tara3056

Looking to take a month-long trip to Europe in 2007 - from April 26 to May 28, open-jaw arriving in London, departing from Rome.

Right now, the tickets are going for $904. This seems like a pretty good price considering I'm looking for open-jaw, and especially when comparing them to the high airfares I've seen this summer. That said, I'd *love* to be able to get tickets for less, say around $700. (My home airport is Des Moines, IA, btw - DSM)

Is it better to buy early and hope I don't miss out on better deals later, or wait it out awhile? It's all gambling, I realize, but is there any such thing as an optimum time to buy airfare?

Dukey

First of all, open jaw tickets aren't necessarily any more expensive that the more usual R/T fares.

Second, fares are determined by the amount of competition on routes and I suspect there aren't that many different airlines flying out of Des Moines (or are there?).

You might try checking on aggregator sites such as www.itasoftware.com or consolidator sites such as www.mobissimo.com or www.onetravel.com as well as on the individual airline sites for comparison purposes.

Unless there is a sale you may find that fare you've already found to be pretty reasonable, especially if oil prices continue to rise.

ira

Hi Tara,

If $904 includes taxes, etc it is a pretty good price.

Where did you find it?

I think that you have a 50/50 chance of saving or losing $100 if you wait.

tara3056

Thanks for the responses!

The reason I said it was a pretty good deal for an open jaw ticket is because flying from DSM - London is usually fairly "cheap" when compared to flying from DSM to any other European destination, regardless of the season. However, flying to Rome from here is always several hundred dollars more, sometimes even double, the cost of flying to the UK. So, since my open jar includes Rome and was still under $1000, I thought it wasn't too bad.

There are many carriers that fly from DSM - all the major ones anyhow (United, Continental, Northwest, US Air, Delta). They just stop in Chicago/Detroit asap.

For the record, I tried the same dates leaving from Chicago instead, and it was actually *more* expensive - which is incredibly unusual. (Chicago is 6 hours from here, so I'd rather avoid doing that anyhow!)

Ira - I found the $904 on Orbitz. Usually Orbitz can't match the prices I see from other sites, but this time they were the lowest, even beating the consolidator sites that Dukey listed.

Do you really think that, by waiting, the most I could hope to gain is $100 or so? That it would be completely unlikely to get the tix for $700 each? Maybe I'm still remembering the glory days of a couple years ago, when $500 for a ticket to Europe was actually pretty expensive, and many people went for $300. Obviously, with oil prices being as they are, those days are over! But I'm wondering if $700 seems far-fetched.

THANK YOU!

ira

Hi tara,

>Do you really think that, by waiting, the most I could hope to gain is $100 or so? <

Based on my airfare from last year, I am seeing prices about 100-150 higher than I did at about the same time.

tara3056

Thanks, Ira - and yes, the $904 includes all taxes/fees/etc.

scottvan

You might check out www.farecompare.com; they do a decent job of providing price histories/trends for various routes, including many international routes. Never used it for open-jaw, so don't know if they track those, but it still might provide some useful information.

Enjoy your trip!

julies

I live in Minneapolis so know all about the higher airfares we in this area are stuck with. However, to me, the fare you are looking at seems high especially looking at your dates which are pre-peak season. Here's another thought if you can work it into your itinerary. Check out the price of a roundtrip ticket to London. Then purchase a one-way ticket back to London from Rome on a low-cost budget carrier. With a month to play with, you may save a LOT of money by going this route and taking an extra day of travel time. Check out www.whichbudget.com.