Help with Cheap US flights (NYC and/or WASHINGTON) in May please!

ibs102

Hi everybody,
my first post so apologies for any mistakes

I have a once in a lifetime chance to visit Washington and New York as a friend is working as an intern in the Senate, but as a mature student I am worried about getting a cheap flight (or one I can afford at least) and can't get student deals (over 34).

I am looking for
outward travel from London or Manchester (no difference to me)
May 8th 2009

return
May 19th or 20th (again, either London or Manc)

I am trying to work out if I should fly out to Washington and return from New York, or fly to and from NYC and take the Amtrak to Washington ($77 round trip)

I can't seem to find many multi city trips at all (only with lots of stops), lots of the scrapers don't seem to allow it; and UK to NYC in May for these dates seems to be well over £300.

Any help, advice or ideas would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks so much!
ibs102

richardw

What is the cheapest you have found so far and on what airline?

M4RKM

£301 from manc - KLM
£275 from heathrow - Northwest

try kayak

ibs102

markymoo wrote: »

£301 from manc - KLM
£275 from heathrow - Northwest

try kayak

thanks markymoo- had been looking at kayak but I am clearly not as good as you!!!- the best I can find MAN is £330, every time. How do you find the £301?
Thanks loads!
Ibs102

ibs102

richardw wrote: »

What is the cheapest you have found so far and on what airline?

thanks for replying so fast!

Cheapest I have found are
MAN-NYC £330 via kayak

and today, surprisingly
MAN- Washington (Ronald Reagan Airport with a stop in Newark), return Newark MAN for £345 (which is nearly perfect- except Continental Airlines get such bad reviews)

If I could find a MAN-NYC (any airport) flight on 8-19 May for less than £260 I'd take the train to Washington...

Thanks for your help,
I really appreciate it!

omelette451

If you can do Manchester, can you do Liverpool?
Depending on which way you want to do it I've found decent multi-city deals using the dates you gave:
LPL-WAS and NYC-LPL £321 rtn
LPL-NYC and WAS-LPL £337 rtn (it's £341 if you want IAD rather than BWI)

The same routings are available from London for as little as £290; they're all with KLM/Northwest (found on expedia; I haven't tried direct).

American Airlines has similar journeys £350 rtn from Manchester and London.

Virgin Atlantic will sell you a multi-city (out JFK/EWR, return IAD) for £338 on those dates direct from London; it's £323 if you can leave a day earlier.

I wouldn't worry about Continental: I've heard good stories about them. The only downside is that they use narrow-body (=single aisle) 757 planes for non-London transatlantic routes, which bothers some people who like a lot of space to walk around.

I don't think you'll find £260 rtn for May. Also, have you thought about alternative dates? It won't make too much difference, but Friday departures are usually a bit higher than other days as people head home for the weekend.

M4RKM

also, the train can be expensive.. i've been looking at from NYC to DC, and it works out at around $140, whereas a return flight works out at $120

blindman

ibs102 wrote: »

ay for less than £260 I'd take the train to Washington...

Thanks for your help,
I really appreciate it!

Use the China bus, only about 12$ each way...

omelette451

markymoo wrote: »

also, the train can be expensive.. i've been looking at from NYC to DC, and it works out at around $140, whereas a return flight works out at $120

The OP won't need a return ticket if she's flying in to NYC and back from WAS.

If you get the train go for the 'Northeast Regional' or ordinary long-distance train ($70 o/w) rather than the business-class 'Acela Express' (a glorified French TGV) which is $155 o/w. Unless you happen to get a flight for next to nothing it's really not worth the hassle of flying, especially given the excellent city centre locations of the respective train stations.

WolfSong2000

STA travel, as usual, came up trumps . Flights with them for the dates you requested start at £200 which is ridiculously cheap!!! Not all their deals are limited to students....you should be eligible for slights that don't have the "blue" logo clearly displayed. Hope this helps!

http://ibe.statravel.co.uk/AniteXmlGateway.aspx

omelette451

WolfSong2000 wrote: »

STA travel, as usual, came up trumps . Flights with them for the dates you requested start at £200 which is ridiculously cheap!!! Not all their deals are limited to students....you should be eligible for slights that don't have the "blue" logo clearly displayed. Hope this helps!

http://ibe.statravel.co.uk/AniteXmlGateway.aspx

Well I found them starting at £265 rather than £200 (ex. London, rather than ex-MAN), but it's still good. Just one question though: do you know whether you have to have an IYTC for the 'blue' fares? The help button provides an ambiguous answer, saying both that you need some proof of age (surely a passport would do?) and that the PoA must be one of their own cards. Which is it? The rule is below, if it helps.

Under 26'ers. You need to be under 26 at the time of outbound flight. As proof of age you must show a valid IYTC card at airport check-in. If you do not already have an IYTC card buy on-line, over the phone or in STA Travel branches. You will need to show proof of age before your card is issued.