Read the response from lwildernorva - that is an excellent assessment. I've done that trip more than a few dozen times from the US. I'm headed there in July. You are seeing higher fares because it's the high season. If you can go in September or later it will be cheaper. Otherwise, if price is more important than schedule - as lwildernorva pointed out look for alternate airports. There are a number of low cost airlines in Europe that fly to BFS and BHD - Easyjet and Jet2 come to mind. Look at major European cities (FRA, BER, KRK, KTW, FCO etc - but avoid SVO - you can find cheap flights to SVO but the visa and other costs outweigh the savings) and if you can find a cheap flight just connect there to Belfast. I would avoid London as that tends to drive up the cost but there are other options beyond LGW and LHR. And Dublin is almost always cheaper than Belfast. I much prefer the train to the bus. On the Dublin side you have to get from the airport to the bus station. On the Belfast side the bus station is in the center of town. And if you have a choice, BHD is easier than BFS (which is a good distance outside Belfast).