Hi I am needing information and suggestions on when to purchase airline tickets to England for travel in August 2012. My family has a house exchange in Sheffield, England in August, 2012. This timeline cannot be altered due to constraints of my job. Because of the London Olympics I have concerns about airline ticket prices and when is the best time to purchase and get the most competitive prices. We will be flying out of Portland, Oregon into Manchester, England. We also need to travel with the least amount of time between layovers as my 76 year old mother is traveling with us and needs an easier journey. Any advice is greatly appreciated. I am afraid the window of purchase time may be small...if I purchase too early prices are high, yet if I purchase to late, prices may be even higher! Help! Shona
Posted by
Land of La
9232 posts
No one can predict the cost of plane tickets over the next few months. Since you are locked into your dates, start looking now. London is a huge international hub I would think you'd be able to find better deals on certain airlines than ticket costs from Portland to Manchester. Manchester is a train hub. Might consider landing at Heathrow, taking the Heathrow Express or Connect into London's Paddington Station and then taking the Tube to Euston Station to take a train to Manchester.
Safe travels.
Posted by
Reston, Virginia
403 posts
To extend the thought expressed by Claudia, it might be a wise idea to check multiple airports over the next few months and only pulling the trigger after you are pretty sure what constitutes a good value. Remember, in addition to flying into Heathrow or Manchester, you could possibly find a deal going into one of the other London airports, into Liverpool, into Dublin, or into Glasgow...getting to manchester from any of these wouldn't be too difficult. A more far-out idea would be to fly Transatlantic to one of the many European cities served by Easyjet and connect to an Easyjet flight into the Midlands. If you are willing to painstakingly haunt Kayak for a couple of months...remember, the computer you are dealing with never gets bored at cranking out answers...you might find a good deal. Or, who knows, you might find a good Olympics-period deal on a flight straight into Manchester. Just keep looking and don't panic.