opaldog

I am looking at an open jaw flight for BOS-AMS and return CDG-BOS; July 5-July 14, 2010. Iceland Air is showing right now on their best flights (least amount of time) all inclusive $886. I know this is totally up to me and it's sort of like gambling or playing the stock market, but I am tempted to buy so that I can make other plans like accomodations.

What do those with knowledge of fares out of Boston think about this fare? I usually travel in the off season months, so this is much more than I ma used to paying.

mztery

it is really early to book for July 2010. It may be a good fare, it may not....Personally I would wait till after the first of the year....

opaldog

I don't usually book this early but I have my eye on some particular accomodations that I would hate to see get taken. I will probably wait a bit more and see what happens.

Any other opinions?

tengohambre

What is the cancellation policy on the accommodations you want? Can you book them and then cancel by the first of the year? It is very early to book July Europe travel now, unless you find a great deal. Having said that, oil is on an upwards march and it seems the great deals of last year aren't nearly as common this year.

opaldog

I have checked the cancellation on both and I can get my money back on the Paris studio and all but 10% on the Amsterdam accomodation. I have thought about booking the accomodations or just taking my chances and book elsewhere if necessary. I hate to purchase tickets now, it is rather early. I am leaning toward waiting it out.

letsgo39

Fuel charges are definitely going up. A fare that I was watching to Paris on 1800fly Europe went up almost $30.00 over last weekend. They said it was because the airline increased fuel charges over the weekend.I went ahead and booked my Paris flight as I was afraid they would keep going up and the next thing it would be up to $1200.00.. Sometimes you win,sometimes you lose!LOL!

yk

I'm not sure if I understand your concern regarding the accommodations. If you book the apts now but not the plane tickets, will you consider NOT going IF the plane tickets go up by say, $50? $100?

I'm pretty sure you can find a way to get to Paris and Amsterdam for your dates, even if you end up paying a bit more on the airfare in a few months.

Anyway, booking a plane ticket 10 months in advance... what will you do if something happens in the next few months that prevents you from going on this trip in July? I doubt the airfare is refundable. Are you going to take out travel insurance?

P.S. Iceland Air uses 757 - not my idea of comfort for transatlantic flights.

opaldog

I guess my thought about the accommodations was that I have a particular spot in mind in Paris. I don't want to lose out on it and I don't want to book my air tickets yet. If I were to find a good fare but had already booked tickets could I cancel the accommodations and rebook at another time. It's giving me a headache to think about it so I will just wait it out and do nothing for now. I know where I would like to stay and I know about what I would like to pay so I'll just be patient and maybe it will pay off and maybe not. Either way I will most likely get to Europe.

letsgo39

Some hotels reservations are refundable,some not. The cancellation policy should be on the hotel web site and on your reservation confirmation. Many hotels require the first night be paid ahead. I have a reservation at the Hotel Valadon in Paris in April and the first night had to be paid and it is not refundable.

opaldog

I like to rent apartments and they all have different policies. The one that I am interested in does refund within 60 days of arrival. You do have to pay 50% ahead. I think I will wait until I am more sure of my dates.

puttakka

I fly exclusively out of Boston and that is not a bad fare for July open-jaw travel to Europe but it's not great or so spectacular that I would say grab it now.

It's up to you if you want to have your flights set now. Further, anythime I book more than 3 months in advance, the airline almost inevitably changes its schedule - usually to my detriment - and then I am stuck.

Icelandair is a pleasure to fly out of Boston. Since there are only a few flight per day, there's never a long line or anything and they really are organized up in Iceland.

Because of Northwest/KLM, however, I suspect you could get a straight flight from Boston-Amsterdam for a similar or lower price thouugh.

opaldog

I have actually flown on Icelandair before doing the stopover on the way back. I had no problem and also agree that they are very organized at KEF. Nothing good is coming up with NWA. I'll wait and see what happens.

yk

Another option is AA. You'll need one connection going to AMS, but you can fly home nonstop CDG-BOS.

Jeff_Costa_Rica

I'm with everybody else in that I would wait, although I'd be surprised if you'll find too much better for summer. You did say that you are used to going during the off-season.

Whenever you do end up booking the flights, then book the flight at a price you feel comfortable with and don't torment yourself by continuing to look at fares. That's my advice.

opaldog

Good advice everyone. Thanks.

WillTravel

At some point, I want to take Icelandair so I can do the stopover option in Iceland. Are you at all interested in that? If you want a stopover (up to 72 hours, I think), then you have to set it up that way when you first do the booking.

opaldog

I have done the stopover before. I really enjoyed it. We only did one night. We arranged for a pick up and were driven to the Blue Lagoon when we arrived. It was early April and it was snowing out. What a fantastic experience. We stayed at the Hotel Fron, which I recommend. We did our own walking tour around downtown Reykjavik and made sure we went to the top of the church. I considered that this time around if I go with that fare, but I think I would skip it as Iceland is expensive and I would I would rather spend that night in either of my two destinations, Amsterdam or Paris.