Flights to America and help planning a holiday

purplesmiler82

Me and my partner would like to go America next summer. We are both teachers so it is likely to be during the summer holidays. He has not been abroad for years and i have only ever been on package holidays. We are hoping to plan and book this one on our own but I have no idea where to start......

When would flights be available to buy for summer 2009?
Would I be best finding them through the flightchecker on this website or can any one suggest any others?
Would we need a visa of some kind or not (we be going for 2-3weeks)?
Do flights go from Manchester or would we be best going from London?

Any help would be much appreciated or if there is anything else you think i need to know

Thanks

dzug

It's a bit early to buy flights for next year - 12 months in advance maximum, or is it 339 days? january/February is normally the optimum time to buy for the summer.

You will almost certainly be eligible for a visa waiver (fill in form on plane) - assuming they haven't changed the scheme by then

There will be flights from Manchester but a greater choice from London

purplesmiler82

Thanks Dzug, least I can stop panicking for a while. No doubt i will have many more questions by then!

pennylane99

I have been looking for USA flights for next year, booking is only available up to middle of Feb 09 at the moment, so you have a few months yet at least

mrtg0525

@purplesmiler - if both you and your partner hold British or EU passports and have no criminal records[1], you should be able to visit under the Visa Waiver Program, which usually allows you to stay in the US for up to 90 days.

I'm too close to the London airports to consider using any others, but you're probably better off checking both; I'd guess you've got more choice down here but you'll need to factor in that you're likely to have to stay over near the airport as most flights to the US leave in the morning (until about 2pm, unless you're flying to New York - I think you can get later flights there).

First, figure out where in the US you want to go and keep in mind that a lot of the typical tourist destinations range from very warm to positively baking hot in Summer. We'll be able to give better advice then.

[1] Bay City Rollers don't count AFAIK.

yoni_one

I fly to the US from Manchester many times a year and my personal choice is Delta airlines, although BMI are also good (providing you don't have to connect in Chicago to a United Airline flight - bad bad bad!)

Manchester can be a really expensive airport, especially because the taxes are so high, but even so there are bargains to be found once you know where and when you are going.

One thing I would recommend is to join all the frequent flyer schemes and remember to have your miles credited to your account.

luci

Scheduled flights come out 330 days ahead so plenty of time yet. It might be worth checking the price of flights for this summer booked at this time.

bmi usually have a sale at the beginning of January.

I like to use www.airline-network.co.uk to check flight prices and then go to the airlines' own websites where they are usually a little cheaper.

purplesmiler82

We both hold British passports and have no criminal records. We hoping to fly to New York travel across to LA by train and then fly back from San Francisco.

hammy_the_hammer

purplesmiler82 wrote: »

We both hold British passports and have no criminal records. We hoping to fly to New York travel across to LA by train and then fly back from San Francisco.

imho the train isn't a great idea as you could achieve far more with multi city flights combined with driving

Red_Cat

You should be able to snag a good del to NY as the competition, particularly from London in immense.
I fly to Chicago a lot on business and have flown BA, Virgin and American for this journey. Surprising AA tend to have the best fares consistently. I think they also fly to NY from Stansted.

purplesmiler82

Thanks for all the advice.

Another question.... if i wanted to fly from Salt lake city to LA would i be best booking the flight here in advance or booking it in America?