Flights, September 2010
 

I have a trip planned for my mother (mid 50's) and me (31). The itinerary:

1. Fly from North Carolina, mostly like RDU to Edinburgh.
2. Edinburgh for 2.5 days (including day of arrival)
3. Train to London via the Caledonia Sleeper
4. London, with a day trip to Cotswolds, for 5 days
5. Chunnel to Paris
6. Paris for 3 days
7. Fly to Rome
8. Rome for 4 days
9. Fly from Rome back to North Carolina.

We are obviously trying to make the most of 2.5 weeks, and while extended time in these cities is obviously preferred, for us, it is just not possible. (If you remember my first run at this, more than a year ago, the above is an improvement!)

I have activities, transport, hotels, things to reserve in advance all down (like Scavi tour, Buckingham Palace tour, need to get Chunnel tickets early, book flight from Paris to Rome as soon as possible, but watch the baggage issues). My holdup at this point is the open jaw flight from North Carolina.

Flights are running right now around $1100. Cheapest I have seen them in the past few months was around $950. Flight gurus, opinions? Buy, wait?

Any other comments?

Thanks!

I see American has a flight for 912.00 in September

http://matrix.itasoftware.com/cvg/di...8033&J=25&Q=-1

I really like ITA software for checking prices

I didn't see that one, but AA's website has them at $979 - but again, with tax, I'm at $1100. I am hoping for something between $700 - $900, including tax.

I booked my fight last week on Delta for $927. departing Shreveport, Louisiana to Zurich and returning from Nice to Shreveport. It has gone up a few dollars in the last month.

Last week bought into Paris Sept.10-11 and back from Barcelona Sept. 27 for $740, with taxes and fees. That's Continental from Newark. Had to compromise on the departure times (7:25 a.m. from Barcelona, ugh!) to get big planes.
Leaving from RDU may limit the options and raise the price. Did you try Charlotte, or even Atlanta?

Bump

What's bump?

Don't know if it is Fodor's lingo - but it mean's 'bumping' the post to the top of the list, to encourage responses and keep it from being buried.

Best not to wait too long. While you're hoping for fares to drop below $900, they could go well over current fares, and/or inconvenient times/connections could present, especially with fixed dates.

You'd also want to book your Eurostar tickets as far as possible in advance for the lowest fare.

And, when you see those "as low as" fares, they're available only for few dates, usually not yours.

Have you also checked the reverse of your trip (starting in Rome, ending in London?

Other ways to rearrange your trip, like starting or ending in Paris?

Have you checked North Carolina to Glasgow?

I like to use www.kayak.com to look for flights. You can check the box "include nearby airports" and sometimes get a better price. For instance flying out of Greensboro instead of RDU and into Glasgow instead of EDI lowers price to 958. Of course you have to factor in getting to/from those locales but it gives you other possibilities to play with!

What are your dates?

Have you tried the consolidators, like onetravel.com? Also, you may do better getting a cheap flight to Washington or New York and then flying to Europe - the direct AA flight RDU-LHR is always pricey. I've taken the train to Washington and then flown to Europe, but you really have to overnight in Washington if you're doing that - can't count on the train getting in on time...

Going to Europe on two tickets is very risky. As mentioned, an overnight is best, but that generally offsets any savings - hotel room plus airport transfers...

Dates are pretty much fixed - 2 September through 18 September. I have used Kayak, and have searched Glasgow as well. This is about the time that sales start to happen, but with the volcano, everything seems to be up in the air.

I would expect the reverse trip (into Rome, out Edinburgh) to be more expensive - doesn't the UK charge higher fees for flights OUT of the UK?

At the moment, I'm kicking myself for not purchasing last month when they were $950 with tax. The problem is mainly this is a 'now or never' trip, and we've both got work approval for the vacation. All my ducks are in a row, if the flights would cooperate!