Best time to book flights to America

Associate
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Hi all,

When is the best time to book flights to the States?

My other half and I are finally headed out there this July. We've got our flights back to UK sorted, but still need to book our flights out (Manchester to either San Francisco OR San Diego on 3 July). Cheapest I've found so far is £724 pp with one stop, or £523 pp with two (that's Manchester to San Francisco). Just wondered if we should book flights now, or if it's better to book last minute?

Thanks :)
 
Soldato
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I was always under the impression that within 4 weeks of travel was the best as the airlines start becoming desperate to fill empty seats and therefore give better deals.
 
Man of Honour
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Within 4 weeks is risky - sometimes it pays off, sometimes it doesn't. Last year I booked 2 months out and found with 3 weeks to go it was no more expensive. The year before I booked 4 months out and found it twice as expensive 4 weeks before I left.

I generally find 3-5 months is the sweet spot - but if you find a good deal, go for it.

£523 to San Francisco is very much what I would consider a good deal. Provided it isn't a totally crap airline with a 13 hour layover somewhere stupid I'd probably book that, especially given it's July. Very good price.
 
Man of Honour
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[TW]Fox;27452794 said:
£523 to San Francisco is very much what I would consider a good deal. Provided it isn't a totally crap airline with a 13 hour layover somewhere stupid I'd probably book that, especially given it's July. Very good price.

Really? With two stopovers?
 
Soldato
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July/August you're always going to be a bit screwed flying to California and vice versa, can probably add 100 quid to what you'd expect in June/September - I ended up saving buckets of cash doing my US->UK summer trip June 10th to Sept 10th instead of having to fly in July/August.

*edit*

You also realise that you're flying on a major US holiday weekend (4th July)?
 
Soldato
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If you want to see some extra places on the way, there's a £525 fare that's an 88h itinerary with two nights in Reykjavik and another overnight in Vancouver!

The £523 via Reykjavik and Toronto is more sensible, but you've got fairly tight 2h connections, so could be some issues if one of your flights is delayed.

If you're not too price sensitive, take the £723 via Dublin. You'll get to clear US immigration in Dublin which is a good use of the downtime between flights and means an easy exit at SFO.
 
Soldato
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[TW]Fox;27452924 said:
Its from Manchester so the first stop over is likely Heathrow anyway, not a huge amount of transatlantic flights from Manchester. I bet it would be a single stop itiniery from London.

£523 seems expensive for a one way flight imo, even at peak time.
 
Man of Honour
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If you're not too price sensitive, take the £723 via Dublin. You'll get to clear US immigration in Dublin which is a good use of the downtime between flights and means an easy exit at SFO.

I did this last year (Though to Boston not SFO) and it was absolutely excellent - we had a 2 hour stopover in Dublin which was just enough time for a nice lunch and preclearing US Immigration. We then landed in Dublin 7 hours later and walked straight out - no queues. Awesome. Would definately pick this option again if it was available.

£523 seems expensive for a one way flight imo, even at peak time.

He doesnt say they are one-way tickets anywhere? They are return tickets?

£523 is good - yes the 2 stop thing is annoying but as I said it's Manchester from where it's harder to get a plethora of one-stop routes because of the limited number of US destinations served by Manchester Airport.
 
Associate
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Not sure - but I always fly united back to chicago - tend to be cheapest and better experience. Not sure which flights go to california
 
Associate
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Hi all – me again!

I just went to book the £523 flight (2 stops MAN – KEF – YYZ) but the price changes to £1,453.76 on Expedia when I go to book it :( There is another flight with 2 stops for £574, however one of the layovers is just 1 hour 50 minutes in Boston. Is this long enough do you think for a layover?

The other alternative is the £724 flight with one layover in Dublin which sounds tempting for early customs clearance…
 
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