I think I heard that the mask is too fragile to travel anymore. That's good for the tourists in Cairo.

Imagine the price of the insurance policy. Yikes...

Call us crazy too-We will be in Egypt & Jordan end of Sept/October.

I would think end of Sept/beg of Oct. would still be much better than any time during July-August though.

I was in Egypt recently and the TUT exhibit is amazing...only some pieces are traveling. Yes..the mask is in Cairo...you will see the empty spots marked that the piece is traveling. However, don't expect the high quality as our Museums. There were entire rooms of stuff at the Cairo museum with no labels or markings. but still worth looking at.

p-gil's comment about the museum and the rooms with no labels or markings is why you should at least once take a guided tour through the place.
Sure, if you don't you can still see everything and go "OHHH - AHHH, Oh that is old. That is beautiful. I wonder how they made it?" but you'll never know how old, where it was found and the symbolism of any art on it. Most of the art was very symbolic and fascinating.

There IS a difference in rates, only most travel agents will not tell you unless you ask!
When you book directly with some hotels/cruises rates are definitely cheaper. For eg. the rack rates for the Oberoi Philae are higher by 125euro/pp per night from 29th Sept onwards. Special offers only valid upto Sept 29 are even cheaper!
I had different quotes from Lady Egypt for September & October dates.

Will also be there in August from the 14th till the 30th. See you there!

DaTouSteve - those are the exact dates we were there in 2008. Hot, but we survived!