Airfare to Paris?

I think it is 'way too early to buy, but you need to be obessive about checking air fares in the early winter/spring, on a lot of different sites. I think fares will be high, because they are still decreasing volume. August will be a pretty busy season, but I would think you could do a bit better with some work. It'll make you feel better to eat that $100 or so rather than give it to the airlines!!

Gretchen,

That's what I was wondering if it's way too early! Since this is our first time to Europe, I didn't know if that price sounded like it was as good as it gets or not!
We are going mid-September and returning the first week in October, so I would think it would be less than August fares. I hope!
Cincinnati only has non-stop to Paris. If we fly one way to London, we have to change in JFK or ATL. Which I'm not wild about!

It pays not to fly from London - there is a big departure tax charged on flights from teh UK. Long haul flights pay more than short haul. The tax has just gone up and is due to go up again next year.
It is much too early to be looking for flights for next September. Apart from possible price fluctuations you could find your flight times changed or even cancelled between now and then.

Make sure Cincinnati still has a direct Paris flight. I was booked on Delta flying direct from Cincie but they called and said the flight was discontinued and rebooked me

I just checked 1800flyeurope for you and found round trip Cincy to Paris for next Sept for $873.00 incl all taxes and fees.
I used 1800flyeurope to book my trip to Paris for next April and I was happy with the price as I fly out of Evansville thru Cincy and home from Nice. I paid around $850.00 I agree it is early to book for next Sept.

Thanks for posting this thread!
I have been monitoring RT airfares to Paris in April 2010 and they have been hoovering between $900-950 from Raleigh or Charlotte...so it seems, from reading the above, that is a reasonably good price

I didn't know about the long haul tax from UK, but that is another reason to rule out London in addition to changing planes.
I know Cincinnati has non-stop Paris flights right now, I'm sure anything can change! Delta used to fly non-stop to London and that's changed. I will keep my fingers crossed!
I checked 1800 and it showed $938 for the dates I would be going, but it doesn't give me the airline? The fare for Delta, which is what I've been looking at is $1038 which is higher.
I've been checking airfare for Sept. and April in case rates are really good for spring and it makes it more economical to move our trip up!

We will have to do a RT on the Eurostar because we will end our trip in London. Does anyone know how far out you can book that? I've read around 4 months?

Thanks!

When you call they give you the name of the airline. My flight is Delta and KLM to paris.

IMO it's way too early to buy for next fall. Last summer there were crazy good fare sales for October (don't know about Sept.)

Historically, best fares are available 3-5 months out. Use kayak.com to monitor prices. Use a few fare alerts so that when a good fare pops up you will know it is good.

I did an open jaw indianapolis-Brussels and Paris-Indianapolis in summer of 2007 for almost $400 cheaper than roundtrip to Paris. I stayed overnite, enjoyed the jewelry store-like chocolate shops and mussels and frites then hopped the TGV to Paris.

Thanks, signed up for fare alerts on kayak!
We will consider open jaw if the fare is attractive enough!
I guess I'm just obsessing about the details, but it's good to know that I don't need to worry this far in advance!

Hi R,

I purchased my tickets for our flight this past Sept in Feb, 2009 for $873 pp ATL/Paris NS.
The price did not decrease until about early August when it went down to $860 for a few days.

www.kayak.com
www.1800flyeurope
http://www.flycheapabroad.com/default.aspx
all seem to offer the lowest prices.

Enjoy your visit.

Another good site for cost comparison is

http://www.itasoftware.com/

Thanks for the site info! It would be great to find a fare for that price!

It's not too early if you are hoping for free tickets or upgrades from a mileage account--those go very fast. I must say that I was very surprised (dumb me!) at how much the price from Sacramento to Nice has risen since last December. We might have to revert to flying AA into CDG and then Air France down to the south.

I also think it's too early. We have been going to Paris in Sept.for years now and usually book in July some time. For 2009 we booked Air France from Chicago direct to Paris for $743.66 on July 10, 2009 to fly on Sept. 7th, 2009.

I thought that was quite reasonable. I realize you are leaving from a different city, but I'd wait and monitor the prices in the spring and summer of 2010.

Underhill mentioned using frequent flier miles, etc.---then it wouldn't be too early because as he said they go fast. But I still think we booked in May or June to use miles in Sept.

Enjoy Paris and all the planning until your trip. Fodorites have so much knowledge and so many tips on the posts.

Wow, $743.66 that would be great! I don't think we have enough frequent flier miles!
Though I'm not sure what it would take to upgrade.
Where do you usually stay in Paris each September?

I think that fare is actually pretty good if it is nonstop both ways. I wouldn't book this far ahead myself, I just never plan that far in advance, but I do think that fare is pretty good, although not such a fantastic bargain you can't pass it up. There was an Air France sale last summer, and it included September as I bought a ticket and got RT nonstop from Wash DC/Paris for around $650-700, I think. That was really low for a nonstop in September.

The $743 was round trip without using any miles. We love staying on Ile St. Louis---it's just our choice as it is in the middle of everything. And the last few years, we always choose an apartment over a hotel. Over the years we have fine-tuned into what we like.

There is nothing like Paris for us. We always add on another place, but Paris is a MUST.

You could save $90 by leaving from Dayton or $225 leaving from Chicago.

I checked Dayton because it's about the same distance for us as Cincinnati and for our dates it was like $960 with all the taxes and fees, but that's with 1 stop. So for that little of a difference, I would go non-stop.
Chicago, I would have the expense of flying there on top of everything.

We are looking to stay in the 5th, 6th or 7th. My family stayed at the Delavigne and just loved it! The K&K has also come highly recommended to us.
It's just my Mom and me and I know I want to stay where there are places to eat, shop and extremely easy access to the metro!

The fare is OK but I would not book ten months in advance because there is bound to be some change in schedules and irt's usually NOT to your advantage.

I have recently had good luck with air fares using tripadvisor's air function. They notify me when prices drop.

Thanks, I will check Tripadvisor!
I'm hoping Delta doesn't do away with the non-stop to Paris by next fall!

I used to prefer going via CVG rather tahn ATL but they cancelled so many flights that they have made the connection too close..for me!

I had to take a different flight this trip due to their cancelling the one that I usually take.

I am in Paris now and will be here until mid Dec. I am beginning to look at flights for late Jan/Feb as I think I will be returning the end of Jan for a month.

Delta is giving double ff miles for travel thru end of Dec., so I am earning quite a few miles for this trip. I will probably use them for my Jan/Feb trip..pay with miles or whatever.

Flying is not fun....

Joan

It looks more and more like CVG won't be a Delta hub in the long run!
No, flying isn't fun, I hate flying actually! I'm such a nervous flyer, but it's a necessary evil if you love to travel!

That's why I now stay longer..the miserable flight doesn't come up so fast!

Too bad about CVG..I liked the airport. Now, I just use good old ATL...

Joan

Delta keeps cutting more and more flights here in CVG, so that's been the speculation for some time now!

I'm headed over to Paris in July with my mom, sister and nephew and I've been keeping regular tabs on kayak.com as well as some other sites. I'm hoping that I'll see some decent prices come January because earlier this year I managed to snag a r/t from Philly to Paris for $548!

Was $548 non-stop?

I find 1800fly europe and mobissimo are good ones to look at too. Some like to look in the wee hours and may find something better, too.

I think my return the latter part of January that I will be usining Delta to use my miles. I am receiving the double miles for this trip plus the bonus for medallion. They keep increasing miles needed. I will probably be using the 'pay with miles' thing.

Joan

Just a thought.

I have been watching ATL to CDG for several months... The low has been around $700.

As gracejoan and Reese have both pointed out there are FEWER flights today then last year. Therefore, the airlines don't feel the need to "fire sale" quite as much. I am not sure you will see the $500 fares of the past year this year.

I have never actually used my Skymiles, I don't travel for business. So I'm not even sure what it takes to be able to use towards a ticket or upgrading. I have AMEX points as well and I know those can be transferred for Skymiles.
I wouldn't expect a flight for $500, though that would be a dream, but if we could get something between $700-800, that would be nice!

Reese,

If you have a sky miles account and an AMEX Delta card, they should automatically give you sky miles credit after every statement. I use my AMEX when at home for everything to accumulate points. Use the CapOne when I travel to avoid the transaction fee. It accumulates points and every so often I just tell them to send me a check for the earned points..which they do. I don't travel for business, either, but a few years ago it dawned on me that always paying cash or writing a check didn't give me anything in return, so I switched. I now use the Amex exclusively and get ff points for everything!

I will be able to pay for most of the next trip..end of Jan..with the earned points.

You better check!!

Joan

Upgrading on Delta is not easy! They only let you do it with the Y, B, M fare class (AKA as the most costly ones!) So the $700 fares.. not going to be able to use miles to upgrade.

If you have an Amex linked to Delta you can use "pay with miles" to buy your ticket. Do realize that the "pay with miles" ticket won't earn you MORE miles on the next flight.

I use my Delta miles regularly. This trip I bought ticket and am receiving double miles plus extra bonus for being a medallion class. I don't use them to upgrade..they have become too difficult to do that. They also now require more points for tickets. My last trip was a freebie. My Jan/Feb. trip will be almost free by using the pay with miles thing.

You might as well be getting something for your money!!

Joan

We are going to Paris in December on our Delta miles but it seems that getting these tickets gets harder and harder, especially if there are two of you and enough miles for just one ticket. Sometimes the flight available for the miles is not the least expensive.
I think we'll use the pay with miles feature next time with one of buying a ticket to earn some miles.
I've been thinking that the Schwab credit card we got to avoid transaction fees might be the best to use all the time and just take the cash back and buy a ticket!

April and September are high season in Paris. If you could go in March or October I think your fare would be lower. Like other posters I think it's too soon to book, but would keep checking and then jump on a good fare.

I always connect in ATL and have never had a problem. I think it's one of the easiest airports to navigate connections. If the fare is lower with that one stop I'd do it.

After months of monitoring fares, and having hoped to make a week in Paris a cheap-y trip with those typically low winter airfares, I have taken a deep breath and paid $772 CLT-CDG. Not at all what I had imagined I'd be paying! (I live where I can fly out of Charlotte or Atlanta, and Charlotte is most always cheaper.)

We have another ticket with miles, and I couldn't stand constantly checking airfares any longer. The price hasn't moved much since I started looking in July.

I never check again once I've bought a ticket ... but I seem to be reading this type of thread a good bit!

It looks like many of us use ATL. I live in Asheville, NC, so I have to shuttle to ATL. I used to go to CVG often, but with flight cancellations that doesn't work anymore. Charlotte has had the non-stop over the summer, only, so that is not the best way for me to go. I'm used to ATL. Have found a half way decent place to eat there so I can avoid the food on the plane..it works out pretty well.

The fare has not changed in some time.I think it is $844 with all the taxes. I will watch it and probably not buy until I return in Dec. and get the additonal return double points + added to my ff account.

Joan

I'm close enough to both AVL and GSP, but I'm willing to drive to CLT or ATL when the price is right.

Oddly enough, in checking fares for a May trip, I'm finding it's now cheaper to depart from the smaller airports to connect to the big ones. We used to save up to $300 or so a ticket by driving one way or another on I-85.

I'm tossing away everything I thought I knew about buying plane ticklets. It's a different world this year.

@Reese22

yes, that was non-stop from Philadelphia to Paris. I bought the tickets on Monday the 19th of January for my trip this past August.

I don't have the Delta/Amex card, but my Amex gold points can be transferred for miles.
Well it sounds like upgrading is out of the question, too expensive!

Does it sound ridiculous or too exhausting to fly round trip from Paris, since our trip ends in London and we would have to take the Eurostar back? I think it was a little over a $100 more to do open jaw home to or from London. We can change planes in ATL or JFK.
It seemed worth it to us to be able to fly non-stop even though we would have the Eurostar return and not have a layover, but someone mentioned to us today that it would be stupid to do that?
I guess I'm trying to weigh paying a $100 more to fly open jaw and have a 3-4hr layover in ATL or JFK vs. non-stop Paris and pay for the RT on Eurostar!

It's funny because it's not a savings cost to fly out of Dayton over CVG and we would have to change planes flying to Paris or London!

It sounds ridiculous to me, if you really want to know. I find it very surprising it cost more to fly home from London, as usually London is the cheapest city to fly to from the US east coast. The problem is that you would have to be combining airlines that way, probably, and AF which has very good France fares doesn't fly from London to the US, obviously.

Can you get a Eurostar fare for a lot less than $100? I'm surprised. What is the real difference in cost that you are talking about when you put in the Eurostar fare? Then it's just a matter of how you value your time, as well as the potential of your bags getting delayed or lost during that layover as well as the hassle of going through US customs and immigration at that first place you land versus final. You'll have to get your bags and recheck them, I imagine. I always do when I fly into some other city than my final destination in the US when coming home.

Some people don't even care about all that, I guess if you don't work you have lots of free time so you don't view it the same way, and then maybe $25-50 would be worth it to them.

trafaelwyr - we are also looking to fly from Phila to CDG in early summer - USAIR currently has 1008 rt non-stop - hoping rates drop a bit

Christina- I'm looking at Delta and I don't know why but it's coming up almost $100 less to fly RT Cincinnati to Paris (non-stop) vs. doing an open jaw of flying into London and home from Paris. I know the cost of the return on the Eurostar eats up the flight difference for sure.
I guess it really is a question of spending the time riding back on the Eurostar, but then being able to fly non-stop home vs. spending that time having to change planes in an airport and have to spend 2-4 hours changing planes!
Our thought was to spend 3 nights in Paris before the UK portion of our trip, take the Eurostar back to Paris after and spend one additional night and then fly home!
I really hate flying and I guess I was thinking if I have to spend 2-4 hours of "layover" time, I would rather do it on the Eurostar and not having to fly to another city and then home! I've never been to Europ though and I didn't know if that just seemed crazy!

Changing planes in ATL is just not that hard and seems a lot easier to me than taking the Eurostar and spending a night in Paris and then getting to the airport, which would take a lot more time than 2-4 hours making a connecting flight.

You would check your luggage through to your final destination in London but would have to go through customs in Atlanta, which has always been a simple procedure to me.

In Atlanta you would go through passport control, then to baggage claim, get a free cart, put your luggage on it and push it through customs. A few steps outside the customs hall someone will take it from you and put it on a conveyor belt to go onto your final flight. you would go through a security checkpoint with your carryon luggage and then take the train to whatever concourse your final flight leaves from, walk to your gate and relax. Eat, shop, read, walk around, whatever.

I've made connecting flights in JFK too but Atlanta has always been easier for me.

I am flying Delta (AF) from Bosotn to Paris Jan 1 for one week. When I began looking at air fares in July they were $775 per seat. When I bough tickets in Sept I paid 850. They are now selling at 1150. This is the only daily direct flight. I always thought winter travel was cheaper but not any longer.

Davidjac

The good thing is we have time! I guess we will just have to weigh if flying non-stop is worth the added trip on the Eurostar.
It looks like I can transfer AMEX points to Skymiles and they have where you get 25% more free miles. Plus if someone wants to transfer Skymiles, you get 50% free miles if you do this by the end of December! I'm hoping we can get at least one free ticket!

I think the reason London is more expensive is because you want to go to CIncinnati. If you were just comparing open-jaw from an east coast city where you could do nonstop both legs, I don't think you'd see that. The fares I saw were only $50 difference, not $100, both on Delta (RT Paris versus go to Paris and leave London). But I just used hypothetical dates of 9/8 and 9/15, so maybe that's why. Eurostar isn't usually that cheap, I just am surprised if that would save you any money and it could even cost you.