Iwan2go

My husband and I are treating our adult children (who am I kidding? I'm treating me) and renting an apartment in Paris June 18 - 25. Since he and I will earn two free tickets on Air France from this trip, I'm limited to that airline, and also to that date.

I've been watching the fares for a few months, and right now they're $1500.00. I haven't flown to France in June before, but I was hoping they'd be a little lower - maybe $1200?

Is it better to snag them now, or wait? Any opinions and experiences out there? Do they usually drop? Somebody push me if I need it, here. Thanks!

margyb

Where are you flying from?

Iwan2go

Good question. LAX to Paris CDG, nonstop, early evening flight.

ira

Hi I,

Do the 4 of you have to fly together?

www.mobissimo.com is showing a flight on AirCanada for those dates for $1180.

I expect that if you wait until mid Dec through mid Jan, the price will go down about $100-150 pp.

Also, AirFrance is offering flights on your dates for $1259.

rex

Is there any possibility of buying all four tickets and using your FF miles for updated seats?

Hope you enjoy...

Best wishes,

Rex

francophile03

I think you should wait for a couple of months more.

Iwan2go

Thank you all for your responses. I guess one of the things I was wondering is if it's typical for the fares to be higher until December/January, then drop. Did anyone watch it happen last year? On the one hand, I don't want to buy too soon, and on the other, if this is the best price for this flight I don't want to miss it.

Sounds like forcasting the stockmarket...

Thanks too for the heads-up on other carriers and flights on AF. Though it would be lovely to fly together - I'll have to weigh it out and see if it's worth it.

chepar

I've been watching the United fares to London for the past several months. I'll be traveling with my daughter and picked up one ticket on FF miles, so I have to fly United.

The price has dropped only about $100 during the last couple months, down to a bit over $1300. I'm hoping within the next couple months it drops a bit more - but like you said, it's hard to determine and the fares have stubbornly remained rather high.

kismetchimera

I would wait until March, by then the price should be much lower.

Arras

I am monitoring the fares to Paris from LAX also...I want to go in early Spring. Check out Air Tahiti Nui...I have flown them several times to Paris, and the only time I had better service was business class (upgrade) on Virgin.
I don't know about their schedules (fitting in with yours) but between Air Tahiti and Air France: I'll take Air Tahiti everytime.
Also: www.travel-portfolio.net seems to have some specials with ATN...haven't used them before, but I have bookmarked their site..
The ATN site has info on their planes, seating, etc...all accurate.
One flight with Air France, the flight was cancelled, and if my travel agent hadn't notified me, I would have gone to the airport...the replacement flight was the next day, and it was a huge mess (programming..the flights had the same number, so Delta had to reprogram things...(I found out from my agent, while I was waiting in line...they didn't tell us until later). The flight was delayed about 5 hours, and again, fortunately, the travel agent rebooked my connecting flight...I brought him back a bottle of very good wine (unavailable in US).
Both fly out of Bradley Terminal in LA, both fly into CDG in Paris.
In Paris, my best experiences have been with www.bluvan.fr (site available in English). Like Supershuttle, very reliable...you can book on line (I did, very easy..)
Hope it all works out...
Arras

Sarah

I would be such a good daughter, one that washes dishes, makes the beds.

take me take me!

LTR

Arras, I have booked the Air Tahiti Nui specials last March and the price was cheaper than booking a ATN flight by itself. We are booking again for February. At their rates, a week in Paris is cheaper for me than a weekend in Las Vegas.

Iwan2go

Wow, thanks guys! I was working all day and just now checked the post. Sarah, I laughed out loud when I read yours.

I am so excited to be doing this! It's a really big splurge for us, and we're putting off doing other stuff, but ya know - life is just too short. When I ask them what they remember about growing up, my children talk about our trips. Nobody remembers that the living room wasn't furnished for years, or the cars were sort of old. They remember the experiences we have shared.

My daughter and one of my sons have been to Europe before, but my newly married son and his wife have not. I think that's one of the reasons I'd love to be on the same flight. There's something magical about being a witness to someone seeing the Eiffel Tower and the Paris skyline for the first time.

The newlyweds are continuing on to Italy for their belated honeymoon - Sorrento, Rome, and Florence. Thanks to these boards, I helped them find some great hotels (i.e., Hotel Parlamento in Rome).

Gosh, how on earth are we going to wait??? It is all so exciting.

rkkwan

Wait. The fare will not go much higher than $1,300 in the next few months, but has a pretty chance of some lowering, with cheaper fare class inventories made available. So, good reward and little risk for waiting.

viamar

I love your outlook on life. My kids are still relatively young and I figure they will remember all the fun we had while they were growing up vs. the new hardwood floors we were going to put in. That's why were going to London and Greece this June. We can always get new floors, but right now Greece is calling.
I looked at you post because I'm in the same bind. When to buy the airfare? We're looking at June also and so far it's hovered around $1,300. A TA I know said mid January is when summer fares go on sale. So for now I'm waiting.

Judy

I just bought an Air France ticket. I wanted to return May 27 and the price was around $1900, changed my date to 5/28 and price dropped to $827! I got basically the same on Deltas site. I know your dates are set, but paying for hotel for a night might be worth it.