics or similar? I hope GF is as beneficial this time around, but always good to get insights from frequent travelers like you!

I have been searching flights for next summer and I think that's a killer price for PE.

Question: what do you mean it excludes taxes and seat assignments? I have never seen a flight priced without taxes and usually you get seats in PE. Do you mean includes?

Which airline is this?

@Lola
KLM and Air France
One stop for flight to Europe and two stops on the way back. Price was $500 more if I wanted only one stop on the way back.

@Shannon, the price I'm quoting is from Google Flights. When I go to KLM's website and look at the same flights, it's slightly more because they include the taxes/fees. Plus, to choose specific seats, it costs a tiny bit more. I'm a stickler for a window seat, so I'm willing to pay a bit for that!

My last KLM flight about 6 mo. Ago the seats cost about $90 fir the whole trip. Still a reasonable price and if it gives you comfort of mind ... great.

I think that is decent. We paid about that for Portland Oregon to Ljubljana, Dubrovnik to Pdx in 2019 (premium economy) on Condor. KLM and Air France are step up.
I found $1227 multicity on Delta comfort+ PDX to Zurich, Rome to PDX today for next October 2023. I put them on hold, but I think I'm going to go for it. Especially since it's direct to Amsterdam from Portland. Changes are no charge. Hopper says "wait until Jan 6" then prices likely to go up. I'm doubting much change in a week!

I suggest you check with LOT Polish Airlines for a better price and the shortest time in the air. They make connections in Warsaw with relatively short times on the ground. WWW.LOT.COM

The other airline that's less expensive is Turkish Airlines, however their time on the ground in return is ridiculously long.

The best value is often the time in the air and in the number of airports you must go through. But in this case, the price might be better on LOT too.

With the further information and number of legs, I wouldn't do it.

My flight experience is quite a bit different than most here on the forum. I fly out of Cleveland which is more expensive than the east coast, the west coast and other large cities. I am Delta loyal as I have Platinum status due to a combination of flights and my Amex card. I fly premium select or Delta one on the transatlantic portion and comfort plus on the domestic portion.

My personality drives me to purchase early, like 9 months early. So far, looking at the last 4 years this has really worked out for me. I have had flight changes, but I was able to change to an equal or better situation. I was upgraded to front of plane on a flight to Iceland, for example. Delta also allows you to cancel a flight for credit, so if a less expensive flight comes up I can cancel and rebook. Because I am flying twice a year on the same airline, I can always use the credit. But, I haven't had to do that because every flight I have booked has become more expensive over time. I also watch the upgrade prices weekly because occasionally the price will temporarily drop by a huge margin and I will jump on that.

From Cleveland in comfort plus, that would be a good price for those flights. I would book them. I am not familiar with the class products of those airlines.

I am looking at premium economy fares from the west coast (RNO, SAC, SFO) to Norway (open jaw) for July and they are running $2,400. I would love that $1,468 fare.

That's why I always travel in fall or spring, I don't want to pay summer rates.

I went ahead and booked the flights!

That's a good deal for premium economy.

When you find a price that suits you, jump on it and quit checking fares. Sounds like a reasonable fare to me.

Don't focus too much on flying back from Ljubljana. It is a tiny airport so your choices will be limited. You will find more options if you consider alternate airports as well.

I know pricing will continue to fluctuate up until the day of the flight, but I'm glad I booked when I did because it's already up to over $2,100!

People saying that prices will go down don't realize the pent up demand still there especially as China/Japan start traveling again. Unless there is another 9/11 or lockdowns, if a price looks decent for YOU, grab it.

People are traveling. I'm traveling to Germany/Austria in the Spring and ALL of my hotels that I booked late last year are already almost full and at a higher price. Granted they aren't high-end but are in Tripadvisor top budget hotels. My guess is that flights and hotel prices will continue to rise even as a recession hits.

Yeah, to your point, Heather, the first hotel for my trip next to September/October is already almost booked up. They only had large rooms available. I had to book a nearby Airbnb apt, which actually looks pretty amazing, so I'm excited. I didn't want to book a large room knowing they would likely move me to a smaller single room anyway, since I'm paying the single supplement.

@Jill
So glad the timing went well on your ticket purchase. As an FYI, I have always kept the same room at the starting tour hotel when reserved there in advance on a single supplement. I simply confirm with the hotel when I make the reservation that I will be able to stay in same room.

A single supplement doesn’t always mean a single room. Often the rooms are double rooms. On rare occasions you even end up with better rooms! On one tour last fall, there had been a misunderstanding between RS tours and the hotel in Mostar and the hotel was short of rooms. The 5 of us on single supplement were walked to a nearby hotel for the night. I slept well in the best air conditioning of the trip. We returned to the original hotel for breakfast and to depart only to find out from tour mates they had an uncomfortable night with minimal air conditioning.

Interesting! I did forward the email from the hotel with a note about this to the RS office a couple of weeks back. Surprised they didn't reply to me and tell me about this. Oh well, no worries at all, but thanks for the info!

Flying to Paris CDG or Frankfurt from SFO Economy, in the summer, r/t pre-pandemic . whenever the price was ca. $ 1500, I definitely took it.

The price for the same itinerary I booked for around $1,500 is now up to $2,780. 😲

@ Jill. I'm so glad that you were able to get this at the better price! Thanks for coming back and letting us know how it has changed.

For fun, I looked up another data point. I purchased my airfare at the end of June 2022 for Middle of April 2023. I did buy it on a sale. There are many on this forum that would say that this was "way too early" and that they would wait until a few months out. I paid $1196 RT. The same flights, same class of service are now $4759.85 or a difference of a little over $3500. Needless to say, I would not buy the ticket now at that price.

I think the key is knowing the "usual price" and knowing when something is better than that price and being able to grab it when it is lower. Still , always a bit of a gamble.