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So I'm thinking of visiting some friends and family in London either next month or early February but will only do so if I can find a great deal. I was searching on Kayak and Orbitz last night and the cheapest flight I found was for $600. While that's better, for sure, than the summer rates and even better than most rates I found for January/February (which I hear is the cheapest time to fly to London), I'm hoping to buy for an even cheaper price.
Doing some research, I've found that round trip tickets to London from NYC can go as low as in the $400 range, but have not been lucky in finding such prices. Has anyone on here found deals to London in the $400 range (or lower)? If so, how did you find your deal?
The $400 London flights these days are either promotional offers or mistake fares. There's about a $250 absolute floor on the route due to the infamous London long haul departure tax you've got to pay on every full economy seat going out of the airport, even frequent flyer redemptions.
The only transatlantic London fare I've seen in the $400 range lately has been a Wow! (Icelandic discount carrier) promotional fare to inaugurate service out of Boston around March, and they're literally using a $10 base fare plus departure tax on the return, so totally unsustainable unless you got one of those handful of promo tickets.
If you can travel light luggage, you might be better trying to catch a Norwegian fare sale into Oslo or Copenhagen and then low cost carrier to get you over to the UK.
Thanks for the replies beachmouse and jaypee! I'm really just trying to make sure that I don't overpay for this trip and am seeking any advice/pointers I can get. I did see that Norwegian Airlines had the cheapest rates when I searched the other day, so that's definitely going to be an airline that I'll look out for deals from. While I don't necessarily want to be in London from Jan 31/Feb 1 through Feb 7, I will if that's the cheapest flight available by at least $50 (I won't be spending much on accommodations as I'll either be staying at a cheap hostel or with my uncle/friend, so the extra days won't be too taxing on me.)
The $400 London flights these days are either promotional offers or mistake fares. There's about a $250 absolute floor on the route due to the infamous London long haul departure tax you've got to pay on every full economy seat going out of the airport, even frequent flyer redemptions.
The only transatlantic London fare I've seen in the $400 range lately has been a Wow! (Icelandic discount carrier) promotional fare to inaugurate service out of Boston around March, and they're literally using a $10 base fare plus departure tax on the return, so totally unsustainable unless you got one of those handful of promo tickets.
If you can travel light luggage, you might be better trying to catch a Norwegian fare sale into Oslo or Copenhagen and then low cost carrier to get you over to the UK.
Update: I looked into flying separately from New York to Oslo and then from Oslo to London via Norwegian Airlines. Roundtrip, I'm looking at $436! I just have to make the dates work now. Thanks for that tip!
I didn't know about Norwegian Airlines--that's great to know.
I'm hearing that Turkish Airlines is cheap but not good. What might be good is Air Lingus--to Ireland and then just get over to London.
We flew one time with Turkish from Istanbul to Dublin and they were fine. We have also flown a few times with Aer Lingus and thought they were okay too.
Dublin is a good European gateway. Their taxes are lower than London, the airport is less chaotic and you get to clear US immigration in Dublin on the way back which saves time and hassle when you arrive in the USA. Dublin is also well worth an overnight if only to enjoy one (or more) of those wonderful Irish pubs.
Just booked a round trip to London from NYC for late January (January 22-29) for $398 via Norwegian Air! Granted, I had to book a round trip form NYC to Oslo and from Oslo to London and I don't have an in-flight meal (I wasn't paying 25 pounds per leg for a meal) and can only bring one carry-on bag, but that's not so terrible. Now to work on housing (I'll probably stay with my family and with a friend in Oxford while there, but am not opposed to staying in a hostel for part of the time either).
Good for you! Next time you want to do this, expand your departure locations a bit. You are lucky to be on the east coast. Sometimes you can catch better deals out of EWR.
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