Just thought I would ask the forum's opinion since you all are such knowledgeable travelers.

I'm planning on flying from DFW - Europe 7/18 - 8/17.

The best geographical route for places I plan on visiting is flying into Madrid and out of Amsterdam. The Best price I have found is 935 on cheaptickets.com.

The best deal I have seen period is DFW -Manchester RT for 673 on hotwire. I've seen the UK so not interested in traveling there, but getting cheap airfare in and out of Manchester is a possibility. However, I might also be able to pay a little more for the time and convenience.

My questions are

1) Does anyone know of any cheaper destinations in Europe or how this could easily be searched for. (planning on traveling Spain, France, Italy, Germany, Netherlands)

2) Does anyone know of any good websites that offer flights from different cities (I only know orbitz, travelocity, and cheapflights)

3) Does anyone have a prediction on whether these fares will increase or decrease in the future.

Basically, for those that do this sort of thing more frequently - how would you proceed.

Thanks for any input