tcreath

sandi, thank you for your reply. I did look at the weather stats a few weeks ago so I know that it will be chilly. I love traveling during off-season though, and think that a jacket is a nice trade off for less crowds! I would love to visit Turkey.

And bozama, no thanks on camping! Camping is exactly why I travel abroad every year....I had parents who liked nothing more than to camp in the Missouri Ozarks each year. Boring, I hated it, and will never do it again. I'll suck up the exchange rate but you won't catch me in a tent.

Tracy

HappyCheesehead

Hi Tracy - Well, today, Kayak isn't showing the same prices, even though I re-ran the saved search, so nothing was changed!! It is bizarre how often the prices change, isn't it?? I sure hope you can come up with a good fare. I suppose it is just a matter of good luck ( and lots of searches !!)

HappyCheesehead

ok - so try leaving 3/7 and return the 16th, 17th, 18th or 19th. $777 on US Air, two stops on the way there, but only one on the way back.

I love to watch airfares when I am not trying to get a good one myself. It is such a puzzle!

speckles

For all you whingers, try finding a decent fare from Australia to Europe. We've had to pay more than $2000 (inc taxes) in high season for years now. And until quite recently our dollar didn't go as far as the US dollar did once we got there.

I feel sorry for the New Zealanders though. With a lower dollar and further distance to Europe, it must cost a small fortune.

Now I know how many of you can afford to travel to Europe so often - it's half the price or less than it is for us.

Our FF schemes don't seem to be as good either. A flight to London would cost me 128,000 points with Qantas. I earn 1 point for every dollar I put through my credit card. That means I have to have spent $128,000 to earn a flight like that. It's going to be a while.

rkkwan

Don't worry. Australia - Europe fares will have to come down. With Emirates operating 50+ A380 eventually, with Singapore, Qantas, Etihad, Qatar, etc all have their own as well, Australia - Europe will be flooded with seats.

ricerco

For a trip I've been researching (LAX to CDG to Southwest France), I've notice just a slight increase in the fare (compared to our trip to Italy in 2006.) Same airline, same time of year - off-season.

But it's the taxes due to fuel that have gone up. They've doubled and then some.... grrr!

widespreadpanic

Bozama, so true - we in the US have had it cushy compared to costs related to fuel prices in other parts of the world. As far as Turkey is concerned, I can vouch that is it a truly remarkable city, with much history and no lack of places to visit. I was there in Feb., and the weather was quite moderate - low 70's during the day, which may have been a fluke. There are bargains to be had at the Grand Market too - $12-15 for a beautiful pashmina! It made souvenir shopping a breeze.

mamagull

I just got tix Seattle/London - paid $1072 for husband's ticket. I had over 50% of ff miles required, so I bought the additional miles and booked my ticket with the miles. $25/1,000 miles plus tax and $30 handling fee; total spent plus the $144 booking fee means I spent less than 70% of husband's fare for my ticket.
If you are close on ff, don't ignore the idea of buying those miles - doing so could get you where you want to go at a cost that you can live with.

BTilke

Looking over this thread, I noticed logos999's snarky comments about airfares. But to answer the question Holly raised, yes, we've often found fares can be cheaper going TO the U.S. from Europe than the other way around.
I just booked tix to visit my mother in PA in June. I was able to find economy fares for my dates on nonstop BA flights from Heathrow (the closest airport to me) for $500 all in; the cheapest tix on BA for my dates traveling the opposite way (starting in PHL) were $1100, more than twice as much. I was able to find PE fares from London to Philly and back for about the same as the lowest cattle class fares going to London from Philly (and back).
On more than one occasion, I've found biz class tix from Europe to the U.S. for just slightly more than economy tix traveling the opposite way (last minute mid-summer biz fare sales).

BTilke

FWIW, looking at the details on the fare breakdown from LHR to PHL in economy class, the ticket itself wasn't that far above Ryanair levels; the bulk of the price was fees, taxes, surcharges.

abbynicole27

Bozama, I actually do use Zoom for my clients often, they just don't work when you've got people with dates that are not flexible.

Vicky

I just booked Harrisburg-Venice for Dec and paid $835. I did not want to spend that in winter but the schedule was good and it was all one airline, United. While I am used to paying around $500 and even less in shoulder season to Europe, Venice is harder to get to and 11 years ago I paid $740 to Venice. i was afraid it would go up rather than down and seating was wide open so i went ahead. But to london, Paris, Munich or Switzerland, I would not expect to pay that much in winter. I track what I spend on airfare and since I started traveling quite alot 11 years ago, airfare indeed has held steady. We're pretty spoiled. But I'm more inclined to book a trip if airfare is $500 than $1000 that's for sure