Jadore

Trying to get some major feedback. Prices are high. Not sure if they will drop???

oedipamaas

No one knows which direction fares are going to go. It's hard to say anything specific, too, without knowing where you are flying from and to and what you consider high for a fare.

If it helps, I'm planning on flying from the East Coast of the US to Central Europe this summer, and I'm waiting it out for at least a couple of months to see if fares dip a little. I do recognize they could go up as well.

sparkchaser

I would buy now. Prices probably won't drop much (and when the drop happens is not always predictable).

bobthenavigator

You want good advice but tell us nothing!
When
From where
To where
Business or tourist class

If you want help then help us.

Jadore

I am sorry Bob .... I was in a hurry this a.m. I want to fly from Atlanta to Athens, Athens to Malaga and Barcelona to Atlanta. I will use Vueling to go from Almeria to Barcelona thus the break. I can go towards the end of May and anytime in June. I will be with my 12 year old daughter. I do not mind some stops and layovers. Cheap is the class I desire. I have alot of skymiles but not sure if wise to use international on "pay towards the ticket"....

Sufficient? Thanks!

WWK

I would book whatever you can live with price wise and forget about it. We are going back to Athens end of May/June and already the prices have climbed since I booked six weeks ago. That is prime time for Greece and the islands.

Dukey1

Have you considered setting up a "fare alert" for yourself on Kayak.com? Might be helpful.

Frankly, I'm not sure waiting is going to help you much. You already know that Vueling fares will rise as you get closer and closer to the travel date so I would buy those as soon as I could.

Fares might go down in June but what would make that happen? Only if the computer decides sales aren't brisk enough to guarantee a move beyond the break-even point. Flights are known now to be less frequent and seats more filled than ever.

I bought tickets for a trip to Europe in July as soon as i could last year and recently bought one-way tickets to Barcelona for this coming October. Did I get the lowest fares? Who knows but I have the seats and can concentrate on other aspects of the trip.

Good luck to you.

BTW, always remember that fares are going to depend on the amount of competition on a particular route.

sassy27

I've been tracking airfare for a while for a few trips this year and have held back as I have not been happy with the prices. I either haven't seen a change or the prices have gone up and I'm traveling during what is considered off season. As WWK said, you should go with a price you can live with as I have a feeling I won't be paying what I would like to pay.

oedipamaas

ITA's search engine allows you to look for the lowest fare in a given month: http://matrix.itasoftware.com. I would price ATL-ATH and ATL-BCN to get a sense of when the lowest fares could be. Skymiles redemption might be good: are you concerned about the additional fees or that you do not have enough for the two tickets?

bobthenavigator

Good input above!
Airlines will sometimes adjust prices at 90 days out,but it is all based on the flight bookings and is a crap shoot.

Jadore

Thanks all of you. Well the prices have risen. I plan to back away for a bit and see. Expedia is still cheaper than going to my airline site.

bvlenci

I find the best prices about two months out, but I sometimes even wait until about six weeks out. I start looking at prices about three months out. For very busy periods, such as Christmas, you usually need to buy earlier.

dulciusexasperis

Two things Jadore. Today, most airlines use 'dynamic pricing' which basically means the fares go up and down depending on various factors and using a mathematical algorithm that no one can predict. So there is NO way to predict where prices may go. Anyone who says buy now or wait till later has no evidence to back that up.

Consequently, the only sensible way to approach it in my opinion is to do as WWK and sassy27 say, decide what price you can live with and go with it. It is indeed a crap shoot.

Second, don't forget that low cost airlines (LCCs) do not show up on most booking engines like Kayak etc. as they do not pay third party commissions. So check to see if there are any LCCs serving the hops you want to make.

I'll add a third point. When using points, you can sometimes make more than one stop in your routing. For example, anywhere that is enroute between the East coast and Athens and the same on the return. It may be entirely possible to book east coast to Barcelona to Athens going and Athens to Malaga to east coast returning for one international flight on your points. Or an 'open jaw' return may be allowed.

Check your air mile program to see what can be done. You can read more here.

http://boardingarea.com/onemileatati...award-tickets/

Dukey1

One thing is for certain, on most if not all of the budget airlines IN Europe the prices are going to <B>rise</B> the closer you get to the flight date. I have yet to see that not happen so please be aware.

Jadore

well I purchased in Jan and sure enough prices have risen steadily....thanks for your guidance.

dulciusexasperis

If you have purchased your tickets then you have of course also purchased your travel insurance right?

Travel insurance has to be purchased at approximately he same time in order for it to cover tickets you buy. Do you know that? You can't wait till June to purchase your insurance.

Bamaman

The easiest way to get to Athens from ATL is on Delta (thru JFK) or U.S. Air (thru Philadelphia). You could also go Air Canada (thru Toronto.)

If you'd go 5/28, that's the last day of Spring fares. You'll save a little using Air Canada.

Otherwise, June flights is high time, and it's all supply and demand. If you want to leave in June, you'll probably be paying high prices.

In watching the Atlanta Journal Constitution travel section every day, I have not seen any recent one day sales for Summer travel.

oedipamaas

Bamaman, the original poster has already bought his or her tickets.

PalenQ

Planes are getting rid of over capacity seats more and more - price is less likely to drop as plane date gets closer I think - like several said - for benefit of others not OP who has booked perhaps - set a price you can live with and search - I always put a premium on a direct flight rather than say having to change in some US or European town.