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-   -   When to buy a flight on KLM (https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/klm-flying-dutchman/1979922-when-buy-flight-klm.html)

shmom Jul 24, 2019 9:57 am

When to buy a flight on KLM
 
Hello, I need to book a flight for my family from AMS to FCO on Saturday March 28 and return AMS on Thur April 2. Our flight back to the US is on Friday at 1:00 p.m. and I felt safer if we got to AMS the day before and then we can see that city for a day.
It appears that KLM would have the best times for a flight (we arrive at 10:30 a.m. and KLM has a 2:25 or thereabouts). My question is, do those flights go down in price between now and March/April? The prices just seem a bit high now.

thanks so much.

erik123 Jul 24, 2019 9:59 am

Highly likely to go down. The lowest fares are not loaded this far out.

Goldorak Jul 24, 2019 2:14 pm


Originally Posted by shmom (Post 31337527)
The prices just seem a bit high now.

Would be nice to share those fares, so we can assess if they are high or not.

Goldorak Jul 24, 2019 2:15 pm


Originally Posted by erik123 (Post 31337537)
Highly likely to go down. The lowest fares are not loaded this far out.

I don't know how you can be so certain. We don't have enough information from OP to say that.

MSPeconomist Jul 24, 2019 2:23 pm

If this is the Easter vacation period, I would expect high demand for FCO flights (as well as hotels in Rome).

It might help if the OP would give some details (cruise?) and explain why there seems to be a separate ticket (already purchased?) to return to the USA.

irishguy28 Jul 24, 2019 2:32 pm

9 Attachment(s)

Originally Posted by erik123 (Post 31337537)
The lowest fares are not loaded this far out.

Not true.

AMS-ROM is not a route I monitor regularly, but I monitor several KL routes such that I know the typical availability of cheap tickets, and what the lowest price on these routes will be. This means I frequently buy my KLM tickets 12 or 11 months ahead of time; particularly for busy periods (Christmas, Easter in particular) and other standing annual items in my calendar; I buy my tickets as soon as I see the lowest possible price is available on suitable flights for my purposes.

For my usual routes, I know exactly the cheapest price that will be offered by KLM (€99 return, with a €10 booking fee on top, meaning €109 direct from KLM; no booking fee on Air France, so can be bought from €99 direct from AF; depending on the vagaries of the various OTAs, and which payment card may have a special discount on any particular OTA, these fares can often be bought from €88 upwards via a third party). If these fares aren't available as soon as the dates go on sale approx 1 year in advance, this is typically the case 330 days out. But note that not all flights will have seats at the cheapest rate, or the popular times (Friday evenings, Sunday evenings, etc) sell out fast.

I already have my Easter 2020 flights booked - for €106 this time instead of €99! - so the availability of cheap fares in the time frame the OP is looking at is already open. (Easter 2020 is 2 weeks after the OP's desired departure date)

Judging from the low-fares calendar, the cheapest AMS-FCO return will be is around €122. Though, bear in mind that not every flight will be made available at the cheapest fares - they are often the less-desirably timed flights.

The low-fares calendar for AMS-FCO shows €119 widely available for each month up to Jun 2020, with April 2020 already showing up as slightly higher. Perhaps this is due to us all checking the prices for AMS-FCO today for April - though maybe not.

Prices may or may not come down in the future - particularly if Rome is one of the featured cities on a future sale - but given that April 2020 is already showing a "buck" in the trend, I would not rely on the desired flights being featured in any future sale.

So, in short - there is no guarantee that prices will come down. But I can guarantee that the cheapest price point is already loaded beyond the OP's timeframe.

Can I guarantee that Rome won't be featured in any €99 sale in the coming months? No, I can't, but it's a while since I recall seeing Rome offered at that pricepoint (the cheapest return fare you will ever see offered on KL shorthaul for any destination from AMS). But it already looks like April 2020 is unlikely to be offered at that pricepoint, given that it is already busy enough that it stands out as the most expensive month looking into the future.

If you have selected specific flights, use Skyscanner, momondo, or any other price comparison website to see if any OTA will shave some Euros off the prices offered by KL/AF direct.

shmom Jul 24, 2019 3:23 pm

Thanks so much for the info all. The current prices are approximately $250 per person for a round trip. I probably should just go on and get the ticket since I do want some exact times.
I booked CVG-AMS because prices were a great price and at that time we thought we would go there for spring break. I had booked the Waldorf in AMS on points and now I have switched to the WA Rome. Of course, even though it is a lot less points than AMS its 100,000 points more than last week. Sigh.

irishguy28 Jul 24, 2019 4:19 pm


Originally Posted by shmom (Post 31338661)
Thanks so much for the info all. The current prices are approximately $250 per person for a round trip.

If you select a slightly later departure time on the Saturday, you can save yourself US$90 per head by booking direct flights on Alitalia.

Bear in mind that, unless each passenger has Skyteam Elite or Elite Plus status, there is no free luggage allowance at these prices on either KLM or Alitalia. Each bag will cost extra (probably in the region of €25 per bag per direction if paid online in advance; substantially more if paid at the airport during checkin)

shmom Jul 24, 2019 4:28 pm


Originally Posted by irishguy28 (Post 31338830)
If you select a slightly later departure time on the Saturday, you can save yourself US$90 per head by booking direct flights on Alitalia.

Bear in mind that, unless each passenger has Skyteam Elite or Elite Plus status, there is no free luggage allowance at these prices on either KLM or Alitalia. Each bag will cost extra (probably in the region of €25 per bag per direction if paid online in advance; substantially more if paid at the airport during checkin)

thanks for that idea, I had thought of that but after an overnight flight, I was thinking that later flight may be too long to wait -- grumpy teenage boys in tow. We pack light and never check baggage, so I was thinking we could do economy light vs. the standard cabin? Could you see any reason why that wouldn't work? It appears that one can purchase seats ahead of time even with economy light?


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