I've read a lot of post regarding when to buy airfare and the sites to go. I'm hoping I can get some travelers from the Bay Area to let me know if the rates I'm seeing for my itinerary are good or should I wait?
I'm traveling 9/26/14 SFO to London, Heathrow prefer non-stop
10/11/13 Rome to SFO 1 stop LAX
Total fare $2600 for 2 people economy class using Delta
Any input would be appreciated. Thanks to everyone and Happy Holidays
Lisa
That looks about par for the course. We're traveling on United in May and have paid a little over $1500/pp. However we're doing a complicated itinerary, which includes a stopover in Tampa, a flight from there to Nice (changes in Chicago and Frankfurt), and a return flight from Nice to SF. We also popped for Economy Plus seats for the two transatlantic segments. When I first started looking, prices were a bit lower, with United and Delta having very similar tabs and similarly horrible outbound flights. United's return configuration of Nice to Frankfurt to SF was the deal maker vs Delta's Nice to CDG to JFK to SFO. I've never flown on Virgin, but lots of people I know like their service and prices.
SFO - LHR non stop is operated only by British, United, Virgin Atlantic.
FCO-SFO non stop is not available. The fastest option is to change in some European hub which has a non stop to SFO (e.g. LHR, CDG, AMS, FRA, MUC, ZRH). The option you mentioned with one stop in LAX is also good. The FCO - LAX option is operated by Alitalia. The LAX to SFO is operated by Delta Connection. If I were you I would avoid stopping in the East (JFK, ATL, EWR, IAD, ORD) because that prolongs the trip by various hours.
The airfare you mentioned of $2,600 r/t for two people, I.e. $1,300 p.p., is not bad at all.
Try the ITA website for more possibilities.
Lisa, probably about right on the airfare right now for a non-stop flight from the west coast to Europe. I have been looking at non-stops and they are a bit pricier. 2 stop flights (i.e. SFO/Chicago/Heathrow/Rome or Sacramento/Dulles/Frankfurt/Venice) seem to be a bit less expensive.
I think it looks good for an open jaw ticket. And the return is great. I would grab it. It is possible it might drop a hundred dollars but you might also lose the connections.
Sounds about normal for September flying.
We bought tickets into ATL-Budapest and out of Prague for $728 pp leaving 4/25/2014. There have been a couple of one day sales out of selected cities recently. I noticed the same fares for mid $800's last week a couple of days. I do research on http://matrix.itasoftware.com/
FareBoom.com is absolutely the lowest prices of any website. It almost looks like they're giving back a little of their commissions to the ticket purchaser. You can also sign up for them to notify you on an itinerary when prices drop.
You have plenty of time to wait for lower fares before you commit yourself to $1300 flights. I expect some changes in airfares after the first of the year.
Curious. What changes are you expecting after the first of the year?
Thank you everyone for your replies. I normally get e-mails but not this time. I'm glad I checked today because I didn't think anyone replied. Any more thoughts on waiting until after the first of year?
Thanks again Lisa
Lisa, there is a similar discussion over in General Europe under "Time is on our side."
You're fortunate to have three airlines that fly to London non-stop. That's on United, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic. Unfortunately, none have great connections back to San Francisco.
You'd probably do best to go British Airways Rome-Heathrow and catch a non-stop back to SFO.
SFO is my "home" airport and the one my family flies out of to visit me. Since 2011 they've never found anything to Europe for less than $1150 from there during the nicer months. My sis in law did manage to go from SFO to Frankfurt for $950, but that was in early March which is still basically winter. Just throwing in my experience. $1300 isn't bad at all, unfortunately.
Thanks again everyone for their input. I have one last question, at least for now:). Looks like I'm going to fly home on Alitalia Air through a Delta Ticket. Rome to LAX non stop then home to OAK. I've read many reviews on the airline and I'm a little concerned. Food seems to be a big issue in the reviews, not really a deal breaker for me as I can always bring something to eat with me. Another concern is the Customer Service. The price and flight time works really well for me so I'm willing to overlook certain things. Does anyone have any input from personal experience with Alitalia? Should I be concerned?
BTW- Rate went down to $2492 round trip for 2 people today.
Any input would be appreciated.
Thank you
Lisa
Our only experience with Alitalia was flying within Italy, and it was just fine. As for food, we've had awful meals on Lufthansa, Delta, and United, so I doubt you should pay attention to that issue. In fact, I'm now leaning toward "brown-bagging" it every time we fly. You can pick up something acceptable in the airport before your flight. Just be sure that you allow enough time for checking in at T5 (required for direct flights to US) before dealing with everything else. Many folks suggest being at the airport 3 hours ahead. Buon viaggio!
In Sept I booked San Francisco to Milan on United / Luthesa (Sp) for $1015 going June 2014
