How far in advance to you purchase your airfare to Barcelona for good rates

[MAHA]

We are a family of 5 that will be cruising Serenade of the Seas out of Barcelona May 29, 2011. For the best airfare, how far in advance do you usually purchase your airfare? Also, what would be the earliest time to comfortably fly out of Barcelona on the day of debarkation? Many of the flights I am seeing are at 10:45 a.m, which makes me nervous.

Thanks!

[MAHA]

The date on that last post should have been May 29, 2012. Sorry for the confusion!

[bottomfeeder]

In my experience there is really no way to tell when flights will be least expensive, although waiting until the very last minute is a bad idea!

 

Generally flights are cheaper mid-week (Tues-Thurs). I mean it's usually cheaper to buy them during those days, but it is also usually cheaper to fly on those days!

 

What i do is watch the prices on kayak.com for the times/dates I'm interested in, and get a sense of what they are going for in general. After a few weeks or so of doing that I can spot a good deal when one pops up. You can also set it to email you when the price of a particular route drops.

 

Once I've bought my tickets, I generally stop checking prices so I don't get depressed if they go down lower than the price I paid! :) Of course if they dropped more than $150 each (that's usually the change fee you have to pay) it might be worth changing them--but if you bought them at a decent price to begin with they will never drop that much after you buy!

[chipmaster]

Can you tell me if the market will be up 400 points tomorrow or down another 200.

 

Sorry between supply, demand and what the economy does will have huge impact. Always price your cruise and airfare assuming you are buying now and than watch the fares. Sometimes they go up, sometimes they go down and sometimes the go way down right after they go up.

 

Now what would be the earliest to fly out, thinking you are coming off the ship and/or staying in Barcelona, 1pm would be my recommendation.

 

We are a family of 5 that will be cruising Serenade of the Seas out of Barcelona May 29, 2011. For the best airfare, how far in advance do you usually purchase your airfare? Also, what would be the earliest time to comfortably fly out of Barcelona on the day of debarkation? Many of the flights I am seeing are at 10:45 a.m, which makes me nervous.

Thanks!

[6rugrats]

Right now for your dates, I see airfare around $1373. If you find it for $1100 or lower, jump on it. IME, this would be a great fare for this routing/time of year. You want to travel at the beginning of vacation season and airfare is going to be high.

 

Change fee for most international tickets is $250, not $150.

[riffatsea]

I agree to start watching on Kayak to see how rates are going. UNfortunately the low fares these days don't seem to be out of BWI or the DC airports.

I have been going to Europe for the last 5/6 years and this year's rates are the highest I have seen.

I agree that anything close to $1,000 is a great price! I have a friend who lives in Maryland and THIS year my flight from San Diego to Italy is less money than hers!!!

[MAHA]

Thanks for the replies! I know that none of us can predict the future with regards to the economy. Most flights don't leave as late as 1 pm from Barcelona and I'm not sure if my sons can stay an extra day as they will need to get back for work. I know that the DC fares are not great, but one son is flying out of Raleigh and the airfare ia over $100 more roundtrip than out of BWI.

[6rugrats]

Just make sure to fly in at least a day before your cruise!

[NEW 2 CRUISIN]

We're paying a TON for tickets to Barcelona this Fall compared to what I thought we would be paying, but with all the changes the airlines are making to stay profitable, I suppose they will do anything they can to keep the prices high going forward.

 

The trick is to think in terms of TOTAL vacation price and not breaking out airfare, cruise fare, etc. Air is just one contributing cost of the TOTAL vacation.

 

That said, keep in mind that the longer you wait for a "better price", the fewer available flights, times, and seat selections will be available. So don't wait too long!

 

GOOD LUCK!!! :)

[scratchy]

yapta is also a great resource to track flight prices. they will help you get refunds.

[Desert Cruizers]

Our upcoming Oct 29th TA on the LOS, I started checking prices back a year ago, and was advised by our TA when looking for prices, to select the day of your departure for more accurate pricing, even if your dates are not open yet, we ended up buying our tickets, 8 months out. Prices right now are $200 + higher. We ended up paying from our home town in So Calif, not LAX, $612 PP, and one couple on our Roll calll living in NJ was paying $550 roughly. We will connect in Phoenix, Philly then right into Barcelona.

[Pushka]

Remember too that the Olympics is in July-Aug 2012 and that has played havoc with our airfare to Europe. I boooked a flight BCN-Heathrow yesterday - for July 2012! :eek:

[riffatsea]

Desert Cruizers,Sounds like you guys got good fares on US Air! Don't forget to go in and check your itinerary regularly. I had a fight booked to Rome and just happened to check to find out they had canceled my flight home!! NO e-mail notice or anything! They ended up refunding my money and I had to REbook on Delta.

[6rugrats]

yapta is also a great resource to track flight prices. they will help you get refunds.

 

When was the last time you got a refund/voucher on any carrier but Southwest/JetBlue or Alaska?

 

Airlines flying to BCN do not offer free "refunds". If the airfare drops, they are going to require a $250 change fee (and for some tickets/airlines this will be higher) before refaring. If you purchase your ticket through a third party, they will add their fees on top of what the airline charges. Doubtful any fare to BCN is going to drop over $250. And if by some chance this happens, you don't get a "refund". You get a voucher for the difference, which must be used within one year of the purchase date of the original ticket, and by the originally ticketed passenger.

[6rugrats]

dup

[6rugrats]

Remember too that the Olympics is in July-Aug 2012 and that has played havoc with our airfare to Europe. I boooked a flight BCN-Heathrow yesterday - for July 2012! :eek:

Dates for the Olympics are 27 July to 12 August. Yes, this will influence availability/ticket prices!

[will work to cruise]

Just booked July 6th. for our June 22nd. cruise out of BCN. We are flying in 2 days prior and staying one day post. With the unstable global economy we did not want to wait and we took a chance. We are booked on Delta from Denver to Atlanta and on to BCN. We upgraded to Economy Comfort for the extra legroom (I'm 6' 5") and paid $6,100 for 4 tickets. The price now with the upgrade is $7,200. So far, it was the right choice.

[hkto]

I wouldn't buy right now & wait for sales which usually don't kick in till about 90 to 120 days from departure. Fares from the US lately are very high; much better from Canada which opens another option for you. Check out Air Canada to Barcelona via Toronto. AC goes from both Baltimore and Washington. Here not too many people buy their fares as cheaper options exist so they try to sell to US customers.

 

Another option is to get the cheapest suitable flight to a major European airport (London, Amsterdam, Paris, Frankfurt, etc) and buy discount fare from there. Companies like Easyjet sell advance (3 month +) tickets very cheap.

[6rugrats]

I wouldn't buy right now & wait for sales which usually don't kick in till about 90 to 120 days from departure. Fares from the US lately are very high; much better from Canada which opens another option for you. Check out Air Canada to Barcelona via Toronto. AC goes from both Baltimore and Washington. Here not too many people buy their fares as cheaper options exist so they try to sell to US customers.

AC can't fly from IAD or BWI. You'd be on UA. I have not found fares ever to be cheaper making a jaunt up to Canada because of the high taxes.

 

For example, a flight IAD-BCN booked on UA (using a variety of codeshares), departing 19 October, return 26 October, prices out at $792.60 plus $84.20 in taxes, a total of $876.80.

 

The same dates on AC price out at $1458.22 (USD). Fare is $965.86 + $492.86 in taxes. YMMV

[hkto]

AC can't fly from IAD or BWI. You'd be on UA. I have not found fares ever to be cheaper making a jaunt up to Canada because of the high taxes.

 

For example, a flight IAD-BCN booked on UA (using a variety of codeshares), departing 19 October, return 26 October, prices out at $792.60 plus $84.20 in taxes, a total of $876.80.

 

The same dates on AC price out at $1458.22 (USD). Fare is $965.86 + $492.86 in taxes. YMMV

 

Actually AC does fly to BWI; it's operated by a subsidiary AIR CANADA EXPRESS - JAZZ. R/T fare BWI/YYZ/BCN/YYZ/BWI in end of May beginning of June 2012 is around 1250 to 1300 USD. Yes taxes and landing fees are higher in Canada but fares to Europe are lower mainly because unlike US market is open to charter traffic. Price for that time period (late spring) to Spain usually in $800-900 R/T ballpark from operators like Air Transat & Sunwing. July & August are little bit higher. AC prices are much higher than charters and that's why casual traveler wouldn't buy from them. So to compensate they market to US consumers at the same price they sell Toronto flights.

 

We go to Europe every summer and I never paid over $900 (went nonstop from YYZ to Spain, Portugal, Italy, etc)

[RLO944]

We are a family of 5 that will be cruising Serenade of the Seas out of Barcelona May 29, 2011. For the best airfare, how far in advance do you usually purchase your airfare? Also, what would be the earliest time to comfortably fly out of Barcelona on the day of debarkation? Many of the flights I am seeing are at 10:45 a.m, which makes me nervous.

Thanks!

 

I would be nervous with a 10:45 AM flight on day of debarkation. I would shoot for a flight departure noon or later to be on the safer (less stressful) side. We have booked a noon flight out of BCN to San Francisco on our debarkation day June 4, 2012. That was the latest we could get.

[Poppet1964]

Actually AC does fly to BWI; it's operated by a subsidiary AIR CANADA EXPRESS - JAZZ. R/T fare BWI/YYZ/BCN/YYZ/BWI in end of May beginning of June 2012 is around 1250 to 1300 USD. Yes taxes and landing fees are higher in Canada but fares to Europe are lower mainly because unlike US market is open to charter traffic. Price for that time period (late spring) to Spain usually in $800-900 R/T ballpark from operators like Air Transat & Sunwing. July & August are little bit higher. AC prices are much higher than charters and that's why casual traveler wouldn't buy from them. So to compensate they market to US consumers at the same price they sell Toronto flights.

 

We go to Europe every summer and I never paid over $900 (went nonstop from YYZ to Spain, Portugal, Italy, etc)

 

If I fully understood this post, I'm sure I'd be depressed.. however, I just booked airfare on USAIR from Kansas City to BCN for 3 people for $4800. Unfortunately, airfare is the most expensive part of the trip by far! Oh and the cruise is scheduled for 6/17/2012. I was concerned about waiting due to the limited seats flying out of Kansas City to connecting cities.

[Poppet1964]

Actually AC does fly to BWI; it's operated by a subsidiary AIR CANADA EXPRESS - JAZZ. R/T fare BWI/YYZ/BCN/YYZ/BWI in end of May beginning of June 2012 is around 1250 to 1300 USD. Yes taxes and landing fees are higher in Canada but fares to Europe are lower mainly because unlike US market is open to charter traffic. Price for that time period (late spring) to Spain usually in $800-900 R/T ballpark from operators like Air Transat & Sunwing. July & August are little bit higher. AC prices are much higher than charters and that's why casual traveler wouldn't buy from them. So to compensate they market to US consumers at the same price they sell Toronto flights.

 

We go to Europe every summer and I never paid over $900 (went nonstop from YYZ to Spain, Portugal, Italy, etc)

 

If I fully understood this post, I'm sure I'd be depressed.. however, I just booked airfare on USAIR from Kansas City to BCN for 3 people for $4800. Unfortunately, airfare is the most expensive part of the trip by far! Oh and the cruise is scheduled for 6/17/2012. I was concerned about waiting due to the limited seats flying out of Kansas City to connecting cities.

[Desert Cruizers]

riffatsea, I checked our flight to Barcelona day before yesterday and everything is still good going over, our flgiht home out of FT Lauderdale is on AA, as our cruise is a TA Barcelona to FT Lauderdale. Originally we were booked with cruise air but wanted to go in 3 days early and also fly out of our home city of Palm Springs, not LAX. Total fare one way Palm Springs thru Phoenix, Philly to Barcelona, $1228.20, thru our TA consolidator for my husband & I.

[letsgo39]

We also go to Europe every summer. I have learned that anytime we are planning and have dates if I see airfare under $1000.00 I book it.I have booked directly with airlines and some booking companies like Orbitz and 1800flyeurope. Our home airport is Nashville. I start looking at the 331 days out.I've been burned a few times and had to pay around $1250.00 but not often.:cool:

 

Letsgo39