When to book airfare to Germany?

This is a dilemma faced by most of who travel!

You will get a variety of responses because there is not just one rule that always works. Many people will track the price of flights for awhile to get a sense of what a typical fare that route is. You can set alerts on Google flights that will notify you if the price changes.

I recently was looking at prices for a multi-city itinerary. It initially came back at 1600 and then rose to$2400 where it has remained stuck for several weeks. I finally decided to use Frequent Flier miles since cash was looking pretty expensive. Will it go down again, I don’t know. I do know that every transatlantic flight I have been on in the last year (8) has been completely full and there doesn’t seem to be any slow down in demand.

If you wait for the lowest price it may never come or you may get a great deal. The trick is to have a sense of typical cost and buy when you feel it is a price you can live with.

Thanks I am a big fan of Google Flight tracker and have been tracking this flight for awhile. I too have seen the price go up over the last couple months. I am planning on waiting till 2 months prior but wanted to check with this forum since this will be our first time out of country and to Europe.

My airports feature United, which is a Lufthansa partner. Two-segment flights often cost no more than direct to a United/Germany hub. I understand that Nebraska is not as convenient. Also check Lufthansa website pricing of the same trip. I only buy air tickets direct from airlines.

You cannot see all of Germany in one vacation. I suggest leaving out Munich for this trip, because it is more remote. Opinion. (In fact, we saw Munich on our Inssbruck-Salzburg-Vienna vacation by train. We missed The Romantic Road, however.)

I have posted this previously but will again add that if you book quite some months ahead also assume there will be changes to your departure and return times in with your trip planning. My upcoming domestic flight has just changed, but only by 10 minutes.
But both my summer international flights were changed by 4+ hours! That can impact your connections (assuming you have them). And I ended up changing my last night's hotel to stay at the airport, for example. because my original 10 a.m. Europe departure was changed to 6 a.m.

which airport will you be flying out of?

My philosophy has long been to book when I see a fare I find acceptable. I would drive myself crazy by looking for "the best" fare - buyer's remorse, second guessing, what-ifs, on and on. Some take that a step further - book a refundable fare and then keeping monitoring for a cheaper flight. Personally, I have not done this. I'm happier feeling that my plans - barring any change in schedule by the airlines - is established.

Do recognize, as noted above brilliantly by BonVoyage, that when booking farther out, your plane(s) schedule is more likely than not to change. You may also face a forced change of selected seat and even class if the aircraft itself is changed. The best laid plans......

(I've had three overseas trips to Europe and Asia since January 2024 and several domestic flights. My flights were probably booked from 6 months to 2 months in advance. My upcoming domestic flight, 3 weeks away, is the only one that has not yet had a change of schedule and/or seat. And, I fly direct from Chicago without needing the connections one may require if starting in Nebraska.)

Flying out of Omaha and thinking of flying to Munich. Our understanding is that Munich is older and has more to see from that perspective compared to Frankfortt that is larger and more metropolitan.

You might want to keep tabs on fares around Thanksgiving and see if there
are any Black Friday sales.

I would personally be very nervous waiting until two months out. What if the price is really high? Also, what if the best connections are sold out?
What does your first sentence mean? Sorry to ask.
Note that Easter is April 20 next year , so the week after Easter will see increased crowding.
What is exactly your itinerary? Do you have more than one departure airport you will consider using? I would compare prices on Frankfurt vs Munich. In the past, I have observed Frankfurt being somewhat cheaper. And- what fare class are you considering?
Good luck!

To Munich (or even Frankfurt), in the season you are contemplating, I would also hesitate to wait until 2 months out, especially if your dates are not highly flexible. I missed that you were thinking of this.

Lots of people traveling in what used to be "shoulder season" these days - even aside from Easter traffic. I wouldn't expect last minute "bargain" fares. (But I'm not holding a crystal ball.....)

Personally I start looking 6 months out but book no later than three months out. Pick a fare you can live with and don't look back. (Note some airlines will allow you to cancel and rebook at a lower fare, but you usually only get a flight credit back.)

Flying out of Omaha you should be able to book through ORD or EWR on Star Alliance. Personally I'd pick ORD over EWR.

First, go to Munich if you want to—it's a good city for your first Germany trip. Munich is lovely and certainly one of the iconic cities of Germany. You can visit a lot of Bavaria from there as well.

I agree with the others about booking flights. Have you considered checking flights into other cities like Frankfurt or Berlin? You might wind up with a much cheaper flight and can then just take the train to Munich. It certainly wouldn't hurt to check.

One thing, I recently read an article that said airlines flights are going up in price and not likely to come down anytime soon. I booked a flight to London back in the summer for late March of 2025 when the base price was around $980. It's now at $2400 and seems to be staying there.

I would definitely be looking now. Use Google Flights to see what is available. You can set it so that is looks for more than one final destination. In your case I would set it to depart from Omaha and arrive at either Frankfurt, Munich or Berlin and see times, durations and fares. In addition to the Star Alliance Airlines, Delta has several offerings through either MSP and DTW and Icelandic AIr through Seattle.

Excellent advice from everyone, thank you!!!!