Airfare pricing is Crazy

[Sunset]

So I was looking at a cruise from FL to Barcelona Spain, and of course it brings up the problem of how to get back home.

So I look up airfare for May 2016,
Cheapest one way was about $2K per person.
Round trip was $972 per person (with return to Spain in Sept 2016).

So is there any issue if I "miss" the return flight ?

What do other folks do ?

 

[Moemg]

Try using the cruise line 's airfare .They have much cheaper one way flights .

 

[Gone4Good]

So is there any issue if I "miss" the return flight ?

Nope.

But those flights seem really pricey to me. I see one-way flights from BCN to NYC for $360 or less in May. Don't know where you're going but maybe it makes sense to look at flying to a major airport somewhere and take a regional flight from there to wherever you call home.

 

[Nemo2]

I went into Expedia, and selected an arbitrary date, May 15, one way Barcelona - Chicago, got $715 Canadian with Turkish Airlines, and $927 Canadian with Aer Lingus.

 

[audreyh1]

Great suggestions here. Keep them coming!

 

[Gone4Good]

Great suggestions here. Keep them coming!

Another obvious (or maybe not so obvious) suggestion is to see if changing the date helps at all. Sometimes flying on one specific day can cost hundreds of dollars more than flying out the very next day.

A slightly more obvious option is to use airline miles if you have them.

A slightly less obvious option is to see if flights out of other European cities are cheaper. Regional airfare throughout Europe can be really inexpensive.

And a significantly less obvious strategy is to book a cheap flight that connects through an airport near your intended destination and just not board the connecting flight.

 

[Nemo2]

Another obvious (or maybe not so obvious) suggestion is to see if changing the date helps at all. Sometimes flying on one specific day can cost hundreds of dollars more than flying out the very next day.

Many (all?) search engines will advise of flex date flights now.

 

[Gone4Good]

Many (all?) search engines will advise of flex date flights now.

That's true but sometimes you have to look for it. I know Kayak buries the option.

 

[tfudtuckerpucker]

Cheap Flights - Find Cheap Airline Tickets with Skyscanner seems to be a good site. I picked a random day in May and found AirEuropa for $541.

 

[Bamaman]

You can fly from Barcelona to Dublin on Vueling (from $49) and from Dublin to ORD on Aer Lingus for around $450 in May. You'd need to go directly to their websites to match your dates up. It'd be nice to spend a day or two in Ireland if time permitted.

Just travel light.

 

[Meadbh]

Air travel within Europe is very cheap (thank you Ryanair). I second/third the advice to fly from Barcelona to a European hub whence you can fly to Chicago.

For example, on an upcoming trip I will be flying from Rome to Malta for $47 (Canadian), then from Malta to Dublin for ~$120 (Canadian) and a few days later, flying back to Western Canada on Aeroplan points (plus taxes of $160 Canadian).

 

[Sunset]

I was on the American Air website, as was just playing with the idea.

Those numbers I posted are with picking cheaper days, easily knocked off $300 by picking couple of days earlier.

Great advice for these different airlines, etc... I don't fly much so wouldn't know.

 

[pb4uski]

Try kayak.com and use flexible dates. It currently shows a one-way from BCN to ORD in mid-May (May 18) with two stops for $490.

 

[Sarah in SC]

Second the Skyscanner recommendation.
Also, a pro tip from a very savvy traveling friend: look up the Wikipedia page for the airport you need to fly out of. There will be a list of all of the carriers that fly out of there. Some, like Vueling mentioned earlier, are not well known in the US. Jot down the carriers and do a search for their websites and pricing.

 

[bizlady]

https://www.google.com/flights/

 

[UtahSkier]

So is there any issue if I "miss" the return flight ?

What do other folks do ?

I booked a round trip (in Europe) in 2011 to get the cheaper fare and missed the return flight.

I set the return date to be long after I was home.

I have since traveled to Europe without any issues.

 

[pixelville]

Matrix - ITA Software by Google
is one of the best. Look at their calendar search and you can customize it in a lot of ways.
Once you decide on your itinerary, you eventually have to book on the airline's website or with a travel agent.

Lot of other sites are powered by itasoftware (that Google bought).

 

[Totoro]

Missing the return flight is no issue. In fact, you may even be able to cancel the return ticket after you left and get the tax portion back.

That said, skyscanner is a good website but indeed check the lowest cost airlines (ryanair, aer lingus, easyjet specifically) separately as they do not put their flights in their databases (or in any other website than their own). This is only for regional flights (e.g. from paris or london to Barcelona).

 

[Gone4Good]

That said, skyscanner is a good website but indeed check the lowest cost airlines (ryanair, aer lingus, easyjet specifically) separately as they do not put their flights in their databases (or in any other website than their own). This is only for regional flights (e.g. from paris or london to Barcelona).

I've found flights from all of those airlines on Kayak and flown every single one as a result.

 

[ivinsfan]

A word of warning on the "cheap" inter-Europe flights you might get hit with a seat picking fee and a carry-on baggage fee, a checked baggage fee and a heavy checked baggage fee and the fees are higher then mainline carrier fees. On a cruise someone might be using quite a bit of baggage. Check the out the door price before you buy tickets.

 

[kgtest]

Another obvious (or maybe not so obvious) suggestion is to see if changing the date helps at all. Sometimes flying on one specific day can cost hundreds of dollars more than flying out the very next day.

I would go further to say more often then not, one day later or sooner could be hundreds of dollars more so its worth it to look and detrimental not to play with the dates. Unless a couple hundred isn't a big deal to you, in that case I am looking to be adopted.

 

[Fedup]

Before May 15 and after Oct 15 are the dates for super saver fares for AA.


Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum

 

[Gone4Good]

A word of warning on the "cheap" inter-Europe flights you might get hit with a seat picking fee and a carry-on baggage fee, a checked baggage fee and a heavy checked baggage fee and the fees are higher then mainline carrier fees. On a cruise someone might be using quite a bit of baggage. Check the out the door price before you buy tickets.

+1

And read all the fine print too. I think it is Ryan Air that requires you to print your boarding pass before arriving at the airport. Failure to do so can result in a fee as large as your ticket price.

Some of these guys are really shady, so buyer beware.

But if you read the fine print and follow the rules, there really are great deals to be had. We've taken international flights for as low as $35 per ticket.

 

[MBAustin]

DS is flying to Chile for a vacation soon. When he was booking his flights, he found a difference of more than $300 by checking several sites (I think Kayak is where he found the best price, but a few days earlier when he was searching, the best price was on Google).

 

[audreyh1]

DS is flying to Chile for a vacation soon. When he was booking his flights, he found a difference of more than $300 by checking several sites (I think Kayak is where he found the best price, but a few days earlier when he was searching, the best price was on Google).

Airline prices change every day. You can track the changes via Kayak or Yapta.