Need help with British Air question ... please!
 

Tried this with a different subject line yesterday, and got nothing. Maybe this will work better.

Four of us will be arriving in London from Philadelphia in mid-May, going on to Provence, and returning two weeks later. In checking the available options from Gatwick, our best bet looks like a British Airways round-trip to and from Marseille.

Last week, he BA website quoted a price of 314 GBP for the 4 of us, which works out to about $135 per person. We delayed booking for no good reason, and today the same flights are quoted at 406 GBP, or about $175 per person.

Can anyone advise whether the fare is more likely to increase further, or go down over the next few weeks or so? If possible, I'd like a recommendation on when the best time would be to book.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Larry

Larry - The budget airline Easyjet fly Gatwick-Marseille.

www.easyjet.com

Hope this helps ...

Steve

BA prices will fluctuate due to demand. As you get closer to the time of departure, the prices are more likely to be higher. Airlines hold and release seats to get the best prices. For example, if it gets close to departure and a flight has not sold very well, they may release a block of discount economy seats to fill the plane.

You're taking your chances but the closer to departure you get, the more likely you are to have to pay more.

Its fascinating....

EasyJet. No contest. Look at easyjet.com

I just ran it through BA's US partner, American Airlines (aa.com) and got a nonrefundable fare for May 11/18 (don't know your dates) of $119.60 all in round trip per person. It's often the case that aa.com will sell BA tickets for less than BA, go figure. If you want to use aa.com, look for the "more options" and select "AA, American Eagle and Oneworld" on the search screen. (Oneworld means aa.com will look for BA inventory.)

I would seriously jump on that fare. It's even cheaper than easyJet on some days.

Just looked at dates a week or so later and aa.com returns $137 and change for the same itinerary.

Thanks for your suggestions.
I had actually checked Easy Jet before, and the fare has actually come down now, to almost exactly what our first quote from British Air was.

I also tried the aa.com suggestion, and was quoted the same $706.40 that I got from the BA website ... the cheaper fares were availbale, but only at times of the day that will not work for us due to connections.

Looks like Easy Jet is the way to go, thanks again.

Larry

Just be careful with easyJet or any other budget airlines. If for whatever reason your outbound flight is delayed and you miss the easyJet connection, they wll not automatically transfer you to a later flight without your paying extra (i.e. difference between the price paid and the price of a new flight ruling on the day). And if the later flights are fully booked, you have to wait to the following day and they won't pay for hotel or meals. With BA, and being in the same One World alliance, they will try to get you to Marsailles on the same day, even if they have to put you on a different airline.

Another caveat for EasyJet--be aware of their weight restrictions. If your luggage goes over their allowed weight, the extra charges can wipe out the low fares.

Thanks, Giovanna, for the warning on the weight restrictions. I remembered to check that because our friends flew on Ryan Air from Spain to London, and got assessed a fairly large added charge for baggage weight.

I checked Easy Jet's site, and it indicated that their weight allowance is 50 kilos per person, and 32 kilos per single piece of baggage, which is about 67 pounds. We should be ok wih that.

Easy Jet's FREE baggage allowance is 20kg per person. Anything over that (up to 50 kg) they charge you for - stonkingly.

Over 50 kg, the bags stay on the ground.

Thanks, flanneruk. I went back and re-read the Easy Jet site, and you're correct.

I'm probably back to square one, gambling on British Air.