Cobos

I'm not sure if this should be posted here or on the Europe board...but here goes...
We're going on a trip to chicago this summer, leaving from Oslo, Norway. Leaving Oslo around 9-12th of Aug and coming back to Oslo on 24th-26th. Both me and my GF are students and at that time 27 and 26 respectively. And thus far the very best I've managed to find is 960USD or so incl taxes, fees etc (+- about 30USD) is this as good as it gets ?
I know this is high season, but I thought I could at least get the fare down to 700-800 range ? Any suggestions on where I should look ? I've tried all the tricks and options I know

Cobos

MightyIsis

why don't you try looking into an oslo-london then a london - chicago connection? You may find lower fares in markets with more competition.

bri19sp

I think you are looking too early for discounted rates. Try waiting a few months, airlines only discount rates about 5-6 months out.

Also, try oslo to new york, then New york to chicago.

Cobos

Thanks Mightylsis and bri18sp, why on earth didn't I think of that....

At least now I got entertainment for a few more hours searching...

But any other tips are also very welcome.

Cobos

AAFrequentFlyer

USAir is pricing at $610 R/T from London Gatwick to Chicago, dep.8/10 ret.8/24. RyanAir flies from Oslo Torp to London Standsted for about $120 R/T. The above prices include all the taxes and fees.

The only problem may be the outbound connection. There are only 3 flights from Gatwick to US on USAir(connecting in either Pittsburgh, Philadelphia or Charlotte for Chicago), and they all leave around 12 noon. I'm not sure what is the earliest flight from Oslo to London, but I don't think you will be able to make the same day connection. So, if you have friends in London or know of some cheap accomodations, this would be a cheap way to do your trip.
The inbound connection in London would not be a problem, since you will get there early and RyanAir has evening flights to Oslo.

Cobos

Yeah...we DO have friends in the London area and they want us to come visit..so it seems from using the fact that both the Oslo-London and the London-Chicago routes has lots of competition is a good move.
I finally did find something better using the USAir compo I'm still looking though, any ideas if this is too early or too late to be looking for Aug flights ?

Cobos

AAFrequentFlyer

I would say that London-Chicago route in mid-August for $600 is a good deal. Nobody can predict future fare wars/sales but I would say that even if it happens, it would not be that much lower.

If you do decide to purchase this option, just watch the fares. If they go down, you could always apply for a voucher rollover(get a voucher for future flights within a year for the difference between your paid fare and the new fare). I do understand that since you live in Norway you may not have an option to use the voucher, but you could apply it to your family or friends tickets on future USAir flights.

Cobos

Aaargh...now today when I finally wanted to book that USAir flight it seems I was too late
Anyone seen any trips from London to Chicago for about 600 anywhere else or can still find that USAir one ?

Cobos

AAFrequentFlyer

It may be a blessing in disguise. USAir seems to be in big trouble. I would be hesitant to book USAir that far in advance. I'll see if I could find something comparable. And it is early, although August is the prime summer traveling month, there still will be some sales, especially to/from London.

DanB

I'm not sure what kind of search engines you have for airfares in Europe, but the ones we have here offer deals that vary widely from day to day. Unfortunately to use these, you must start your trips here.

I went from Chicago to Switzerland last June and checked fares daily. They were usually around $700. Then one day $364 came up so I snatched it immediately. I enjoyed checking in once a day, it was like a game to me.

I agree with others that say you are looking too early. Unfortunately since 9/11, summer deals between North America
and Europe are fewer and far between. Many flights have been cancelled and the remaining ones are pretty full.

I understand that Ryan and other airlines have sales out of London for ridiculously low prices. You'll probably need to travel from one London airport to another, but this may be the way to go. Good luck.

AAFrequentFlyer

It looks like that all the sale fares were pulled by all the major airlines for August. You will have to wait and check every week or so.
I still say that the London connection will be your best shot at getting the cheapest fares. It is up to you to book the RyanAir ASAP to get the lowest fare and wait till the next fare sale. Obviously that is always a chance as nobody can predict, but I would not worry too much. Or you could wait till the transatlantic gets booked first and go back to Ryan to purchase the short flight, but by then Ryan fares may be higher as well.

Decisions, decisions......

Good luck!

Also, did you try some of your local travel agencies. You may be able to get a nice fare on some charter plane. I see the charters advertised in local UK, French and German papers all the time while traveling in Europe. This may be a good option.

Cobos

I'll try to answer every question.
As far as I know there are no good searchengines for travel from Oslo (I've tried those I know about and their prices were bad). There are some for the UK and I've tried them, though the fact that the pound is strong now doesn't help
I've checked and found that traveling from Oslo to London is cheapest with Norwegian Air Shuttle (www.norwegian.no) and they fly from Gardermoen as well which is a much more convenient airport (and Oslo's primary airport). Regardless there are several options on getting from Oslo to London at those times and since it's after the Norwegian summer/high season getting cheaply to UK shouldn't be a problem.

My gf and I are both students and I've checked the student travel agencies here in Norway and the best rate they can give us is $730 from Sta Travel with AF. The problem with that is that we have bad experience with STA Travel (messing up my gf's name even after we asked them to correct it THRICE) as well as a major issue with CDG where AF insists on 45min between connecting flights as well as incompetent, sourly and non-communicative staff (when spoken to in good french) at CDG. Let's just say we prefeer not to repeat the experience

And our baseline is we can get a KLM flight for $960 Oslo-Chicago, and with good experience with them from last year as well as 20k FF miles already I beleive we'll be able to get a off season US trip if we spend all our miles next year.

So as you said AAFrequentFlyer, decisions decisions...

Anyway thanks for all the tips and keep them coming if you got another angle I can try

Cobos

Cobos

This board need an edit function...
AAFreq: Is there charterflights from London to Chicago ? Or is it only London-New York ? Any ideas what those companies are called and or websites etc. ?

Cobos

AAFrequentFlyer

Ask your friends in London to send you a copy of one of the daily London papers. There are tons of advertisments in the Daily Mirror, Sun, etc...

bri19sp

If you move your date back to Aug 16, you can get rates as low as 600-630 USD.

www.travelocity.com

Use the flexible date finder from Oslo to Chicago, then in the left margin modify the results to include only Aug.

AAFrequentFlyer

Great find, if the OP can move up his vacation by a whole week. Maybe they can't because of school. Plus the final price will be around $725-750) after taxes are added.
August 15 is the cut-off date for the high season, so anything after is usually less. His problem is the original departure date.
Hopefully he can move the dates and he will be all set. One airline, one transfer, a great deal easier to deal with.

Cobos

Unfortunately I'm already pushing the semester start already ...(I'm missing the first week with current plan). And we are going to a convention that ends the 22th so we can't move our days around very much
But thanks a lot for the tip regardless, I'll be sure to use that feature at travelocity next trip...
It seems I will wait for the charter-tips from my UK friend and hold on a little bit with the plane travel, keep looking for a week or two and hope I can get something good. It's really annoying that I'm now too early AND too late, but if this was easy everyone could do it eh.. ;-)

Cobos

bri19sp

I would still suggest you don't give up yet and wait a few months for some air sales to begin. Booking this far out probably is only a good idea if that route for some reason gets over booked than on average, in which case prices will go up. I don't see this happening and I think you will see more moderate prices 4-5 months out.