Flights to England

Does anyone have any insider secrets or certain flights or just ways to get a cheaper ticket to a flight to England? From my current research it is slightly cheaper to fly to Manchester International rather than Heathrow although it might be worth seeing a bigger international airport due to the fact that this will be a vacation with too many pictures taken  Wink. I was thinking making the trip during the fall maybe like 2 years from now cause my friend and I will both be out of college, and gives us plenty of time to save up them slowly declining $ bills. Anyways all info would be appreciated.

Go Leeds United.

-mike

I just flew to the US from Manchester airport this morning - I'm in Chicago O'Hare right now, waiting for my connecting flight. To me it did seem much smaller than Heathrow or Gatwick (it was my first time flying from Manchester), but the cost wasn't much different for me.

I got a cheap student fare from STA travel - it costs £299 from Heathrow or £298 from Manchester!

When my family fly over they try to get the cheapest flights and often look into flying to London rather than coming straight up to Manchester. The prices are pretty much the same, and to be honest, its not financially worth it to get to Manchester if you are visiting London, the train can cost a heck of a lot of money. It is difficult to predict how much flights are going to cost in 2 years time.

We are all hoping that the new routes that open in the spring will lead to some level of price reduction for the US-UK trips. I am curious to see what opens up in the spring as the new routes (I would hope) will give us all something to smile about.

thanks guys i hope british airways has a sale like last year the prices were like £120 i'm using the £ because i know the exchange rate and thats insanely cheap. But over all i will look into that STA travel see if i qualify i am currently in school but not in the uk.

To qualify on the UK STA Travel site, you need to either be a student aged under 34 or a non-student (youth) aged under 26 - I qualified as an under-26 because I'm not officially a student again until next week.

I believe for the US STA Travel site, you have to be a student (you have to tick the 'student' box and enter your date of birth).

if you're a student in the US use www.studentuniverse.com- as long as you have access to a uni email account then you can use it.  I used it for my flight to the UK for grad school (even though I technically wasn't a student since I had  just graduated from undergrad and hadn't started grad school...but I could still access my undergrad school email.)

I really like Manchester airport- much nicer than Heathrow/Gatwick,IMO.  I'd say if you can avoid heathrow, then do!

There are several varients to take into account.  Where are you coming from?  When are you coming?  I'm looking to fly over in Feb from Orlando and the prices all over the place.  My son is going out of the DC area in May and we are looking for the right fare.  I try not to pay over $500 taxes inclusive.  We have found that the major airlines put on deals and if you catch them right you can get great fares.  Tip:  airlines change fares at least 3 x day and the best time to catch a lower fare is after midnight when they release some of the seats that were being held.  If I were you I'd start figuring out a way to save frequent flier miles and snag a free ticket.  This would save you lots of $$

I could get a free ticket because of frequent flier miles but they aren't mine they are my parents'. But I am pretty sure I can convince them to let me use them. Means they have no desire to leave the country. You know those people that think that no place could ever be more interesting than the US and A

I second what was said about not trying to predict the prices in two years. I've flown back and forth to the British Isles a few times since 2004 and the prices vary greatly. It'll also likely be a few hundred dollars difference depending on what month you fly. (Summer is the peak tourism time, and the flights are much more expensive as a result.)

I found that doing a lot of reasearch is the best way to get a good ticket. BA will often do a promotion where you get a few free nights in a London hotel. I did that once and was in a really nice hotel in South Kensington for free. I've also flown Air India for a one-way, which was really cheap. Sometimes Aer Lingus will offer good deals.

I've flown into Manchester on US Airways (I think they discontinued that route, though) and it wasn't much of a difference in price. I actually had a conference in Manchester, though. I wouldn't have done it to go on a train down to London. The train tickets are hugely overpriced.

I'd suggest signing up to a newsletter like Smarter Travel. That way you get email alerts about the offers.

Tip:  airlines change fares at least 3 x day and the best time to catch a lower fare is after midnight when they release some of the seats that were being held.  If I were you I'd start figuring out a way to save frequent flier miles and snag a free ticket.  This would save you lots of $$

I'd suggest signing up to a newsletter like Smarter Travel. That way you get email alerts about the offers.

Any other tips? Please share! I'll need to get a good deal for four tickets to London from DC in March.

My cousin lives here in London as well and she sometimes gets a flight from Dublin (with the shuttle to here) for cheaper than a direct flight. A few years back, it was cheaper for me to fly to Paris and then onto Newark than straight to Newark from Heathrow. You might look into something like that....

To ad to the confusion.
I've seen it is best to check on Tuesday night for the release of give away fares.
Someone said after midnight but then I have to ask, what time zone?