Should we buy plane tickets now?

You should be regularly checking prices on these routes so that you will know the difference between a normal fare and a good or great fare. Only then can you make a more informed decision as to when to buy. You're right in that none of us has a crystal ball. But if you know a great fare when you see it pop up then you will know to buy it then and don't wait.

Personally I would not want to wait until the last minute to buy a plane ticket because until you purchase that ticket, you don't have a definite start and stop date to begin the planning and hotel/car/train reservation game.

I have religiously been checking the rates on Kayak.com for several months. The prices are slowing increasing. They've gone up a couple hundred dollars since June - and I'm worried they will keep going up. I see a rate now of $1040 from Mpls to London and then Rome to Mpls. Anyone think this sounds resonable? It's actually one of the lowest I've seen in awhile.

I am going to London in December Via US Airways. I watched the prices for December from January ($1,250 RT) to May ($1,129 RT) and finally dropped to $842 in July for Dec. Thats the one i purchased, through www.flycheapabroad.com. It had the best rates, and that includes all taxes and fuel surcharges. Now the same flight is up to $969 RT. I suppose it could drop a bit further, but could be fully booked up by Dec.

Thats how I figured out what it normally costs and when its low/high, I just kept checking all the sites!

Thanks Tami, that is very helpful info

Might I also recommend not buying the cheapest flight when it is on a discount carrier. I did that and Zoom Airlines folded on me last week. Had to file a charge back with Mastercard and get new flights with United. I am just lucky they didn't fold halfway through our trip! If you are booking a year in advance with an already shaky airline, who knows if they will be around when you go to use your ticket.

If you are going in mid or late May, I think $1040 is pretty reasonable. It's definitely a dice roll, and there are a lot of complicated factors that are going to mess the pricing up between now and then.

At this point in time, I would probably wait, but check multiple sites (kayak, orbitz, flycheapabroad, individual airlines, etc.) religiously. I did this from December to March for a trip this November. Most airfare was hovering in the $1000-1200 range (remembering that we are travelling in the off-season). I found one flight for about $800 that was tempting, but the connection times were not very good and I decided to wait.

Middle of March (8 months prior to our trip) I found a screaming deal of $650 round trip Seattle-Rome and purchased.

I think the bottom line is when you find a flight you like--on a reasonably good airline, with good/reasonable connections and a reasonable price, buy it. The price may be a little higher than if you had waited (or if you hadn't waited!) but at least you will know you are on a flight that you prefer.

So i just found a pretty good rate on flycheapabroad.com......however, it doesn't list the carrier!? It shows the itinerary and all the info, but I think I would actually have to purchase the flight before I could see the carrier. This scares me a bit.....any thoughts on why it's doing that? if i scroll down the page, the more expensive flights show the carrier....but not the cheap one tha I want!

I would not buy it yet because they don't know what their demand will be. For example, I just purchased a ticket to Asia that had been $2000 but dropped down to $1500 (mainly due to gas prices I suspect). The only real reason to book this far out is if you want to use miles as those seats can go very early.

As for the non-listing of the airlines, yes that is the deal and do be aware that you will typically get ZERO FF miles in such a case as well. However, whatever airline you get will be a major carrier but the group may not be terribly direct.

Jodi--this happened to me last time I went to Europe. Try this trick:

Write down the details of the flight--airports, time, etc. Then go search orbitz or travelocity. There is a good chance that the same flight will show up for more money! That way you know which airline it is likely to be.

I figured out that the "hidden" airlines for my trip were Continental and Alitalia using this method (and Alitalia was fine--though I would not necessarily choose them again).

Oh--and it's doing that for the same reason that priceline and other sites won't tell you who it is. It's part of the deal they work out with the company to offer the very low fares. Something to do with the companies not wanting to admit they're selling tickets/reservations for that cheap I think?

I buy tickets for two of my daughters to come home from London each year at Christmas. Our tickets in & out of London this summer were about $1050 each, but we just purchased tickets for Late December and early January for $540 RT. Check NW airlines out of Seattle ASAP! You can fly here, visit our lovely city, and get a great fare to London.

Be aware that kayak.com is losing its agreements with some airlines and their fares are not showing. If you only use kayak.com, it might be time to find another place to check fares.

Actually, Kayak has only lost American Airlines, after the airline insisted that anyone purchasing a ticket thru Kayak be rerouted to the AA website, not a third party's like orbitz, etc. Kayak refused, saying their mandate was to provide customers with options. Mobissimo and Farecast apparently will only send you to AA's site. AA argues it's their intellectual property and they have a right to sign agreements with those who wish to use it. Nothing like cutting off your nose to spite your face!

As of now, American is the only carrier but others have started to look into it...since American has more flights to London from the U.S. than any other U.S. carrier..it's a big deal not to be able to check their flights.

Jodi -

From my experience your best bet is going to be Northwest since that is a hub and there are direct flights to/from both cities. For Spring travel they will release sale prices most likely in early February. I usually purchase tickets 3-4 months out and tend to get good deals. Now whether gas will go up, down or sideways is anyone's guess and how it will affect ticket prices is anyone's guess as well. This is just my personal opinion and what has worked for me in the past.

Jodi...Northwest and KLM are aligned. What about looking at flights from MPS to Amsterdam to London. It may be more of a hassle but you sometimes get a better deal changing planes.

Or...roundtrip MPS-AMS and then look into discount airlines for the rest of your trip.

You'll still get lots of flights by using Kayak (like British Airways with 41 flights/day from the U-S to London)....but it's always best to check all the other websites that people have suggested as well. And don't forget to check local airports that may be closer to you, like International Falls, Grand Forks, and even Winnipeg. Some times, to draw in other traffic, you'll find deals as good as, or better, from smaller airports outside the big urban areas like MSP...and you won't have to drive as far! ;) Another suggestion made by a travel guy Rick had on a show recently is to use the search engines to find the best price, then, if it's offered through a third party (like travelocity or orbitz), go directly to the airline, and you'll probably find it as cheap, if not cheaper (since they won't have to pay a commission), and with more recourse if you have problems or issues.

We bought our tickets in April (for December), and I check on them now and then to see what the prices are now. For the 6 of us (3 are childrens' rate with Lufthansa), they have gone up about $800. The bigger issue for us would have been that the flights are now almost full. Since we preferred flying direct to Germany (our destination) and wanted to sit together, it would have been hard to find a great and available bargain on the one direct flight a day from here to Germany. I am glad we bought when we did.

I've been checking airfares to London for a few weeks now. Just today I saw flights for under $900 on one of the search engines. I went to the United site and was able to buy a ticket (RT) San Francisco-London for $864 for later this month. The same ticket was over $1000 last week and about $1200 a couple of weeks ago. With the value of the US$ improving, travel to Europe is looking better!