hey guys

planning a trip to Germany either in feb or March is it better to buy now of would you wait until Jan / feb

and secondly what's the best way to find the best prices i've used expidia, priceline, etc etc..

Thxs
Bass

 

i usually find the better fares early, but on rare occasions you can find something last minute. the drawback to that is if you do wait and cant find anything, then you are forced to bend over for the airlines. and i usually use orbitz btw. thats just my 2 cents.

 

I've done both and what you have to find out is if the days you are travelling are peak travel times to your destination. If they aren't I would wait. If they are they it's better to book early. Also if you are travelling coach, a good travel agent can usually get you the same price as the places online.

 

Thanks guys

Dan - do you have any reccomendations on a travel agent? did a quick search and it looks like $350 from Bos to Fra (frankfort) is the best price online

Frankly i don't care when i travel as I am going to see a friend

 

Bass, if you're going there in Feb/Mar, i suggest you take some thick clothing - i was there in jan. and march (frankfurt/hannover), and it was FREEZING.

check lufthansa's website, they sometimes have specials going on. also, if you do go around some kind of show time, you can usually get a discount from the show/fair's website. in march there's CeBIT in hannover

 

Dunno about European travel, but when traveling to Asia, nothing beats the ethnic (Asian) travel agencies.

When the posted ticket prices range from $600-$800 for a RT ticket from LAX to NRT (Tokyo), I can get tickets from $380 to $400-something from a Japanese travel agency. Once I got round-trip tickets on Singapore Airlines for $285 RT. I was happier than a pig in shiat.

 

It really depends on how the market is going...you may want to check prices in the middle of December as they have alot of holiday sales if they arent getting alot of sales. I have found the best prices on cheaptickets.com and generally buy from that site when planning a trip. You need to check refund policies also, as some of them will simply keep a online credit for you or you wont get a refund at all in case you werent able to go. Good luck and have fun on your trip!!

 

Actually something I have done recently is check cheaptickets find the lowest fare and then bid on priceline. Taking the lowest fare into account I usually go $50 to $75 lower and I usually get it.

 

I'd second this. I tried Expedia, Orbitz, and AOL Travel, but the best deal I got for 2 weeks in Hawaii was from a travel agent. For the same price the internet companies wanted for just airfare and hotel, I got the medium sized rental car, free buffet breakfasts for the whole trip, and other little bonuses in addition to airfare and hotel. I saved almost $500 when the car and food were taken into account. I went with Travel Time, which I think is nationwide in the US.

 

It's worth checking the individual airlines themselves; I just bought tickets to Israel for January from El Al for $675 total, with a special companion sale they're having. So check Lufthansa, and whichever other airlines fly the route you're looking for. No one could beat that, no website and no travel agent.