MtbbikeVanlife

Looking for some reassurance !

We are travelling to Glasgow (via Madrid) at the end of May (from IAD). All the indications (Skyscanner etc.) are the best time to book is 3-4 months in advance - so start looking at the end of this month.

But we made the mistake of looking last week and now looking again today they've gone up $200. ugh.

So - the question is, are we right to hold our nerve and start looking to book in 2-3 weeks time ?

Thanks.

petitefrancaise

have you looked at google flights? That lets you know what the current price is relative to 'normal".
Also, easyjetworldwide has been great for getting my son to/from Amsterdam. They use Norwegian for the transatlantic bit but it's all billed as one ticket. You have to go to the easyjetworldwide site for the flights.

tom169

Check out the hopper app.

Nutek

The key thing is to never look at flights again once you have booked yours.

Coming up on time to book mine so I will be following the same advice.

tom169

The opposite is to be said about cruises. I liked if I found a better deal I phoned up and got refunded the difference.

Pulaski

....This!
I found some stupidly cheap BOS-LHR fights at the end of May - under $400. So even combined with CLT-BOS flights and the cost of one night (well barely half a night ) in a hotel, we're still getting round trip tickets to the UK for under $700.

Nutek

Yeah.. I've just been looking the last day or so. BOS-LHR always has some good fares around this time of year but last year I went Hartford BDL-Dublin. Cost more but saved a bunch of effin around driving to/from Boston (Bradley is local to me) and I am thinking I will do that route again this year.

MtbbikeVanlife

Thanks guys.

Google Flights is our go-to starting point - checked out Easyworldwide but couldn't get the flights we want. Whilst we could save money using a New York airport over a Washington DC one, the savings are soon wiped out by extra costs of getting there,

Hopper app - downloaded it and need to look at it in more detail, but on first look it doesn't do multiple cities ". We are looking at IAD to Madrid to Glasgow back to IAD.

And - a firm believer in not looking at flight prices again once booked - problem is I didn't book ! Fingers crossed for the next 2 weeks.

Pulaski

My tip is to look every day, even twice a day, or more. .... In the past we have often found "flash sales" that only appear to last 24 hours, or less, and/or suggest than only a handful of tickets are available at the reduced price. That said, tying yourself to going via Madrid will significantly reduce your options.

tom169

I've compared multi stop trips using sky scanner.

MtbbikeVanlife

Thanks to all for the advice, we held our nerve until yesterday (checking various sites daily if not more).

If we had held to the idea of booking the 3 flights through Expedia or Google Flights we were looking at $1800 per person before adding check in bags (Dulles to Madrid to Glasgow to Dulles), but just booking Dulles to Madrid and Glasgow to Dulles on Expedia and Madrid to Edinburgh direct with Easyjet we got $1100 including check in bags and seat choice on the transatlantic flights.

As always, pays to shop around and be flexible.

Carl.

Nutek

Yeah, I just did mine (CT>Dublin>Bristol) for 700 bucks. Now stop looking. ;-)

MtbbikeVanlife

Yeah, we've cancelled all the email subscriptions and won't be looking any more !

And just to clarify, we are spending 5 days in Madrid and 5 days in Stirling/Loch Lomond - on the way out we go via Dublin (yay) and on the way back via Newark (not yay...).

Pulaski

Says he who had to go via Madrid!

Nutek

Ugh.