maureencol

After all the issues with thwarted terrorists in the UK...do you think travel is affected and the airfares might go down like after 9/11??

StCirq

No. Not until the cost of fuel goes down, and maybe not even then.

maureencol

"No. Not until the cost of fuel goes down, and maybe not even then."

:=(

markrosy

Go down to what - I have just paid 2 euros for a flight from the UK to Italy.

I shouldn't do it so much - but at that price I cannot stop flying

HelenRichards

My husband and I want to go to London in October or November but we don't know whether to book tickets now or wait. I have to start looking into the different prices. Not real good at this since I've never been overseas and don't know what a good airfare would be.

Should I use a travel agent and get a package with a hotel?

rkkwan

Taxes will continue to go up.

The UK doubled the departure tax just last December, from £20 to £40 for longhaul coach, £40 to £80 for longhaul business or first.

That's just months after folding the terrorists' plot to blow up planes with liquid explosives on 7/10/06.

Apparently, the UK government do not think they need to make airfare cheaper to the UK to attract more visitors.

So, fares may go up or go down, but taxes will probably continue to go higher, especially if they start taxing YOU for carbon emissions or fighting hunger in Africa, or whatever the latest fad will be.

ira

>I shouldn't do it so much - but at that price I cannot stop flying.

Don't you realize that you are not decreasing the size of your carbon footprint?

ira

Hi HR,

Now is about the right time for Nov.

Try www.mobissimo.com and www.kayak.com.

Travel agent won't get rates any lower than you can online. That includes packages.

maureencol

Yes, I constantly see the cheap prices flying from London to other countries on Ryanair and other budget airlines. Unfortunately, we don't have those cheap fares in the U.S. The only bad thing about the cheap fares like 2E is the tax. But then you would have to pay that anyway if the fare were 200E.

Helen, I usually go to Ireland in October and the fare I usually pay is around $400 to $450 U.S. including tax. I got fares of $180 each way last year LAX to DUB. It looks like they are about $150 more this year so far so I am waiting until Sept. to see if they go down a bit.

crefloors

I don't know if this will help but last year I was looking for fares from SFO or Paris. I started by going to Expedia and some of the other sites and putting in those cities just to see who all flew from SFO to Paris. I eventually found that only Delta and Air France had non-stop flights which is what I wanted. Some flights with AA were as many as three stops.

I kept checking the Air France and Delta websites and then found a place on Air France where you could sign up for e-mails from then if there were sales or discounts. I was seeing fares from about 850.00 to 1400.00 round trip. I got an e-mail of a sale with taxes included, and compared to what I had been seeing and how close it was getting to the time I was leaving, I snapped it up. The thing you have to watch with the "sales" is whether or not the taxes are included. In this case they were, but I have seen more often that they aren't. My final cost was 763.00 round trip, non-stop and that worked for me. So, you might try doing something like that, while you are in the looking stage.

highflyer

Do as crefloors suggested. Sign up with BA, AA and Virgin and you'll receive emails about sales. Flights are always cheaper in November through end Feb maybe into March (except Christmas and Easter dates). Check Kayak too.

During the winter months I've never paid more than $600 per ticket from BOS to LHR and usually pay between $450 and $500 inc taxes.

rkkwan

maureencol - There are airlines in the US that offer very low fares. Skybus and Spirit are two that immediately comes to my mind.

Robespierre

In March 2007, there were Continental tickets EWR-CGN for $288 round-trip, including taxes and fees.

I think the reason that airfares went down in 2001 is because many people stopped flying. That hasn't happened in the wake of the last few terrorist attacks.

maureencol

Thanks, rkkwan, I had heard of Spirit but have not heard of Skybus. They don't fly to Europe though. I just checked Spirit and found they fly to Costa Rica, where I would like to go next year, though. So thanks!