Reese22

We will be going to Paris in Sept. 2010.
Roundtrip airfare from Cincinnati to Paris, non-stop is showing $983.00 including taxes and fees. Does that seem like a good price or should we hold out for a better price?
We could do an open jaw with flying into Paris and home from London or vice versa, but it's about a $100 more and we have to change planes on the London flight.
I hate to fly, so I love the idea of flying non-stop to Paris!

Thanks for the advice!

Gretchen

I think it is 'way too early to buy, but you need to be obessive about checking air fares in the early winter/spring, on a lot of different sites. I think fares will be high, because they are still decreasing volume. August will be a pretty busy season, but I would think you could do a bit better with some work. It'll make you feel better to eat that $100 or so rather than give it to the airlines!!

Reese22

Gretchen,

That's what I was wondering if it's way too early! Since this is our first time to Europe, I didn't know if that price sounded like it was as good as it gets or not!
We are going mid-September and returning the first week in October, so I would think it would be less than August fares. I hope!
Cincinnati only has non-stop to Paris. If we fly one way to London, we have to change in JFK or ATL. Which I'm not wild about!

hetismij

It pays not to fly from London - there is a big departure tax charged on flights from teh UK. Long haul flights pay more than short haul. The tax has just gone up and is due to go up again next year.
It is much too early to be looking for flights for next September. Apart from possible price fluctuations you could find your flight times changed or even cancelled between now and then.

avalon

Make sure Cincinnati still has a direct Paris flight. I was booked on Delta flying direct from Cincie but they called and said the flight was discontinued and rebooked me

letsgo39

I just checked 1800flyeurope for you and found round trip Cincy to Paris for next Sept for $873.00 incl all taxes and fees.
I used 1800flyeurope to book my trip to Paris for next April and I was happy with the price as I fly out of Evansville thru Cincy and home from Nice. I paid around $850.00 I agree it is early to book for next Sept.

eyemom84

Thanks for posting this thread!
I have been monitoring RT airfares to Paris in April 2010 and they have been hoovering between $900-950 from Raleigh or Charlotte...so it seems, from reading the above, that is a reasonably good price

Reese22

I didn't know about the long haul tax from UK, but that is another reason to rule out London in addition to changing planes.
I know Cincinnati has non-stop Paris flights right now, I'm sure anything can change! Delta used to fly non-stop to London and that's changed. I will keep my fingers crossed!
I checked 1800 and it showed $938 for the dates I would be going, but it doesn't give me the airline? The fare for Delta, which is what I've been looking at is $1038 which is higher.
I've been checking airfare for Sept. and April in case rates are really good for spring and it makes it more economical to move our trip up!

We will have to do a RT on the Eurostar because we will end our trip in London. Does anyone know how far out you can book that? I've read around 4 months?

Thanks!

letsgo39

When you call they give you the name of the airline. My flight is Delta and KLM to paris.

amwosu

IMO it's way too early to buy for next fall. Last summer there were crazy good fare sales for October (don't know about Sept.)

Historically, best fares are available 3-5 months out. Use kayak.com to monitor prices. Use a few fare alerts so that when a good fare pops up you will know it is good.

I did an open jaw indianapolis-Brussels and Paris-Indianapolis in summer of 2007 for almost $400 cheaper than roundtrip to Paris. I stayed overnite, enjoyed the jewelry store-like chocolate shops and mussels and frites then hopped the TGV to Paris.

Reese22

Thanks, signed up for fare alerts on kayak!
We will consider open jaw if the fare is attractive enough!
I guess I'm just obsessing about the details, but it's good to know that I don't need to worry this far in advance!

ira

Hi R,

I purchased my tickets for our flight this past Sept in Feb, 2009 for $873 pp ATL/Paris NS.
The price did not decrease until about early August when it went down to $860 for a few days.

www.kayak.com
www.1800flyeurope
http://www.flycheapabroad.com/default.aspx
all seem to offer the lowest prices.

Enjoy your visit.

avalon

Another good site for cost comparison is

http://www.itasoftware.com/

Reese22

Thanks for the site info! It would be great to find a fare for that price!

Underhill

It's not too early if you are hoping for free tickets or upgrades from a mileage account--those go very fast. I must say that I was very surprised (dumb me!) at how much the price from Sacramento to Nice has risen since last December. We might have to revert to flying AA into CDG and then Air France down to the south.

TPAYT

I also think it's too early. We have been going to Paris in Sept.for years now and usually book in July some time. For 2009 we booked Air France from Chicago direct to Paris for $743.66 on July 10, 2009 to fly on Sept. 7th, 2009.

I thought that was quite reasonable. I realize you are leaving from a different city, but I'd wait and monitor the prices in the spring and summer of 2010.

Underhill mentioned using frequent flier miles, etc.---then it wouldn't be too early because as he said they go fast. But I still think we booked in May or June to use miles in Sept.

Enjoy Paris and all the planning until your trip. Fodorites have so much knowledge and so many tips on the posts.

Reese22

Wow, $743.66 that would be great! I don't think we have enough frequent flier miles!
Though I'm not sure what it would take to upgrade.
Where do you usually stay in Paris each September?

Christina

I think that fare is actually pretty good if it is nonstop both ways. I wouldn't book this far ahead myself, I just never plan that far in advance, but I do think that fare is pretty good, although not such a fantastic bargain you can't pass it up. There was an Air France sale last summer, and it included September as I bought a ticket and got RT nonstop from Wash DC/Paris for around $650-700, I think. That was really low for a nonstop in September.

TPAYT

The $743 was round trip without using any miles. We love staying on Ile St. Louis---it's just our choice as it is in the middle of everything. And the last few years, we always choose an apartment over a hotel. Over the years we have fine-tuned into what we like.

There is nothing like Paris for us. We always add on another place, but Paris is a MUST.

basingstoke2

You could save $90 by leaving from Dayton or $225 leaving from Chicago.