RyanAir Flight Prices Oct 2011?

AlfiestheCat

Hi

Just wondering when is best to book really. We are going from MAN (or nearby airport) to Dublin in October half term this year for 7 nights. Not much flexibility on dates, give or take one day.

Flight prices currently £65 ish, thats without extras.

I see Martin Lewis' email every week has RyanAir Sale prices, it seems like the sale just rolls on from one week to the next.

We have never travelled on a budget airline before, nor have we been to Ireland so don't really know the price trends.

Anyone think i should book now or wait to see if we can get a good deal nearer the time?

Thanks for your help

richardw

Are there sale prices for the same trip in the Easter and May half term school holidays?

AlfiestheCat

Hmmmm just had a quick play about. Its coming out roughly about the same price i have now for October, bearing in mind there is different prices for departure and return. I would just say though that Martin Lewis' Flight Checker is giving different prices than the Ryanair website. Ill check some screenscrapers too.

signol

Aer Lingus often have good offers to Dublin from Manchester, it is worth looking at their prices as well. But school holidays are always expensive times to fly, so £65 may be the best price you'll get.

signol

BusPass_2

AlfiestheCat

I keep responding with the same answer when I see questions like this.

It's a bit like Deal or no Deal. Do you take the price now or wait in the hope something better turns up? My wife will always go for the jackpot, while I would be dealing as soon as someone was offering me a few grand for a few minutes work, irrespective of what might have been in my box had I brassed it out. That's just me though, and you may be happy to gamble.

My advice is that you must know how much you are prepared to pay and settle for that. Ignore any 'better' deals which may come along. Trying to second guess our good friend Michael O'Leary is a thankless task.

I booked Edinburgh-Marseilles for July in February for £111 return for two. Today it would cost £596 to book the same flights so it doesn't necessarily pay to hang on, although some cheaper late prices do appear but sod's law, it is never the route or the time I want.

If you've never flown budget airlines before I am sure you will have many more questions on how to extract maximum value out of the black arts of getting a truly cheap flight!

Good luck.

AlfiestheCat

Thank you Buspass. I know exactly what you mean re Deal or No Deal, that's a perfect analogy! ;-)

Thing is, based on knowledge from past years of travel, I know all about flights to USA. I know price trends and when to book to get a good deal and what price I would be happy to pay. I just know nothing about Ireland and the budgets and feel a bit out of my depth. See, if I had have been on my toes and knew we would have been going, then i would have been checking out flight prices last year to get a good indication. Unfortunately, its like a lucky dip for me this time! haha

I think I will just have to bite the bullet. I'm not sure what a "good price" to budget is for these flights but I think our budget can stretch to £65pp, i suppose, its just all the extras that I'm not happy about so I'm going to read up now on how to get around those. Luckily, we won't need luggage!

A.Jones

If I were you I would get a prepaid mastercard now. FairFX currently do them for nothing, even with a low 10 Euro top up.

https://www.fairfx.com

Apply for a Euro card and go for 10 Euro - it will cost less than £9. Then when you are ready, top up the card online, and book flights paying for them using the FairFX card. You will avoid the booking fees at Ryanair (which can be very large for a group) as it is a prepaid mastercard. You can also use it abroad in ATMs.

melb

I know I am being lazy asking this question but do you know how a Fairfax card would compare to a neteller card or a Halifax clarity card (which i am waiting to receive) in terms of drawing out euros from an ATM in europe? I only really got the neteller card for buying ryanair flights but now nationwide have introduced their 1% charge for ATMs we need to find an alternative. thanks

AlfiestheCat

Thanks for that!!! I'll look into it.

katykitten

A.Jones wrote: »

If I were you I would get a prepaid mastercard now. FairFX currently do them for nothing, even with a low 10 Euro top up.

https://www.fairfx.com

Apply for a Euro card and go for 10 Euro - it will cost less than £9. Then when you are ready, top up the card online, and book flights paying for them using the FairFX card. You will avoid the booking fees at Ryanair (which can be very large for a group) as it is a prepaid mastercard. You can also use it abroad in ATMs.

i have a fairfx euro card, can i pay for ryanair flights (fee free) if i load it up with euros or is it just sterling that ryanair accept ?

budgetflyer

Dont forget You can Fly https://www.aerlingus.com from Manchester to Dublin
In October, many dates roughly the same price (£67 rtn) but that includes 20KG hold luggage