Hello!

I am NOT an avid air traveller... I would like to ask for some advice regarding the best way to fly round trip NY to Dusseldorf, Germany. (NY being preferably EWR Newark but also willing for JFK or Laguardia)

What is the best time to fly? (would like to do perhaps September but i have a flexible and open schedule)

I thought booking a flight months in advance would help... but using websites like travelocity and orbitz and the like - everything is still in the $800-$1000 range. Is it possible to find airfare in the $500-$600 range?

Any advice would be appreciated!

We've traveled to Europe the last couple of years on vacation and have looked at other itineraries to or through Europe.

The fare from Newark is often fare more expensive than from JFK. (LaGuardia is a domestic airport or Canada only.) Consider that option. When we priced airfare to Paris for a trip we were thinking about the cost on Air France from JFK was so much less than Continental from Newark that would could have taken a limo both ways and still saved money.

Lufthansa may be a better deal.

Consider a connection through a hub like London or Amersterdam. If going in September and your dates are flexible, consider traveling Labor Day weekend. If you're willing to make a connection, consider that Icelandic or a carrier like Air India may have bargain fares. There are several discount airlines out of London that operate in Europe only. Connecting might save money if the total cost is or more value than the ease of not connecting.

$800 to $1000 R/T isn't bad considering the price of fuel and the impact that the weak dollar has had on US airlines. Perhaps waiting for a fare sale makes sense. This is always risky as fares could go the other way.

Personally, I'd not make the connection. But, I'm less sensitive to cost if it is only saving a few hundred. Not connecting is worth it to me.

I might also suggest that you look at Philadelphia as an option. A friend from my town says he finds it far less expensive to fly from Philadelphia even though we live 20 minutes west of Newark Airport.

Extremely unlikely to find fare in that range for September. If you want the cheapest fares (possibly in the $700s), wait till winter to fly. Like late Jan to early March.

If you want to fly non-stop, your options are limited to either Lufthansa from EWR or airberlin from JFK.
airberlin will usually be a bit less expensive than Lufthansa, like $900 vs $980.

In case you find really cheap airfare from any NY airport to Frankfurt, you should check that airline's website if they are partners in German Rail's "Fly & Rail" program which lets you buy a train ticket for the highspeed trains from FRA airport station to Düsseldorf for only a rather small fee.

Air Berlin flies non-stop from JFK to DUS.

Consider also flying into BRU or AMS and taking a train to Dusseldorf. I've found that JetAirways has good fares from EWR or JFK into BRU - better than Delta or AA.

Airberlin.com best usually NYC DUS

Kayak.com/buzz good screening site

They to tend to drop fares in late august in the fall

Just snagged some free flights on AA.com with a couple of their credit cards

Saved a ton good way to rack up miles too

Tues PM best day to book usually when the match sales.

Doesn't Singapore fly from New York City to Frankfurt. That airline is the best and would be worth the train ride from Frankfurt to DUS.

Amsterdam is another option. Train with one connection takes about 2:30 from Schiphol to Dusseldorf, just about an hour more than from Frankfurt airport. But fare can actually be less. I see some train fares from 29€ from AMS, while the ICE from FRA is about 59€.

Delta flies nonstop from Atlanta to Dusseldorf.