Did I get a good airfare?
 

I just booked a flight from Houston to London for total fare of $535. Is that a good price? I guess it is a little late to be asking but I woul like reasurance that I got a good fare.

The price seems decent summersquash...
When are you planning to travel to London?

Yes, I think you should be proud of that, assuming it includes taxes. When are you going?

I'd have taken that fare. :)

It seems a little high to me. The most important thing is you are going to London. If you are able to travel on a fairly regular basis, it would be worthwhile to join the airline's frequent flyer program before you leave for London. This trip you are taking would be a great start towards getting a free round trip ticket. I have flown free to Europe twice and will be going to New Zealand next year for free.
(Well, you do pay the taxes, but $42 for RT between California and London is ok with me!)

I say yes! Last year I used miles to get to London but the year before I paid nearly $800 out of San Antonio through Atlanta. I'm guessing you were able to book a direct flight?! Also, I paid a little less than what you're paying to fly to London to fly to Denver this February to ski!!! You did well! :-)

It all depends when you're traveling -- if it's during the summer, it's a great fare. If it's for off season, you could perhaps do a little better, but better fares come and go quickly.

We booked flights from Houston to London on BA for the very end of May for about $75 less than that, and we were pleased.

But the way I look at it is, once a flight is booked, I never look at air fare deals that arise after that or question what I paid. It's a done deal. Be happy with it and have fun planning your trip!

Susan

Nice job! That's a good airfare. Sure, there's always the possibility someone will have a super sale between now and when you leave, but you can't plan on that. So be happy you did as well as you did and look forward to your trip! Do you have seat assignments yet? I've always felt that it was worth it to me to have a good fare with decent seats than to have a cut rate fare and being stuck way at the back in the middle of the center row of seats.

Without knowing the date and duration of the travel, it's a little bit like asking if $5350 is a good price for a car.

I'm rather surprised that anyone has offered an answer.

Best wishes,

Rex

If this is a Spring fare, it is an OK fare. If this is summer travel, it is a fantastic fare. If you got the dates and airports you wanted, you did good, period. Have a fun time in London!!!

I think a lot of Fodorites have made enough trips to London to have a general idea of how much it costs to fly there. Like many destinations, summer is usually the peak travel season. What I have noticed in the past, is that the airlines stretch their summer prices until 31 October. I think that is some price gouging on their part. I prefer to go in the off season when it is definitely cheaper. I realize everyone cannot go there. As other posters have said, the key is you are going to London. Long after you have forgot how much you paid for the flight, you will still be enjoying memories of your trip.

Summersquash, enjoy your trip and let us know how it went.

Sounds reasonable to me, but there's several things I care about more than air ticket price. As mentioned above make sure you get a seat assignment head of time! Nothing worse than ending up crammed in a center seat on a long flight. Also I try for the least amount of stops (zero preferrably). If you're doing Houston to London with several airports in between, your price seems less of a bargain. My other preference is to certain airlines, since I don't get to Europe that often I really like to be assured a reasonably comfortable flight with minimum hassle.

Thanks for the responce to my question. I will be going the middle of April with British Air Ways direct flight. I don't plan to check prices after the fact, & I plant to enjoy my two weeks there. I was just curious as to whether the price was about right for a direct flight.

Monday flights for middle of April is around $620 for CO's nonstop IAH-LGW righ now, slightly higher for other days. So, $535 seem to be a good fare.

Is that $535 one way or $535 return?

Okay, since I complained... I would say that it is a good fare, now that we know the facts.

If you had waited until two days before travel, the price would likely have been well over $1000 (double if your stay is a few weekdays only).

And if you had watched vigilantly every day from November to March, I would guess that you might have had a 2-3% chance of finding... say... $450.

Rex -- You're spot on with the prices.

And summersquash, I think that's a great fare for booking a flight a few weeks away. Yes, those direct flights from Houston to London are wonderful, aren't they?

Have a great trip!

Susan

Good morning, summersquash! My husband and Iwill be leaving for London on the 29th and we paid $408.00 round trip from San Francisco, CA. That is for a direct flight. But, I guess when you think of what you could have spent, you got an okay deal.

29th of March? or 29th of April?

And comparing prices, even on the same exact dates, between two different markets (origination airports) can be, well, frankly... impossible.

My tickets are for a round trip & when I first thought we would be going the last of March I could have gotten tickets for arond $100 dollars less but I had to change my plans to April. I could have gotten them a lot cheaper if I had booked them back in January for a late March or early April flight, but was afraid that problems might arise before the actual day came. I thought that had happened the other day when my ladder fell with me while painting the house. All I could think about was a broken hip and ruining my trip as I hit the ground with the paint tray landing on my head. Luckily nothing was boken, only bruised.

yes, that can be a worry summersquash. whenever i book a flight far ahead, i take out travel insurance for cancellation due to injury, illness etc not just to myself but to family members. it's very cheap, and takes away the worry.