Flying from Boston to Athens, departing July 5, returning August 18. Have been searching hard and am about to book with Alitalia for $1052.00 Does anyone expect a summer airfare sale shortly?

I sure hope the fares go down a bit for the summer travel. I need a flight to Marseille for the end of June. The end of April or first week in May will be my deadline for booking. It looks like all the cheap fare can only be booked a month or so in advanced. Good luck.

Hi db,

www.tiss.com has Bos/Athens for your dates on BA for $831 + tax

Hi Ira,
Couldn't get throught to TISS but I suspect Ive seen that flight. Ba has some cheaper fares but you land at LGW and depart from LHR on the return trip.
Not sure if it's worth it.
Thanks, DBM

Unfortunately sometimes the fares "on sale" are for times and dates and destinations that obviously aren't selling well in the first place.

Hopefully the fares will come down soon, but there's no guarantee that they will. Sometimes the airlines offer promotional fares, but you have to be alert and quick because they go fast. Right now Travelocity.com is offering a fare of $978.60 for these same days and the taxes and fees are included in this price.

set up a deal detector with orbitz for a price under a certain amount. I'm flying to Rome from Portland, ME for $520 round trip

i left out details. i'm flying portland to Rome and Athens to Portland on 6/22 - 7/5 for $520 round trip

i am also planning a trip to Greece. do you have recommendations for hotels/ booking ferries etc
Anything I should absolutely avoid.

PS - i got the same airfare price as you. I don't anticipate cheaper flights b/c of the olympics.

I have been on the lookout for about a month now looking for fares and checking this site out for tips...so far,I have seen many people get good deals on Delta and other airlines. It seems to be you have to be at the right place at the right time. Me...I haven't been there..but I plan on it next time. Wednesday's seem to be the day..early morning till about two.
There seems to be many spring sale fares going on-even in the states..so my philosphy is they are holding out on us who want to travel this summer! I also am looking from boston to europe in June. Let's keep our fingers crossed! I will be right on here as soon as i see a good deal to alert all! Good Luck!

Note to luna11: look for airfares into London, Germany or Italy - - you can probably get to Greece cheaply on easyjet.com or aurberlin.com or germanwings.com

Let's see. Economies are improving. The dollar is showing a little strength. The Olympics are in Greece this year. All good reasons for lower fares to Athens.

Bestfares, Orbitz, Travelocity, etc. are promoting some decent fares. I don't know whether they match up with your schedule. How about Priceline or Hotwire?

TO: JSmith

Just looking for advice here, not sarcasm. You should put a lid on it.

I remember when CBS insisted that the Smothers' Brothers' sarcasm was "way out of line" too.

I have been the victim of plenty of sarcasm here. This was hardly so out of line.

Note: to rex ([email protected])

Thanks for the advice. I did find great fares in the high $800's.

very nice - - to where? and does it include the onward fare(s) to/from athens?

note: rex

does not include onward flights. just from US to Athens (Still a great deal)

oh, i see

so it was a thanks for advice...

and reporting news...

unrelated...

nothing wrong with that...

And you proved JSmith's remarks wrong, actually, eh?

heh heh heh

Have a great trip...

There is absolutely no way to predict any "summer airfare sale" - surely not to Athens, returning during the Olympics - are you nuts?

Best bet is to shop like the dickens, every which way, through all available resources, every day and night. And book any favorable price you may find immediately, as it may not be available the next time you try.

There is no "advice" you could possibly receive here that would be the least bit relevant to your travel plans.

If "Ira" thinks contributing tips here will ruin value of same, one can only wonder if the fare programmers with the Airlines are checking in here and proceeding accordingly.

All in all, the longer you wait to book, the more likely the fares for your dates is to go UP rather than DOWN during PEAK travel. Not to mention whether there will even be any seats available.

Those "sale" fares are for leftover seats, very few of them for the odd flight at inconvenient times with even more inconvenient connections, not necessarily on your dates.

Try shopping those "as low as fares" right now.