Does cheap airfare to Europe in the summer exist?

[MrsBugi]

My husband and I would like attend his friend's first wedding in London on June 17 of this year. Their second wedding is in India, which would be even more expensive to attend.

I can't seem to find plane tickets under $1,000 apiece for the life of me. We would be willing to fly into any airport around London or even into Paris (CDG). Does anyone have any suggestions as to where we should look for cheaper plane tickets? $400-600/ticket would be much more reasonable, as that is what we paid last winter for tickets to France.

Any help would be much appreciated. I hope we don't have to wait until his friend and new wife return stateside to watch the wedding video.

 

[wyvrn]

Try hotwire.com, they usually have the best prices. They are better than expedia and the like usually.

Also USAToday travel section has an online flight tool that will search multiple carriers to find you the lowest price.

If you have a Costco membership, try their travel center.

 

[MrsBugi]

Originally posted by: wyvrn
Try hotwire.com, they usually have the best prices. They are better than expedia and the like usually.

Also USAToday travel section has an online flight tool that will search multiple carriers to find you the lowest price.

If you have a Costco membership, try their travel center.

Thank you, I will try hotwire and check out the USAToday travel section. I have looked on orbitz, expedia, and airline websites such as American Airlines, British Airways, etc.

 

[lozina]

Lowest I could get was $750 for my trip to Munich from CheapTickets.com

 

[chiwawa626]

You can prolly find something via air canada for 800-900? Depending on the day/time you fly - usually they are cheaper. Also I think some airlines have a fuel surcharge right now, that might explain higher rates..

 

[MrsBugi]

Hotwire has a "clearance fare" for $968 roundtrip per person.

USA today helped find a flight for $974 per person via Air Canada.

I wonder if the price will go down if we wait, and I am wondering if we should risk waiting until the "last minute travel deals" are offered (if they are offered at all).

 

[Syringer]

I was looking to fly out of LA/SF to England and the cheapest fare I could find was through British Midway out of Vegas for $1002..that was a month ago.

 

[pontifex]

Originally posted by: wyvrn
Try hotwire.com, they usually have the best prices. They are better than expedia and the like usually.

Also USAToday travel section has an online flight tool that will search multiple carriers to find you the lowest price.

If you have a Costco membership, try their travel center.

odd...i was lookign for plane tickets earlier and going to the actual airline sites i got cheaper prices (for some) than i did at places like hotwire and expedia.

 

[MrsBugi]

$888 via Air Canada, from LAX to London Heathrow. The dates are several days longer than we'd like to stay, so I will see if the hubby can get some additional time off of work.

 

[wyvrn]

Originally posted by: pontifex

Originally posted by: wyvrn
Try hotwire.com, they usually have the best prices. They are better than expedia and the like usually.

Also USAToday travel section has an online flight tool that will search multiple carriers to find you the lowest price.

If you have a Costco membership, try their travel center.

odd...i was lookign for plane tickets earlier and going to the actual airline sites i got cheaper prices (for some) than i did at places like hotwire and expedia.

I have had that happen to. Supposedly hotwire is connected directly to the airlines databases, but it doesn't always work that you get the lowest price. More often than not however.

 

[MrsBugi]

Phew - you weren't kidding about those fuel surcharges!

Fare Summary
Passenger Type Adult
Base Fare 778.00
U.S.A Transportation Tax 29.00
Fuel Surcharge 110.00
Sub Total 917.00

Taxes, Fees and Charges
Canada Airport Improvement Fee 14.08
U.S Agriculture Fee 5.00
U.K. Passenger Service Charge 23.26
Canada Goods and Services Tax (GST/HST #10009-2287) 0.99
U.S Passenger Facility Charge 4.50
September 11 Security Fee 2.50
U.S.A Immigration User Fee 7.00
U.K. Air Passenger Duty 35.78
Number Of Passengers 2
Total 2020.22
Grand Total - US Dollars $ 2020.22

With all the additional taxes and surcharges, it appears AirCanada is no cheaper than the other alternatives I have been looking at.

 

[wyvrn]

Originally posted by: MrsBugi
Phew - you weren't kidding about those fuel surcharges!

Fare Summary
Passenger Type Adult
Base Fare 778.00
U.S.A Transportation Tax 29.00
Fuel Surcharge 110.00
Sub Total 917.00

Taxes, Fees and Charges
Canada Airport Improvement Fee 14.08
U.S Agriculture Fee 5.00
U.K. Passenger Service Charge 23.26
Canada Goods and Services Tax (GST/HST #10009-2287) 0.99
U.S Passenger Facility Charge 4.50
September 11 Security Fee 2.50
U.S.A Immigration User Fee 7.00
U.K. Air Passenger Duty 35.78
Number Of Passengers 2
Total 2020.22
Grand Total - US Dollars $ 2020.22

With all the additional taxes and surcharges, it appears AirCanada is no cheaper than the other alternatives I have been looking at.

It doesn't help that you are wanting to fly relatively soon. For overseas flights, it's best to plan at least 6 months ahead if you can to get the lowest price. You probably already know that

 

[MrsBugi]

Originally posted by: wyvrn

Originally posted by: MrsBugi
Phew - you weren't kidding about those fuel surcharges!

Fare Summary
Passenger Type Adult
Base Fare 778.00
U.S.A Transportation Tax 29.00
Fuel Surcharge 110.00
Sub Total 917.00

Taxes, Fees and Charges
Canada Airport Improvement Fee 14.08
U.S Agriculture Fee 5.00
U.K. Passenger Service Charge 23.26
Canada Goods and Services Tax (GST/HST #10009-2287) 0.99
U.S Passenger Facility Charge 4.50
September 11 Security Fee 2.50
U.S.A Immigration User Fee 7.00
U.K. Air Passenger Duty 35.78
Number Of Passengers 2
Total 2020.22
Grand Total - US Dollars $ 2020.22

With all the additional taxes and surcharges, it appears AirCanada is no cheaper than the other alternatives I have been looking at.

It doesn't help that you are wanting to fly relatively soon. For overseas flights, it's best to plan at least 6 months ahead if you can to get the lowest price. You probably already know that

Unfortunately so, but we were only recently invited to the wedding (within the past month). At this point, we are leaning towards not going because of the astronomical airfare. It is a shame, but the couple who invited us should understand. We are going to give them a gift of a pop-top table as a wedding present when they return to the States.

 

[Manuwell]

June 15th - June 19th JFK => LHR

Aer Lingus (direct from airline) $699

Where did I find it ? Sidestep FTW

 

[A5]

Yeah - there's very few people I know that would be worth paying $2000 to go to their wedding. Unless it's immediate family or a close friend, I would say to just not go.

 

[MrsBugi]

Originally posted by: Manuwell
June 15th - June 19th JFK => LHR

Aer Lingus (direct from airline) $699

Where did I find it ? Sidestep FTW

What an amazing fare! The only problem is, we're hoping to fly there from the opposite side of the country.

 

[Jzero]

Originally posted by: MrsBugi

Originally posted by: Manuwell
June 15th - June 19th JFK => LHR

Aer Lingus (direct from airline) $699

Where did I find it ? Sidestep FTW

What an amazing fare! The only problem is, we're hoping to fly there from the opposite side of the country.

Yeah, it's easy to find $6-700 fares from the east coast

 

[Manuwell]

Oops. I didn't notice the departure place.

 

[MrsBugi]

Originally posted by: Manuwell
Oops. I didn't notice the departure place.

No worries, I appreciate your help and wish I still lived on the East coast to take advantage of those low, low fares. :thumbsup: