Cheap Flights to the States

judygarland

Hi there, i've travelled quite extensively within Europe but now want to fly to Florida for a cruise I have booked in the 6 weeks school holidays. Ive used the european flight checker but Im just wondering whether there is one for the States?

Failing that, anyone got any good tips. Everything is coming up at £600 +

many thanks

arnie&caseysma!

It is possibly expensive due to the time of year you are wanting to fly. Try www.dialaflight.com we always use them to get a flight and will do their best to get you the cheapest possible.

lynzpower

hve you looked on www.cheapflights.com - or teletext holidays?

600 seems bloody steep to florida, youll save more if you go on a charter flight instead of a scheduled. My parents used to pay 100pp FO for us not so long since and Ive seen fares around the 150 mark. edit a quick look on cheap flights is showing Miami for about 300 and orlando for 250 with XL

mrtg0525

Flight prices to the US in general seem to be going up at the moment - it wasn't that long ago when you could get an East Coast flight for 250-300 return in cattle class, but those offers appear to have vanished.

600 does sound steep for Florida unless you're talking absolute high season like Christmas or very short notice - which seems to be the case if I interpret your post correctly.

Nevertheless, what I usually do (and I fly to the US 3-4 times a year) is:

• Check the sites that Martin lists in his cheap flight article. I don't usually do all of them, but at least airlinenetwork, expedia, greenbee and ebookers. The more you check with, the better the chances of nabbing a special fare.
• Once you determined the cheapest airline(s), check with the airlines themselves - several are touting their websites as having the guaranteed cheapest prices on the web so they might (but don't always) work out cheaper than the travel companies.
• Check direct flights vs those that require a change of plane in the US. If you're looking at a destination that is only serviced directly by very few carriers from the UK, you'll find that a direct flight can be significantly more expensive than an 'indirect' one. Case in point is Las Vegas - as far as I know, only Virgin flies there non-stop from London, and they seem to charge a noticeable premium for doing so.

But when it's all said and done, if you're, say, flying to Miami for a Christmas cruise you're just going to get fleeced on the airfare, period.

duchy

I assume you mean July August which is unfortunately peak season.
One tip as someone who used to build these kind of packages for a living. Make sure you fly the day BEFORE the cruise starts-booking seperately means you have no protection if your flight is delayed and you (literally) miss the boat.

Greta

Try kayak.co.uk for comparison?

skr80

I have just booked florida flights with mytravel ( cattle class) for £279pp departing sept 08 via broadway travel. With the merger with thomas cook, legspace is to be increased to 33' on longhaul so I have read

July flights are coming up at £400 pp

Outward
Date: 12/07/08 London Gatwick To Sanford [Orlando] Departs: 09:25 Arrives: 14:10 14 Nights

Price per Adult
£399.00

Return
Date: 26/07/08 Sanford [Orlando] To London Gatwick Departs: 16:50 Arrives: 06:25

Amys

UK airlines will be expsneive, look at tyhe US airlines, there are sales on atm for dates up to March for Orlando (MCO) for £299 with BA. There *may* be some rediucion in the new year, but as you are travelling in holidays it can be costly.

It may be worth looking at the charters for lower cost flgiths, even if they are a fly drive, and then not taking the car (or insurance), sometimes they are cheaper than flights on thier own.