First, this is my first time on Flyer Talk. I was recently involved in an International Business Class for my Executive MBA Program that involved a trip to Germany for a little over a week. I had so much fun and met so many great people that I have decided to plan a trip back over on my own for the end of May. All I need to take care of is a flight since I will be staying with one of my new German friends. She is picking me up at the airport and dropping me off there and will be my transportation for the week so that is not a problem. My planned dates for the trip is to leave Pittsburgh, Philly, BWI or any of the other airports in the area on May 25th putting me at Frankfurt (FRA) Saturday morning. I will be returning on June 2nd, taking off from Frankfurt and returning to the same location I departed from. My first choice for departure from the states is Pittsburgh with Philly being second. This is the first time I am booking overseas tickets on my own and am looking for advice. I originally was looking at a flight thru NWA that was about $750 after taxes and such. That was a week and a half ago. It then went up to $1050. Then on Sunday it went back to $750. And today it is back up to over $1100. Is there a reason for all this fluctuation? Can I count on it comming back down to where it was or should I start looking at other options? Are there better ways to get a good fare other than the standard Orbitz, Expedia, Cheapo Air, etc.. that I may not know about? Please help a first time international ticket buyer find the best price please!!

Welcome to FT. Try sidestep.com. It is a search engine that will look on all of the airline websites and major travel sites to find the best price. I'm guessing PHL or BWI will probably be a little cheaper than PIT, due to the increased competition at those airports. EWR has also been cheap for me, if that isn't too far for you.

You might want to post a similar question on either the Travelbuzz or Mileage Run Forums, or better yet, have a Mod move this. The MR folks are the absolute experts at finding good fares.

Welcome to FT jrwelling99. Good to hear you found new friends in Germany.

You may want to try http://matrix.itasoftware.com/cvg/dispatch/ for sour search. Works pretty good to find cheap fares. If you find the routing and price you prefer just go to the airline website and book your flight.

Enjoy your trip.
Cheers
totti