should I buy tickets now?
 

I checked with UAL and they have tickets for $1085.93 from Den -- TXL Oct 22 and IST -- DEN Nov 12. (I've changed my travel plan to go to Istanbul instead of coming straight back from Brussels)

Is it likely that this might go down or up? Is this a good price?

I also checked on corendon.com for a one way ticket from BRU -- IST for about $100.- on Nov 7.

Thanks!

Just a quick look on www.aa.com gave the following results:

<b>AMERICAN AIRLINES
1474 DEN Denver 10/22/2005 09:00 AM DFW Dallas/ Fort Worth 10/22/2005 11:54 AM M80

AMERICAN AIRLINES
38 DFW Dallas/ Fort Worth 10/22/2005 02:55 PM ZRH Zurich 10/23/2005 07:50 AM 763

AMERICAN AIRLINES
OPERATED BY SWISS 6226 ZRH Zurich 10/23/2005 12:35 PM TXL Berlin 10/23/2005 02:05 PM AR1


AMERICAN AIRLINES
OPERATED BY BRITISH AIRWAYS 6612 IST Istanbul 11/12/2005 08:55 AM LHR London 11/12/2005 11:05 AM 320

AMERICAN AIRLINES
47 LHR London 11/12/2005 02:15 PM ORD Chicago 11/12/2005 05:00 PM 777

AMERICAN AIRLINES
1761 ORD Chicago 11/12/2005 07:17 PM DEN Denver 11/12/2005 08:53 PM M80




Average Fare per Person - 835.00 USD

Passenger Type Used in Pricing Fare per Person Additional Taxes and Fees per Person Total Price
1 Adult
835.00 USD
117.45 USD
952.45 USD

Your Total Price 952.45 USD </b>

:-)

Thank you AAFrequentFlyer

Do you think if I wait until end of August the price could be cheaper or should I jump on it now?

I refuse to tell people whether they should wait or not. My theory on purchasing airfares is this. As soon as I see the fare <b>I'm comfortable with</b>, I jump on it.

All the predictions I see around here are based on fiction ONLY. Airfares are so fluid that even an airline can't predict when and if the fare will go up or down. I've been playing a very serious airfare game for about 4 years now, flying over 100K miles per year, and I have yet to see any rhyme or reason or pattern in predicting fares. The only obvious ones are seasonal fares, but last year low season fare will have no indication on what this years low season fare will be.

This fall and winter fares may encounter the following problems. Oil prices still going up. Couple of the bankrupt airlines need to FINALLY file their reorganization plan which means, they actually have to start facing reality. They will have to start paying their bills just like the rest. Couple of other airlines may go into bankrupcy protection. NWA may strike in few weeks, which will help the others fill their seats. It's also very possible that none of the above happens. So you see, it's impossible to predict.

If you are comfortable with the fare for YOUR trip, don't listen to anybody elses stories, just buy it and ENJOY YOUR TRIP!!! If the fare is too high then wait, but always consider the possibility that it may be even higher and as long as you can live with that then......

Here is an itinerary from travelocity.com which showed United/Lufthansa as the lowest fare: $1010 including taxes. Found the same fare at united.com but the itinerary had two stops on the return.

This itinerary has only <b>one connection</b> in each direction. You'll earn Mileage Plus elite bonus miles on Lufthansa as well as elite qualifying miles.

United Airlines 8879 operated by LUFTHANSA
Sat, Oct 22
5:20pm Depart - Denver, CO (DEN)
Sun, Oct 23
10:35am Arrive - Frankfurt, Germany (FRA)
Nonstop
Flight time: 9 hrs 15 min

Connection Time: 1 hr 40 min

United Airlines 8976 operated by LUFTHANSA
Sun, Oct 23
12:15pm Depart - Frankfurt, Germany (FRA)
1:20pm Arrive - Berlin, Germany Tegel (TXL)
Nonstop
Flight time: 1 hr 5 min
Total Travel Time: 12 hrs 0 min

United Airlines 9127 operated by LUFTHANSA
Sat, Nov 12
5:50am Depart - Istanbul, Turkey (IST)
7:55am Arrive - Frankfurt, Germany (FRA)
Nonstop
Flight time: 3 hrs 5 min

Connection Time: 4 hrs 55 min

United Airlines 8878 operated by LUFTHANSA
Sat, Nov 12
12:50pm Depart - Frankfurt, Germany (FRA)
3:25pm Arrive - Denver, CO (DEN) Nonstop
Flight time: 10 hrs 35 min
Total Travel Time: 18 hrs 35 min

1 adult = $ 912.00
Taxes and Fees = $ 93.55
Service Fee = $ 5.00
Total Price = $1010.55

And if you have a Red Carpet Club card or Star Alliance Gold card then you can use the RCC at DEN and the LH Business lounge at FRA and TXL. They have showers at FRA. I don't know if they have a club at IST.

Thanks both AAFrequentFlyer and mrwunrfl. With my luck, whatever I decide on will be wrong. I always pay too much for the airfare. I can never win!

mrwunrfl, how can I get Red Carpet Club card or Star Alliance Gold card? Do I have to have a certain mileage to get one of those? or do I pay for these things?

Pay for the RCC membership. There is a link on the united.com home page where you can join online and get 1000 bonus miles.

Get the Star Alliance Gold card by earning 50,000 elite qualifying miles (EQM) in one calendar year. That is the Premier Executive elite level in United Mileage Plus. This trip will earn 11 or 12 thousand EQM and FF miles.