Flights from Chicago to Sofia, Bulgaria (Paris, Amsterdam, Rome, itinerary)

[jlawrence01]

A friend of mine needs to go from Chicago to Sofia for a wedding in late July. The best rate that I have been able to find using the usual websites is $1225 RT.

Is this a good fare? Will waiting get a better fare? Are there alternative cities that will get better rates?

[rational1]

For a peak season fare to a non-hub city in Europe: it doesn't seem out of line to me.

[jtur88]

Fares are often cheaper to more popular destinations, such as Athens. Then you can use ground transport to get to Sofia, possibly for less than a direct flight.

[annerk]

While I agree with jtur, I think that $1200 in peak season to any place in Europe is a good deal, and by the time you add in train fare you really aren't saving anything.

[Jesse44]

I think you can do a little better!!

Try looking for a roundtrip to London, Frankfurt, Paris, Rome for around 700-900 then find a seperate connector in Europe on Easyjet, which is usually amazingly cheap (maybe like 50USD sometimes, one way). I KNOW for a fact that either Easyjet or RyanAir flies to Sofia from a couple of major airports. You can maybe bring it down to a grandish if you can set it up with good timing. Otherwise, if you don't have the flexibility, that is still an okay fare.

[annerk]

And how much do you have to pay for baggage on those discount lines? That could negate any savings.

[Jesse44]

Actually not sure. I think you get one standard piece free with Easyjet. I didn't even really think about that. I'm usually boarding with no more than a backpack.

[barneyg]

Originally Posted by Jesse44

I think you can do a little better!!

Try looking for a roundtrip to London, Frankfurt, Paris, Rome for around 700-900 then find a seperate connector in Europe on Easyjet, which is usually amazingly cheap (maybe like 50USD sometimes, one way). I KNOW for a fact that either Easyjet or RyanAir flies to Sofia from a couple of major airports. You can maybe bring it down to a grandish if you can set it up with good timing. Otherwise, if you don't have the flexibility, that is still an okay fare.

Just for fun I checked with Skyscanner, July 24-31 RT with flexible dates

Chicago - Sofia: $989 (Delta via Minneapolis or Cincy and Paris, back with Air France).. add $250 for only 1 stop (through Istanbul)
Chicago - Athens: $1,210
Chicago - London: $1,275
Chicago - Frankfurt: $1,230
Chicago - Paris: $1,313
Chicago - Rome: $1,325

So... either prices move with supply and demand (not just supply), or OP's friend has well-connected friends who brought prices down to Sofia...

edit: Belgrade is the cheapest I found ($890)... Bucharest with Lufthansa and Air Canada is $928.

[jlawrence01]

Originally Posted by barneyg

Just for fun I checked with Skyscanner, July 24-31 RT with flexible dates

Chicago - Sofia: $989 (Delta via Minneapolis or Cincy and Paris, back with Air France).. add $250 for only 1 stop (through Istanbul)
Chicago - Athens: $1,210
Chicago - London: $1,275
Chicago - Frankfurt: $1,230
Chicago - Paris: $1,313
Chicago - Rome: $1,325

So... either prices move with supply and demand (not just supply), or OP's friend has well-connected friends who brought prices down to Sofia...

edit: Belgrade is the cheapest I found ($890)... Bucharest with Lufthansa and Air Canada is $928.

Last night, I found a $940 fare into Sofia through Amsterdam on Skyscanner. That seemed to be a pretty good deal and that is what I advised my friend to lock in.

My friend is not a person who would handle a number of transfers or a complicated itinerary. Long delays on a relatively short trip would not be good.

[SoloTraveler]

It's summertime, so you likely won't do a whole lot better; you'll likely see a tight variance of +/- 10%. 6-8 weeks out is considered the sweetspot to book international flights, so I wouldn't lock in a flight for late July yet unless the ticket exceeds the - 10% variance.