I'm a novice traveler.<BR>I want to go to London in September and fares today are in the $1,000 range.<BR>I see fares for flights in the next month in $250-$300 range. Is this because the time of year or the last minute factor. If the latter, should I wait until July or August to book flight in September.

Sales volumes for trans-atlantic travel in April and May have plummeted. Blame veterinary diseases, the stock market or both.<BR><BR>Sales for September have not been affected so much, and the airlines haven't started seriously worrying about that far in the future yet. You will see sale prices for September sometime before august, but they may only last for days. Or they may not ever hit the exact route you want.<BR><BR>If you:<BR><BR>1. Are not from the northeast<BR><BR>2. Have frequent flyer miles (perhaps not; you say that you are a novice traveler, although it is easier to rack up 25,000 miles than you would ever imagine, without ever flying anywhere), and if you could afford a day added to your trip, front end or back - - I would recommend booking a FF trip from your origin to (and from) New York for the day(s) you want to travel. then watch the sales like a hawk. Chances are you will see something in the price range you desire for September sometime well before your trip actually comes up. you might be able to re-deposit those frequent flier miles for a modest fee anyhow, if you find the deal you seek, directly from your city of origin.<BR>

$1,000 is WAY too much (even if you're flying from the left coast). Wait until late July or August, unless a big sale comes up.

I also am a novice traveler, and my wife and I are thinking of taking our first trip to the UK this summer. We can only travel in July or August, what is a good fare from Philadelphia for the end of July/beginning of August?

I think you can wait, but you don't say where you are flying from and what the dates are. Air fares drop dramatically after Labor Day which is somewhere after 9/3 for sure, some airlines not until around 9/7 or so. If you are comparing fares from 9/1 to October, that's one reason. I suspect you are also comparing fares on some major almost sold-out flight in early September so the cheapest seats are sold; maybe not, but that is too big a fare difference for no reason if you are comparing the same kind of are on the same airline for same days of week from the same source (ie, you can't compare regular airline fares to consolidators). If you see a RT fare to London for $250 in October, that is pretty good; fares drop quite a bit in November, also, they are a lot lower then than in Sept. I really don't understand a $1000 fare to London, unless maybe you are on West Coast; even in peak summer season, it shouldn't be that much. I just got a peak summer fare RT on Air France to France this summer and it was less than that from Wash DC.

See the last paragraph of this article re: European airfares for September: "http://www.msnbc.com/news/555769.asp"