Hey folks-<BR>I'm considering the USAir winter sale from Charlotte to London. It's around $425 including taxes etc but their restrictions and my schedule put the trip at late Feb/early March. I'd prefer late March since it will be a bit warmer and greener, and I'm definitely looking to fly non stop from CLT or RDU (that would be on American) if at all possible. I'm looking for your observations and experiences, and I realize with all that's happened in the airline industry, it may hard to predict these things. But do you think there will be sales appearing later this fall or early winter which would allow travel in late March? Or should I jump on this one? <BR>Thanks for any speculation or experience shared....much appreciated.<BR>

I don't think you are going to fly non-stop from Charlotte. I THINK USair discontinued their non-stop service last month. British Airways still has one. That said it MAY be the other way around. Anyway who knows. I just got that sale announcement today. I am not sure there will ever be better sales. The one thing you could try is Priceline for the exact dates you want. Hotwire sent me a sale announcement yesterday also.

It looks like the daily non-stop from Charlotte to LGW is still on their schedule. British Airways discontinued its non-stops out of Charlotte soon after 9/11, and I do not believe they have been re-instated. I doubt you could get much cheaper -- maybe there will be a sale in the $300s later this winter, but you never know.

London is one of the few European destinations that you can still get to directly from Charlotte. From London you can connect on British Airways to other European destinations. Most others connect (from Charlotte) through Philly.

Seriously take a look at American from Raleigh to London (Gatwick). If you are going to stay in the UK there is a promotion including hotels going on now (AAvacations) from all the AA gateways in the US to the UK (including RDU). You can try to calculate the cost of the airfare if you can figure out what you would have to pay at the hotel in the package. We opted for 6 nights in March. The airfare I calculated is something in the order of $200-250 RT but you can't really tell because of the variability of the hotel price. For example using the rack rate at the hotel we opted for AA is paying us $25 each to fly to London. Clearly there is a deal between the hotel and AAvacations. The bottom line is look at the offer. It may help you.

Thanks everyone for the advice. I think I'm going to hold off on this sale and take a chance that I can get a reasonable fare for later in March either on AA or USAir. <BR>Thanks also for the tip about AA vacations!<BR>

Look at the USAir vacations also. They can be very reasonable--maybe even now (for your time in March that is). Sorry about the misinfo re flights from Charlotte--just knew that someone had stopped.