Advice on booking flights to Idaho

familyof.4

Hi all,

I last flew long haul 10 yrs ago so am now a total beginner to long haul again!

I'm looking to fly 12/6/15 - 23/6/15 man to boise. 2 adults, 2 kids 9&7.
I've looked on Expedia but struggling to understand if layover times are long enough and what airlines are best.

I'm being offered united, lufthansa, klm, virgin and air france.

Can anyone offer any advice pleased and if I'm booking too early? Are prices likely to go down?

Many thanks

Louise

richardw

Do you mean Boise Idaho?

familyof.4

richardw wrote: »

Do you mean Boise Idaho?

Yes that's right.

richardw

Ok thanks, https://www.kayak.com is very useful for getting good information about prices and possibly ways of flying, it's well worth spending time looking at options.

Www.airlinequality.com is good for airline reviews and https://www.seatguru.com for seat plans.

cubegame

You're definitely looking too early for June of next year. Think about waiting until the New Year sales at the very earliest.



You should be able to get a return flight for under £500.

What do you mean about layover times? If you're changing flights then the airline will have considered the validity of a route and will reroute you on a later flight if you miss a connection.

familyof.4

cubegame wrote: »

You're definitely looking too early for June of next year. Think about waiting until the New Year sales at the very earliest.



You should be able to get a return flight for under £500.

What do you mean about layover times? If you're changing flights then the airline will have considered the validity of a route and will reroute you on a later flight if you miss a connection.

Last time I flew to idaho it was only 1 stop from Manchester. That was ten yrs ago and I think I paid around 550.
I thought that by booking early flights would be cheaper.

An example of layover was waiting in Amsterdam for 1hr 40 and changing planes. Just thought it's not long to transfer. Last time I booked through a travel agency and now I'm looking at Expedia snd ebookers.

richardw

I think you need to consider which way you'd prefer to fly, especially now you have children.

Looks like there's the MAN direct to Chicago option on AA with perhaps an overnight stop in Chicago.

Then there's MAN via AMS or CDG on AF/Klm/Delta.

Alan_Bowen

As there are no international flights to Boise from anywhere, if you fly on one of the European carriers you are going to have to change twice, once in Europe and again in the US. This is not a sensible way to travel, doubling the possibility of missing a plane. If you look at United, US Airways and Delta, they are the only international carriers operating out of Boise so look for connecting flights via Chicago, Phoenix or Minneapolis and make sure you allow at least 2 hours at the connecting airport. There are not that many flights into Boise so try to make sure your connection is not the last one of the night in case your transatlantic flight is delayed

familyof.4

Thanks for the advice. I've found a 2 stop flight arriving from Europe into Seattle wuth 2hr 5min wait. Is this likely to be enough time if we land on time to clear customs etc fir onward flight to Boise?

Alan_Bowen

Two hours should be fine in Seattle but if its two stops to Seattle, you will have gone through immigration and customs at the previous point of entry into the US and you are taking three flights to get to Boise. That is one heck of a journey with 2 children.. it is the first point of entry that you need to allow time for, presumably this is a Delta schedule with a connection in Paris(to be avoided at all costs) or Amsterdam?

familyof.4

Hi Alan,

Think that was via paris. I've found a flight with BA. Man to Heathrow, Heathrow to seattle and seattle to boise. So 2 stops, seattle entry point to usa, 2hr 45 min wait in seattle. Do you think that's long enough?

Thanks

Louise