Flights to Ireland
 

I know how hard it is to predict airfares but does anyone have any advice for me when looking for travel to Ireland. The people that I am booking my tour through (flight not incl. obviously) said I should be able to book for about $700-$800/per person. Right now everything is over $1,000/pp. My wife and I are planning on going from Charlotte, NC-Shannon and then Returing Dublin-Charlotte, NC (or vice versa). Thanks!

Are you able to drive to another airport. I remember reading somewhere that Charlotte is one of the most expensive airports to fly into and out of. When researching my flights, I observed a difference between Boston and JFK for nearly identical flights on the same airline. For me, I booked early and probably paid more. However, the peace of mind is worth getting good seats on the flight I wanted.

Check Kayak. I got airfare from CLT on Continental (but could only find it through Kayak ... not even the Continental website) to Dublin for like 815.00. They also had airfare to Shannon for the same price roughly.

Atlanta airport is 4 hours away, if you are willing to drive and you may be able to find a cheaper airfare out of there.

Sadly rfische1 probably did hear this correctly. I too fly out of CLT, and the prices seem much higher than other airports (regardless of where we go). I am traveling the route you wish to take, in to SNN out of DUB, this Sept for two weeks. I began pricing back in Jan/Feb timeframe, and I think they were around $750pp. Of course, we were not able to book then, so by the time we were able to lock something in they had jumped to $850pp. Note, I was pricing multiple ways, RT DUB, RT SNN and in and out either way. The prices really never changed much regardless of how I ran the arrival/depart points. I also did not find a very big difference on days of the week, but did get a small break if you have some flexiblity. So we booked, for fear of them continuing to rise.

Needless to say about a month later they dropped back to about $790pp for rt DUB (but not the combo), but it could have gone either way. Of course now, we are about four weeks out and the prices are really up there.

Honestly, I don't fly a lot, so perhaps we jumped too quickly. This is a once in a lifetime trip for us, so we booked as opposed to saying wait until next year and maybe, just maybe they well drop.

Bottom line, start pricing as far out as you can. As others recommended, check on Kayak and sign up for alerts as they will email you if your flight choice drops in price (just remember to renew it before it expires). If you have some time, you should wait as the prices did seem to be around $750-$900, with the $900 being something you could get lower if you had flexiblity.

Good luck!

Sign up for alerts from Kayak.com, Farecompare.com and Priceline.com and Delta.com, I was able to get a good rate after I got a travel alert from Farecompare.com. I am travel from Florida to Cinncinati to JFK and then Shannon and was able to get tickets for $680. I have had my tickets since June but they were going up and down continually so I locked in when I saw these. Keep checking and use these sites and you should be able to find something affordable. You will love Ireland!

Also keep an eye on Airefarewatchdog.com - http://www.airfarewatchdog.com/cheap...-ireland/1535/ They will also email alerts to you.

I had an email from Aer Lingus last week advertising a sale. I dont' know when you're going but it's worth a look.

The time of year and the days of the week can have a BIG impact on the price you pay for airfare. Based on my experience with a trip in June, you'll see the best prices 60-90 days before your flight. but, as others mentioned, start tracking now, sign up for pricing alerts, airfare watchdog, etc... Train yourself to recognize a good deal when you see it ;)

Oh - one more thing I found. If you can work it into your schedule, I found the best fares when traveling on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday.

I found mine using sidestep.com

Sidestep and Kayak I believe are one in the same. Always identical fares whenever I checked. As for when to book, it is a real crap shoot. I like to go direct to an airline from sidestep or Kayak, and look at the seat assignments, and see how many of the seats are taken. As the plane starts to fill up, the higher the price seems to go. Of course if there are a lot of empty seats, and it gets into a certain time range...ususally about 2-3 months out, then the airlines sometimes have short term lower prices,(internet sales) usually occuring on a Thues night into Wed. I've seen some really good prices, and then they literally evaporate in 24-48 hours as the airlines get another block of seat capacity filled. I have no proof this is exactly how it works, but I have done a lot of checking over the past 2 years...curiosity I guess. We booked tickets in April for Aug of 09 from PDX-SNN for $805.00. Could have gotten those earlier for a little less. We just now booked tickets open jaw...PDX DUB SNN PDX for late March 2011 for $755.00 Our friends got the same deal from PHX. The days of getting $400-500 tickets (except in the dead of winter) are probably over, although it happens more if you happen to start from an East coast Major Hub. From the West Coast, I am resigned to the 700-800 ticket range ($600 in the off season). It seemed a lot of tickets went for the $1000-$1100 range for the summer of 2010. Just my humble observations....for what it is worth! rvflyer