What's a good price to Europe for late September?
Jan 27th, 2005, 11:47 AM
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 20
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
What's a good price to Europe for late September?
We are planning a trip to Italy for Late September, leaving from the USA east coast. (Baltimore/DC, but some carriers puddle jump you to Newark, NYC, Philly, or Boston.) We've been monitoring the fares, and haven't seen anything better than $700pp. Another option we've looked into is flying into London (and then taking budget airlines to/from Italy). Best we are seeing to London is around $560pp. After taling with some friends who frequently travel to Europe at that time of the year, it seems that these fares are kind of high, although they are being promoted as "special" fares available for a short time only.
Are these fares as good as it's going to get? Or would we be better off waiting to book?
Are these fares as good as it's going to get? Or would we be better off waiting to book?
Jan 27th, 2005, 03:09 PM
#2
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 25,062
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I think it's too early to book for September unless you find a fare that knocks your socks off. I don't live on the east coast so I don't know how much the fares s/b at that time of year, but based on what I've heard, I don't think that's an outstanding fare. Maybe an east coast resident can help.
I would not fly to London and use a budget airline to Italy for the following reasons:
1. If your flight to London is delayed and you miss your budget flight to Italy, you will have to buy a new ticket. The budget carriers are not very forgiving, as I've learned on this board.
2. Your flight from the US to London will most likely come into Heathrow. The budget airlines usually fly from smaller airports, so you will have to do an airport change when you get to London. This will cost you a considerable amount of time and money.
3. I am told the budget airlines often have constraints on baggage allowances so you might end up paying more in extra baggage fees.
If you buy a ticket straight to Italy, none of the above will be an issue. If you were planning to spend some time in London then go on to Italy, maybe this would work. If you only want to go to Italy, I don't think it's worth it.
I would not fly to London and use a budget airline to Italy for the following reasons:
1. If your flight to London is delayed and you miss your budget flight to Italy, you will have to buy a new ticket. The budget carriers are not very forgiving, as I've learned on this board.
2. Your flight from the US to London will most likely come into Heathrow. The budget airlines usually fly from smaller airports, so you will have to do an airport change when you get to London. This will cost you a considerable amount of time and money.
3. I am told the budget airlines often have constraints on baggage allowances so you might end up paying more in extra baggage fees.
If you buy a ticket straight to Italy, none of the above will be an issue. If you were planning to spend some time in London then go on to Italy, maybe this would work. If you only want to go to Italy, I don't think it's worth it.
Jan 27th, 2005, 03:43 PM
#3
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 2,049
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
No one can be certain, but both fares you have found don't seem so great that I would give them my money now and give up any chance of finding an intervening sale, or a fare reduction. While September may be considered high season, everyone with kids in school won't be flying with their families then, so I would think the lesser number of fliers would cause a lowering of prices.
My experience is that fares remain fairly high until about 5 or 4 months before the date of travel, then they start to worry about empty seats and the fares go down, but at two months before the date of travel, the fares start to go back up, and in the month before the date of travel they soar. Of course, many things could change to throw this off, and it is not uncommon for airlines to have sales, but the sales are usually for a limited number of seats and sell out quickly.
My suggestion would be to pick a price that you would be delighted with and keep monitoring the fares. Be prepared to buy immediately if your price is met or bettered (I recall reading of one person who found a great fare at work, but waited until he got home to buy, and it was gone). If you don't find a great fare by, say, halfway through August, take the best you can find then. Good luck.
One other thing that worries me about the low cost airlines is that they seem to be draconian about the size and weight of your luggage, and you may end up having to pay quite a bit more if your luggage exceeds their limits. I've often wondered if they have a $40 fare, but want to charge you $150 for excess baggage, if you could just buy another seat and belt your bags in there?
Good luck.
My experience is that fares remain fairly high until about 5 or 4 months before the date of travel, then they start to worry about empty seats and the fares go down, but at two months before the date of travel, the fares start to go back up, and in the month before the date of travel they soar. Of course, many things could change to throw this off, and it is not uncommon for airlines to have sales, but the sales are usually for a limited number of seats and sell out quickly.
My suggestion would be to pick a price that you would be delighted with and keep monitoring the fares. Be prepared to buy immediately if your price is met or bettered (I recall reading of one person who found a great fare at work, but waited until he got home to buy, and it was gone). If you don't find a great fare by, say, halfway through August, take the best you can find then. Good luck.
One other thing that worries me about the low cost airlines is that they seem to be draconian about the size and weight of your luggage, and you may end up having to pay quite a bit more if your luggage exceeds their limits. I've often wondered if they have a $40 fare, but want to charge you $150 for excess baggage, if you could just buy another seat and belt your bags in there?
Good luck.
Jan 28th, 2005, 03:40 AM
#4
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 20
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Thanks for the posts so far! I hope others continue to post here. I wish there was some source to see historical flight info, such as when fares moved for certain routes, how full the planes were, etc.
Anyway, I wanted to add something about the European budget airlines. We (and others we know) have had good experiences with them. The luggage restrictions worried us initially, but we found no problem, and we (one of us, at least!) travels very heavy. But you are right about the connections, and transfers to another airport. You have to leave plenty of time; you are typically transferring to another airport. If we do that this trip, we are going to spend at least a night in our transfer city so that we are not connecting same day. And you have to be sure to book with a budget airline that is stable and that has a few flights each day on your route, in case you are delayed.
Anyway, I wanted to add something about the European budget airlines. We (and others we know) have had good experiences with them. The luggage restrictions worried us initially, but we found no problem, and we (one of us, at least!) travels very heavy. But you are right about the connections, and transfers to another airport. You have to leave plenty of time; you are typically transferring to another airport. If we do that this trip, we are going to spend at least a night in our transfer city so that we are not connecting same day. And you have to be sure to book with a budget airline that is stable and that has a few flights each day on your route, in case you are delayed.
Jan 28th, 2005, 09:44 AM
#5
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 23,073
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Just want to say one thing about <b>new</b> low cost airlines in Europe. They may close down anytime.
I am not talking about the big ones like easyjet or Ryanair, but just search the Europe forum on the Italian airline "volareweb" or "volare". There must have been hundreds of posts with people recommending it. And guess what, it shut down late last year with no warning of any sort.
So, beware of that possibility.
I am not talking about the big ones like easyjet or Ryanair, but just search the Europe forum on the Italian airline "volareweb" or "volare". There must have been hundreds of posts with people recommending it. And guess what, it shut down late last year with no warning of any sort.
So, beware of that possibility.
Feb 6th, 2005, 06:39 AM
#6
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 316
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I would highly recommend an Italy direct/connection. The budget airlines such as Easyjet are OK but..if you are landing in LHR your budget airline will probably leave from Gatwick, Luton, or Stanstead. THis is a hike and a pain if you have been in the air for some time. I just booked Easyjet Amsterdam-Bristo-Glasgow-Amsterdam. Expedia was $900, BMI web was $550. Easyjet web was $140. and it was the only direct to Bristol. THis is for May, I hope that they remain in business. I travel light so 20KG is no issue.
Feb 6th, 2005, 10:35 AM
#7
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 776
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Late September is shoulder season and prices tend to start to drift down then. February is too early to purchase a ticket for September unless you find a fantastic deal.
Based on my past experience, prices usually drop about 3 months out. You have an idea of what prices are like now. You have plenty of time. You can just monitor the various airline sites and sales.
You may also want to keep an eye on USAirways. They have loan guarantees through June 30th. If they can pull out of bankruptcy or get another loan guarantee running past your time frame, they may run a big sale. And others may try to match them.
Based on my past experience, prices usually drop about 3 months out. You have an idea of what prices are like now. You have plenty of time. You can just monitor the various airline sites and sales.
You may also want to keep an eye on USAirways. They have loan guarantees through June 30th. If they can pull out of bankruptcy or get another loan guarantee running past your time frame, they may run a big sale. And others may try to match them.
