One-way travel...

So it doesn't matter when you come back, as long as you do?  So if I book a round trip ticket in the fall, I can just use the return at any time?  Are there any restrictions?  Do you sites like priceline and hotwire allow you to do that or is it the airline?

No, I had to plan ahead and book on a certain day. I just picked a day I thought would probably work. I figured if I ended up having to change the date it would still be cheaper than if I were to purchase a one way ticket for the original flight.

BA is having a sale at the moment...

I thought that ended on the 6th?

8th

sorry, to clarify... that's the US site. (some of us actually buy tickets from the US still!  )

What is the cheapest anyone's found to fly and what month are you leaving?  I'm just begining to get my tickets for this fall....but I'm not having much luck with anything under $900 a person.

I'm going to leave from NY because I know that's cheaper.  I'll drive the 6 hours to the city to avoid the extra 200 bucks for a ticket.

Leaving this week, $763 total for the three of us, one-way, Las Vegas to Edinburgh.  This includes all taxes and fees.  (Works out to about $255 each...not bad....)

Are you looking for one-way or round-trip tickets?  I've found that consolidators are almost always cheaper for one-way fares, and sometimes (in my experience, usually) cheaper for round-trip fares.

My 'big three' sites to check for airfare...
www.orbitz.com (my least fav of the three)
www.sidestep.com
www.bt-store.com (where I found this deal)

I'm looking for roundtrip.  I, too, find them to be much cheaper.  I'm also looking at a departure time in Sept.  I'm sure that drives the price up a bit.
Which airline are you looking at?  I've been doing travelocity and the like.....

I just found some stuff on yahoo farechase for around $700 a person.  I would like as cheap as possible...but I also want an airline with a good reputation.  I wouldn't want to risk my life on saving money.  If the airline has a reputation of being neglectful....you know.

I'm flying Delta.  My brother flew the same route a few months ago with no problems.  And despite their financial woes, they have a fair safety record.  With the exception of sites like Hotwire, you can usually see what airline it is before you book the flight.

If you're looking at round-trip, your return date is also going to have an effect on your fare.

I don't normally use Travelocity, Expedia, or Yahoo Travel because I've had better luck with other sites.  But that may be because of where and when I fly...  I'm also pretty flexible about what airline I fly, number of layovers, etc.

Thanks!  I didn't know alot of this.  The return date effects the rate?  Really? 
So, in your experience, what gets the lowest rate (generally)....a week before a return date; a month;  two days,etc.?

Thanks for the websites too.  I'll be checking those out.

Another site to check out is kayak.com. It does a search of multiple sites all in one search.

It also lets you check with flexible dates, which is nice.

The return date effects the rate?  Really? 

If, for instance, you're planning on flying out in September and back at Christmas, that is probably going to be more expensive than a return scheduled in, say, the middle of January or mid-November. 

Also, for return tickets it seems like there's something about a Saturday night stay...if you stay over Saturday you'll get a better fare.  (Probably because business travelers tend NOT to stay over and pay a higher fare for the privilege of being home for the weekend.)  At least that used to be the case back when I was arranging travel for my supervisors.

I've actually had really good luck lately w/one-way tickets using consolidators.  I booked through bt-store for my trip this week.  Three one-way tickets came to $763.  Three round-trip tickets came to just under $2000.  Still a good fare, but more than twice what the one-way tickets cost...

Does anyone out there ever travel standby, and not being an airline employee or friend/relative?  Is flying standby as a regular paying customer any cheaper at all?  I have been wondering about this.

Also, for return tickets it seems like there's something about a Saturday night stay...if you stay over Saturday you'll get a better fare.

I've heard that before and it does seem to be true

I've actually had really good luck lately w/one-way tickets using consolidators.  I booked through bt-store for my trip this week.  Three one-way tickets came to $763.  Three round-trip tickets came to just under $2000.  Still a good fare, but more than twice what the one-way tickets cost...

I just checked that site out.  Just punching in some random dates, I found a one way for $144. Granted, it's for an extremely off-season time, but jeez, that's still really cheap.

What is the cheapest anyone's found to fly and what month are you leaving?  I'm just begining to get my tickets for this fall....but I'm not having much luck with anything under $900 a person.

I'm going to leave from NY because I know that's cheaper.  I'll drive the 6 hours to the city to avoid the extra 200 bucks for a ticket.

We were very lucky to find 4 one-way tickets from O'hare to Manchester non-stop on BMI for a total of $997 including fees and such. We're flying the first week in November.  Very good deal.  I recommend the bt-store.com also. Crabbit pointed me in that direction and helped me find the deal we got (crabbit rocks )

(crabbit rocks )

Aw, shucks... 

Truth be told, I'm just really poor and afflicted w/the travel bug.  I spend lots of time researching the cheapest way to get from A to B!