I have just started researching fares for our UK trip next June/July . . . yes, I know it is early, but I like to plan well in advance. We will be in England for about 8 days and Ireland for about 9, and I am trying to find an open jaw Boston-London-Shannon-Boston for a decent price. We will most likely fly from England to Ireland midway through the trip on a budget airline, which I am not worried about booking yet. What I am worried about is the hop across the pond! The cheapest I have found is on Aerlingus.com at $657.04 Boston-Dublin-London and then Shannon-Boston. I know flying to Europe in summer is pricey, but I was hoping to find a better deal. Everything else I have found beyond the Aer Lingys rate is over $700. I even thought we could fly in and out of London and just take budget flights to and from Ireland, but even those fares are above $700.

Do you think I have enough time to wait and see?

TIA!

I guess $650 for an open-jaw ticket during high travel season seems pretty good to me... am I way off base? I usually do a lot of internet hunting before I buy plane tickets, and I've never paid less than $600 to fly to Europe (from Chicago) during the prime traveling season.

Oh--have you tried www.1800flyeurope.com? They sometimes have terrific rates... we flew to Paris from Chicago this September for $600.

I agree with strass, I don't think that is too high for "season". In fact, I think it is a decent fare.

can you go in May before the fares go up? I don't think it's a bad price either.

We did that exact same trip summer of 2003 and that's just about what it cost. I doubt you'll get it for much less. And considering that flying from the northeast to Paris or Italy is usually well over $800 during the summer, I think it's a pretty good deal. Certainly not in the category of "outrageous". We flew RyanAir from England over to Ireland and that was pretty cheap. We did book it several months in advance.

This doesn't sound outrageous. We paid around $700 per person this past August, EWR - Shannon. That is why it's called "high season". If you go in October, you will probably pay 1/2.

I think it's a great fare. Of course I am flying from the West coast so the fares are so much more but I don't think you will see much price reduction if you wait.

Someone suggested May, there is a definite price jump between May and June/July. I was looking for myself from LA to Paris and the difference between May and June was significant. End of May fare was $580, first week of June $1,061. Difference in fare from LA to London was about $390 more for June. Wish I could travel earlier but have to wait until kids are out of school. If you can't go in May, I think I would book the Aer Lingus flight now.

Hi luv,

>The cheapest I have found is on Aerlingus.com at $657.04 Boston-Dublin-London and then Shannon-Boston.<

You think that this is too high for the hight of the season?

That fare sounds good to me for the summer season. What kind of fare are you expecting?

That's a pretty good open jaw fare in high season. We flew V. Atlantic Boston-London, then to Edinburgh (via Brit Air), Aer Lingus Shannon-Boston for $700 (including taxes) last August. Our daughter was $130 less because VA had a child fare. We bought our tickets in late January; I never saw prices drop any lower.

I'm green with envy. "Down under" in my part of the world, a trip to Europe will be the second most expensive single-item outlay we'll ever make in our lives: cheaper than a house; dearer than a car. Consequently many never do it, and for most it's a once-in-a-lifetime experience. A bleak prospect for us passionate "routards"!

I think that fare is really good for summer. I wish I could fly RT in summer for $650 from the East Coast. I know London and Ireland are about the cheapest points, but still. That isn't outrageous at all. I do think you can wait to see, of course -- it's only October. I never book air fare that far ahead of time.

If that includes the London - Shannon portion as well, that's a pretty good price. UK is one of the cheaper places to get to in Europe. Often, Ireland isn't, unless you happen to catch an AerLingus sale. This far out, I don't think they've listed any yet. With a third flight thrown in and in the height of season, it would be a keeper to me.

I agree thatthe fare seems pretty good..and please don;t forget, the price has little or nothing to do with distance traveled..it has everything to do with the amount of competition on a particular route.

If that fare includes the times and dates you want to travel and is the most convenient then I'd go for it and chalk it up to the price of travel..bceause that is exactly what it is.

You can wait but please don't start whining if you do so and the fares don't get any lower.

Long term, we shall have to get used to fares going up. Quite apart from added security costs both in the air and in airports, oil is not going to get cheaper, and eventually I suspect aviation fuel is going to have to pay some sort of national and/or international taxation.

Thanks for the replies. I think I will book it today!

BTW, we are going to a wedding on the Ireland leg of the trip, so our dates are set. My husband and I are school teachers and cannot travel in May anyhow!

That's an excellent deal. Last summer ( July) JFK-Heathrow was in the $700 range. Doubt you'll find remarkably less in high season.

Just booked an hour ago . . .

6/24 Boston-London via Dublin
7/11 Dublin-Boston

$647.57 at aerlingus.com

It was very difficult to press the purchase button, but thanks to all of you, I know I got a good fare.

We plan to stay 8 days in England (4 London, 4 somewhere in the country), then fly to Shannon on Ryanair. From there we will spend 8 days in Ireland, attending a wedding of a close college friend in the Kilarney (not sure if it is spelled with one l or 2) area while there. I know that the trip is a long ways a way, but I am extra excited now that we have our plane tix!

Now I am keeping my fingers crossed that we get Wimbledon tix (we are big tennis fans) through the public lottery during the time we are there . . . fat chance, I know, but one can still hope!

Hey at least you're not going Tulsa to Rome: I'm looking at $1600 for June.