Praying for Airline Prices to Fall
Fall low. Looooooow. Airline prices have been an annoying barrier this past year. First, it was hard to find an affordable flight for Nick to visit England in March, so he went alone and I stayed here.
Then we tried to find an affordable flight so he could go with me on a work trip to San Diego. We were super syked about the possibility of him attending with me, as he has always wanted to see California. Plus the Estancia is not too shabby….
Nope. All flights were super expensive.
Now the worst blow, Nick researched flights to England for the Christmas holiday and flights are about $1000. EACH.
We were both really, really looking forward to being there for Christmas. We’re several months out, so I’ll keep stalking travel deals. Last year we skyped, I made yorkshire puddings, and my sister made a pavlova – I even found christmas crackers! But it’s just not the same, and we’re both really missing his family at this point.
Anyone else dealing with far-away family travel for the holidays? Or am I thinking about this way, way too early?
ps. In case you see one from DCA/IAD/BWI to MAN let me know!
July 30th, 2010 at 8:16 am
If you can get up to fly out of Newark, somehow, you can take Iceland Express for Christmas, into Gatwick. It’s about half that price for round trip. My BF came over to visit me in June for £267, round trip, with tax. It’s a very no-frills airline–think easyjet–but really cheap, if you can make the airports work. For us, it’s perfect because Newark is most convenient for me and Gatwick is best for him but the difference in price makes it worth it, anyway. Good luck, I know how terrible it is! I’ve been looking to go to England in early November and anything but Iceland Express is in the $700 range! Insane. For some reason, flying the other way (England–>US) is under $500 consistently!
July 30th, 2010 at 8:31 am
Actually there was an article yesterday that glanced at saying that airline prices have gone up. For England, I agree with Jess above re: trying another airport besides the ones in the DC area if you’d be willing. Christmas time in general is a very expensive time to travel. Husband J and I were thinking of possibly going to Antigua the week after Christmas to relax and visit family and before NYE..ridunkulous prices. I’ll have to keep looking too.
July 30th, 2010 at 8:53 am
We’re looking for tickets around that time too, from DC to MAN so I’ll definitely let you know. Ticket prices were even insane from Newark to Manchester and those are usually manageable!
July 30th, 2010 at 10:16 am
This makes any holiday complaining I’ve ever done, or my family/Josh’s family has ever done, seem so petty. Every year…EVERY year, we go through holiday bs. And it sucks. And now that we’re 6 hours from home (with zero extra days to take off) it’s going to suck more. But our families have to understand: at least we’re in the same damn country. I can only imagine how hard this is for you and Nick and his family.
I hope you guys are able to find a decently priced flight. I’m sure you’ve thought of this, but maybe be super flexible w/ your dates? Other posters said airports outside of the DC area, that’s a good idea, too (although you don’t have a car…hmm.)
July 30th, 2010 at 10:31 am
This makes me sad panda
It’s been over a $1,000 to fly to England from Tokyo but we figured that was just ‘cuz.. it’s far, man. Now I hear that it’s $1,000 to fly from DC? What about us West Coast peeps? Oh my… I hope you’re able to get there (cheapishly) this Christmas!
Oh and… hi. I hope you don’t mind, I found your blog on the blogroll and I’ve added you to my Reader. Stalking you
July 30th, 2010 at 12:12 pm
I’m just going to agree with previous posters. I would cast a wide net of possible airports to fly out of as you can sometimes save hundreds by flying out of a different place! I frequently make the drive up to Seattle in fly out of SeaTac (that’s a 5-6 hour drive!) because I often save $400-$500. I’ll keep an eye out though! You can set it up with several travel sites to have them notify you if the price falls below a certain number, maybe sign up for all of those as well?
July 30th, 2010 at 3:16 pm
This may not help in this instance, but when it comes time for you to move across the pond, you might look in to cruise ships to get you there. I’ve seen 14 day cruises departing from New York that hit up several spot before landing in England for $600 a person, two people to a cabin. Plus, I’d much rather be on a cruise than a plane
August 17th, 2010 at 3:56 am
Its so expensive at that time of year!
We are going the other way, from Edin to Orlando via Manchester and we just booked and it still cost us $800 each!
January 7th, 2011 at 4:02 pm
[...] to NYC to visit a special Swan and Penguin. I talked myself out of buying a house (thank god) and prayed airline prices would fall so we could go to England for Christmas (we did!). I started to want a dog. I was [...]