London experts - May vacation airline & fare ?'s
 

During what month should I book a May vacation to England? Also, is the fare less expensive if you fly on a Tue/Wed/Thu and return on one of these days? I am looking to fly from Buffalo to London (either Gatwick or Heathrow). But, I could book the international flight out of JFK and book a domestic flight to JFK on Jet Blue. Should I consider all airlines for this trip, or is one particular airline better for coach travel? I have only flown overseas on British Airways. I have been looking at AA because of the more room throughout coach promise, but how much more room do you actually have compared to the other airlines? Currently, AA's fare from JFK to LHR is $456 R/T for the dates 5/3 - 5/12.

Thanks for your input!

I would look to www.gotoday.com. We used that this past March for Albany, NY to London and it was less than $1000 total for two with airfare, four nights hotel and breakfast.

I think that's a pretty good fare for May. The prices for May will be higher than for March across the board, so frankly I'd book it now and focus my attention on other things. Saving $100 on airfare by waiting and fussing is nothing compared to the savings you might realize in hotel prices once you're there if you spend time shopping for those instead of plane tickets.

Radiofanatic,

I saw that you took your London trip through go.today. We just booked our London trip through them. Did you have a good experience? What hotel did you stay at? What type of breakfast should we expect that is included with the price?

If I should move this as a new post, let me know.

Thanks!
Debbie

If you aren't using a vacation package and going on your own, it is cheaper to fly mid-week rather than the weekend. I always fly to London on a Tue or Wed (my days off from work). I have used BA and Aer Lingus, but my FF program is with AA. Never had any problems with them.

I've flown both BA and AA from Boston to London and AA definitely has more room. AA was an airbus as well and the 777 we flew over on BA I wasn't at all impressed with as far as space and entertainment options compared to AA. I have also flown Continental over and that too was crowded.

Thanks all! I will probably end up booking the AA flight. But, I do have one more question: I will probably only stay in London for 3 nights, then drive to other parts of England (haven't decided where though). Has anyone had any luck with a decent fare flying into London and departing from another city, such as Manchester? Aer Lingus allows you to fly into Dublin and out of Shannon for the same price. Is there an airline that allows the same for England?

Any airline can set up "open jaw" trips - those that entail flying to one city, then home from another. Typically the price is something like half the round trip fare to each added together. AA flies from JFK to London, then has a "codeshare" service (using British Air's plane but under an AA flight number) from Manchester to JFK. However the BA plane won't have the same room in coach as AA's.

You might think about connecting through Chicago instead of JFK. American serves Manchester year-round from O'Hare and has seasonal service (starting in May) from ORD to Glasgow. So you could go BUF-ORD-LHR, then GLA-ORD-BUF easily. The price probably won't be much different than via JFK. Worth a call to AA to see (but book it online and save $5 per ticket.)

Shop for air fares and hotels independently, then check out the packages (we've had fabulous luck with Priceline for hotels and packages). We also very much enjoy Virgin Atlantic. Especially the 3PM return flight time. We flew with VA from Boston for under $700 for the two of us in May.

Important Note: If you book a Jet Blue flight to NYC, allow plenty of connection time. Once there, you have to get yourselves and your bags to the International Terminal and check in and go through security again. Consider that your flight from Buffalo could be delayed, even cancelled...Best bet is an an overnight at the airport.

Anyway, when shopping fares last year for May, fares went down in November (missed that) then back up, and down again in January and February then up and up. No telling about this year. You just have to keep on shopping.

I will never again fly AA after the dismally uncomfortable seat cushions (no cushion whatsoever, actually, just a thin sheet of plywood beneath) on our last round trip with them. The extra leg room, though, is a significant difference.

In my experience, the savings flying different days of the week is not significant enough to change your plans.

Thanks again gardyloo and djkbooks. I will look at AA out of Chicago and VA out of JFK. I also thought that maybe I should check flights from Toronto, which is a 2 hr drive from me. That might be a better option than trying to connect on a domestic flight to an international one. I rather dislike JFK and would like to avoid this airport all together, but it is one of the easiest to get to from Buffalo.

We stayed at the Cordova House hotel which was the lowest level and we loved the place - it was in a great location, the room was immaculate and the bathroom looked like it had just been redone - all in blue tile. We couldn't have been happier. We are using them again for Paris - if you have other questions, let me know.

We decided to book the Govsenvor Kensington? Anyone ever stay there?