March Airfare (CDG) question(s)
 

Hello,

Does anyone have any specific tips as to how and when I might obtain a good coach fare from Milwaukee (to Paris)?

When do consolidators post their spring (March) rates?

Is $600 a decent price or should I hold out?

One additional note:

I am interested only in fares that the schedule is known in advance, that is not Hotwire ect.

Thanks!

You should be able to do better than that for March. Register for a fare watcher on Travelocity and other sites. Follow 1800flyeurope for good fares.

Steffen,
We live in Milwaukee but have always flown international flights from O'Hare. There is a Coach USA bus terminal near Mitchell Field where you can park free in their lot. They take you directly to your terminal and back for around $38.

We are flying O'Hare to CDG next March on Air France. They had a fare sale in May. Round trip was $393 each.

You should be able to find something around $500 or less, even if you have to wait until after the first of the year.

JoeG

Thank you for both tips!

Agreed. Paris in March should be doable for not more than 450 USD.

Check prices one we hit the beginning of Jan., which is when I expect March European travel prices to be at their best--if the past 3 years are any indication.

Are there any solid consolidator sites that I should also start checking?

Thanks!

Sign up for Air France's e-communique. That's how we found our $275RT fare to Paris last March.

elle - can you please explain how to sign up for that e-communique. I've been on their site and don't see it. Thanks.

March of '04 I flew Continental from PIT-CDG for $320.

Steffen, it COULD make a difference whether you are talking about very late in March or during the first half of the month. I agree with those who say you could probably expect to pick up MKE-CDG r/t for somewhere in the mid-$400 range. I've gone to Paris from Wisconsin in March every year since 1996 and I often find good fares to purchase for that trip around November. If your dates are a bit flexible, I've found mid-week to mid-week fares tend to be the lowest.

Steffen,
Check Northwest Airlines. www.nwa.com
They fly Milwaukee/Detroit/Paris.
I saw a fare in the mid $400.00 for March.

Hello all!

I am talking about late March (ie Easter) so the fares might be a bit elevated. I will do the Air France notification alert. Thanks for the tip !

You can get a good feel now as to where the fare-cutoff date lies between the rather cheap "early spring" fares and the moderate "late spring" fares, by going to travelocity.com, clicking on your route and then use 'my dates are flexible' option.

My past experience tells me the cut-off between the above fares is the last Thursday before March 31, but this can depend on (i) the day of the week March 31 falls and (ii) when Easter falls the particular year.

As flyboy indicated, the day of the week will play a big part. If you leave Mon-Thurs and return Mon-Thurs, you will generally get the cheapest price. So even for a rather short 10 day trip, you could leave Thurs night, arrive Fri morning, spend two weekends and return stateside on Monday.

i'm watching the easter airfares to CDG as well (from philly).

the non-stops just went down a little. usair to $541 and air france to $601 (probably to compensate for usair). i'm trying to get something closer to $500 and wouldn't book on usair anyway.

we went to paris last spring ('04) and paid $658 in november. however, delta had a quickie sale in january for something in the $300s. it's hard to hold out, but i think there's still plenty of time.

just checked air france again with a slight date change (mar. 25 to apr. 1) and the fare is $487.xx! what to do?

Steffen:

By now you're probably inundated by all of the responses which generally say you can get a RT-fare for far less than $600. I agree. Here are my suggestions (some of which have been made to an extent by others):

If you don't see sale fares for close to $400 RT, wait till January 1st or a little later- the fares will decline and as long as you're 30 days in advance, you should be ok.

Sign up for Air France, Northwest, and American airlines fare savers and e-mail alerts. They post sales from time-to-time

* As close as you are to Chicago, don't rule out making the 1 1/2 hour drive (there are bus services, too) to O'Hare- Chicago for fares that may beat those out of Milwaukee. Flying out of a more common hub will often work in your favor.

Good Luck!

Thanks again! I have signed up for the fare alerts that you have mentioned.

One last question that has not been answered as of yet: Are there any good consolidators out there and when do their spring rates come out?

I've also been checking prices to Paris (from New York) and think they are still a little high. Last March I flew that route for $350, I bought the tickets in mid October and even though I keep checking every few weeks after that just for the hell of it, the prices never got any lower than that (that I could find).

At the moment I'm finding the best prices on Orbitz and cheaptickets.com. I also check flycheap.com and cheapfares.com. They are about $400-450 so I'm going to wait a bit longer.

I've never seen anything under $300 so I wish Elle would post back with how she got that $275 she mentioned.

elle can of course speak for herself, but air france held a fare sale earlier this year. something incredible like buy one get one free. anniversary sale maybe?

lots of people made quick decisions about taking a trip!