Does anyone know of any other airlines that are cheaper for one-way tickets? Since our daughter will be flying with me - it's not just a question of me paying more, it will be for 2 tickets. We already have to pay more for my husband to fly with the dogs on BA and then he needs to take the train from London.
It all depends on when you are leaving. I've got a secret hobby of searching for cheap flights, so here are a few suggestions:
Vayama.com -- With a departure date of June 15 from IAD, they have some one-way Lufthansa flights starting at $600 (including taxes). The caveat with these flights is that they are 10-12 hours flights with connections in Germany.
There are a couple sites I like to use, including:
ITA Software (
http://matrix.itasoftware.com). This is a product used by travel agents, so although you can't book the flights directly through this site, you can use their various search options to find the cheapest options. There are some tricks to it. For instance, you can enter multiple airports (i.e., BOS;JFK;TPA), do month-long searches, filter your parameters, etc. I usually start here and then book directly from the airline or use the cheapest/best dates to find the flight through Kayak. As it is not a commercial site, there are no ads!
Segue into Kayak.com. I like the lack of advertisements and also the Buzz features. The site points you to the cheapest site through which to purchase your flight. It's very easy to use and they don't charge any fees. When I'm ready to purchase, I usually start here. It also allows you to do simultaneous searches on vayama.com, priceline, travelocity, and expedia.
Additionally, Farecast.com is great for tracking flight fares. They use statistic analyses to estimate if prices will go up or down and suggest when to purchase. In one instance, I saved $200 for tickets to Florida.
These are all good resources, but it doesn't look like you'll be able to find much for departure from the DC area. I did see some one-way flights from NYC via Icelandair for $390 (including taxes). I've never flown with Icelandair, but I've heard that it's a comfortable flight. I would also imagine that with the number of tickets you'll be buying (and the amount you'd be saving), you could still save a few hundred dollars using this route. Then again, I'm not sure if there are any visa complications regarding stopping in Iceland.
