Digbydog

I am trying to find affordable summer airfare to Europe for a family of 5. On past trips, we have used Delta FF miles, but it appears Delta is now charging 100,000 miles for summer trips. Are there certain cities that are less expensive to fly into? Every place I have checked is $1100 and up. Air India is half that, but I have read some pretty terrible reviews. Is there a time when summer flights go on sale? That seems a little risky. I'd appreciate any help!

AAFrequentFlyer

It's way to early.

Wait until 3-4 months before the scheduled trip. It doesn't mean that you shouldn't be checking fares at least once a week or so but don't get discouraged if you don't see any better fares until spring of next year.

Gardyloo

If you don't say where you're flying from, it's nigh on impossible to offer constructive suggestions aside from generic rules-of-thumb. Yes, of course some cities are cheaper to access than others, depending on where you start and where you plan to go after arriving. London is usually cheaper than Paris or Rome, but not cheaper than London plus a second air ticket or the train to Paris or Rome.

rkkwan

If you need to book this early, check out Aer Lingus to Dublin. They have some of the cheapest fares available right now for fares next summer. Other airlines won't have something cheap this early. [And I don't mean they DEFINITELY will have something cheap later either.]

Digbydog

Thanks for your help. We live in Cincinnati, but we would be willing to drive to Chicago or even NYC if the fare was low enough, given that there are 5 of us. I hate waiting until 3-4 months ahead, because I like to make hotel reservations fway ahead for summer. It's not always easy to find accommodations for 5. Do the fares usually come down in spring? Would you be willing to fly Air India if the fare was $600 vs. $1200?

freeman0819

The airlines have fare sales periodically, but it's pretty much hit and miss if yuo don't catch it at the right time. If you are looking to buy the tickets sooner rather than later, I would agree with the suggestion to try Aer Lingus. They fly out of Chicago, and have good connections to many European cities. You might want to pick a few different cities you'd be willing to travel to and then see what EI offers as far as rates. If you have date flexibility that helps as well, meaning, in some cases traveling from Monday-Thursday in either direction can save you $20-$40 in "weekend supplements".

Good luck!

Tim_and_Liz

Have you set up "Deal Detector" alerts on Orbitz.com? I have three set for MSP-Europe in Summer 2008.

Momliz

or if you use Firefox you can download an add on called fare compare, which is the same, sort of as deal detector

Digbydog

Thanks so much for all the suggestions!!