London - SFO Aug 2015 - Best time to book

sjw64

Hi

Im planning a holiday in San Francisco next August and was wondering when the best time to book flights. At the minute they are about £1k rtn via Skyscanner/Kayak etc. My preference is BA but if anyone has any other idea's ...

Thanks

blindman

sjw64 wrote: »

Hi

Im planning a holiday in San Francisco next August and was wondering when the best time to book flights. At the minute they are about £1k rtn via Skyscanner/Kayak etc. My preference is BA but if anyone has any other idea's ...

Thanks

1. It's school holidays so won't be cheap:eek:

2. Don't fly BA-Expensive-crap service

3. Look at Indirect-cheaper but longer flight times.

4. Look for "sales" at Xmas\Jan

5. IMHO avaerage fare in August is about £700

6. Look for mistake fares on Holiday Pirates.

7. Look for fares on Norwegian airlines from LGW.

8. Look at the Southwest USA thread for other hints\tips\advice.

callum9999

blindman wrote: »

1. It's school holidays so won't be cheap:eek:

2. Don't fly BA-Expensive-crap service

3. Look at Indirect-cheaper but longer flight times.

4. Look for "sales" at Xmas\Jan

5. IMHO avaerage fare in August is about £700

6. Look for mistake fares on Holiday Pirates.

7. Look for fares on Norwegian airlines from LGW.

8. Look at the Southwest USA thread for other hints\tips\advice.

Having flown United, BA, US Airways, American Airlines, Iberia, TAM and LAN across the Atlantic, I can't say there is much of a difference between any of them in economy. I'd personally just go for whoever is cheapest (paying a little bit more to avoid Norwegian/WOW and the charters).

My best flights have been with BA and United in fact.

At the end of August there are currently fares for 8 nights at £747 (via Mexico with Aeromexico). That's not a bad price for the summer holidays but it might be worth waiting for a sale/error fare as blindman suggested.

sjw64

Thanks.

I guess I might wait until Christmas time to see if any offers appear anywhere.

My wife is a teaching assistant so it really has to be Aug and we are planning a 3 week holiday. I really dont want to 'waste' holiday time breaking the flight up so would prefer to fly direct.

Lets see whats about in a few months

SW17

BA and Virgin usually have a sale in Jan where they discount most destinations, though travel dates can vary. Might be worth waiting for that.

SFO does not have as much direct capacity from the UK as some other US cities, so may well be worth looking at flights via other gateways to get a lower price. Agree with callum9999 that there won't be a lot of difference in the economy class product of the transatlantic airline options available.

Backbiter

sjw64 wrote: »

Thanks.

I guess I might wait until Christmas time to see if any offers appear anywhere.

My wife is a teaching assistant so it really has to be Aug and we are planning a 3 week holiday. I really dont want to 'waste' holiday time breaking the flight up so would prefer to fly direct.

Lets see whats about in a few months

You can set up Kayak to give you email alerts on prices to SFO. Prices do fluctuate so if you watch the alerts you can get an idea of what a good price is.
I've been to the US in August several times in the last few years, and prices have gone up a lot. We tend to go for multi-stop flights, flying into one city, taking one internal flight and flying back from another.
In 2012 we paid £670 with United for LHR>NYC>ORLANDO >LHR.
In 2013 we paid £720 with United for LHR > WASHINGTON > MIA > LHR.
This summer we paid £930 with United for LHR > CHICAGO > oRLANDO >LON.
For next summer we've paid £1000 with Virgin/ Delta for MAN > ATLANTA, then MEMPHIS > PENSACOLA, then New ORLEANS > MAN.
We got lucky in 2012, as those fares were only available briefly. Someone posted on here that Kayak was showing some amazing fares one night, and we booked straight away. The next day they'd gone up by £200. I found a similar short-lived fare in 2013.
We've always booked in October, but as I think it's never wise to look after you've booked I can't be certain what happened to prices from then on. I did, however, check the BA post-Christmas sale this year, and even in the sale they wanted £1200 for what we got for £930 in October.

blindman

sjw64 wrote: »

Thanks.

I guess I might wait until Christmas time to see if any offers appear anywhere.

My wife is a teaching assistant so it really has to be Aug and we are planning a 3 week holiday. I really dont want to 'waste' holiday time breaking the flight up so would prefer to fly direct.

Lets see whats about in a few months

BA are having a Premium seat sale.

Book by November 12th and travelling between November 22nd and September 5th 2015

Look at Head for points as he has highlighted a (relatively) cheap fare from Dublin to BOST for £945 in Business Class.

Might be worth hunting around for SFO or LA?

Could be worth the spash out ? BA cabins are all new (IIRC) and this fare gets you into the lounge at LHR-though only for the stop over...

Though as I've said before BA are not the best at both of these things.

Doshwaster

If you do go indirect then try to go through LAX. Cross-country internal flights from east coast airports aren't fun as the service levels are virtually zero.

As others have said BA, Virgin and others usually have a sale around New Year

Crispy_Ambulance

sjw64 wrote: »

Thanks.

I guess I might wait until Christmas time to see if any offers appear anywhere.

My wife is a teaching assistant so it really has to be Aug and we are planning a 3 week holiday. I really dont want to 'waste' holiday time breaking the flight up so would prefer to fly direct.

Lets see whats about in a few months

It's a long flight to SFO so adding in a couple of hours for a stopover won't make that much difference. We flew indirect to the West Coast this year and we all preferred going indirect as it breaks up the long journey and gives you a chance to stretch your legs etc.

Mands

blindman wrote: »

BA are having a Premium seat sale.

Book by November 12th and travelling between November 22nd and September 5th 2015

Look at Head for points as he has highlighted a (relatively) cheap fare from Dublin to BOST for £945 in Business Class.

Might be worth hunting around for SFO or LA?

Could be worth the spash out ? BA cabins are all new (IIRC) and this fare gets you into the lounge at LHR-though only for the stop over...

Though as I've said before BA are not the best at both of these things.

Random dates in August from Dublin are throwing up sub 1000€ for economy and 1400€ in Club.

You'd need to add on feeder flights and possibly a hotel but even then that's a price worth looking at.

Happy planning!
Mands

n0785

Booked on Friday 1st August - 23rd August from Dublin to SF direct with Aer Lingus and it was £830.

Added bonus of completing custom checks in Dublin so that you are straight out of the flight in SF and no hanging around immigration.