Barcelona - why are flights so expensive????? Help!!
Hello!
I am trying to book a flight to Barcelona from Philly area (BWI up through NY) and the flights are unbelievably expensive. Am I missing something?
Does anyone have a suggestion on how to get there without costing a fortune. I wasn't prepared for this. Also, flying nonstop is cost prohibitive.....I thought Spain's economy would allow for a visit without going broke.
Thanks!!
Kim
Philadelphia 10/1/12
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When are you traveling? we booked flights for Barcelona about a month ago for travel in January and it was not that expensive.
A lot of the travel sites say to book either late on Tuesday nights on early Wednesday because that's when the rates change.
Also of course the earlier you book the better.
Good luck!
I'm seeing midweek flights in Oct in the $865 range round trip. Thats not bad. When are you going?
You need to define expensive so we can respond.
Kim as others have said, we need to tell us when you want to go, and what you consider expensive.
Spain's economy has nothing to do with pricing of flights, that is controlled by the airlines.
When are you going? Maybe you waited too long to book, or maybe you are booking too early. Or maybe you need a one-stop flight instead of non-stop. there can't be many of those, and maybe there is no competition to keep prices down.
Philadelphia is an expensive city in my experience. I fly there on business from Detroit a good bit. Delta DTW - PHL non-stop costs $769. You can fly PHL - BCN through Atlanta on Delta for $1000. That is during the week, shopping should get you a better price.
Try Hipmunk to compare prices. I have bought tickets from Boston in the past, and usually spent around $900.
Good luck
Flights from central IL to Madrid were running about $900 RT with one stop when I went in May, so from what others have posted here, it sounds like prices have been pretty stable over the summer. Can you provide more information?
On a previous trip to Spain I found a great deal RT to London instead, then took a Ryanair flight to Spain from there (and back to London on EasyJet). A little more complicated, but lots cheaper.
Have you tried from Newark, NJ or even maybe Allentown. From Philadelphia you can get NJ transit to the airport, I seem to remember you have to get train from 30th street station to Metropark in NJ and then NJ transit. We flew Newark direct to Barcelona last year in November and was not too expensive. Also maybe trying going midweek, say Tuesday to Tuesday.
Look into an option on United - use the code for Philly's Amtrak station as your departure. It will route you through Newark and give you a Amtrak voucher. I've head people getting better fares out of EWR using this method but have no first hand experience.
My struggle this year was to find affordable airfare to Europe for an early winter flight. It never happened. Originally looking into London, I could not find fare under $900. In my 8 years of consecutive travel, I never paid over $900 for winter travel. In fact the most I paid was $840 into Amsterdam and out of Paris, 4 years ago, after the election when gas was over $4 a gallon; and I was not happy. So I gave up on my quest for London, which is a very expensive city with a poor currency conversion rate; I went with Spain. Airfare was not under $1000 until end of September, when I booked 2 tickets for $940. And the airfare has not been lower since. Yes my tickets will be expensive, but accommodations will be cheaper and currency conversion not too bad (compared to the british pound). Flights have been reduced, so there are less fleets going over; this increases airfare. Gas is not cheap; this increases airfare. So good luck. If you really want to go, just buy your tickets and take advantage of the cheaper accommodations, affordable food and wine, and have a great time in spain. I know I will.
Bronwen...very informative and nifty piece of reporting there on those little known Amtrak vouchers. My compliments to you.
If you want to search for a flight starting with a train ride from Philadelphia's 30th Street Station, you can use code ZFV for the station. This used to work on Continental's website, so I assume it will work on United's. However, it did not work on some other sites, like Kayak, so you may have to use PHL and then select "include nearby airports" to get it.
Have you looked at flying to Madrid and taking a train/bus/puddle jumper to Barcelona?
What about the train or bus to NY. The prices out of JFK must be more competitive.
Newark Airport is a NYC airport along with JFK. Price are usually identical from both airports. What makes Newark a better option is that its connected to Amtrak's NE Corridor from Philadelphia. It would a be bigger hassle to take a train from Philly to JFK, but not impossible.
Fuel surcharges have increased fares alot but $900 is about the cost these days.
rd trip. you could ck flying into another city in europe then take cheap airlines to Barcelona www.whichbudget.com or www.skyscanner.net.but sometimes all that transferring & xtra time to me just is not worth the $100-150 in savings.
Spain and Portugal have always been a bit more pricey than say Germany in all my travels to Europe.
Try checking with www.kayak.com also for fare ranges.
I am writing you from Spain, Costa del Sol that is. My flight booked on July 17 with U.S. Airways for SFO/MAD with plane change in Philly for 10/2 to 10/18 cost me $793.50.
In April I flew to BCN from SFO via Philly on same airline for $830.
Last year I flew U.S. Airways from SFO to MAD again via Philly for 2 week stay. Can't remember exact figure but it was slightly below $800.
In all cases Trip Advisor gave me the heads-up on the above fares...TA also gave me a fare deal on Korean Airlines for a Shanghai trip I am taking in November.