How does this arifare sound?

Marie · Guru

How does this arifare sound?

Michele Erdvig · Host

Marie,

That's a tough call. There's no telling what will happen. From what everyone else has been finding, it seems like it is in the ballpark. But then in off-season you might expect to get a lower fare. What the fares will be in Oct are anyone's guess at this point. confuse

Sorry my crystal ball is not working on this one.

Michele

Maggie117 · Guru

I'm also heading to Ireland in October from Boston (to Shannon and depart from Dublin). I've been checking rates DAILY and they've been hovering around $850 (give or take). I pounced on a "deal" because you never know if they're going to go up or down! If your comfortable with a rate take it and don't look back... :) GOOD LUCK!

Monty · Senior Member

Am also going in October, but plan to wait it out for the summer. The prices right now appear to be no great thing, and my experience tells me that late summer will produce the shoulder rates that bring this down a bit.

Monty

Maggie117 · Guru

You just have to do what's comfortable for you...

Monty · Senior Member

Marie --

That's not too bad for a non-stop out of Philadelphia. I just plugged in some Oct. dates and saw it for $791 today, so I would just monitor it for a bit and see if you see it could go one way or the other. I've been to Ireland several times in Oct. over the years, and usually book in August.

Maggie --

Did you book your flight yet at $850? That does seem high out of Boston. Even Aer Lingus is showing that route cheaper than that today, and they rarely drop rates until late summer. Of course, if you got the route and times that you wanted, it might be more than worth paying a bit more.

Once you get over there that will be the farthest thing from your mind!!!

Monty

-- Edited by Monty on Monday 29th of March 2010 12:40:53 PM

Zstep · Veteran Member

One thing I noticed was fares dropped on Tuesdays through Thursday. Not travelling on those days (although that was cheaper) but actually buying the tickets on those days. In my specific case, it was about a 12% difference over a 3 week period. In the end, I held out for $867 Houston-Dublin for mid to late June which I believe will be very good for this year. When I looked on Friday through Mondays, that fare was consistently about $1000 but it dropped on Tuesdays, stayed steady through Thursday, then popped back up to the $1000 mark on Fridays. I would think that isn't specific to my route...

I believe US Airways does Philadelphia-Dublin direct so keep an eye out but I would guess that July-August will be your best times to buy (2-3 month window). Also, consider other departure points close by that might have a cheaper route. Isn't Newark fairly close to Phily?

Monty · Senior Member

Nice to point that out -- when I search for fares, I always search on a T-W-Th departure and return. Sometimes staying away from weekends and M and F is substantial on various airlines.

Maggie117 · Guru

Monty, My fare includes four nights in Dublin, and flying into Shannon and out of Dublin. Maggie

PS I paid $40 extra for an exit seat (row 11) so I'm happy!!!

...unfortunately I don't have flexibility to the dates I'm leaving. If I had flexibility I would have "gambled" a little more!! :)

-- Edited by Maggie117 on Monday 29th of March 2010 04:06:40 PM

-- Edited by Maggie117 on Monday 29th of March 2010 04:42:41 PM

Monty · Senior Member

As I said, if you got what you were looking for regarding times and routes, that's the best thing. Have a great trip!

Michele Erdvig · Host

Maggie,

Don't forget to keep checking on your flight periodically as sometimes the airlines change times or schedules.

Michele

Marie · Guru

I am actually close to Washngton, DC, but flying out of Philly, which is a 3 hour drive is cheaper and I have a friend there to visit.

Looks like I will wait until mid-summer at least to book!

Thanks to all!

Rosa_Mundi · Veteran Member

I second what Michele said! Both my transat. flight and Aer Lingus shuttle this summer have changed times. Crossing my fingers they won't fiddle with the schedule much more. hmm

Little changes in day-to-day plans I can handle, even have fun with aww

- but flight changes... that doesn't seem so enjoyable.

Maggie117 · Guru

Thanks for the tip Michele. I guess I should count my lucky stars for my trip in 08 because I never checked to see if the times would change.. phew... :) TY!!!

Michele Erdvig · Host

Maggie,

You lucked out in 2008. The airlines are supposed to inform you. However, many times they don't. That is why it is best to check on it yourself.

Michele

Rich207 · Veteran Member

Thank you, Michele, for this great website full of great information.

We are new here. We too are going to Ireland in October. For the last month I have been monitoring flights from Boston, Portland and other airports in the area. Prices did not change. We decided on non-stop flights from Boston on Aer Lingus that fit our itinerary and booked them. We could wait and take our chances on lower prices, but we're not gamblers. Purchasing tickets was exciting as this makes our first trip to Ireland more real right now.

-- Edited by Rich207 on Saturday 1st of May 2010 07:51:50 PM

Michele Erdvig · Host

Rich,

Welcome to my forum. Glad you are finding the website helpful. You are right. Booking flights is a big gamble. But there just comes a time when you are ready. So don't look back and don't agonize over it, since it is a done deal.

Now comes the fun of planning all the details. Let us know if we can help.

Michele

Itallian Chauffeur · Moderator

According to the Wall Street Journal:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703322204575226270940747834.html?mod=yahoo_free

"Travelocity says international tickets for travel around Memorial Day weekend averaged $742 compared to $613 in 2009, a 21% increase.
Bing Travel's survey of U.S. to Europe routes shows summer fares currently averaging $1,271 per ticket, up 29% from last year."

This seems to bear out MY feeling .. hmm hmm hmm

My tickets for July on Aer Lingus ran me right at $1300 EACH. cry cry
My Brother-in-Law got one for $1100 on Continental (for a shorter timeframe) to join us for PART of our trip.

Since I bought our tickets, Ae Lingus has announced TWO "SALES" -- Yet, when I priced out MY dates and routes -- their "SALE" price MET (or EXCEDED!) the price I paid -- back in late March / early April!!! furious furious furious

It is a DIFFERENT year ...

Bob

Rich207 · Veteran Member

Bob, seeing as your appear to be well informed, do you think the declining Euro will have a downward effect on plane fares? Gambling is very stressful for me, so I've already booked my flights for October.
Rich

Itallian Chauffeur · Moderator

Rich -- If you think I'm WELL informed, you are sadly mistaken ... confuse confuse confuse

From the same article I quoted before:

"Last year you may have been able to wait to buy tickets. This year, I wouldn't wait," said Kevin Healy, senior vice president for marketing and planning at AirTran Airways, a unit of AirTran Holdings Inc.

He notes that last year travel was depressed because meetings and conventions were "demonized" after some of the financial collapses and bailouts, but this year meetings and conventions have come back strong. In addition, fear of job losses limited many vacations last year.

"Last year no one was allowed to have fun," Mr. Healy said.

While fares to Europe are higher, some airline executives worry that the volcanic eruption in Iceland in April, and the ensuing shutdown of European airspace for six days, will dissuade summer travelers. Some may worry about getting home should flights be grounded again.

"There's no evidence of a psychological effect but I wouldn't dismiss it," said Willie Walsh, chief executive of British Airways Plc."

As annecdotal evidence, I have a co-worker that is planning a trip to Amsterdam in August. She has found a slight DECREASE in quoted prices for her schedule/routing.
Purhaps the volcano issues are causing SOME Cash-Flow issues????? biggrin

Bob

murphy · Guru

I have been watching fares from Portland OR/Seattle WA to Dublin or Shannon Ireland since late 2009 for a 2 week span starting June 14. They started out, if I recall, in the $1100 neighborhood (1 stop flights). For a brief time about 1 month ago, they got down to the $875 area. Since then they have skyrocketed back up to the $1300 plus range. So goes the battle! If I could have predicted that the Euro would devalue this much, the $875 ticket looks like a bargain! Incidently, I paid $810 last Aug PDX to Shannon. I checked ahead for Aug 10-26 and they came in about $975. That is tempting, but I guess I will wait till next year and see what happens! Dan

Michele Erdvig · Host

Airfares are like the lottery - sometimes your numbers come up but most of the time they don't!

Michele