We're a family of three and we all have about two weeks off mid-March and would love to take a trip to Holland to visit family, but we must find the cheapest flights to make this possible. (We can travel mid-week to take advantage of lower fares.) So far I've checked Travelocity and Expedia, and the prices still seem high to me - e.g. $900 Canadian dollars. <BR><BR>Would anyone have any other suggestions or websites for tracking down cheap tickets? Many thanks.<BR><BR>

Have you thought about going via London and catching one of the cheap, no-frills flights on to Amsterdam?

Thanks for your reply. Yes, I have checked into flying to London, and then onto Amsterdam. So far, I haven't found much of a difference in fares between flying via London or directly to Amsterdam.

Cheap flights to the Netherlands (practice saying this instead of Holland) can be had from many European destinations, not just London.<BR>(check the easyjet/ryanair sites)<BR>$900 is excessive IMO.<BR>Good luck!

I'm not sure where you are originating from in Canada so it's difficult to evaluate the price. It looks a bit on the high side, but perhaps not all that much. Consider that a $450 price in U.S. dollars translates to at least $700 CDN and that wouldn't be all that bad for a major carrier with a good schedule. If you are not flying out of a major hub directly and you must make a connecting flight in Canada, that doesn't seem out of line. (Just by way of comparison, a fare that I've already purchased for March from the U.S. translates to a little more than $800 CDN and I was happy to pick it up in August, when it appeared because it fit my plans perfectly).<BR><BR>If you have a target fare that you are trying to hit, it would be good to set up a fare watcher on Travelocity that will alert you when there are fare swings. Aside from that, just keep checking daily with various sites. Be prepared to lock in quickly when it (hopefully) reaches your range, since good deals can often be rather fleeting.

go-today.com

Last year, some incredible fares popped up in early February. I booked Chicago-AMS at $250 (US$) plus tax on KLM- the lowest fare I have ever paid to Europe. <BR><BR>I have had good luck in previous years by doing a regular fare search starting at the Christmas holidays and going up until about six weeks before my spring departure. Don't wait any longer than that, though, because the fares go back up. I'll bet you find something cheaper in early to mid January. <BR><BR>PS - KLM has a fare-sale e-mail service you can sign up for on their website.

Very, very helpful suggestions. Thank you all. I'll keep searching and welcome all your ideas.