How to know when to fly?

I've flown BA from ATL to LGW in December for $373 inc taxes - but that was December 2004.   I'd say £300 is a pretty good price for that route on BA; Delta can be a bit cheaper at times but then you're, well, flying Delta! 

If you don't mind connecting in DC or Orlando (or even NYC or Boston), you can often find really cheap fares on Virgin for the transatlantic leg and even cheaper ones on AirTran for the domestic leg - it's a bit of a pain but can be cheaper, depending on the time of year! 

My favorite travel comparison site is http://www.mobissimo.com ...

August has seemed to have been the most expensive time to travel, that I've found. Dec. wasn't too bad for me last year, I think what really made a difference was that I booked my flight way in advance (a few months ahead of time) I went over the week before Christmas and not in the few days beforehand, and also mid-week days tends to be cheaper travel days than traveling between Friday and Monday.

I've flown BA from ATL to LGW in December for $373 inc taxes - but that was December 2004.   I'd say £300 is a pretty good price for that route on BA; Delta can be a bit cheaper at times but then you're, well, flying Delta! 

The $373 fare is amazing! I'd kick myself if we spent $600 now and could've had it for $373 after all by December. Not to mention Dec. will be cooler (we're heading to Alabama) and that my knee problems are slowly improving and we can manage to get around, but I can't walk from the the entrance of the train station to the train right now, and their assisted travel at FGW is not too hot in my experience -- maybe by Christmas I could walk that far, I just don't know because my recovery is soooo slow and won't be a full recovery anyway, that's just not out there for me until such a time as docs decide to do knee replacements. We have the added wrinkle that my husband's mom just told us she'll be off work at the time we were thinking of going to Alabama this September, and she could come from N.M. to join us there -- we've never met each other's parents, and this would let my mom and his mom meet, too. We were going to either fly to N.M. as well, or just do Bamam and go to N.M. next year. But his mom's offer lets us both see our moms without as much flying and plane changing, which is a pain in the ars* because I can't walk through the airport and have to wait for an employee to show up with a wheelchair at the gate and it gets stressful as you're hoping you don't miss a connecting flight.

Right now all the fares for December, going mid-week just before or just after Christmas, are pushing $900. I wish I knew when they would change! It seems like I once found a site that showed what fares various airlines charged at different times in the past, but I can't find it now, so maybe it's just wishful thinking that such a site exists!

In general, it's cheapest to fly late Sept through March (although black out periods usually include Christmas).

I just booked roundtrip from London to New York for £252 round trip including the taxes.

You might want to check out Virgin if you haven't booked yet.

Groovy_Yank

Could you go a little earlier than "just before Christmas".  Flights in the first two weeks of December are always cheaper: there's a little post Thanksgiving/pre-Christmas rush lull in demand.  I always fly home at this time - I usually just have to start my return journey by Dec 14th to benefit.

Groovy_Yank

Could you go a little earlier than "just before Christmas".  Flights in the first two weeks of December are always cheaper: there's a little post Thanksgiving/pre-Christmas rush lull in demand.  I always fly home at this time - I usually just have to start my return journey by Dec 14th to benefit.

Nope, my husband teaches and the break doesn't start until Dec. 14 or 15. And then classes resume by Jan. 15. So we've got to work around his schedule.

Would it be cheaper to get my US mom to pay for my ticket, and then i pay her back?
Is there a difference in price between buying airline tickets in the USA v UK?

It varies... but usually flights that originate from the UK costs more because of the flight taxes and security charges. They have gone up.

I saw this when quoting a flight LON-SFO on BA and  SFO-LON on BA and the base fare was the same but the taxes were much different.

Just thought I'd share this article:

Capturing a fare deal

New to the site but have travelled overseas often.  I always try skyauction.com .  You have to bid on the tickets.  My trip from Oklahoma to London in April cost me a grand total of 289.00 including fuel charges and taxes.  Be careful when bidding that you realize that the cost will be your bid plus the amount listed in the description for fuel and taxes. (Generally these are $265)  I have used them often and have never had an issue with the tickets.

Hope this helps

I am from Atlanta and never get a better deal than about $600 to fly between gatwick-atlanta direct. I am getting a ticket for October and right now it is running about $1000 on both BA and Delta. If I wasn't pregnant I would connect so it does down to around $800 but I don't really want to go through the trouble  I say $600 is a good deal and snatch it up if you find it!

Thanks for the input! The fairs look like it may cost closer to $650 now, but that's still a savings! We're going to call relatives today and make sure the visit timing is right for our moms (the main ones we need to visit)!

I must say, it's hard to live in the UK and look at spending so much (by the time you add in airfare and probably a few hotel nights) to go visit parents (which, to be honest, it's nice to see them but it will be a mostly boring trip) when for a third of the price we could spend a week in Spain or go to Fringe fest or something! Unfortunately, we moved here on such short notice we never got to meet each other's families (we're both from the U.S. and lived far from our families when we met). So I figure by the time we get done making trips to meet our moms and his dad (divorce does add in that pesky extra stop!), we'll be ready to move back to the U.S. At which time we'll finally be done with family meetings and ready to start taking European trips! Ugh, it's all backwards!

New to the site but have travelled overseas often.  I always try skyauction.com .  You have to bid on the tickets.  My trip from Oklahoma to London in April cost me a grand total of 289.00 including fuel charges and taxes.  Be careful when bidding that you realize that the cost will be your bid plus the amount listed in the description for fuel and taxes. (Generally these are $265)  I have used them often and have never had an issue with the tickets.

Hope this helps

Am I missing something? Your grand total was 289 $ ?? Fuel and taxes were $265 so if I got this right your bid was $24. Am I  right?
Thanks for the tip anyway.

I've never found a flight originating in the UK on Skyauction. 

Yes my bid was $24.  Allot of the flights have timeframes associated.  The trick is to wait until the time for the bid is up and go in and place your bid.  As I stated on my post the flight was from Oklahoma to the UK.  (sorry not going the other route uk to oklahoma until after we are married).  I have won bids for as little as $5 (not to the uk but other destinations).  just remember it is bid price plus the cost of the fuel and tax charges.  Right now I am looking at a flight for September.  I just bid $3 and the fuel and taxes are $291 (guess inflation is catching them)  They also have quite a few one way flights to the UK if your on the last leg of your marriage visa.