We have friends looking to fly to Spain or Vienna in June, is there a historical pattern when sales start for June? I know they missed the Delta sale last month and the Lufthansa sale to Frankfurt even eariler, hopefully there is a time when prices may drop a little.
Posted by
Huntsville, AL, USA
8308 posts
Sale? You never know.
Airlines are really good at controlling supply of seats in order to keep the demand high and the prices high. 2013 was an example of this. 2014 looks to be about the same as 2013 in Summer airfares.
And with the ongoing merger of U.S. Air and American Airlines, airfares long term are not expected to reduce.
I look for the airlines to regroup after the Christmas/New Year Holidays, and there may possibly be some decreased airfares. On the other hand, there may be just some one day airfare sales.
It's just hard to tell.
The good news is that people have plenty of time to wait for June airfares to stabilize before they just have to jump into the retail airfare market.
Keep an eye out for quick sales, and be prepared to buy on a moment's notice.
Posted by
Windsor, Ontario, Canada
4085 posts
The trans-Atlantic pattern for the past couple of years has been the reverse of what you suggest. Prices, at least from the midwest, have risen at the end of May, and stayed up well into September. Summer sees increased demand, and with the international carriers controlling their capacity more strictly, high demand means higher prices. Not to say that there won't be a momentary or last-minute dip from a certain departure city, but you might win the lottery too. My bet is to make my purchase in the next few weeks.
Posted by
OP
Gilbert, AZ
80 posts
Thank you for the replies, we will keep a watch on the flights and hopefully catch a sale - even if it is one day.
Mike
Posted by
sheffield lake, ohio
24 posts
I travel every year to Germany in late August or early September. I usually start browsing the web around this time of year for flight information and find that the best time to book is in the 90 to 45 day range before flight date. So you have a good three months from now to get an idea what your cost will be. I find that kayak.com works best for me and when I find a flight that suits me I will go directly to the airline website and book from there. Since I travel out of CLE I can tailor my flight schedule to what I want because kayak doesn't always give all flight options and I get the flight I want for the same price advertised on kayak. Can't really count on "sales" anymore but keep looking anyway.