is this too much $$
Family of 4 looking to go to Europe next summer June/July for 14-15 days. Main goals are to go to Rome area and visit family roots, etc... and then see our exhange student and her family in Marseill France. We live in Denver. We have 3 free tickets - have to pay for one. Checked into going to Frankfort then having to manage around the two countries from there. Or we could do an open jaw ticket. Fly denver to frankfort to rome. Coming back would be from marseille to frankfort to denver. Cost for the one ticket is $1,900. Is it worth it or should I pay this price for one ticket based on the above information?
Kellie
Littleton, CO USA 10/27/09
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But we would not be able to obtain our 3 free tickets for the "free miles" tickets go fast for summer in Europe. Do you still recommend waiting? The tickets are open jaw making the one ticket $1,900.
Or get the 3 free tickets now and take a chance on the one ticket cheaper down the road on the same plane?
How long can you wait in order to secure tickets using the FF miles? $1900 is so high for that one ticket.
For purchased tickets, I disagree that it’s necessarily too soon but would normally encourage you to wait for a better deal. It might be too soon, and it might not be. This year, I purchased tickets 8 months prior to my trip, because the fares had never been better. I also anticipated that they wouldn’t go any lower before the trip, and I was right. Normally, my best advice on timing and price when you have so much lead time and know where you wish to go and when is to start tracking fares using a couple of websites you like (www.kayak.com and www.skyscanner.net are oft used). Have an idea of an acceptable fare already in mind. As soon as you see an offer that meets all of your requirements, purchase it without delay. Don’t wait, or the deal could be gone (literally…it could be gone in the amount of time it takes you to phone someone to ask what they think). Nobody can predict when you should purchase…only you can determine this based on all of the variables that go into a decision. Airfares go up and down and are constantly changing all the time. Start tracking it for that one ticket, and good luck!
Definitely lock in those frequent flyer tickets asap. Worst case scenario, one parent ends up paying more than you might want to go on the same plane if that itinerary never gets really cheap(though almost certainly it will go below $1900 at some point) or one parent snaps up a bargain fare later on another flight and you meet up in Europe via a quick rail trip or discount airfare. Either way, I would jump on the free tickets right away and shy away from locking in a very high fare for the fourth.
Steve, she's not going to be able to fly from Marseille to Denver in summer for $700.
I like JER's idea. Lock in the FF tickets, assign them to the kids and a parent, and if the price doesn't look like it's going to drop, consider having the other parent take the TGV (I think only 3 hours now!) from Marseille to Paris to fly out of CDG, which should save you a bundle.
Kellie - I agree with other posts. Lock in the FF tickets. There are several fare watcher web sites out there to use. By the way what airline are you using or your FF tickets?
Currently the air fare guru's are saying there will be a slight increase in overseas fares. They said the say thing last year, and I and saved about $800 per ticket for June travel.
Kellie...when you got the informmation on the FF tickets, did you do that by yourself online or did you speak to an airline phone rep?
It's that one seat for $1900 that is stopping me. I hate to lose the FF miles at the same time. Since it's an open jaw seat maybe I should try to obtain just round trip tickets to Geneve, Frankfort, Munich and Rome and then try to look for some cheap European airline tickets to get all of us to Rome and back to whichever airport we fly in and out of.
Frank - I spoke to someone due to this one ticket I have to purchase in addition to the 3 ff mile tickets. I only have 9,000 miles towards the 4th free ticket and it would cost me more $$ to buy miles. The $1900 is cheaper then if I have to buy miles.
I will go with the plan with the FF miles. Then worry about the 4th ticket in the spring and pray I can fly the same flight with my family.
Thanks all!
Since you spoke to an agent, go to the airline's website and plug in the itinerary. See what the fare is online...I'll bet it's different.
Airlines are notorious for overcharging when it comes to group FF tickets. They know you want to travel with your family so why not get top dollar.
$1,900 seems really high. I'd book the free tickets now and start looking for seat sales in the new year. You may not get on the same plane but you should be able to get a flight the same day. As all trans-atlantic flights leave around the same time you may still end up arriving at close to the same time as your family.
We've done it a few times that I was on a different flight than my husband and we just met up at the final destination. Either at the airport or later at the hotel.
Unless your kids are very young then it may be too stressful to have only one parent with them (I've done it quite a few times and am used to it).
I doubt that you will find any flights from Frankfort, the capital of Kentucky, to Rome. You might have more luck using the spelling, Frankfurt. The airport code is FRA. (Then you don't have to worry about spelling)
lol thanks for the spelling correction. I was using FRA so I am safe. Frankfort is better then Paris Texas anyway if I did make that mistake.
Hey, as a native Texan, I resent that last slur against my beautiful state. ;-)
Nancy:
I have to agree Texas is a beautiful state. Unless you think you are going to Paris France but you're in Paris Texas. :) I live in Colorado and right now Texas would be wonderful as we have a foot of snow with much more on the way. Enjoy your warmth!
Ok, I booked the free miles for 3 of the 4 seats we need for the family. I will buy the other one as soon as prices look better. Then I got 3 seats in the center of the plane. Meaning one seat is left in the block of 4 seats in the center. Hopefully I can get that seat when I book my flight.
I took the advice of some of you and looked at the price on lufthansa instead of booking directly with united and it's about $150.00 cheaper. You were right. Now I am going to worry until I purchase the 4th ticket. I don't think I can wait until Spring to get the ticket since Lufthansa saves about 5-6 rows for frequent flyer miles and I worry a frequent flyer may pick up that seat since those seats usually sell out.
Continental has just announced xtra fuel surcharges from east coast to London at $222 per ticket. I am sure Lufthansa and the rest will follow suit soon. good luck on getting your last ticket.