Budget Travel - When to buy LCC tickets for Europe?

For an upcoming trip to Europe, we will be making one trip (Salzburg-Berlin) by plane, probably LCC. In the US, I have a general idea of when to book for the best rates, but don't know about Europe.

When should I seriously start looking for tickets? We will be there in June. Thanks!

I would say from about March onwards. The Summer schedules for EasyJet, Air Berlin etc should be out by then.

A good European website to use is www.skyscanner.net

It looks as though Air Berlin is the only operator, flying into TXL (Berlin-Tegel, same as BA, AF etc). IMO they are one of the better operators in Europe, better than most of the legacy airlines - with catering, seat numbers, FF program.

I made a dummy booking, something like £70 each way. Austrian are a bit more expensive, Lufthansa more so.

AB have sales from time to time but IMO it would be unwise to rely on these as they are short term and may not have the route you need. Best to book as soon as you are sure of your dates, remembering that lower fares are normally non-changeable.

I would book right now if your dates are fixed already!

Air Berlin´s 2010 summer schedule flights are bookable already !
Do not expect any special offers for that (fares are low anyway right now).
Fares are simply capacity controlled so the later you book the more people will haver taken the "cheap seats".

Air Berlin´s lowest one-way is a Promo Fare of 29,-EUR all-in (= 6,-EUR +tax but no service charge will be charged !!!)
Any fare higher than 6,-EUR will attract an additional ticketing service charge besides the taxes !
Just checked randomly for june 2010 and most Tickets were 44,- or 55,-EUR incl. tax and service charge ...

AB is the only airline offering non-stop flights between Salzburg and Berlin.
Next to this there will definetely be no other airline beating Air Berlin by price or service quality between both places !!!
Air Berlin even serves free soft drinks and a small snack on every flight (free newspapers/magazines are availlable sometimes albeit usually in German)

If you need more info PM me !

Thanks, MHG, that's what I was wondering- whether fares would go down or not between now and then!

Finally, what happens if there is a schedule change between now and then??

Thanks, MHG, that's what I was wondering- whether fares would go down or not between now and then!

Finally, what happens if there is a schedule change between now and then??

A schedule change is very unlikely - in particular on such a route.
AB is not a LCC ! It´s a "budget airline" - that´s quite a difference ...
But if it happens you are notified and have the choice of a full refund or rebooking on a later/earlier flight at no cost.
If the schedule change happens within 14 days of your departure (extremely unlikely) european compensation rules will apply - that´s why it´s so unlikely then;).

P.S.: Keep in mind that june is already high season !

I would say from about March onwards. The Summer schedules for EasyJet, Air Berlin etc should be out by then.

A good European website to use is www.skyscanner.net
...also consider Dohop (http://www.dohop.com) which sometimes offers alternative routings

A good European website to use is www.skyscanner.net
This is good but does not do all LCC, so some you might need to check manually.