tarajane

Hello,

How much should I expect to pay for a flight to Prague in January from Texas (Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, or Austin), USA?

I see that there are some deals being promoted right now ($700-800 incl. taxes), but I'd like to think that I could get a better deal to Europe (esp. Prague) during the cold winter/non-holiday time period.

What do you think? Should I wait for better deals or book now?

Does anybody have any special tips or tricks to find a great deal?

I wonder if it would be worth it to fly to London (or another major European hub?) and then take a budget airline from there to Prague?

Any advice would be much appreciated!

Thanks,
Tara

Andrew

I flew to London in 2005 from Portland and took easyJet from London to Prague. (And then easyJet back from Budapest to London.) This didn't really save me any money, but it gave me the opportunity to stop in London on the way home for free, which I greatly enjoyed. I might have saved money had I booked way in advance. easyJet prices are based on how full they are. Do a search and you'll be amazed at how cheap some of their flights are.

So check out easyJet as well as Ryanair and BMI, perhaps a few others that fly from London. Note that they tend to be very "no frills" compared even to Southwest airlines. Not even free sodas on the plane. Pay a fee per checked bag. A fee just to use your credit card to book the ticket. (Debit is cheaper.) And easyJet limits the weight of your checked luggage to (I think) 44 lbs. Plus if you fly through London now you can bring only one carry-on per person through security with you.

If you try to go through London (AA has non-stop flights Dallas to London Gatwick), try to avoid changing airports if you can. I connected same day at Gatwick between a Northwest flight and an easyJet flight to Prague. I had about four hours layover, which was more than enough because everything went smoothly but it doesn't always. I don't think I would have risked changing airports and connecting same day.

ira

Hi T,

Have you tried www.kayak.com and www.mobissimo.com ?

Christina

I would think maybe you could do a little better than $800, but wouldn't really expect to. After all, that fare might be around $600 from the East Coast, so an extra $200 from Texas is really kind of a bargain. $700 is pretty good, I think.

Try www.1800flyeurope. Also, Paul Laifer tours specializes in that area and I think is a consolidator for Czech Air, but out of JFK, so you could check with them. They do sell air separately.

Fares to Prague are a lot more expensive than other places in Europe with cheap flights, because it's a lot farther away than, say, London. So I wouldn't advise you to expect to get it as cheap as other places in Europe that are a lot closer.

doug_stallings

A $700 fare from Texas to Prague would be really good. There are some fare sales right now, but if you can get the nonstop from JFK on Czech Airlines, then I'd go for that. Delta is the domestic partner of Czech Airlines.

doug_stallings

Stupid me ... I forgot to say that you may be able to get a much better deal booking a package that includes Airfare and hotel. Austrian Airlines, for example, has offered really good winter packages in the winter months. But you should check with Delta as well. British Airways also has good packages, and you might be able to fly nonstop from Dallas to LGW and then connect to Prague, avoiding Heathrow.

tarajane

Thank you all for the great info!

Andrew-Thanks, I agree with you. I flew to Portugal and Italy from London on two separate occassions and it was a hassle with the London airports. We spent time in London, though, so it was worth it. This time, I think I'd rather spend my (connecting) time in a city that I haven't been.

Hi ira-Thanks for the sites. Yes, I regualrly check Kayak.com and I have also been checking itasoftware.com. I haven't looked at mobissimo, though. I'll give it a try!

Thanks so much Christina and Doug...I'll check all of that out!

Brahmama

tarajane,
we fly from TX too. Our friends came back this spring from Venice - took Austrian Airlines to Vienna - then on to Washington CD and finally home to Houston. They hated Austrian Air - they had seats in the middle of the middle part (!) and said they had never been so crowded. So be sure and check with seatguru.com about configuration before you book.

I agree with Doug - $700 from Austin to Prague sounds great (be sure and check your connections.) On Go Today, they offer 3 nights in Prague and 3 nights in Budapest including 2nd class train between cities & RT air for $900ish. Then you can extend your flight home for up to 14 days if you wish (no cost) giving you time to explore another area too. Just an idea.
Good luck!

tarajane

I BOOKED AUS-AMS-PRG! Thanks everyone!

Would you mind giving more advice on my connecting flights? I fly out AUS-AMS on Wednesday, January 9th with a connection/"plane change" in Memphis of only 1hr 25min. Is this enough time to connect for the flight overseas???

Then, do you think I should stay in Amsterdam for 1 night, fly to Prague via SkyEurope on the 11th for 4 nights and then fly back to Amsterdam for the remaining 2 nights? Or, I could stay in Amsterdam the first 3 nights, 4 nights in Prague and fly SkyEurope and back to the States on the same day? Do you think it's too risky to fly back from PRG-AMS via SkyEurope with an arrival time at AMS of 8:00am and then a departure back to the States at 1:50pm on the same day?

I'd appreciate any advice. Thank you again.

~Tara

Andrew

Memphis is one airport I've not been through so I can't tell you if that's enough layover (in Chicago or Atlanta it would make me VERY nervous). You can check the on-time performance of any flight though to see its on-time history, at FlightStats.com. If your AUS flight is notoriously late, maybe I'd worry. But I'm guessing this is plenty of time. (If not, Northwest lets you cancel a paid ticket within 24 hours don't they, if you've changed your mind?)

Nearly 6 hours layover in AMS is probably plenty on the return. But I'm not familiar with SkyEurope or any possible delays they may have. Since you'd be flying from Czech Republic to the Netherlands I don't think you need to go through customs, either, so I don't think it's so risky. Still, I'd check with NWA and see what happens if by chance you miss your flight out of AMS? Is there a later flight? Costs? I like to know these contingencies myself.

Staying a few days in Amsterdam after you arrive would probably give you more time to adjust to the time change, though, before continuing your journey. Flying overseas is hard enough.

On another note: some people really love Amsterdam. I'm not one of those people. But I adored Prague - I really look forward go visiting again someday.

Finally, consider Priceline for hotels in Amsterdam and Prague. Try www.betterbidding.com or biddingfortravel.com for tips.

WillTravel

Czech Republic is not in the Schengen zone, so there would be a need to both go through immigration and then go back through again. I don't think there's any problem if SkyEurope flies to schedule, or even if they are 3 hours late, but the problem is if SkyEurope changes their schedule or cancels the flight between now and January.

tarajane

Wow, Andrew, thanks for all the tips! What did you not like about Amsterdam? I'm not much into the the whole "red light district" thing or "smoking", but I would assume that there is so much else to see and do. Do you think that I should get to Prague as quickly as possible (skipping Amsterdam) and then maybe visit a different country from Prague? To be honest, Amsterdam has never been at the tippy-top of my European list, but the deal is great and I'm sure Amsterdam is, as well. I am REALLY looking forward to Prague, though.

Thanks again WillTravel for the crucial advice!

~Tara

yk

Oh tara, don't skip Amsterdam!!! If you do a search here, you'll find that many folks here like Amsterdam.

I visited Amsterdam in the early 1990s when I was just 20 - I didn't like it at all, thought it was very dirty. I decided to give it another chance a decade later. Was there in May 2005 and had a great time! Love the ambience, love the Dutch people, love the museums etc.

WillTravel

I agree - Amsterdam is great. There's no need to take in the red light district or coffeeshops if you aren't interested. Besides Amsterdam, you can also take daytrips to nearby charming towns.

I've never been there in the winter - presumably you'll need to be prepared for wet, chilly weather.

Andrew

I think if you are flying into AMS you should definitely visit Amsterdam. You may love it like other people seem to - who knows? I personally found it dirty and not very interesting. I found the Anne Frank house very moving, however. I was burnt out on museums by the time I got to Amsterdam, but there are several "must see" museums there for art purists, I think. Do some research, see what grabs you. If I had to do it over, I would have been fine with only two nights there total; others would want more.

Prague, on the other hand, I found magical and enchanting. There's something special about the town square - hard to explain. But I always made a point to walk through it whenever I had the chance, just to pass through one more time. And there's a REAL castle on the hill, all lit up at night! The Charles Bridge is really cool although mobbed with tourists (I saw it at daybreak when it was nearly deserted - a much better experience.) Plus Prague itself is a compact, walkable city, an ideal place to explore if you like to walk.

tarajane

Thanks again everyone!

I'm definitely going to do Amsterdam! I love art and museums, et al. In my beginning research, I am excited to see how much else there is besides the red light district and coffeeshops. I have nothing against those things/places, but maybe living in New Orleans for five years made me desensitized or "over it" . I guess I have been a bit ignorant and dismissive about Amsterdam too because here in the States it seems that it's the only place in Europe young college kids want to go just for those supposed illicit things .

My ancestry is Czech (& Slovak), so I am excited to visit Prague.

Thanks again,

Tara