Outrageous flight prices??
 

I've been looking at flights from Philadelphia/New York to London departing beginning of June and returning early July and have been shocked at the price of flights - roughly $1,000 round trip per person! I frequently fly this route and have never seen prices this high. What is going on? Am I missing something? Any hope of these prices falling over the next couple months?

I just asked the same question. What is the deal with the airlines this year?

It's all supply and demand at work. They've cut flights and seats (smaller planes when possible) so the "revenue per mile" goes up to a profitable level. Try the usual tricks if you're able - travel midweek etc. for the best deal. I've seen worse than this.

Prices in the fall are lower if you can or want to delay, but the ones I'm seeing still are about $800.

A friend who works for a major, major online travel consolidator says the best fares come in 60 days before the flight. But that depends on how full the plane is at that time. Many people say if you see a fare and flight you like, grab it.

This is really a sad state of affairs. I've tried all my usual tricks, but the prices are only marginally better/worse. $1,000 is prohibitively expensive - especially for families. Personally, I find this infuriating. However, on a larger scale I am saddened that this will make it more difficult for Americans to have global travel experiences, which I think are so beneficial to society.

We just booked tix to Ireland. This will be our 7th trip and this is the most we have ever paid, even more than we paid one summer. I wanted to go in March (just antsy to get out of here) but April airfare was less, plus I got a better, direct flight, so I booked. Then I found that car rental prices were much higher in April, so it turned out to be a wash. The Euro is much better than our last couple of trips, so I am happy, although we will be bringing less stuff home than in the past because of new Aer Lingus luggage restrictions (since we last flew them 2 years ago).

I read elsewhere on here that summer sales start in mid to late March. I have my fingers crossed.

I have my doubts.

Ah, yes. :(

I'm heading over early July and returning 1 Aug -- finding tix in the 1100 - 1400 range ...

Even MORE disturbing, though, is if I look at the 'Available Seats' link -- there are VERY few DECENT seats left-- this FAR OUT!!!!

Bob

I realize it's not popular, but the truth is that it's probably the fact that the $1,000 airfares are closer to what it costs to fly us to Europe then the $500 airfares. Airlines have high fixed costs (jets, maintenance, etc) Added to that the cost of fuel and the labor.... It's just hard to see how $500 can be profitable.

I remember paying about $700 for my first flight to Europe.. in 1978!!!! Hard to complain about "inflation" My first car cost $2,500 a few years later. Try to find a driveable car at that price... not a lot of options.

I don't know if this will help anyone in the future, but we save our FF awards for overseas travel. If we can't get two free tickets, we can sometimes get one with award points and pay for one.

And for the last three trips, we've found better accomodation prices than in the past. I want to be clear that it's not the same level of accomodations: no 4* hotels for less than ever before. But we are finding a much better range of apartments, B&Bs, and even good sales on rooms at places like
Travelzoo.com.

Transportation passes and attraction passes are much more available to us now, it seems, with all the good information on the internet. Ditto with good eats at cheaper dining spots.

So if I work it hard enough, and I'm not saying it isn't hard work, a trip in June 2010 can cost about the same as a trip in June most other years.

I am flying from Seattle to Spain later this week (into Sevilla and out of Granada) on a ticket I bought from Iberia for $615. (And I went this last November also - Seattle to Madrid round-trip - for about the same price), which is way cheaper than the first ticket I bought to Europe in 1996! However that ticket was in August and to Greece, so more along the lines of what you'd expect.

Anyway the cheap tickets from Seattle to Spain recently were the thing that got me to finally travel to Spain, so I'm glad of it! I can't wait to go back. (A lot of times I base my destination on how much bang I can get for my buck, so with fares like that and how relatively cheap things are in Andalucia, then, it's hard to pass that up.)

But my guys want to go to London soon, so I will be unfortunately but probably facing what you are in the near future.

Oh I should add, the November ticket was on British Airways, so not sure why all of the cheap flights on numerous airlines from Seattle to Spain.

I don't regret my decision to fly to Amsterdam on March 1 at $608 r/t. The weather may not be ideal, but at least I am saving $$$.

Wishing you all some good airfare deals well under a grand! :)

tuscanlifeedit. I save my miles for tickets also. I know that they are worth more if you use them to upgrade, but it is more important for us to be able to minus the cost of tickets from the total budget.

I never expected to be able to get a ticket for this next vacation with only seven months lead in because of the flight cuts. But I decided to try when the itinerary I wanted was about $1200.

And you are correct. With planning you can find nice hotels and apartments. This is why we almost never go without reservations. I would rather splurge on a nice meal knowing that the airfare and rooms are taken care of for a price I can live with.

There is nothing special about a low fare to Spain in February. All flights to Europe I have looked at, if bought at least a month ahead, for February travel have been cheap.

You cannot compare tickets for November, February, or March to summer. June ticket are at a premium. I get frequent e-mails from British Airways offering deals for travel through the end of March. But summer? No.

greg: from Seattle, $615 to Europe is cheap, even in February. Hundreds of dollars cheaper than to most places! I go to Europe every year in the winter (since '96) and that is a GOOD price.

You really have to shop every available resource.

I've had great luck with www.1800flyeurope.com, but always way in advance.

Keep an eye on Aer Lingus as they've been having some terrific sale fares. Last year, they did have lower fares, even in June and July.

Hi J,

I, also, have been seeing somewhat higher than expected prices for as late as Oct/Nov.

((I))

Just got a great ticket from Boston to Paris for in May $680 through AerLingus. I had to go straight to their sight, though. Everything through Kayak, etc., was much higher.

Good luck!