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I've been watching BA fares for mid-March, PHL - AMS with a stop at Heathrow. It has just gone from $722 to $737. Reasonable? Do fares go down toward the end of the year, or is that a thing of the past?
Thanks-
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British Airways... buy now or wait?
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Holy crud, it just went to $712. If $700 is the new low (which I read on another thread), I think I'm buying...
Sales are not a thing of the past, but the fees and taxes into Schipol are outrageous but not nearly as much as fees through London. I don't think there are any hard and fast rules, and if the dollar keeps sinking (the euro is back now to over $1.50), I think the airlines may have trouble filling those seats at virtually any price. But don't count on a phenomenal deal. Anything around $600 sounds really good to me, and $700 might be acceptable.
I suspect you can do much better by buying a package. I've seen them for $700 that include both flights and hotels for the winter months, so that tells me there are cheaper flights out there.
Just got this from Travel Zoo moments ago. This alert includes fares from LAX, but look around...there might be fares from the East Coast included in this as well. Looks like you can travel until March 2010.
From the Travelzoo Newsdesk:
LOS ANGELES--NOVEMBER 10, 2009-- British Airways just
dropped ticket prices for flights from Los Angeles to
destinations worldwide into spring. Fares start at $218 each
way.
The sale features discounts on many routes, including
popular cities in Europe and the Middle East. These fares
are up to $200 off current prices. Travel is valid Nov. 17-
Dec. 20 and Dec. 24-March 28, but all tickets must be booked
by Nov. 19.
Sample fares from Los Angeles (each way):
- Madrid ... $218
- Rome ... $279
- Milan ... $279
- London ... $296 nonstop
- Paris ... $314
To view full terms and conditions and to book tickets
through British Airways, click below.
http://www.travelzoo.com/Newsflash.ashx?688306-78572020
Advertised fares like that can sound very cheap. However the devil is always in the details. Here's a fare breakdown for a LAX-LHR-LAX trip on BA in January. Note the base fare is $185 outbound, $205 inbound. $390? Nope...
BA LAXLON OLXNCNAS fare, psgr type ADT $184.50
BA LAXLON OLXNCNAS fare, psgr type ADT $204.50
US International Departure Tax, $16.10
US September 11th Security Fee, $2.50
US Passenger Facility Charge $4.50
BA YQ (fuel) surcharge, $222.00
USDA APHIS Fee, $5.00
US Immigration Fee, $7.00
US Customs Fee, $5.50
United Kingdom Air Passengers Duty, £45.00
United Kingdom Passenger Service Charge, £21.20
US International Arrival Tax, $16.10
Total for 1 adult passenger: $776.30
Very interesting, Gardyloo. I booked in at $712, so maybe that's the BA "sale." Also had trouble with the website and had to call. Nice man booked for me, and waived the usual fee.
Thanks for the tips!
Gotta love the fuel surcharge of $200+. That is just ridiculous. In any event, was just tossing it out there after booking a ticket R/T to Madrid for $329 after getting one of these emails from Travel Zoo. It wasn't on BA, however, but I thought this might be another good sale. Guess not. C'est la vie!
The point I was making is that there isn't a lot of downside flexibility in prices when the base fares for a 5500 mile sector like LAX-LHR are under $200.
For comparison, AA doesn't break out its fuel fines, just builds them into the base fare. I personally prefer this approach to what I see as a "bait and switch" mentality with BA and others.
AA LAXLON OLW7E3B fare, psgr type ADT, $315.50
AA LAXLON OLW7E3B fare, psgr type ADT, $315.50
US September 11th Security Fee, $2.50
US Passenger Facility Charge, $4.50
US International Departure Tax, $16.10
US International Arrival Tax, $16.10
United Kingdom Passenger Service Charge, £21.20
United Kingdom Air Passengers Duty, £45.00
US Customs Fee, $5.50
US Immigration Fee, $7.00
USDA APHIS Fee, $5.00
Total for 1 adult passenger: $796.30
BTW, the above AA fare is for different dates than the BA fare previously mentioned for $20 less. For the same days, the AA and BA fares are identical, down to the penny.