San Francisco - San Franciscans: when to buy flights SFO-LHR?

Dear all,

I appreciate that this is a form about the San Francisco area, and not London. However it is always teeming with people who know SF and the Bay Area inside out, so I am hopeful I could call on your local knowledge.

Although I travel a fair bit between the UK and the USA (my fiancé is American) we need some help pulling things together for our wedding in London. We're getting married on Saturday 1 September 2012, deliberately a few weeks after the Olympics to try and keep travel and accommodation costs down for our American family.

We have one family member in the Bay Area who needs a flight from SFO to LHR for that weekend - maybe as short as five days. Direct flights preferred.

Ex-UK, I have a pretty good idea about when to buy flights, but ex-USA I'm not so up to speed. Right now, flights have started opening up and everything is around the $1150 mark. I'd imagine that as with trans-Atlantic flights ex-UK, that could probably drop a bit before getting more expensive again.

If you were planning a trip from SFO to LHR (presumably on BA, UA or VS) with those dates, when would you recommend booking?

Thanks for any tips and advice. ^

really hard to do....Sept 1 is part of the Labor Day weekend here, before some schools go back so lots of folks ( myself included) often go to London for that weekend...

But i would say, buying tix a year out is not the best way to go for reasons besides price. Too many changes could happen.

Thanks for the info - we hadn't clicked that it was Labor Day in the US. It's definitely too early to be buying, so we'll keep watching.

I have found in the last year that pricing seems generally to be similar between the UK and the US. I used to see significant discrepancies - often over £100 - but in the last year it's always been <£10 - and I check both the whole time.

The key, as a previous post suggests, is to be aware of the holiday situation. The problem with 1 September is that the Eastbound flight is affected by two things - the Labor Day holiday in the US and the rush back from holidays before school starts in the UK. That period is always super-expensive. Do look mid-week as the prices can be significantly lower. Also, be prepared to stop en route or go via Europe as this can save large sums.