Budget Travel - Airfare to W. Europe in Winter (Timing)

Hello,

So happy to see a forum for people like myself.

So, the skinny. I have always travelled to Europe from March-September and know like the back of my hand when to get the best fares. However, I plan on being in Paris and The Netherlands around New Year's day and am slightly perplexed about when is the best time to purchase airfare.

Currently (7/28) I see: SFO-CDG ... BA-$565/person, Priceline-$522 (aftertax)/person and AA-$620/person. Here's the kicker..I have a $400 voucher through AA so it would be $800 RT through them. The ultimate issue is...Can I beat the $800 that I could get now for 2 tix on AA? Is there a better time when AA themselves will be cheaper? Or other airlines become so cheap that using my voucher would be pointless?

Should I wait to purchase or will I be hosed if I do?

First off, Welcome to Flyertalk!

I'm sure you can get a better deal than $800 RT. Prices for winter usually go down after Labor day. If you wait until then you can find some better deals. Also try finding fares into LHR or FRA and then taking a ryanair flight or the train to your destination. I find they are usually cheaper to fly into.

aahhh, but the $800 the OP refers to is for 2 tickets, not 1. IMO that's as good as it will get West Coast to CDG, even in the winter. OTOH, you will have used up $400 worth of currency, so you have to consider whether you'll have another opportunity to use that, as well.

It was for two tix. When I lived in PHX BA would run a special in winter sometimes...I used it once on the tail end of the low season. I paid $249+tax (March 2001) rt Believe it or not. So my little gambler on my shoulder is saying things like I should wait and I'll find a crazy deal like that ($600 RT for 2!) Thereby saving $400 voucher for another trip. But then the cautious guy on my other shoulder says stuff like this is SFO (further away) and aound a major holiday (Xmas, new years) so take the AA $1200 -$400 voucher = $800 paid to have peace of mind.

Then again, sometimes there is that adrenaline rush with travel junkies who like getting the craziest deal no matter what...just to live it and tell the stories about it years later....

BTW, thx for the welcome as well. :)

I've traveled between London and the US for New Years for the last few years, and I've always found the flights to be quite full, especially if you are traveling on Jan 1st (late in the day), 2nd, 3rd. Lots of people are finishing their holidays, and trying to get back for work/school. So I'd say it's probably not worth the risk to wait for cheaper fares.

A few other points:

-Remember that you won't get AA miles for the BA flights, so that's another reason to go for the AA option
-But also check to make sure you are in a mileage eligible booking class on AA ;-)
-If you end up with the AA option, look into Gold/Plat challenges (I haven't done one personally, so I'm not familiar with all the details of the offer. The only catch I can think of is whether you can start a challenge in one year and complete it in the next - I'm sure the answer is in one of the stickies on the AA board).

I would recommend using the vouchers now.

So thx for the input. I shall look at the AA tix again w/ the discount. What got me is the AA miles. I do have a BA account too but it would be much more simple to get the bonus etc..thx for the help.

Cheers

Ah my mistake. For two tickets then it is a pretty good deal.