AAFrequentFlyer

RLA,
It's against most if not all frequent flyer program rules. If the airline finds out, the sellers account could be completely cancelled with all the miles taken away, and the buyers ticket is invalidated as well.

Does it happen? Is the pope catholic?

ira

Jennie writes

>... we got .. a great deal on our tickets for our European trip from Sept. 18-Oct. 9. ($450 RT on NWA from Dallas to CDG with only one short stopover in Detroit)...<

I'm jealous. Mind telling us how you did it? Was that including taxes?

crispin46556

The way I look at it for a RT to Europe WITH TAXES!

>$750 - High
$650-$750 Average
$550-$650 Good
$500-$550 Great
<$500 Smokin!

The key when comparing prices is whether or not the amount includes all taxes and fees!

Kavey

<i>Have you ever wondered how much the person sitting next to you paid for his flight?</i>

Only when I've been upgraded...

uhoh_busted

ha ha, Kavey -- I'm with you!
I don't think it is worth worrying about, otherwise.

Jennie

Hi Ira:

Our fare did include taxes. The base price was $364 (I think. Close to that anyway).

I really didn't do anything all that special. I just checked various consolidator sites as well as Travelocity, Orbitz, etc. twice a day starting in about February or so. I found the fare on Orbitz and then checked the NWA website itself to see if they were showing the same fare. They were, so I got it there--minus the $5 fee Orbitz charges.

I really feel LUCKY to have found this. The exact same route the day before was $792 and it was back at $792 the very next day. It has even crossed my mind that I stumbled upon some sort of mistake or something!

Jennie

RNC

I don't because I know I am SOOO savvy that no one pays less than I do. Only the FF mile passengers and the non-revs are flying cheaper than I do.

WillTravel

I do get cheap deals, and I know I pay considerably less than what travel agents try to pawn off and less than most people pay. But it always happens that there is a cheaper deal, when I keep checking, because at some point I actually have to buy a ticket in order to finalize my plans.

OReilly

I fly to Europe on business at least 12 times per year. Like most business flyers, I have to buy full economy tickets because I have to have the freedom to change my itinerary and often cannot stay over a weekend or for a full week. 99% of the time, I am upgraded to B/C, which makes the ticket a real bargain. The odd time, I will have paid over $5,000 for an ecomony ticket and know that I am sitting beside someone who may have paid 20% of that for the same seat and service.

No, it doesn't bother me, as I get to use FF miles to purchase B/C seats for holiday flights for myself and my hubby. However, I do find it an anolomy that travellers continue to flock to low cost airlines, shop around for the lowest fares and then complain about small seats, poor service and no leg room. Business travel, and therefore full fare passengers, are declining so what's the long-term prognosis - fewer and more crowded flights AND higher airfares? Certainly most airlines are reducing the number of B/C seats and therefore less chance of an upgrade (and THIS girl will be flying a lot less!).

Hagan

Gee, I was just trying to get an &quot;average&quot; fare for U.S. to Europe for September so people who visit this site would know what to look for, and would know when they came upon a decent fare. I know that there are many people who paid less for their tickets than we did, as there are also those who paid more. Just trying to find out a good average, as so many posts ask this question.
Jack31, I'd be interested in how you find European travel agencies on the web site, and any in particular that you've used. This is a GREAT tip for the future. Any problems booking R/T from the U.S.?
Jennie, congratulations on getting such a terrific deal on your airfare! These are some of the things we need to be sharing with each other. After all, airfare is a major component of an overseas trip, and seems to deter some people from even attempting it. Jennie, have a great time, hope you post after your trip.

cruiseluv

Hagan,

I have no idea of your routing but I just went to AA website and for your dates I could go MCO-CDG for $509 via Dallas.

jody

But going thru DFW as opposed to MIA adds about 2=3 hours to flight time....I'm willing to pay $100.00 for less time in the air and on the ground

artlover

I got $449 RT with taxes Seattle-Malaga with stopover in London for November. Shopped for months and was on British Air's e-mail newsletter and got an e-mail from them in Feb. for this flight.
Was flexible with dates and times.

RLA

crispin46556 -
Thanks for that. I like that kind of reference. Is that for direct flights, layovers, or a combo?

SandyMartinsLopez

I got an great deal on Travelocity (purchased about 3 months ago.) Direct flight from Newark to Heathrow, Economy on Virgin Atlantic (LOVE this airline!) for only $325! Best I've found from Newark so far!

artlover

Just received an e-mail from Orbitz--they have a sale to Europe now with US Airways...We already have our tickets with BA for Nov., but thought I'd pass the word on--might be worth checking out.

jody

BA has just announced a 3 day sale $230.00 ny/london for Sept-October travel..didn't check if that included taxes!

John71cove

Why would I wonder what the person next to me paid for his flight?
My wife and I just returned from London by award travel on NWA. Cost us $91.00.
There. Feel better?

asbachnate

I bought 4 tickets (2 adults, 2 childrens) back in April for our September trip to Paris and Germany for $1725 including tax.
This was on American leaving Seattle on 9/5 for Frankfurt via a 1 hr layover in Chicago and returning the same route on 9/28.
A great price for 4 if I may say so myself.
I don't agree with some of the above posts about having to sacrafice a a full day or have 2-3 stopovers in order to get a good fare. You just need to constantly check all the search engines and chat rooms and have patience. You almost always will find a great fare if your not in a huge hurry.