Thursday, January 8, 2009
where are the spring fare sales to Europe?
How about Delta? With the strike fears, I would think they are hurting for bookings.
Any insights?
Your timing is a bit off.
I think you've hit the nail on the head.
originally posted by lonman
... nobody's overbooked at this point.
When one looks at actual availability (in the late May to late June time frame) to almost all cities in Europe (except maybe LON), the cheapest inventory seats are virtually gone. Usually the cheapest seats to Europe are booked in W,V,N,T, or Q. When I look at these flights, what I'm seeing is zeroes for these COS... on almost all airlines - to almost all cities in Europe - from almost all cities in the US.
Furthermore, it doesn't seem to be 'just that simple'. Actually the lowest 3 classes of service tend to be booked! This is particularly true of UA, LH, AZ, DL, UA, US and AA. When I price these itineraries, fares in the $ 1,000 - $ 1,300 range are not uncommon out of the Southwest/Westcoast. (Of course, actual availability will depend on travel dates).
Keep in mind that just because there is a low published fare...or that some new sale fares may come along ... DOES NOT mean that there is a seat available at this fare.
originally posted by Law Lord:
Also considering how steeply Delta just slashed prices for advance-purchase business class tickets to Europe (see the DL board), more sales for cosch to Europe can't be far behind. The majors must believe that load factors are going to plummet.
You might be right here, however, based on my comments above, I'm not so sure. It would appear to me that because the lowest 3 C0S tend to be booked, that the airlines might be doing OK on their revenue in the "cheap seats", but suffering in biz.
Therefore, unless the airlines "free up" some added inventory - even if new sale fares do come along - getting a 'sale seat' in this time frame might still be a problem.
originally posted by yanatan:
Why not buy a good-priced flight to London with a cheap connection on Easyjet to Athens ex-Luton?
From my experience last year, unless one is planning a stopover in LON anyway, this can be a major hassle. Keep in mind that the RT train fare between LHR and LTN airports is not all that cheap - and so this needs to be factored in as well. Add to that the 'pain' of schlepping ones luggage between two airports. Also keep in mind that by the time one arrives in LON one is already suffering jet lag. Not my 'cup of tea' to 'suffer-save' $ 50 to $ 100 bucks, maybe. Also, the available cheap seats on Easyjet often result in a misconnect with the pond portion on the return, resulting in an added expense for an overnite in LON.
BTW, while servicing ATH, Easyjet does not service FCO or MIL.
[This message has been edited by tvl4free (edited 04-08-2001).]
[This message has been edited by essxjay (edited 04-11-2001).]
[This message has been edited by lonman (edited 04-11-2001).]
Dang it! Trigger happy, I guess ...
[This message has been edited by essxjay (edited 04-11-2001).]
I follow the best fares on Travelocity, and from the Midwest to Europe, there still seems to be a lot of availability in the under-$500 price range. (I may add a London trip in the near future.)
There is a lot to usual western europe, but I am looking for Athens (or even Rome)
If you're into those, the eastbound leg was empty enough to confirm a VIPOW upgrade at booking time. (I didn't try the return.)
Also considering how steeply Delta just slashed prices for advance-purchase business class tickets to Europe (see the DL board), more sales for cosch to Europe can't be far behind. The majors must believe that load factors are going to plummet.
well, considering how the British Tourist industry is hurting over the Hoof and Mouth Disease crisis, it cannot be long before airfares to the sceptered isle are slashed dramatically.
Plan ahead! If the fare goes down you can get a refund. Here is my story.
Going to Greece late June (after the 15th - major fare increase date) to early July from sfo. Neccessary to stop in cak and get my niece. Want to do a london stopover. Fares sfo-cak & cak-lon are rarely inexpensive. So will do anything within a reasonable distance; cmh, cle, pit.
Feb 3 co posts summer fare to cmh for $206 total! Purchase ticket immediately for 6/19 return 7/5. Feb 7 fare disappears.
Feb 20 nw posts summer fare pit-lgw $470 total. Buy ticket immediately for 6/20-7/4
Will get one-way car rental in cmh & spend night at sister's @ cak. Drive to pit with niece on 6/20 and fly to lgw. Oh yes my wife will meet us in dtw (she is on a free wp tix) and we will all fly on same plane to lgw.
Now to get to athens from london. Fully agree with tvl4free about going to Luton but there is this neat little airport 6 miles from downtown london called London City Airport(lcy). At Gatwick Airport British Rail Station, board a Thameslink service to London Bridge (£10.50 standard single- Trains run roughly every 15 minutes during normal operating hours). From there, join a Jubilee Line Underground train to Canning Town station (Ticket required). London City airport Shuttle Buses link Canning Town with the airport every ten minutes (£2). Typical journey times vary between 90 and 120 minutes.
As long as one does not want to go non-stop london-athens this is it. So in early march lh offers $198 lcy-ath. But the connections do not work for us. Eventually purchase tix on sn for $222 total.
Total cost for al tix in summer time with two stopovers $998. Few years ago before FT "learning sessions" flew sfo-ath during same time period $1200.
How many ways can you say thank you flyer talk.
footnote: Has the fare went down. No way! Same itinerary costs $1552 today.
You can still also try Aerlingus and IcelandAir which are running some sort of promotion.
You say 'promotion.' Does that mean Aerlingus and IcelandAir are running a joint promotion? Or that each is running a promotion?
Originally posted by tvl4free:
From my experience last year, unless one is planning a stopover in LON anyway, this can be a major hassle. Keep in mind that the RT train fare between LHR and LTN airports is not all that cheap - and so this needs to be factored in as well. Add to that the 'pain' of schlepping ones luggage between two airports. Also keep in mind that by the time one arrives in LON one is already suffering jet lag. Not my 'cup of tea' to 'suffer-save' $ 50 to $ 100 bucks, maybe. Also, the available cheap seats on Easyjet often result in a misconnect with the pond portion on the return, resulting in an added expense for an overnite in LON.
Some of the best analysis on Flyertalk in ages.
Thanks much, tvl4free.
[This message has been edited by essxjay (edited 04-11-2001).]
OP here
There is a lot to usual western europe, but I am looking for Athens (or even Rome)
Why not buy a good-priced flight to London with a cheap connection on Easyjet to Athens ex-Luton?
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