Okay, the accomodations are booked thanks to everyone's great advice.

I am now looking at the flights. Here is the info: 2 adults, 2 children (needing seats), departing June 12th from any Washington, DC area airport for Paris, France. We are returning on either June 21st or 22nd from Frankfurt, Germany.

Right now, on expedia the flights are around $1000-1200 (no direct flights). Do you think they will come down? Could they go up? Has anyone flown Icelandair (they had a flight at $900)? Any strategic advice?

Also- I just relocated to DC (from NJ)- anything I need to know about the local airports?

Thank you!!

A lot of people here recommend Kayak to compare flights.

I would check kayak and ITA software to compare flights, and keep checking regularly to see if fares go on sale.

www.kayak.com
www.itasoftware.com

We just booked a flight from SFO to CDG nonstop. We started by using Kayak and Air France appeared for $1100+. I then went to Delta which is a partner airline with AF and booked the same AF flight for $888 pp r/t. The Delta fare did not appear on Kayak for some reason. Check constantly and someone said Wed am's are when some deals appear - I don't know if that is true or not! Have you thought about flying r/t to CDG and using something like SkyEurope to fly from Frankfurt back to CDG. They frequently have very reasonable fare sales. Good luck!

Can they go down? Sure.

Can they go up? You bet.

8-Ball says...

Down: The demise of the dollar means there will be a lot of empty seats on Europe-bound flights this coming summer, more than can be filled by Euro-bearing Euros seeking bargains on cameras and Mickey Mouse hats. Lower ridership = price competition. Once the lousy booking data for the summer peak starts coming in to the revenue management wonks in the airlines, they'll cut fares. My guess would be sometime around February.

...Or...

Up: The price of oil keeps going up, there's a lot of sudden new debt on the foreign carriers' books due to their love affair with shiny new aeroplanes, their labo(u)r unions are restive, and the lure of cheap cameras and Mickey Mouse hats is too strong for said Euros to resist... stick it to 'em. My guess is they'd raise prices sometime around February, to bump up revenues before the end of Q1.

Which will it be? The 8-Ball says "Ask again later."

Check out Air Transat. Flew first class, everything included for under $900 last fall.

I assume you've checked out of DCA, Dulles, and BWI. Your only chances of direct are out of Dulles and BWI (maybe), but often you can get better fares by checking all three. (Philly is a long shot).

I love DCA, hate Dulles, and only will go to BWI if its a significant discount (but that is only based on distance from my house). Dulles takes the longest because of the train, but obviously a good choice for a direct flight.

I live in the DC area, and pick flights and airports mainly by what is convenient and price. I prefer DCA for domestic flights as it's closest to where I live and the metro stop is there. Otherwise, Dulles and BWI are about the same distance for me, so it doesn't matter too much. BWI just doesn't have as many carriers and flights as I want internationally. I think Dulles has more parking than BWI. I don't like BWI that well, just seems kind of amateurish to me, and the parking lots have been nightmares at times, but it all gets down to flights, I think.

I don't know why you couldn't find nonstop flights, there are nonstops on United to/from Paris and Frankfurt. United seems a natural for that itinerary. I can't believe they are all sold out already.

You can't trust Expedia to show you all flights. I just got it to show nonstops on United, but you had to check the "nonstops only" box. Otherwise, they only show you a limited number, maybe starting at the bottom price. Those UAL NS flights are really expensive now ($1600 RT), but they shouldn't stay that high. I just did UAL NS last July to Zurich and back from Paris, and it was $1400 (which was higher than anything I'd paid before).

It's a little cheaper to return on Sunday, 6/22 than Saturday for your trip (for nonstops on UAL). www.itasoftware.com shows that at $1544.

I lived in DC for 30 years before moving back to NC, so I know the DC airports. Most flights to Europe are out of Dulles, but BWI would be ok if you live near Baltimore. Otherwise, stick with Dulles. I strongly recommend non-stop flights, and Kayak is showing non- stop flights both ways for just over $1100. You don't want to lose part of your vacation because of a missed connection, and there were a lot of missed connections this past summer. Also, the EU carry-on luggage rules are much more restrictive for intra-Europe flights than US-Europe rules are, and that will almost surely be a big problem for you if you have a connecting flight in Europe.
Whatever you do, do not fly via Heathrow. You have to change airports to fly to the continent and that is an ordeal and is expensive.

dcmom, The BWI airport is closer to our home than IAD or DCA so we have flown Icelandair. We flew to Paris in Sept. and Icelandair is almost always cheaper than most of the others.

If you are looking at non-stop, Dulles will give you Air France and Lufthansa as well as United. Using Kayak.com should bring up those fares and you can watch when a good fare comes up.

Good luck, I have been watching for some "cheap fares" to Paris in Feb and not seeing any bargains yet. Deborah

Icelandair: 3x3 seating
you could not pay me to fly over the Atlantic in a B757.

Alot of airlines of using this aircraft. I pay more $ just for flying the 767 or 777

>>Icelandair: 3x3 seating
you could not pay me to fly over the Atlantic in a B757.<<

<<Alot of airlines of using this aircraft. I pay more $ just for flying the 767 or 777<<

I agree! Do you think perhaps less people are buying tickets and it is simply more cost effective?
Continental is using 757 for EWR -CDG for two of their three NS If you want the 777, you have to leave Paris at 9:55AM. Not a pleasant prospet.
Does anyone know if the seats are fitted with interactive screens?

Hi dc,

Have you checked
www.1800flyeurope.com
www.kayak.com
www.mobissimo.com

The cheapest I have seen so far for next year is Aer Lingus and LTU. Of course, you would need to change planes in Dublin or DUS (Don't ask me to spell it).

I flew Iceland Air and through it was ok. Stopping in KEF broke up the flight. Yes, 3x3 seating, and you pay for all beverages except water, tea and coffee, but it was a neat experience stopping in Iceland. Perhaps you could arrange a stop-over in Iceland and go to the Blue Lagoon?

I've flown all these airlines from Paris at various times, except Icelandair. I have a friend who flies them a lot, though (to Germany), and thinks they are fine from BWI.

As for leaving Paris at 10 am which someone said wasn't pleasant -- what's wrong with that? It's actually better to leave earlier than in the afternoon, often, as it is less crowded and less chance of delays.

Wow- Thanks for all of the insight. I am not too hung op on a nonstop flight- unless there is not much of a price difference. Right now my best price (by about $300 per ticket) is Icelandair. It is not nonstop, but does not have a long layover.

The price for this flight is $900 (BWI to Paris, Frankfurt to BWI). Do you think this is about the best I might hope for? I guess it is high season... We are a family of four, so if I pay 300pp for a larger plane/ better carrier it adds up fast...

dcmom, your price is inline with the fare this past July so I guess that makes it a good buy I am finding the fares are about 540 on Icelandair to Paris in February and we paid 570 to Paris on them this past September. I was really hoping for a much better price in the off season.

I understand what you say about the ticket price when having to buy multiple tickets but if there is any way possible to stay over in Reykjavik on either end of your trip you should take advantage of the no extra charge break Icelandair gives.

Iceland is such a unique country I hope you have the opportunity to do a stopover. Deborah