25 September 2011

Cheap Flights to London Fall 2011

Cheap Travel to Europe is here and it's open season! Published fares are dropping as we head into the colder part of the year and any of us can have a chance to jump a flight to Europe at good prices. Not fantastic, but good. There are rumblings about prices dropping, but some of them are nothing more than the airlines trying to stir up the rumor mill. A big Delta "sale" I saw turned out to be Business Class fares starting at $1600 and some each way... What? If you read me often, you know that I'm not looking for "deals" on biz and 1st class flights. I am looking to get away for the minimum amount of money, even if that means I have to stand up like a city bus (Yes, it has been discussed by Ryan Air in the media... are they serious? I don't know).

So with all that in mind, I checked flights today for cheap travel to Europe from the Right Coast (Boston), to the middle coastal city of Chicago (it's on the coast of a lake...), to the West Coast... hmmm. Los Angeles is just easy. I looked from Tuesday to Tuesday October 11-25. That gives me three weeks advance and should be a quiet time of year for travel. I was lured to the internet by US's claims to be having big sales to Europe on air tickets, particularly London. I was disappointed to find nothing really from them. I did find that Virgin and BA seem to be having a nice little bidding war that could benefit all of us who want to travel a little bit cheaper. Especially if you like non-stop flights. Really if you do the math, with all the fees for stopping in airports and taxes, this often saves money these days, as well as wear and tear on your body (do I sound old yet?). At least two airlines want your business from Boston to London and will let you fly midweek for under $700 by $1. This is really good when you start to consider what the dollar is doing on international currency boards (think "falling?"). This is only EUR 516 (and the people in Europe may be paying 700 Euros for similar flights) or 451 British Pounds. Virgin Atlantic's website states them as 500 US Dollars plus fees which then comes in at $699 also.

Chicago is only a little more expensive at $815.40, so if you live West of Boston, don't dispair. In fact, you won't find any flights from Chicago to Boston for $116.40, so you might as well just check your bags all the way to London and forget the gymnastics of trying to get flights out of the east coast in segments. When the flights to London for $350 start popping up, though they may not any time soon (I hate saying "never") then you can mess with all that. Now, just jump a flight to London midweek from O'Hare for only 600 EUR. Too bad you're probably not getting paid in Euro's right?

If you are trading in the cold pacific waters for the colder Atlantic waters and flying from L.A. to London, don't get in the water! Just kidding! I'm just saying what I would and wouldn't do in the case that I was in or near London this week. You can do pretty much whatever you want, I hope you just get a good deal going there and that you have some ideas for indoor activities or like the rain and clouds or both From Los Angeles I'm seeing non-stops on United, Virgin and BMI, British all for US $827. So mile per mile, the LA flight is the cheapest one. It also looks like good service on those long flights and mostly 777's flying if that matters to you (I like the new planes). Once again about 600 EUROs. Is this is good time to go? I guess it depends on you. Do you have the cash and time off? If so, rates are low enough to go. If not, just wait until they drop to ridiculous prices and hope that you can still get time off. Either way, I wish you happy travels and most of all, Cheap Travel to Europe.

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