California Flights

Nitefly

Nitefly

Nitefly

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Joined
24 Sep 2005
Posts
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Hi all

What is the best way to procure cheap flights to California? I'm think of going next summer. I'm not particularly interested in routes that are substantially longer than direct flights. Not too fussed on the airline - from A to B will suffice. I heard there were flight alert websites, or particular times when tickets are released...?

Many thanks :)
 
skyscanner
kayak

look at those and choose cheapest flight. Kayak do flight alerts and historic flight prices.

Alternatively wait for a sale to come on with flights to LA, they come round reasonably regularly. Flights are released 11 months prior to flying, however that doesn't necessarily mean they are at the cheapest price point.
 
In other words, what should my price point be for flying to San Fran then back from Los Ang? British Airways for £870 in June seems OK, but I'd like to kno if I could do significantly better.
 
Try and go in September, the weather is just as brilliant but flights are usually significantly cheaper than in July/August. June is also nice but risk of it being a bit gloomy in the mornings before burning off. It used to be I thought that 450 quid was about right but now it seems 550-650 is the going rate for an off-peakish flight.

Pop by and say hi :)
 
You can do loads better than £870.

I advise you fly into and out of Los Angeles for the best price - outside of the odd special deal it is invariably the cheapest place to fly into in California, probably because it has the greatest number of direct flights from Heathrow and the biggest number of operators, hence more competition.

There are other benefits of flying into and out of LA as well - IMHO the best way to see California for the first time is to do the typical LA > Vegas > San Francisco > LA route which gives you a taste of all the different things California has to offer, if you fly into SF and out of LA you'll miss bits.

June and September are the best compromise in terms of months - July and August are eyewateringly expensive, October is cheaper but you begin to be limited by weather if you want to head to the mountains etc as the passes close.

I would be trying to aim for a sub £600 fare in either June or September to not feel like I had been ripped off. Under £500 is a great deal, book as soon as you see that if you are lucky enough too.

Don't book outside of an advertised flight sale, there will be about 3 or 4 before next June - probably your best chance for a bargain will be early January.
 
LOL I went about 8 years ago.. Heathrow to LAX in feb and it cost me about £235 return on BA!!!

But its not a very nice place at all. Yes there are a couple of nice tourist spots like the Hollywood hills, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, Malibu etc but the rest is a sprawling mess really. Traffic is an utter nightmare most of the time and you are just really in the way.

To put it in perspective, I went a week after the Oscars and all the red carpet was still down etc went to Mcdonalds literally 200yards down the road and there were a couple of old fellows that were obviously homeless asking for peoples leftover food that they were throwing in the bin.

I am sure its like that all over the world but it brings it to light when millions of dollars would have been spent just a few hundred yards a way a week previous and these poor blokes couldn't afford food. Regardless of how they ended up there this is a sad state to see people in.
 
Rich_L said:
Try and go in September, the weather is just as brilliant but flights are usually significantly cheaper than in July/August. June is also nice but risk of it being a bit gloomy in the mornings before burning off. It used to be I thought that 450 quid was about right but now it seems 550-650 is the going rate for an off-peakish flight.

Pop by and say hi :)
Click to expand...

Got my flights with Avios (aka Airmiles) and paid £414 in taxes, etc!

The actual flight would have cost £650-700.
 
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