cindynpp

If you could pick any airline to Paris which would it be? Also I waited until today to book a flight I had been undecided about because I read airfare is cheaper on Tuesday. The same trip is $300 each higher today that yesterday. I guess I learned a lesson. I don't even know If I'll be able to talk my husband into going now.

sherm99

On my first trip to Paris, I book with Hotwire for $800.00 round trip for 2. It was on Lufthansa, had to fly Philly-Frankfurt-Paris and return on same route. The largest cost for my travel is airfare, as I travel for work and earn hotel points.
I base my airline choice on where I am going first and cost second. Even if I need to make a connection, the fare may be cheaper but, is it worth the extra time in transit. SOmetimes it is.

amwosu

The airline I'd pick is the one that is least expensive as long as it isn't Air India. Although they have good sales I hear too many horror stories of canceled flights and poor customer service to solve problems that arise.

Its not a 100% guarantee that prices drop on Tuesdays. Prices fluctuate daily. Plus its usually after midnight that you get those seasts that have been rereleased from cancelations that create temporarily lower prices. I sometimes set the alarm to get up to check fares then. I have yet to find any huge bargains.

How far out is your planned trip? Two and a half to three months out is when fare sales usually occur. All bets are off for summer travel. Fares sales might not ever happen.

I'm currently waiting to see if prices go down for my dates in June. I can see by looking on orbitz that only half the seats have been sold on my dates for most flights so there is no pressing reason to jump on a high priced flight just yet.

If you don't like the high prices figure out when low season will be and plan your trip then if possible. I can fly for $400-600 in the off season (roughly Nov. - May) and I'm currently looking at $1300 fares for my dates.

Consider driving to an airport within 100-200 miles of your "home" airport and check for prices there to see if it might be worth the drive for significant savings.

For me its a little like gambling and I kind of enjoy the hunt for good fares. Good luck.

LouisaH

Cindy, I just booked airfare to Paris on Air France a few weeks ago. I've noticed that their fares still seem to fluctuate dramatically and I was told that they often drop their fares on the weekend. It's worth checking.

opaldog

I guess it depends on where you are flying from. I always book by the price of the ticket. I have flown from BOS to Paris on AA, Air France, Continental, Virgin, and Iceland Air. My choice in order would be Air France, Iceland Air, AA, and the combo of Continental and Virgin. I have had great experiences with Air France and a terrible experience with Virgin. I think in many cases it just depends on the individual circumstances as to whether you enjoy your flight.

sleitner

Air France is my favorite airlines, good food (for airline food) wine, etc...

happytotravel

Don't give up, a travel agent friend of mine suggests trying to book your tickets on a Tues or Weds, I try odd times of time, I use different computers. You just never know when the cheap airfare is going to be there. I book my trips after I have the airfare. I don't worry about the airline if the fare is good.

Kate_W

As someone else mentioned, the answer depends on where you live - it also depends on which airline alliance you belong to. I prefer Air Canada for direct flights Paris-Canada, but often fly British Airways because I like flying Premium Economy (and I have Gold status, so I get treated reasonably well).

If cost is the main issue and you live near Toronto or Montreal (or have good cheap flight connections to get there), Zoom Airlines is a possibility. Zoom is a discount carrier that flies to Paris and to a few destinations in the UK. For a slightly higher price, you can fly in Zoom's equivalent of Premium Economy, in either or both directions. I think Air Transat also flies to Paris from Canada, but only in the summer.

If you wanted to splurge a little, and live near NYC, you could fly the new all business class airline, L'Avion.

Sometimes, the indirect flights are a better deal. At Christmas, when I had to book a ticket fast because our BA flights from Paris to Canada via London got cancelled because the fog, the Air Canada and Air France tickets were astronomically expensive, but Lufthansa (connecting in Frankfurt) was a steal. Likewise, you might find KLM connecting in Amsterdam to be a good value (and you can usually stop over for practically free - just the cost of higher taxes because of the stopover - so you could visit the Netherlands or Germany, too.)

crefloors

When are you going? I just got notice of a fare sale from Air France. Tickets have to be purchased by March 30. I didn't check any further because I'm not traveling right now. Before you get "all excited", check the fares because sometimes by the time they add the tax and all the other charges, it's not as much of a deal as it seems.

BlueSwimmer

Hi Cindy-

Did you clear the cookies from your computer before putting in your airline search on Tuesday?

Sometimes you have to clear cookies or the travel booking engine (orbitz, for example) doesn't give YOU the lower prices since it knows what it already showed you, if that makes sense. (I am honestly not sure if it is Orbitz that does this, I just know it happens with some of the booking engines.)

Christina

I usually fly Air France, and from where I fly, the fares have definitely NOT been fluctuating a lot recently for this summer. I wish they were, but for the couple of dates I'm checking, they have remained very high and about the same for some weeks now, regardless of day and time I check.

I would go with a nonstop, and then cheapest, basically. From where I live, that is AF or United only. I prefer AF if they were equal price. But basically any major airline is probably going to be okay if it suits your price and times.

I've never noticed airfare being any cheaper on Tuesdays (at least for buying on Tuesdays, which I'm assuming you mean, not the days of travel) in any consistent manner at all. In fact, I think I've noticed it dropping more on Fridays than early in the week, but again, that could all be random.

AGM_Cape_Cod

We have flown Air France to France the last few years and had good flights. We just got back from a trip on an Air France 747 flight which was awful. It was like a cattle car. An old plane with just one movie screen in each section and side. It had been refitted to get more seats in so we didn't even have a window. I will fly Air France again but not on a 747.

rbnwdln

If the flight has gone up $300 in a day or two, just wait. The prices fluctuate and it can go down again as fast as it went up. Check at least several times a day. As far as traveling off-season, our friends got a great deal on flying to Europe in early March and hit major snowstorms leaving and returning to the US. They were delayed, stuck in airports, missed connections, your basic nightmare.

cindynpp

We want to go the 1st week of June and fly out of Atlanta. It doesn't seem like anyone flys out of Atlanta at a reduced rate. I'm afraid if I wait much longer they will just go up again. Air India is still the cheapest but there have been so many negative comments I don't want to risk it. Also there are 3 of us and you can't pick your seats on Air India.

happytotravel

If your dates are a little flexible, I just checked on Kayak, and you can get airfare to London, or Paris from Atlanta leaving May 27th in the 600 and 700 dollar range, but leaving the first week of June it's almost double.

Rastaguytoday

Try http://www.airlinequality.com/ for some airline quality reviews. Click on Star ratings to get some ideas. Lots of good ideas on this site.

Don't forget, once you choose an airline, click on www.seatguru.com to make sure you don't get a dog of a seat. Try and do this before you book so you don't have the bother with trying to change your seat.

redwoodcitymom

I was looking into flights from Paris to Nuremberg. Most were $700 for 2. On a whim I check using Orbitz and found a flight for $77 one way. It's even cheaper then the train. It's on Air Berlin. Don't know if that helps.

adeben

Singapore Airlines offer best service though it is now being challenged by Emirates.

Girlspytravel

I just returned from 4 flights on Air France, and could NOT have been happier with them, really, their food is quite excellent in economy, and their redesigned interiors, with foot rests, individual audio/video on demand, and very nice and helpful flight staff, from check-in to on-board service, could not have been better.

Even on my little over an hour flight from Venice to Paris CDG, they served a full lunch meal-but my pre-ordered seafood meals on the flights to and from the US were just excellent. And of course, there is that great French champagne which you can drink for free as well, not to mention their good red and white wine served onboard.

And by the way, contrary to complaints on this website, I still have had NO problems connecting from terminals in CDG whatsoever-I will say though, that security is very strict at CDG right now, more so than in the East Coast airports in the US-I had to take off my shoes, and the metal detectors are set very low, so where I did not set off any alarms at Venice Marco Polo, I did set off alarms at CDG and was subjected to a full body search. You declare your on-board liquids up front, but I've been carrying all make-up, including half used bottles of liquid hand sanitizer, and have gotten nary a blink, both in the US and in Europe.

And about duty-free shopping in CDG, I saw the cutest Lancel handbag for a most reasonable on sale 80 Euro at CDG on the way in, and figured, yes, I will come back through and buy this-but then, when I had to switch to Terminal 2E, for the outbound international flight, thinking that same shop would be in that Terminal? Wrong! There is virtually NO DUTY-FREE SHOPS where the international outbound flights to the US are located in 2E, nothing other than cigarettes, liquor and perfumes, and you CANNOT go back out, do some shopping in Terminal 2F, and then go back to Terminal 2E-not possible-will not let you do that. I was quite disappointed, so remember that if you want to do duty-free shopping, make sure you do it in the other Terminals, before getting to your gate in 2E. This is the second time this has happened to me, where I found a really great handbag in duty-free on sale, and failed to purchase it when I saw it, so never got the opportunity again. I do like those Lancel bags very much, and they are not carried on the discount designer handbag websites, I've noticed, unlike the Italian brands-there are some Longchamps, but not Lancel.

Btw, Wednesday seems to be the cheapest airfare day, on average, I've found.

djkbooks

I shop airfares WAY ahead for the most convenient times and non-stop flights. We've flown Air France, Delta, and American. We prefer Air France, but choose based on fare if the difference is significant.

You haven't mentioned when you plan to go, but we've had fantastic luck with www.1800flyeurope.com in recent years. You must shop there directly. Paid $631 for May, $552 for September, and $794 for this September (fares have increased significantly and lowest today is $914).

You may want to just wait and plan your trip for next year.