Depends where you’re going/coming from, I’d imagine.

weekday or weekend?
what month?
how long?
from where?
all taxes and fees included?

If it’s all inclusive for a weekend departure during July or August from anywhere other than NYC, it’s a pretty good price — particularly if your trip is longer than 30 days. We can’t help you without a lot more specifics. You can help yourself some by reading the sticky’s and reading some old posts.

Maybe — depends where you’re starting from, where you’re going, when, and for how long. Post these details and we’ll try to point you in the right direction.

Transatlantic airfare seasons:
Low – winter generally Nov 1-Mar 31 with some fluctuations
Shoulder – spring/fall generally Sept 1-Oct 31 and April 1-June 1 but with some fluctuations
Peak – summer generally from June 1 until Aug 31, but some airlines don’t start peak pricing until mid-June or late June, and some extend peak season prices into September—especially on routes to Italy and Spain

For New York – Munich round trip, for example, low season airfares might range $400-$500; shoulder season $500-$750; peak season $800-$1100. Outbound date determines season. Most of the cheapest airfares require return within 30 days (except to UK, generally).

i was planning on leaving from the midwest area on a tuesday, i entered any time for the departure. Planning on flying into Paris, arriving the 15th then start a 21 day trip from there. the whole trip would plan on being 23 days (including travel days). Would it be cheaper for me to take a train, or even drive to NYC and fly out from there? Its not ridiculously far away

So that’s July, right? I’m happy to help you check, but would also need to know which airport(s) you could go from. It’s easy to compare prices from NYC or CHI, too, just to see if taking Megabus from the Midwest, for example, is worth it.

I live in a suburb of Pittsburg so I was comparing some prices there and in Ohio, trying to find the cheapest one.

oh and yes, july

Okay, thanks for clarifying “midwest.” I did a quick search of largest airports from Nashville to St. Louis to KC to MSP and wasn’t sure to include PIT or not…. so now I will!

Megabus don’t serve Pit. so that’s out.

Yikes… I’m not finding much that looks good. I’m searching Pitt, Youngstown, Harrisburg, Columbus, Akron, Cleveland and Dulles with ITA. Best of these is 800s Dulles to Dublin but that’s not cheap enough to piece together with other costs and still be worth it. So… let’s try Bookingbuddy, Farecompare, and some consolidators.

Using PIT-PAR 15jul\5aug best I’m seeing is… $1100 — same as you already found.

I did discover that Delta will fly a nonstop from PIT to CDG on a 757 — hadn’t heard about that one (of if I did, I forgot). PIT used to be a USAir hub, so I’m surprised DL is launching nonstop service from there across the ocean.

I recommend you sign up for fare alerts on this route. Sure, you could go via NYC on the Air India flights to Heathrow. But when you add costs getting to JFK and back, plus costs getting LHR to CDG or ORY (or BVA) and back… might not be worth it.

Farecompare found PIT-DUB $872. From there, maybe Aer Lingus or Ryanair (if you travel light) to Paris.

okay thanks very much. but i think i’m just gonna have to deal with how much the plane ticket costs and take a few days out of my trip so i have more than 20 dollars a day haha

Yeah, that might be a better strategy … but, sign up for alerts on PIT-PAR with Farecompare. You might do better than $1100 if you’re ready to book at moment’s notice. Of course past sales are no guarantee of future airfares, but if I were a bettin-man, I’d probably hope for something in the $900s and be diligent about searching.

Okay thanks for the advice. I think I have my budget worked out so that I can spend 1200 and still go for 21 days, just wont be living the life of luxury. Do you think around 55 dollars should be enough for each day? This is including extra transportation(not railpass) and hostel prices.

i just found a flight into london for about a hundred dollars cheaper than one would be to paris. is it worth it to just fly into london then take the ferry to paris? or would eventually I just be wasting a hundred and I should just fly in to PAR?

You’ll eat up that $100 savings getting to Paris and back to London at the end of your trip. If I were you I’d probably wait and hope that a sale will pop up. There’s not much danger that $1100-$1200 tickets will disappear.

the only thing i’m scared of is that the price of the plane tickets is going to increase. My friend and I can’t purchase our tickets till June (when we’ll have the money). For my budgeting, I’m just putting a flight as 1300, if i find one less, the better, if not, at least i’ll be prepared.

$1110 is a decent price given the time you’re traveling and your departure locations. It’s cheaper to fly to London, only if you plan on staying in London for a couple of days, otherwise fly into Paris or Amsterdam (Amsterdam always seems to be cheaper for me). Also be careful which airport you fly into. Often you cant get cheaper airfares flying into regional airports located way outside the city, but then be prepared to spend time and taxi fares getting back into your destination city

Also consider getting an open-jaw ticket. I think that’s worth at least an extra $200 in price.

what exactly is an open jaw ticket? sorryy i don’t know much

Well, I thought you were ready to book immediately if a sale fare was available.
But if you can’t actually purchase until June for a July departure…. I would say you better allow the $1300, maybe more. Usually sale fares for July are long gone by June.

thats very unfortunate. dang it haha. my friend and i have to wait till june (maybe may) to purchase the tickets because we’re financing the trip on our own and most likely won’t have the money saved up for awhile.

I never start looking for airfares much before 8 weeks before my planned departure…the airline knows there are 3 types of customers:

1. The worriers: these are the people who are worried that they may not get a plane ticket if they leave it too late. They want to be assured that they’ll be able to travel when they want to the destination they want. The airlines know this so they charge them a premium price to book early and put their minds at ease.

2. The last minute people: they wait until the last minute before looking for a fare on the assumption that if there’s an empty seat, the airline will give it to them at a discounted price. I’ve tried this lots of times (cuz I’m very flexible with my departure dates), but it’s very rare to score a good fare this way. More often you end up paying more, because a lot of other people do the same (Airlines know this too). Also, airlines always hold back tickets for people that absolutely have to get somewhere last minute and they charge them big bucks for not planning ahead…people who get last minute tickets either pay a really low price (rare) or the highest price (more likley)

3 The rest of us: most people buy their tickets a month or two before their departure. Airlines know this and they know we’re the largest segment of the market, hence 8 weeks before a departure is when you’re likely to see airlines discounting prices, etc.

Thanks for your impressions finnegan. We’ve already seen some excellent discounting for summer 2009 on sale fares reported here. Not sure I’d hold fast to your 8 week idea to get the cheapest transatlantic flights for peak season.

I bet you’ll see cheaper fares than $1100 though

Maybe. It could easily go up, too.

The U.N. World Tourism Organization says global tourism could decline by up to 2 percent in 2009 amid the financial crisis. They say Europe and the Americas will be the most affected.

I’d say given the decreasing demand in travel and the dropping oil prices, airfares could go lower

Interesting. I’ve been tracking transatlantic airfares daily for 12+ years and have seen a lot of reasons come and go as to why airfares will be cheaper or more expensive. Fuel is currently as cheap as it was 4 years ago, yet airfare levels then—and 12 years ago—were still in the $1000+ range for advance purchase transatlantic Summer flights. I think best bets include research, sign-up for alerts, and being ready to pounce on a good fare when—or if—it pops up. But the theories are always fun to read.

well they say we’re heading into the worst recession since the 1940’s so hopefully for folks here it translates into fewer travellers, less demand etc….all the elements for lower airfares seem to be falling into place. But I agree it’s always good to be on the lookout…even if fares don’t go down, hopefully they’ll be some other incentives popping up…a few years ago I scored a free 1 week car rental from Air France for booking early. The prices dd go down a bit between when I booked and when I departed, but when you factor in the free car, I came out ahead