Need Advice: Germany in October Prices
 

I'm planning a trip to Germany, in early October, leaving NYC to Frankfurt. However, this is my first time planning an international flight, and first time traveling to Europe, so I am not familiar with rates. I have read that international flights are the cheapest 11 weeks prior to departure date. In my case, that is about this time. In my shopping around, the cheapest I have found for a non stop flight from JFK to FRA is 923.10 USD. I was wondering if anyone can advise about the price. What is the average price for an NYC to Germany flight these days? Should I go for the 923.10 USD, or wait? Thanks in advance!

I'm not traveling that way in Oct but booked and paid for my airfare for EWR-VNO (stopping in FRA) then VNO-VIE and back VIE-EWR for late Nov to early Dec and paid $1170. If I waited until until a few days ago, I would have paid $1134. At the time I started tracking the airfare, it went as high as $1500 but the average was 1300-1200. When I saw it dropped below $1200 I jumped but again, if I had waited I could have saved $36. So to answer your question, the price you have is about the going rate as I was at one point tracking EWR-VNO (stopping in FRA), VNO-FRA, FRA-EWR and that was around $1100. If I remember correctly, removing VNO was bringing the prices to the mid $900s. Most people here will tell you it all depends on lots of factors but my numbers come from tracking it since last Oct/Nov. Oct would cost more than in Nov but not always.

I would not bet my life on any logic with airfares going up or down.
But when you check fares at price comparison sites like kayak.com you should as a first step tick the box "incl. nearby airports" and use the generic NYC code for departures from any NYC airport.
As a next step, chose flex dates +/- 3 days. You get a grid of fares that gives you an idea if your preferred day of travel is by coincidence more expensive than other dates.

My personal voodoo economics indicator is also if those airlines that require a connection are substantially cheaper than the nonstop connections. In early October, it looks as if you'd only get a meager discount of some $20 for the hassle of changing planes somewhere. Which could be seen as an indicator that the price of around $920 for a nonstop is quite solid and that airline flying nonstop don't have any pressure to lower their fares... but again, the latter is just voodoo prophecy plus a bit of economics..

Short answer: sure, go for the 923 and then stop looking. :)

I agree with the others that you should probably go with it. I have been looking for flights to Germany or Austria as well for anywhere between October to December and I have not been able to find anything under that. I've been fare watching for a couple of months too.

Do one last search, including the airlines' websites directly and then I say go for it.

Thanks, everyone! My friend and I were able to adjust our plans for the end of October to early November and bought a round trip flight for 865.00 USD.