Average airfare cost LON-->BOS and LON -->PHL?

Hi guys,  2015 is going to be a super expensive year for for us, so, for the first time ever, I'm considering booking flights well in advance of travel (I normally wait until 4-6 weeks before intended travel dates).  Can anyone weigh in on the average, or a "good" cost for the following return flights:

 -  London to Boston (or Manchester, NH) on/around: 25 May - 30 Jun 2015

 -  London to Philadelphia on/around: 29 Sep - 04 Oct 2015

I'm currently seeing flights for £450pp for Boston, and £600pp for Philly, but am hoping I can get both significantly cheaper (is £300pp unrealistic?!) as two of us will be flying on both trips, and I will have also have just paid ~£1400 for an in-person SET(M) appointment in Jan 2015 to ensure I actually can travel outside the UK in May.

My travel dates are semi-flexible, but I need to be in New Hampshire on May 30th, and in  South Jersey on October 2nd for my brother's and sister's weddings, respectively.

I would say that around £300pp is very unrealistic for plane fares these days... the tax on the fare alone is around £300pp. Generally, you're looking at around £150-200 for the airfare and then £300-350 in taxes on top.

So, I would say that £450pp is pretty cheap these days and if you see one at that price, I'd probably go for it. I haven't been able to get a fare to the US for less than around £500 for about 6 years now.

The last time I got a flight for around £300 was back in late 2007, before they hiked all the taxes up a few months later.

I'm flying to the US in next month and I booked my flight back in February... so about 7 months in advance of travel. The cheapest fare I could find for the dates I needed was £576, which broken down came to:
- Airfare: £217.00 GBP
- Taxes, fees, and surcharges: 359.00 GBP

DH has been reading up on air fares and says that if your journey originates in another European country it will be overall cheaper -- even including your connection from UK.  In other words, you fly to Amsterdam for example and then continue on to US.  This is because of the higher taxation in UK evidently.  I can't find the link he was reading about it but there was something about Air Passenger Duty to be reduced in the last Budget -- for what that's worth.

Sometimes booking that far out won't result in getting cheaper fares because companies know they can get a higher price out of folks wanting those exact dates.  They will adjust fares based to drive demand or higher prices over time, depending on the load factor.  Most airlines don't publish fares before 300 days out either.

You may want to keep an eye on prices and gauge where they are compared to a historical average and the info in this thread, maybe set some alerts for when your dates get below a certain price so you can book.  Not sure how this may work for you, but keep an eye on Norwegian and their cheap flights into NYC - maybe you could do one trip that way with the additional train ride into Philly to cut the cost.  You can also book on Norwegian using US$ if you have a US bank account still - so that could be a way to arbitrage the cost (I just did this last month flying between London and Stockholm and didn't want to take the foreign exchange hit on my credit card).

A Philadelphian myself, I've been stalking airfare for the past year and a half planning trips and now my move!  600 GBP (so about $1,000 round-trip) is probably the cheapest it will possibly get, unless you're willing to have horrendous layovers (timing and/or terrible airports).  I think probably $1200/~720 GBP will be good, non-stop flights.

Now I'm not a travel expert or anything, but that's what I've seen in the last year or so with PHL/LON flights.

However, I have been seeing FinnAir flights pop up that are being operated by British Airways for ridiculously cheap for one-way tickets (even the two one-ways come to $900/550 GBP.  I don't know if they'll still be doing those/have those specials for next September though.  Ive only been searching for this winter at this point.

A Philadelphian myself, I've been stalking airfare for the past year and a half planning trips and now my move!  600 GBP (so about $1,000 round-trip) is probably the cheapest it will possibly get, unless you're willing to have horrendous layovers (timing and/or terrible airports).  I think probably $1200/~720 GBP will be good, non-stop flights.

Cool cool.  This helps. Thank you!  I do tend to avoid horrendous layovers if possible!

I had to get a last minute flight in May (MAN to Greensboro NC) when my mother passed. I booked with United (and will never do that again, but that's another story) because it was the only thing I could get that didn't drop me in GSO at midnight on Saturday.

Anyway - used my US credit card, thinking I could avoid the Fx fees. WRONG.....couldn't believe it, but the billed in GBP and I was hit with a fee. Apparently with United they "charge" based on your 'billing address'. My US card (which I've had since 1990) has my UK address.

First time that has EVER happened to me. By contrast, USAirways bills in US$ (or always has up to now), and doesn't assume a UK address is a UK card.

I used to live in Greensboro, so used that airport and United Airlines to fly back and forth to the UK for close to 4 years.  I have never had any problems.  So sorry to hear about your loss, and the headaches you went through with United.

I used to live in Greensboro, so used that airport and United Airlines to fly back and forth to the UK for close to 4 years.  I have never had any problems.  So sorry to hear about your loss, and the headaches you went through with United.

Thank you..on both counts.

Did you by chance go to UNC-G?? Or Guilford? I got my BA and MBA at UNC-G.

Did you by chance go to UNC-G?? Or Guilford? I got my BA and MBA at UNC-G.

Sorry for the delayed response.  Yes, I went to UNCG; studied Biochemistry from 2005-2009.  Really enjoyed my time there and the opportunities it provided!

Something else I've heard as well but haven't confirmed. Search and book your flights on a Wed or Tues because that's when flights are less "competed" for, if that's any sort of English...

Also, using Google Chrome and surfing anonymously doesn't tag you as a previous visitor to an airline's site, thereby cloaking yourself as a new customer who needs to get the best prices.

Finally, think about flying out of Birmingham. United is currently the only airline that flies to New York via Newark once a day, but American are arriving in the spring of 2015 so those of us who make monthly travel between Brum and the US are looking forward to more competition. Come to think of it, try John Lennon airport too. Scousers love Ireland and Boston.

One more thing. Surely there's a train connection in your future. Wherever you are, to Brum, and from New York (egads) to civilisation (Boston).