When to buy flights to Germany for December
 

I've been to Germany many times in September for Oktoberfest, but we're going to Munich in December this time. The airfare is hovering around $700 R/T right now, which seems a bit high for that time of year.

Has anyone been to Germany in December/January before, and if so, when did you purchase your flights?

K-3, as several posters have mentioned it is difficult to determine when is the best time to purchase tickets. IMO, if you are traveling during the holiday period now is the best time. Get them while you can they will only go up.

Clea

Where will you be traveling from?

Sorry- duh. We'll be flying from LAX to Munich. Or Santa Ana/Orange County. Most of the flights that have been coming up connect domestically, and if that's the case, then I'd rather fly out of Santa Ana/Orange County.

Thx Clea!

UA is having a sale. Travel before December 13th. It's about $650 all-in from LAX with 1 stop.

I bought tickets in the later part of October 2006 for an open jaw SFO-FRA/MUC-SFO leaving December 18 returning December 27 for $488.25 from Orbitz.
I usually like to buy direct from the airlines but the same flights from UA's website were about $200.00 per ticket higher.

Thanks for the information. I think I might hold a bit because if nothing else, I'll be able to save some more $$ to buy them with :)

I agree about the airline websites... it's always so much higher on there in my opinion

I wouldn't always agree that the airline websites have higher fares than the online travel sites. In fact for straight over and back trips between the US and Europe,I find the airline sites quite competitive.

What I have found though is when I buy an open-jaw ticket the differences are significant.

Example; when I compared an SFO-BUD/ZAG-SFO ticket the difference in price between the airline site and the online travel site was over $500.00 for the same exact flights.
Needless to say I bought my tickets at the travel site.

Well, that's good to know because we may end up doing an open-jaw with London as part of the itinerary. The flights tend to be cheaper into London anyway, so I plan to keep an eye on it as summer comes to a close, and hopefully I can find a good deal into either London or Munich :)

Thx for the advice!

Here's site you may want to look at for assistance in getting the best possible fares:
http://www.yapta.com/

FYI, we're off to Frankfurt in early September for $460 each roundtrip. Off season fares have been running in the $400-500 range (plus tax) and I suspect you'll see more of same shortly.

Re airline websites vs consolidators:

All depends on the route.

For us to fly out of Atlanta to Europe, it is almost always cheaper to buy direct from Delta or AirFrance.

((I))

high season is considered around dec 10 - jan 10 or so. if you're flying between those days, it probably won't get cheaper. however, if you're flying oct 15-dec 10 or so, they would have some specials now (usually 1.5-2 months ahead). prices are getting higher every year, so i wouldn't count on last year's prices. in 2005, i got a thanksgiving flight to france for $500 from california. you can't find those fares now.

I spent NYE in Berlin last year and bought my ticket in October for less than $500 roundtrip. Have you checked the website www.tickets-to-europe.com they usually have some nice fares.

No, I haven't...but I absolutely will right now :) Thanks for the suggestion.