Cash01

Someone on this board wrote that they found air fare from NY to Moscow Russia for $350 RT including taxes and then found a Cheap fight from Russia to where they were going in Europe for $50. I am very confused.How do you find those cheap flights? when should I start looking for cheap flights from Orlando to europe leaving either the end of sept or the beginning of Oct. which month would be cheaper? My daughter and I are going for 2 weeks, the places we want to visit are London,Paris, Rome and Venice. so which city would be cheapest to fly into also would it be best to fly into one place and out of another or a round trip from the same city taking into consideration that we would have to get a flight back from city #4 back to city #1. thank you all sooo much,this is our first and probably only trip to Europe and I know nothing about the ins and outs of international travel and appreciate all the help you can give me., because I am stumped ! how do you find all the smaller airports that I read are cheaper to fly in and out of. ? or is that just for flight bak and forth in Europe? a friend suggested I find out about a charter but I know nothing about them either, PLEASE HELP!!!

lincasanova

Russia would be about the last place to "fly into " just to catch a cheap flight elsewhere", unless you were planning on visiting it. The Visa fees and time consuming process would be absurd.

Depending on when you are traveling, you will NOT ever find those special rates.

I suggest signing up at airfare watchdog to see when / where you can get less expensive flights to / near where you are planning on going.

I would try to do an open jaw trip. Remember that most Venice flights connecting back to the US usually leave VERY early from the airport whereas from Rome or other capitals they leave at a more godly hour.

You could check on a website like kayak or www.itasoftware.com

US-London
the take the Eurostar to Paris
fly to Venice from there ( check www.whichbudgt.com as well as traditional airlines)

train to Rome
then fly home from Rome.

Tulips

Remember that those cheap airlines that fly to smaller airports may look cheap, but are not always so. Ryanair fly from Paris Beauvais to Venice Treviso for 45 euros - add 15 euros for a suitcase - add getting to Beauvais, and getting to Venice from Treviso, and you may not be saving much, if anything. And you will certainly loose precious time, if you only have 2 weeks in Europe.

Lincasanova's advice is good. Eurostar you can book 4 months in advance; book early to get the best fares; exactly 4 months in advance if you can. The cheapest fare is 44 euros, and sells out quickly. Book online and print your tickets - very easy.

If you make an itinerary, people here on Fodor's can help you with recommendations for airlines and hotels.

Avalon2

From Orlano fly DIRECt to London on BA or Virgin save the hassle of switching plasnes somewhere like Atlanta Hell!!Worth any extra fare ir costs!

Gretchen

You just have to check all the sites every day and when you see a fare you can live with, jump on it. Don't come and ask us if it is OK?!! Fares are pretty high all the time now, but October if you shop shop shop you might find one

lincasanova

that was whichbudget.com

Cash01

Thank you all for your help..

lincasanova

P.S. If you DO fly Ryanair.. pay close attention to every instruction/thing they say on their website add in every email they send you.

ira

Hi C,

> My daughter and I are going for 2 weeks, the places we want to visit are London,Paris, Rome and Venice.<

You have enough time to enjoy:
a week in London and a week in Paris
a week in Paris and a week in Rome
a visit to Venice, Florence and Rome.

>Someone on this board wrote that they found air fare from NY to Moscow Russia for $350 RT including taxes ...<

If you ever find that post, let me know.

Enjoy your visit.

kybourbon

You only have 2 weeks so don't waste time flying back to your arrival city. Fly into one city and home from another.

>>>>Remember that those cheap airlines that fly to smaller airports may look cheap, but are not always so. Ryanair fly from Paris Beauvais to Venice Treviso for 45 euros - add 15 euros for a suitcase - add getting to Beauvais, and getting to Venice from Treviso, and you may not be saving much, if anything. And you will certainly loose precious time, if you only have 2 weeks in Europe.<<<<

That doesn't apply to all budget flights/airlines. For Paris, EasyJet uses the most convenient airports to both Paris and Venice. The closest airport to the city is Paris Orly (closer than CDG I believe) and EasyJet flies from there to the main airport in Venice (Marco Polo). They do have luggage charges, but so do many other airlines.

http://www.easyjet.com/en

walkabout

Airfares to Europe are very high now. Years ago I could fly from California to London for $500, but I don't expect to see those kinds of fares again.

You are probably going to pay somewhere around $1200 for a round-trip open jaw ticket. Sometimes you can knock $50-$100 off by tweaking the dates a bit. But flying New York to Russia for $350 and then Russia to London for $50? If someone on this forum said they did that, it must have been an old post.

BTW, "open jaw" means flying into one city and out of another, e.g., fly into London and out of Rome as opposed to a round-trip ticket into and out of London.

I suggest you start looking at airfares now. I don't buy tickets until 1-2 months before departure, but that's only because I tend to travel somewhat last minute. Four months out is not too early to buy a ticket--it depends on your comfort level.

Unfortunately, buying airline tickets is somewhat like gambling--you can wait and hope the airfare goes down, but if you wait too long, it may increase. That's why I suggest looking at airfares now, so you can get an idea of the general cost, and so you can recognize a good fare when you see it. If you see a good airfare, jump on it because they tend to disappear quickly, sometimes within hours.

Feel free to come back with any questions. All of us were newbies at one time, and there are lots of very experienced travelers on this forum who will gladly help you.

Cash01

How often do these cheap flights come along? Posted by: KollegeCid18 on Dec 4, 12 at 11:00pm
Posted in: Europe

Tagged: France , Germany , Russia
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Today there were round trip tickets to Moscow for $350. I was really stupid and I didn't buy them right away. That offer is no longer available.

Will offers like these come up again?
This is an answer that was on that post


alinae on Mar 14, 13 at 2:22pm I did buy those tickets and we're going next month! I thought it was an outrageous deal and yes it included taxes and fees. For three tickets from DC to Moscow (with a layover in JFK) we paid about 1050 total.

Now to get past the complex visa application by next week and we're home free!

nytraveler

But the poster was going TO Russia - not using it to change planes. And there was no way they were getting an entry visa in a week - it's a fairly long and expensive process. And without a visa you won;t be allowed on the plane to Russia.

The whole idea is simply ridiculous.

If you want to look for cheaper fares to western or central europe - be my guest - but I think it unlikely to find something enough cheaper to balance the time wasted (2 days of your 14 day vacation).

Just watch for the lowest fares from where you are. (I've always found fares to and fro Orlando to be very cheap compared to a lot of other places.)

lincasanova

There were crazy cheap fares last week t several US cities from ms tEuropean capitals.. 332E RT! The deal lasted 3 days. I couldn't get close enough to even make it worth my while to where I wanted to go.

Just keep your eyes open.

Check websites all the time and you may find something out of the blue one day. if it looks good. grab it.

Make sure you have your passport number handy of whomever you will also be buying tickets for in case a good fare comes up suddenly and they request it for the booking. ( Some sites do.. others don't)

Cash01

Thank you I did not know that I needed to get a passport yet,but I will apply now since you advised that I may need one to book the air tickets.

Tulips

Easyjet is a good airline - they fly to the regular airports. It's Ryanair that you have to watch out for.

Easyjet shows fares of 47 euros Paris/Venice for October.

dutyfree

Easy Jet is VERY obnoxious about carry on luggage-one piece and that includes your purse,computer,etc. IF they think its too big or overweight you must pay extra charges.
As an international flight attendant,it is very hard for people from the states to fly a US carrier overseas with their checked bag allowance and bigger than life carryons and then switch to a carrier that has major size,weight issues for bags?

lincasanova

You didn't know you needed a passport?

ellenem

I think the OP's implication was that she didn't know she needed a passport at the time she purchased the tickets. some people purchase tickets months before the actual trip.

Here's a typical way you might do your itinerary (although as some have suggested you might feel rushed):

Fly to London
train to Paris
fly to Venice
train to Rome
fly home

You would look for a "multi-city" ticket home-Paris, Rome-home, and then purcase a spearate ryan Air ticket betweeen Paris and Venice.

lincasanova

You're right.. didn't catch that.

You probably don't need it for certain flights/carriers but more than once I have been surprised to find I needed to put in that info when buying some sort of ticket.