lee

I have one of those sudden, last-minute opportunities to travel to France with someone. They have their airfare paid for. The only eay I can go is if I get a reasonable airfare. The problem is, by trying to book so late all the airfares are sky high. Anyone know of a good place/internet site for buying last minute European airfares at a reasonable cost? I'm flying out of Seattle and can fly into any surrounding country. HAs anyone used services like Hotwire where you buy a discounted ticket, but don't know the airlines or flight times until after you buy? Your experiences? Thank you.

Gretchen

I think your only hope for a last minute fare is Hotwire or Priceline and I think you have a pretty good chance to get one. I have access to looking at boarding totals on an airline and the planes are not full--good for me because we are flying standby. Anyway I would see what Hotwire offers (you don't have to buy--you have an hour to theoretically make up your mind). Then try bidding on Priceline lower. You just may have to put up with inconvenient times but the times that airlines leave the east coast for Europe are all pretty standard.

ppp

Check with Air France<BR>On airfrance.com they advertise SFO to CDG for $ 519.<BR>"Depart: October 1st - October 31st" <BR>"Buy your ticket by October 15th"<BR>This is contradictory to the special conditions that state you have to book 21 days in advance... I guess they have lots of empty seats. Good luck.

Andrew

Definitely try Priceline.com. Start off by visiting BiddingForTravel.com to learn bidding tips (also, go to the "Bonus Money Opportunities" at the bottom to get $10 of "bonus money" to use in your bid). <BR><BR>Remember, with Priceline you have to bid less than you'd expect to pay total because taxes aren't included in the bid. For example, if you want to pay $400, you'll need to bid around $320-something. Priceline tells you what the (maximum) total with taxes would be before you commit.<BR><BR>These days, you are likely to get a counteroffer from Priceline if you bid too low. So you might have a chance to compare a Priceline offer to Hotwire.<BR><BR>Sample recent Priceline fares to CDG (Paris) from BiddingForTravel:<BR><BR>SFO to CDG: $360 total (bid of $275)<BR><BR>Andrew<BR><BR>

SiD

I agree with Andrew, gotta go with priceline. I don't like hotwire, the prices seem higher.<BR><BR>Biddingfortravel will give you tips and strategies!! Good luck, let us know what you decide to do.

Shanna

Lee, last week I got a e-mail from USAir with cheapo european flights. I'm already booked so didn't review the list, but did notice ~$350 RT to London - don't remember which east coast city, Philly or charlotte. Flights starting 11/1. check it out.

Andrew

$350 R/T from the east coast isn't that great if you have to pay almost the same amount to get from Seattle (in Lee's case) to the east coast in the first place. <BR><BR>United's 7-day advance fare is only $650 right now SEA-CDG. I think you can do a lot better than that with Priceline. When flying from the west coast to Europe, you pretty much always take a red eye anyway, so your choice of flight times isn't going to vary much. So in this case I wouldn't worry much about getting weird times with Priceline - they'll be weird whether you use Priceline or not.<BR><BR>Andrew<BR>

Gina

You could also try onetravel.com - they are offering flights on Delta for $516 for next week. Depending on when exactly you are leaving, you might be able to find one cheaper than that.

Anne

Try smarterliving.com for info. Can't book from there, but that site accumulates all the various specials.<BR><BR>Anne

carol

United is selling airfare to Paris from Dulles airport outside of D.C. for $275.

lee

Thank you all for your helpful suggestions. I'm leaving Friday, so there were some significant restrictions. I ended up using Priceline.com and got a RT to Paris from Seattle for $400 on Continental with one connecting flight in Newark. Times worked out fine. I was a little nervous, never haaving used that service before, but it worked out fine.

Wayne

British Airways also has some great deals on travel to major cities including Paris.