Best time to buy New York flights for December.

JoeF1

JoeF1

JoeF1

Soldato
Joined
12 Jun 2012
Posts
3,917
Location
West Yorkshire
Hey guys.

Struggling to find a direct flight which doesn't cost more than what my cars worth. Currently getting flights with a stop for just under £500each but this is if we stop at Dublin and wait 14hr on the way back. Never booked anything like this so i have a few questions if i may.

1) How much should i normally be looking at for flights in December? Just for comparison.
2) They're usually deals on although i first thought this was in January. Have i missed any chance for a cheaper flight?
3) Have looked at packages but again expedia is only coming in with like 1 & 2 stops no direct and looking with the hotel for 5 days (Mon-Fri) It will come in at £1400. Hotel is The Wellington. Although this is at their times which suck, so the prices will go up to suite. What im asking really is how much have you guys who have been before usually paid for a week? and who did you use?

Thanks
 
You should be able to get direct flights for under £500 - I'd hang on for a few months and see if there is a sale or similar, which there often is.

Flying via Dublin isn't as bonkers as it seems and if you get the timings right can be as quick as a direct flight because Dublin operates a US pre-clearance facility. That means you can clear US immigration in Dublin before boarding your transatlantic flight, and you'll land as a domestic passenger in the US and can walk straight out. Given the lines in JFK can be anything up to 2 hours for immigration if you've got a reasonable change time on the way out it can be a distinct advantage.

I would be enormously disappointed at having to pay more than £500 for a flight to the East Coast - Air New Zealand are advertising flights to LA for not much more than that..
 
Actually looking at your dates in that link thats your problem - you don't have a Saturday night in the stay. To get cheap return fares you need a Saturday night, otherwise it's priced as if it's business travel.

By modifying your return date to the Monday not the Friday there are now Direct flights available for half the cheapest direct fare for your original dates.
 
Just to chime in, I just bought flights to new york and found exactly that, we had to put a weekend in there to get the flights for sensible money. Weekdays were like 3x the price in some cases.
 
[TW]Fox;26742120 said:
Actually looking at your dates in that link thats your problem - you don't have a Saturday night in the stay. To get cheap return fares you need a Saturday night, otherwise it's priced as if it's business travel.

By modifying your return date to the Monday not the Friday there are now Direct flights available for half the cheapest direct fare for your original dates.
Click to expand...

Thanks for having a look at this for me. Just looking on SkyScanner From Monday - Sunday and its coming in at £458pp. Which is amazing. Although i have to add 1 more night in the hotel plus flights from Manchester which is about £150 because of our suitcases. Comes in short of 2k. Think it will be worth looking at packages haha. :eek:
 
I go to the US every year and have never found a package I couldn't beat myself by shopping around for hotel and flight separately.

You never know what's going to happen with prices but if it was me booking I'd be waiting for now with a view to booking at the end of September if there had been no deals of interest before then. I think only once have I ever 'pulled the trigger' more than 2 or 3 months before departure and I always like to think I get a deal I'm reasonably happy with.
 
Awesome tip, thanks. Will keep the money in the bank and wait and keep browsing until Sept/October.

Thanks again.
 
I fly a lot, typically 120 flights a year for business, and I would say if you are booking a scheduled flight with a major airline then book it as early as you can to get the best prices.
 
jkb said:
I fly a lot, typically 120 flights a year for business, and I would say if you are booking a scheduled flight with a major airline then book it as early as you can to get the best prices.
Click to expand...

Spot the person who has somebody else book his travel :p

I see this myth a lot - it's really not true - try booking a year in advance for example and you'll pay top dollar for the flights, airlines don't release the discounted fare buckets this far out.

The exact best time to book is an unknown mystery - sometimes it's a month before, sometimes its 3, sometimes it's 5 but the one thing I've noticed definitely isn't true is that you should book it as early as you can. I generally decide where I'm going 9-12 months before I go and then begin watching price - it ALWAYS drops then pops back up again at random points leading up to departure.
 
Definitely dont bother with packages, you can always find a better deal than a package offers.

There are usually end of summer sales with BA etc. but if you're not willing to risk it, I'd just stump up now and be done with it for peace of mind.
 
[TW]Fox;26742898 said:
Spot the person who has somebody else book his travel :p

I see this myth a lot - it's really not true - try booking a year in advance for example and you'll pay top dollar for the flights, airlines don't release the discounted fare buckets this far out.

The exact best time to book is an unknown mystery - sometimes it's a month before, sometimes its 3, sometimes it's 5 but the one thing I've noticed definitely isn't true is that you should book it as early as you can. I generally decide where I'm going 9-12 months before I go and then begin watching price - it ALWAYS drops then pops back up again at random points leading up to departure.
Click to expand...

For me four or five weeks out is a long time :). I haven't tried a year out but I do know that airlines have different classes within economy having different conditions for changes, different amounts of air miles and obviously different costs. The lowest cost ones tend to disappear first hence my suggestion of booking early. I doubt this applies to a package booking or one not done with the airline.

I've just had a look online and I can get return flights to Madrid in July 2015 for £212, that's a lot lower than I will pay for one in the next two weeks.
 
Good to know. I'm looking to book the family to go to New York beginning of December, so this is interesting. I'll hold off.

I'd like to get across to LA as well if I can; any tips for internal flights/multi stops and getting them the best price? 5 of us going and not expensing work hurts :p
 
Just been having a look at Holiday pirates and saw this post for £361pp only problem is that its like £85ea (before any baggage charges) to fly from Manchester to Jersey. This will still be expensive for us although thought it might be use to some of you guys. Funny thing is, that this plane stops at Heathrow although it works out more expensive if you try to cut out the Jersey booking.
 
jkb said:
For me four or five weeks out is a long time :). I haven't tried a year out but I do know that airlines have different classes within economy having different conditions for changes, different amounts of air miles and obviously different costs. The lowest cost ones tend to disappear first hence my suggestion of booking early. I doubt this applies to a package booking or one not done with the airline.

I've just had a look online and I can get return flights to Madrid in July 2015 for £212, that's a lot lower than I will pay for one in the next two weeks.
Click to expand...

So really what you mean is that 'booking 2 weeks before is the most expensive' which is absolutely true, and not 'book as far in advance as you can' which generally isn't true.

There is a sweet spot for all bookings - it will vary, its impossible to predict when it'll be but it's almost never as far out as possible nor 2 weeks before :p
 
just had this come through in an email. Most of those deals are valid for travel up to the 12th of December, though there is one valid up to the 15th with icelandair.

Also let me recommend Pod 51. It's nothing fancy - the rooms are quite small (but what's the point in floor space, especially in new york?) but it's clean, comfortable, in a good location and is a really good price for a stay in Manhattan.
 
Last edited:
Found some amazing prices from Manchester to JFK for around £720.00 for both of us and its direct! Only thing instead of Monday to Friday this is Friday to Wednesday. Guessing the money saved will be wasted on the weekend rates for the rooms.
 
I managed to get my flights premium econ from Basel, LHR, to JFK, then JFK to LAX then back to Basel via LHR for about 850quid, which I didn't think was a bad price.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom