Best time to book flights to the UK
 

My wife and I have to travel to the UK (LHR) at the end of september for a couple of weeks and was wondering if any regular travellers had any suggestions as to when I should book the flight. I am travelling from Chicago and right now the price on offer is about $650 including tax. All the specials the airlines are offering right now do not go that far into the year.

Does anyone now if I could probably get this price (for end of sept) months from now?.. should I book now or should I wait and expect to see some more special offers come out later in the year ??

Thanks

Re: Best time to book flights to the UK
 

The $10m question again eh?

Seriously, it will depend on a number of factors.

First, if there are no "holidays" (meaning schools/colleges/universities) out during the time you are planning on going, you should be fine to wait as specials do appear. HOWEVER, do check other countries, especially the UK (and religous holidays too). Any of these things can result in fuller (is that a word?) flights and you getting stung.

I do find, with BA, you can search for a month and when you go to check rates, you gives you the days that are more expensive than others in it's calander. This is your first indication they know something we might not.

I would look into BA specials in preimum econony too..

Re: Best time to book flights to the UK
 

hiya that's the million dollar question...book too early and can be expensive, leave it too late and prices back up...the price you have is a fair price but think you could beat that..lol i say 'think'...when you shop around try LGW for more options. guess you probably prefer a non-stop as opposed to direct but a direct may give you more options. end of sept is good as kids both sides of the pond should be all back in school...errrr not half term in the uk is it?? there's always the option of using any mileage rewards.....i do that when it's a high/expensive time i use my miles then when flights are reasonable i buy. keep shopping as you know they vary day to day...hour to hour lol good luck

Re: Best time to book flights to the UK
 

You could move it upto February if you wish to travel round-trip for $311+taxes.

American Airlines are offering that, at the moment.

Jim.

Re: Best time to book flights to the UK
 

I usually fly from chicago to dublin. The most i've ever paid is $470 (over christmas) but I'm looking for a flight in early June and the cheapest I can get is $630. To my mind this is pretty steep and I'm in no rush to book at that price - I can't see it going up much for another few months at least.
If you are flying after labor day I would say that $650 is very bad, before labor day and you're in the same boat as me. I recommend waiting for a few months if I were you and keep checking - I can't see there being much additional upward movement in those prices for a while.

Good luck

Re: Best time to book flights to the UK
 

Well actually I am going to a wedding of a friend....think it might be a little unreasonable of me to request the date to be brought forward to this Feb ! :) . However these fares of $311 now are what made me think I should wait.

Re: Best time to book flights to the UK
 

I booked early last year @ around $1920 for the trip for the two of us. However by keeping an eye on the prices I found the price had dropped to around $630 per person at the time of travel. I informed the airline, US Air, and they sent me two vouchers for $312. I had to use them within 12 months and on booking my trip back for May this year I had to add $129.80 total to cover the trip. Bit of a swine really but I decided to bite the bullet. :D :D
The point to bear in mind is if you do book early you need to ask if they will give a 'refund' if the price is cheaper when you go to travel.
I

Re: Best time to book flights to the UK
 

When we flew to the USA (Dec 2005) the cheapest, by far, was Aer Lingus. Checked the cost from Chicago to Dublin at that time and it was approx $300. OK you fly into Dublin, but with RyanAir flights to the UK are cheap. Aer Lingus also fly from other cities in the USA. Can Recommend them. :)

Re: Best time to book flights to the UK
 

Err, maybe $400-ish - if you got them for $300 they made a mistake

Re: Best time to book flights to the UK
 

You could try getting quotes from this company that Honeymommy recommended when she needed cheap flights to return to the UK:

http://www.1800flyeurope.com/

(I think she got the best fare by phoning them rather than booking online).

With fuel prices being so high I guess airfares will be more expensive this year.

Also read this "Cheap Flight Tactics" report with links:

http://www.eurotrip.com/cheap%5Fflights/

NOTE: Do check out the link on the above site to the cheap flights forum....lots of postings inc. cheap flights to the UK

Re: Best time to book flights to the UK
 

Aer Lingus had fares each way from the following Cities - Dublin, which were advertised in August 2005;

Boston $109

New York $119

Chicago $129

Every 3rd weekend of August, Aer Lingus offers a special discount, in recognition of Milwaukee's "Irish Fest" for fares booked that weekend. Some blackout dates apply, but, fares are otherwise excellent. Normally works out to be between $250-$300 r/t in the fall.

26 Members of a friend's family returned home on January 8th, after making the trip, with Aer Lingus.

http://www.aerlingus.com - Aer Lingus Website

http://www.irishfest.com - Irish Fest Website (Well worth attending)

The Business Section of the BBC News Website is reporting that, as from March 16th, Ryanair is going to start charging 2.50 (GBP) for each item of checked baggage, to offset baggage handling charges.

Jim.

Re: Best time to book flights to the UK
 

Fair enough, but these are hardly typical rates - in fact they don't even come close to being typical.
I just felt that the post was a bit misleading, that's all.

Re: Best time to book flights to the UK
 

I seem to remember that BA prices go down at the end of Sept until end Mar not including holidays ie Christmas etc. Then they start to get more and more expensive and peak in July/Aug. So if you can it may be worth going in Oct. I would think that this pricing applies to most airlines. As previously stated BA have a good website and you can look at the monthly calendar and see what dates are the cheapest. If you can be flexible with your dates you should be able to get a better deal.

Re: Best time to book flights to the UK
 

hey good for you...never heard of that one before....me thinks that that's the way to go out of business if all airlines did that with the way prices fluctuate so much.

Re: Best time to book flights to the UK
 

Aer Lingus regularly offers what they call "2 for 1 Specials" several times over the course of a year. They have done since 1996, when I first came over to the USA.

Cheers!

Jim.