Trans-Atlantic Flights
 

I have been tracking (for months) the cost of flights from Washington, DC to Paris. My trip is late March.

Is above $1K prices the norm now? I have been holding out hope for a sale - but maybe I am kidding myself.

And no - I don't want to fly through Istanbul (Turkish Airlines seems to be the outlier on pricing)..

Sounds about right to me. You might get lucky, if you wait till the last minute and happen on a sale, but then again, you might not. I wouldn't jeopardize my trip - you also have to think about how that would affect your lodging plans - and trying to save money by making multiple changes or going farther than you need to is a waste of your precious time. The trans-Atlantic flight is long enough, as it is. Pay up and go - if you need to knock a day off your trip to take away some of the financial pain, that might be an option.

You can buy 30,000 American Airlines frequent flyer miles for $885 and receive a bonus of 10,000 more (bonus through the end of January) then turn around and redeem them for a round trip to anywhere in Europe (or, technically, two one-way trips - AA doesn't offer round trip awards anymore.) In March you won't have any difficulty finding award seats.

https://buymiles.aa.com/en/buygift?c=AAC_MPG_EN,US_BUY

Gardyloo, what does American charge in taxes and fees for reward redemptions (which would be over and above the $885)?

The airlines can now afford to fly with empty seats on just about every flight, so waiting for a sale on an international flight might be a waste of time. Flights to Europe this summer are up about 30% over last year and profits up even higher.

There are fewer seats available on all flights due of the reconfiguration of business class on American/US Airways, Delta, United, etc.

<i>Gardyloo, what does American charge in taxes and fees for reward redemptions (which would be over and above the $885)?</i>

You have to pay excise tax on the miles (I think 6% or 7%?) and a $30 processing fee.

Then depending on the airline used for the trip, the taxes/fees can range from $5.60 one way (if you use AA or US metal) up to $320 if you use British Airways via London, thanks to BA's so-called "fuel surcharge" (translation - profit.) Returning, you also have to pay whatever government departure taxes are levied, e.g. the UK's awful Air Passenger Duty.

Flights have been above $1K for years now, I believe. I know they are about 1200-1500 in the very peak time period, such as summer, for that route. Unless you are willing to have lots of layovers, and bad connections.

Ok - seems like I am living in the past - hoping some something like an $800 ticket. Thanks for the input everyone.

If you are willing to change planes 1 or even 2 times, it looked like that would be a possibility. Not sure that would be worth it for the time lost.

If you can leave as early as March 12, fares are under $900 from Dulles to Paris on both United and Air France. After that fares go up several hundred dollars and don't come back down until April 20 departure when you can get to Paris for just over $900. The late April fares seem to last until the middle of May when they go back up again.

<<The airlines can now afford to fly with empty seats>> I imagine this is a typo and meant CANNOT.

Does the drop in gasoline prices also extend to jet fuel? If so, why no corresponding drop in ticket prices? (I know, I know...)

<i>Does the drop in gasoline prices also extend to jet fuel? If so, why no corresponding drop in ticket prices? (I know, I know...)</i>

The drop in global oil prices will most certainly extend to other products like jet fuel. However, (a) airlines purchase fuel using very complicated contract arrangements, not at all comparable to fueling your car, and (b) why would they drop prices? They're already running full, so a drop in their costs simply means greater profits.

Airlines buy jet fuel on long-term contract so any drop in crude price doesn't lead to ticket price reduction for a long time.

Flying to Paris via Charlotte on USair the end of March for $1300. Booked last July and thought the price was high until it went to $1700 3wks later and has only fluctuated a couple hundred dollars since then.
Iceland air flies Dulles to Paris w/ a stop in Rekjavek. Doing that in Aug for $1200 but is not non stop.
Hope you can find a good deal.

I have been hearing for years that ticket prices were going up in response to rising fuel costs. When are they going to go down now that the price of oil has been cut in half?

<<The airlines can now afford to fly with empty seats>> I imagine this is a typo and meant CANNOT.

Not a typo! On our last flight to Paris, US Airways would not lower the price for the business class upgrade 20 minutes before departure. It was $800, or the seat would fly empty.

I cannot believe you were complaining about an upgrade price of $800 on a seat that could have easily cost SEVERAL thousand dollars.

Well - I bit the bullet - $1200 for the AF non-stop - IAD to CDG. So - now I need to turn off my Kayak alert. If the price goes down - I don't want to know about it.

$1200 is not unreasonable for an IAD to CDG nonstop.

There was a time when tickets were available at lower cost but it was also a time when airlines were losing an enormous amount of money due to overcapacity on transatlantic routes.