When to buy tickets?
 

Two of us are going to London in mid-October and I am looking for a great deal on plane fare on American Airlines (I am using a voucher). I also have two free domestic RTs on American, so I can use those to get to, say, New York, and catch a cheap flight to London; however, if I can avoid using my free RTs and fly out of Houston or Dallas I would rather do that.

In previous years I have seen great deals from Dallas-London in the fall, but how long should I wait to buy the tickets?

Also, we will be going to Sweden during our trip. What is the best way to buy those tickets?

What type of voucher?

As to getting to Sweden from London, try Easy Jet and Ryan Air. Both are British low-fare carriers. You can book from here on their websites or when you are in London.

It's a voucher I got worth $700 from American when I was bumped off a flight earlier in the year. I'm REALLY trying to get tickets for $350 or less so they don't cost anything.

I don't think you will find roundtrip tickets to London (whether from Dallas or JFK) for $350. Right now, AA's RT DFW-LHR in the fall is $680. That's pretty good -- no, I'd say that's very good. You might do better if you wait. But I don't think you'll find $350 ever. Now someone will jump in and tell me I'm wrong.

I also checked JFK-LHR. AA.com is quoting $537. So you could save $300. But you'd have to use your free RTs to get you to JFK -- if AA would accept them for the dates you want.

travelocity had $360 roundtrip fares on AA for DFW-LON for November travel and $460 for October. Connections to LHR or non-stops to LGW.

Good golly. At travelocity, I got a fare for WAS-LHR in November on AA for $279, but add on $116 in taxes and fees and $5 for travelocity and the price is $395.

As always, be Diligent and check after MN many days/nights.
M

kgsd wants to use AA vouchers to purchase the tickets. Can you do that on travelocity or orbitz? I've never purchased tickets through these sites, so I don't know the answer.

kgsd.......Can you go in November?If you travel midweek to midweek you can get a fare on AA of $348.00 from JFK to London, per person...BUT, you gotta act fast.This fare requires ticket purchase by July 9.You could use the freebies to get to JFK.Happy Travels!

You can actually fly JFL-LHR, jul-nov for $249. This is the cheapest I was able to find. To compare different dates check http://www.cheapflights.com/flights/...New-York-City/

Thanks for all the replies! I know $350 is pretty much a bargain-basement price, but I don't think it's unheard of. I don't mind waiting until November. I've seen the fares on travelocity - now I just have to see if I can use my voucher when booking through those types of sites.

No, you can't use AA voucher when purchasing a ticket from any other source.

The best way is to put a hold on the ticket you want on www.AA.com, then call AA and tell them you want to apply the voucher to the reservation number. They will give you three options:

1.City Ticket Office - not many left
2.Airport - if you live close it's probably the best option
3.Mail the cert in - AA will hold your res for 10 days or so and once the cert is received, your res will be ticketed.

AAFF....Back from Afghanistan safely I see.Trip report maybe?Please.....:D

City Ticket Office - I believe there are 2 in the Miami area, one in New York and one more somewhere, but that's it.


BeachBoi - Yes I'm back, and I will post a brief report on the Asian forum within a day or 2.

Thanks for asking!

As posted by <i>cuburac</i>

<b>You can actually fly JFL-LHR, jul-nov for $249. This is the cheapest I was able to find. To compare different dates check www.cheapflights.com/flights/London/New-York-City/</b>

First of all, the fare you quoted, <b>if</b> you took the time to check is from November 1... on, and it's the base, not the total. The total is around $350+.

Please refrain from posting this type of info in the future <b>unless</b> you could actually come back with actual booking possibility, not some search engine results, that upon further investigation produce NOTHING!

It does nothing but confuse the leisure traveler that comes here for some advice and guidance. When they see something like your post, they get very confused because they can't find anything near that fare in July, August, September and even October.

This is actual fare base rule from AA:

<b>

1NOV-16DEC04 OR 5JAN-27MAR05. SEASON IS BASED ON DATE OF ORIGIN AND IS DETERMINED BY DATE OF DEPARTURE OF OUTBOUND TRANSATLANTIC SECTOR.
</b>