My wife, daughter, and I are planning a trip to Scotland for 7 days in late July/early August of next year. We will be flying from either Tampa or Orlando. Current airfares searches show $1000+ for that time of the year, but half that price for March and November. Does anyone have advice on what we can expect to pay and the best time to book after the first of the year? Thanks so much!!

..I would budget at least $1000 for peak season.

From the East coast? How can that be? I know fares are up a bit this year, but I'm on the west coast and can always find fares in the $600 - $750 range in the summer. August will make it a bit higher (I almost always avoid going in August) but from California I'm finding fares around $800 give or take, so would think about $150-$200 less from the east.

Be flexible w/ your dates - some days of the week will be $100 or $200 more. And sign up for all of the transatlantic carriers e-mail alerts. And also be willing to use a different departure city - might save you hundreds of dollars.

Also look at flying into London - more competition on the route so fares can be a lot lower. There are several medium to low cost airlines connecting London to Glasgow/Edinburgh.

You may be able to do better, but it is not uncommon to see fares in the neighborhood of what you're seeing for that time of year because that is during the most expensive season of the year for fares to Europe.

The only thing you can do is keep watching and then be ready to pounce on a good fare as soon as it shows up. I'm not terribly familiar with fares for what you're doing, but maybe someone here is. I would expect it to easily exceed $800 person on even a "good deal" and it may well end up looking much like what you are seeing. I would also say that you'll want to have your tickets purchased before the end of April. Unless some other variable enters into the picture, summer fares just don't seem to do anything but rise by the time you get into May, from what I've seen.

Use ITASoftware.com and the month-long search feature to see what you get. This can uncover a lot of good deals. But I just tried this, and I see you are correct about the $1000 range, even with flexible choices.

Last year I went from SC to Glasgow for $585 through US Airways in June. I purchased my ticket in April. I found the fare by subscribing to travelzoo.com. Watch Delta this year. They will have a nonstop from Atlanta to Edinburgh.

If you are flexible on your dates you will have the best luck. There is no need to hurry now unless you are trying to use frequent flyer miles. Those seats get taken fast.

Hi al,

Also watch fares on www.kayak.com and www.mobissimo.com.

I expect prices to drop in Jan-Feb.

Ira - are you in the travel industry? I was wondering on what you based your expectations that airfares to the UK will drop in Jan-Feb. I am also planning a trip there in 2006 and am trying to decide when to buy my tickets. BTW I'd be flying from LA and want to go non-stop.

Generally fare sales show up 3-5 months before a travel date. Although airlines in financial difficulty might put a sale on at any time in order to deal with cash flow problems.

There usually isn't much incentive to put sales on earlier than this--they might as well see how many seats they can sell at full price before cutting ticket prices to fill empty seats.

Check on the consolidator site www.onetravel.com as well as all the others.

Everybody predicts everything re fares: rises, falls, sales, no sales, etc. The only "sure" thing is for you to remain vigilant. Last February Continental ran a great sale for tickets to Europe but for some destinations the fares weren't valid until the middle of July so there are no "accurate" predictions IMO, just assumptions.

Thanks so much, everyone. Very helpful information. Happy Holidays!! Al