book a summer flight
 

My husband is planning to join our daughter and I on a school tour when we finish the tour of Germany in July. Should he try to find a flight to Germany for a good price now or wait until closer to summer? Since summer is such a busy time, would prices be lower closer to July?

There are a lot of "us" regulars here who know a fair amount about air travel and pricing to Europe. But we need to know where you are starting. Guam? Albuquerque? Saskatoon?<BR><BR>But it is almost certain that the lowest priced choices will appear sporadically between now and May for travel in July. Last minute sale deals rarely exist in summer for trans-atlantic flights to Europe.<BR><BR>Best wishes,<BR><BR>Rex<BR>

There are a lot of "us" regulars here who know a fair amount about air travel and pricing to Europe. But we need to know where you are starting. Guam? Albuquerque? Saskatoon?<BR><BR>But it is almost certain that the lowest priced choices will appear sporadically between now and May for travel in July. Last minute sale deals rarely exist in summer for trans-atlantic flights to Europe.<BR><BR>Best wishes,<BR><BR>Rex<BR>

ttt

Husband is originating in the New York area. This brings up another question. Would the price be lower from a smaller airport like Allentown PA ABE,or from Philadelphia, or New York Metro area like Newark, JFK, LaGuardia. I always thought the price would be lower at a large hub where there would be more competition but for some destinations, I have seen lower prices for national travel from places like Harrisburg or Trenton. Is this lower price from smaller places also true of international travel to Europe?

In general, airfares for US-Europe in July and August are at their highest levels of the year. Like Rex said, I wouldn't count on sales from the airlines for Summer travel. Even a summer "sale" is much higher than low season airfares. Instead, consider purchasing from an airfare consolidator such as OneTravel.com, Flights.com, or Justfares.com. Local travel agents can sometimes get these tickets for you, but it's good to know what to expect to see if a local TA is offering the best deal or not. Also consider a "student" ticket agency such as CouncilTravel.com or StudentUniverse.com. I believe that Council allow a companion to fly with a student at the lower rate on some of their tickets. Post your specifics and I'm sure you'll get some more feeback.

Oops--I was offline when I posted my reply and just saw your last post.<BR><BR>Sometimes it is as cheap and/or cost-effective to fly from a hometown airport. Consider travel costs to a large hub (ie, parking, hassles, petrol, train--if you have that luxury, or airport pickup services) vs. having a friend drop you at the local airport. Justfares, for example, many times have Air Canada fares that can be as cheap from Harrisburg as from Philly since both connect via Toronto, so shop around.