Tips on saving on airfare for family of 5 for summer Best of Europe 14 days?

Hi JB, well, for a July trip, you will have a hard[er] time finding a good deal at this late date. You could try other departure airports, meaning, how far are you willing to drive to get a cheap fare? D.C.? Looking at open jaw tickets out of D.C. on Google flights (without knowing your exact dates in July) to Paris and back from Rome, prices are half the price (!) as what I find from RDU...
Scotts doesnt do much in helping you find tickets. Its more of an alert email letting you know when cheap fares crop up. But f you have firm dates, you should go directly to Google flights or Skyscanner. Fwiw, we are also a family of five and make travel possible by driving to airports with good fares (less money, but more suffering ;)

I second the recommendation for driving to DC or Charlotte as I cannot even imagine how expensive flights from Raleigh must be. Plus that may help you eliminate a stop.

JB,
I feel your pain as we are going to Europe this July with 4 and airfare adds up quick. In fact our airfare is about 40% of the trip cost. I'm so sorry to be the bearer of bad news. There's really no magic to getting cheap airfare (that I have ever found) beyond purchasing as far in advance as you can. Like now!

Since you're flying out of Raleigh your choices are probably Delta or American. Look on your favorite travel search site for fares then book with the airline directly through their website (you will usually pay a surcharge to call and speak to a person to purchase). Check for a couple days if you want, to see if the fares change by purchase day/time. Clear your cookies each time if you are paranoid. Don't wait too long, they probably wont get any cheaper as you get near departure dates! Choose the most basic economy you can, if you must, but remember you probably wont get to select seats or check in bags (which is fine with me) with the lowest fares.

You can try to land somewhere else and train to your start location, but remember you will have to purchase train tickets for 5 as well. So it might not be cheaper? Additionally, I have found flying into one city and out of another rarely makes the tickets cost more.
Good Luck and I hope you guys have a great trip!

I am so very grateful for these detailed replies - thanks so much! I hadn't really thought through the idea of leaving from another airport than RDU, so that's a good thing to explore. For future (?) reference, when should I have tried to book these flights for July, since apparently now is considered "late." :-(

I started looking at airfares last november for our May-June trip this year.. but i didnt buy till jan. I start looking just to get an idea of prices.. so I know when to snap up a deal.

Do they have child prices for airfare in States.. we pay full price for children over 2 normally.. some airlines give like 10 percent off.. but normally its just another body in seat and they charge accordingly. ?

Janet,

"USUALLY" airlines don't publish fares farther than 10 months ahead. Start that far back. When you see a fare you are happy with, get it and don't look back. If you search the site you will find different suggestions as to how far in advance to buy. There is no specific "days before". Looking at different departure and/or landing airports in different /same city is a very good idea. Charlotte is not far from you and Paris has 3 airports (I think).

How exciting for the JB family, and what a great travel experience to have this summer! I think choosing airfare is a fun challenge to make all parts of it the best value for my money, my time and my (economy-class) comfort. I do not consider choosing other than my home airport as I value picking the easiest to reach from my front door as paramount. I choose carriers which have routing I prefer, always wanting to opt for a nonstop where feasible and 1-stop via international layover (vs domestic). I prefer to choose via aircraft type and prefer multi-aisle jet versus single-aisle and am aware lower airfares I consider may not include seat selection or a checked bag. A quick Kayak.com search for multi-city RDU - CDG/FCO - RDU itinerary for 4 adults/1 child (btw, child 2-11, youth 12-17) depart Thurs 7/11-return Thurs 7/25 had me zeroed in on the nonstop depart 5:43p to CDG (8hr 2min) with return 9:45a FCO 1-stop (layover ATL 1hr 37min, total flight time 14hr 10min) AirFrance/Delta option for $1368 with no seat selection/checked bag. I think it is money wisely spent for the initial nonstop flight; it will be much less taxing on all of your travelers dealing with only 2 airports/1 flight on the inbound journey. I like the outbound departure time from Rome since it is not completely at o'dark-30 in the a.m. meaning, the 3 hours prior to international flight you should be at airport is at reasonable 06:45 time. Summer fares are higher and that price is not inconsistent to warm month fares I have paid in the past. Meaning, though no deal, it is about what my personal experience shows to expect. Price can be whittled down to the $1,100+ range by adding stops/time to the journey in the air and that's where the rubber meets the road for me. I protect my comfort/ease of transit over my bank account whenever I can. I think it is important to be aware of what you value when making your airfare purchase, and assuring that whatever you pay you are getting what you want.

I suspect Theresa's flight suggestions are as good as it gets when you're dealing with RDU.

Washington-Dulles is drivable for you, so I'd check fares from and back to IAD to see what the savings are (if any). No harm in checking CLT, but I doubt that will do much for you. July is peak travel period, and it's true that you're probably a bit late for bargains, so it's entirely possible the savings even out of IAD will not be all that great. It's a hassle to have to drive over 4 hours at both ends of the trip (and you'd have to pad that A LOT outbound, because you can't risk missing the flight).

If IAD does prove a lot cheaper, be aware that there are hotels out by the airport that reportedly allow you to leave your car parked for some time if you spend one night there. That might at least prevent having to pay for parking at the airport.

For future reference, I've had good luck (flying from IAD) by monitoring fares in the fall to get a good idea of the normal price range for the route I'm interested in. Then I try to check every day, looking for a price drop so I can pounce. It also helps to have some date flexibility, but I know many people don't, because their workplaces require them to take vacation time in Mon-Fri blocks, or because they are taking a tour.

Speaking of which, it would be a very, very good idea to fly to Europe at least one day early. Two days would be better. Things can go wrong, and you don't want to miss any tour time. And you'll probably be badly jetlagged on your arrival day.

OK, here is what I found on Matrix.itasoftware. using July 11 to July 27

Cheapest option is to drive to Washington Dulles, fly nonstop to London, return from Rome with change in Charlotte. $765 per person on American.

You'll love the next cheapest option. Drive to Washington Dulles, to Paris with a change in Charlotte, return from Rome with change in Charlotte. $927 per person on American.
I say that because if you drive to Charlotte and fly from there on the same nonstops, it is $1723 per person. Adding the connection from Dulles saves you almost $600. Welcome to the world of airline pricing.

Going to London you will have to spend a night in London, and buy Eurostar tickets to Paris for the next day. That will run $111 per person for a morning train so you can be at the hotel by 3 pm for the start of the tour. That pretty much kills the price difference between flying to London and Paris.

All y'all are amazing! I hope I can return the karmic debt I feel! Our trip is the RS July 19-Aug 4 Best of Europe 14 days. our kids are 18, 15, 10, so at least on google flights the 2 older boys count as adults.

• Janet

Another thing, is this your first trip to Europe? If so, I would definitely fly in at least one day earlier than the RS Tour starts, especially since you have 3 kids with you. That first day can be BRUTAL with jetlag and if you've never flown overnight to Europe before, you don't know how well (or if) you will sleep, how you (or your kids) will adjust, etc. On our flight last year from ATL - Barcelona, neither myself, my husband, or our 11 year old slept a wink. My 8-yo slept about 3 hours. Needless to say we were less than fresh upon landing. And husband and I have been to Europe several times - each time, I have not slept at all. Ugh. We are actually looking at flying to Boston, spending the night, and taking the day flight to London next time we go to avoid the overnight flights. Not to scare you, some people sleep just fine overnight, but my main point is, you don't know how you will do your first time, so it's best not to plan much of anything that day you land just in case. If you do sleep well, then hey! You have a whole free day to do as you like.

Fredandkell, you make a good point about doubting how much sleep one could get. Two years ago my husband and I went on the RS 8 days in Ireland tour and neither of us slept well. We also were glad we'd planned to arrive a day earlier to adjust for jetlag, because as it turned out, our original flight on a Fri from RDU to NYC (I think it was) had mechanical issues, and the result was our entire journey was set back a day. We ended up coming back to RDU on a Sat, spending all day in JFK airport, and leaving that night for Shannon airport. We barely made it in time for the start of the tour and were fried. Considering this was late October, we weren't dealing with weather delays. Lesson learned. Maybe more than 1 day padding at the start is required.

By the way, the best prices I'm seeing on kayak.com are as follows:

Leave July 17, arrive July 18 IAD to CDG; leave August 4 FCO - IAD, $1429 United nonstop. Same dates with one stop, best prices are American, IAD-CLT-CDG; return FCO-LHR-IAD, $1014 American.

If you do choose to leave July 18 (which lands you morning of 19th) prices are $1514 United nonstop, $989 one stop on TAP Air Portugal, IAD-LIS-ORY, return FCO-LIS-IAD.

EDITED to add - I just realized that Delta actually has a nonstop from RDU to Paris! Didn't expect that!! It is $1800/pp though. Returns via Boston.

Google flights or Matrix-ITA software give you options for variable departure dates, nearby airports and some airlines not on sites like Expedia. I still use the old Matrix air https://matrix.itasoftware.com/
which is the software travel agents used to find flights 'way back when' that was eventually made public...then Google bought it and made it into Google Flights.
So as said, look at being a little flexible on arrival and departure dates, and use a larger airport for departure. Chances are there is a hotel nearby that offers a 'stay overnight and park for free' stay.
It is most likely easier to shift airports State side than in Europe.

This is where you start looking into travel pillows and the like ;) I have added to my plane repertoire every year to make the flight more comfortable and try to get some sleep. I found a great pillow last year, and made sure to bring warmer clothes just for the plane (they always keep the planes so cool!)

You should always plan a day or two earlier -- we often go close to a week -- since flights can get cancelled at the last minute. A couple of years ago we were headed to Europe on Lufthansa when the flight was cancelled for mechanical problems -- it was an 747 so a lot of folks affected. It took two days for us to get rescheduled. While standing inline to re-book, the mummer of missed cruises, tours, etc. was high. It is infrequent but it happens.

In the past I have started to look for airfares about six months before the trip, and have purchased tickets 4-5 months ahead of the travel dates, For our upcoming trip - Leaving 4/17/19, I purchased tickets seven months ahead, and did quite well with pricing.

I live in Greenville NC so I must get through Charlotte to make the international connection. I highly recommend spending the night before an international flight at the departure airport. I have found that going from my town to Washington Dulles is a good choice. Hotels are typically cheaper than hotels near JFK, for example. You might check the Norwegian Air fares. They have flights to Rome departing from JFK and Boston.
Google flight is an excellent research tool. You can put in many variables to determine options. The fares have links to the actual airlines to purchase a ticket. Be aware that buying a ticket through Expedia or Scott's is risky. If everything goes perfectly with no delay or missed connections all is well but I am not willing to risk it. Buying a ticket with the airline directly means that must deliver you to the destination which includes putting you on another flight if a flight is delayed or cancelled.
And yes I have flown into a city that is not my main destination, most recently into Dublin spent the night and took a 40 Euro flight to Madrid. Got to spend a short time in a place I had never been and saved money on the transatlantic flight.