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[wakingdream]

In another thread we discussed whether or not the global economic recession would deter us from traveling. Ofcourse, there are scores of people who have lost jobs around the world but for the travel-minded fortunate enough to keep on working, one huge advantages is how low airline ticket prices have gone. Cheapest in a decade, they say;

Air fares cheapest for decade

Mr Clarke said: "Where we've most noticed the change is the premium long haul, the top end of the market. The adventure market has been quite strong all year - those guys who are the backpackers and are not concerned about mortgages or job security."

Not long ago, Rich brought up the fantastic deals from London to Malaysia on Air Asia, which I was incredibly jealous about!

Anyone noticed any particularly shocking ticket prices?

[jeremystravels]

Anyone noticed any particularly shocking ticket prices?

Many of my friends got airfare round trip from Ohio to London Heathrow for $450 USD [after tax] recently. I've seen some flights to Dublin that cheap before, but never London. I paid $800 for a very similar trip last year but returning from Paris. Earlier this year I saw flights for the Egypt trip I am taking [for March rather than August] for $900 on the most direct route. I bought mine a few weeks ago with a long layover in Athens, and a long layover in New York City for $1250 after tax.

I think I've seen some crazy flights like Ohio to Sydney, Australia for $900. Not bad considering last year it was $2200.

I'm just hoping prices are at their low for August and I didn't buy too soon for my trip! It's the cheapest I've seen for the time period I am going, but I saw much cheaper for those traveling March-May which I was holding out for. They just had to go and give me Athens and NYC to make me buy it... haha.

[polydemic]

My sister sent me a list, from Travelocity, on flights between Seattle & San Francisco at $89. But these are limited to flights before June 17 & between August 26 & November 11. I'm going in late July & was able to find a flight for $149.

[rbisset]

to be honest I've noticed that the "budget" airlines in the UK are actually charging more than last year. Ryanair especially has been introducing a load of new silent addons that bump up the fare.

I can't say that the "Flag carrier" airlines seem any cheaper than last year. Maybe £50 or something here and there but not massive discounts. Flights to Bangkok still seem around the £400 region. India, HK and UAE seem to be pretty cheap at around £250 return. Europe wise I saw return flights to Moscow for £110 which is dirt cheap!

[wakingdream]

I'm going in late July & was able to find a flight for $149.

That's pretty good!

Europe wise I saw return flights to Moscow for £110 which is dirt cheap!

Again Rich, I'm always salivating over the deals you guys over there have access to! C'mon! Give us better deals up here in Canada!

[sianeth]

STA Travel sent an email round the other day:
£239 to Joburg
£399 to Sydney
£239 to Bangkok
£399 to Lima

Which are mega cheap as far as I'm concerned.

[wakingdream]

£239 to Bangkok

whoa!

[sianeth]

That was in celebration of their 30 yr anniversary I think... they had 30 flights going first come first serve. Ahh well!

[rbisset]

Yeah those flight would have been leaving within 3 days and it's low season in Thailand.

[rbisset]

Europe wise I saw return flights to Moscow for £110 which is dirt cheap!

Again Rich, I'm always salivating over the deals you guys over there have access to! C'mon! Give us better deals up here in Canada!

It's all relative. A flight to Moscow is about 5 hours from London, which I assume is similar to flying across Canada/USA. It also involves a stopover in Austria to change planes but that's ok if it halves the price of a direct flight. I'm pretty sure you could pickup a similar bargain within North America.

Intercontinental flights are always going to cost more, even if the journey time is nearly the same.

[wakingdream]

I'm pretty sure you could pickup a similar bargain within North America.

I guess but part of it is where you have the access to that I'm jealous of. Plus, yeah, you can get some decent deals here but around your parts there are just so many more options with cheaper flights.

Another downfall here is in North America, though it's definitely multicultural, there aren't places like there are in Europe and beyond to absorb yourself in other cultures etc. So all in all, I don't see a cheap flight to LA or to Missouri as a deal really. No offence to anyone out there!

And in Canada, it's expensive to fly over to the west coast, say. Between $400 and $500 CDN easy. You can find deals but they're always advertised as super cheap until you add in all the extra costs, which usually tacks on a couple of hundred extra bucks. On the other hand, you can fly somewhere interesting for say, 60 pounds (and even less sometimes) where I can't find a flight within Canada for that little, even if I'm just flying to Ottawa, which is only a 5 hour drive away.

I'd argue that you're in the better travel situation over there

[rbisset]

Simple answer, move to Europe

But you're right. I found a one-way flight from London to Madrid for FREE last week. Return would have been £20 including Ryanair's new ripoff £5 fee to print off a boarding pass at home and £5 per flight credit card fee.

The problem isn't the flights, it's the expense once there. I found flights to Barcelona for about £25 return but 3 nights in a hostel there comes to nearly £100! Plus the addons for food, entrance fees, transport etc and you're looking at an expensive weekend. Which is one reason why I've gone nowhere so far this year. I haven't gone further than 20 miles from my house in 5 months!!!!

[sianeth]

Re: the Ryanair thing I just read a good article about it in the Independent.

- Why is a driving licence not acceptable ID for UK flights?
- Why does paying by debit card cost you £5 automatically?
- £5 to check in online, argh!

Is O'Leary 'doing a Ratner'?

Some commentators liken the chief executive's attitude to customer service to Gerald Ratner, who destroyed his jewellery company with some ill-chosen words. "Do we occasionally piss people off?," says Mr O'Leary. "Of course we do."

I would say its a little more than occasionally...

[jeremystravels]

I'm pretty sure you could pickup a similar bargain within North America.

Another downfall here is in North America, though it's definitely multicultural, there aren't places like there are in Europe and beyond to absorb yourself in other cultures etc. So all in all, I don't see a cheap flight to LA or to Missouri as a deal really. No offence to anyone out there!

I think you hit it there. I can get pretty good deals to fly from here [midwest/eastern] to the west coast [LA/Vegas] or down to Florida or Mexico round trip for $230 after tax. My problem is it is not as interesting as going to another country to me. That and all the places that are cheaper, i've already done. For distance/flight time, the cost is probably relatively similar, but getting to a new culture or a place that doesn't speak English as the primary language is a bit more challening.

[wakingdream]

I haven't gone further than 20 miles from my house in 5 months!!!!

You must be just ITCHIN'!!!

[rbisset]

I haven't gone further than 20 miles from my house in 5 months!!!!

You must be just ITCHIN'!!!

You can't imagine! However it's going to be the case for the next few months at least before I go to Morocco in September. I'm going to make up for it in a couple of years when I spend as long as possible away from home! Just gotta save some pennies!

[terri009]

I recently flew from Toronto to Hong Kong for around $700 on Air Canada...which is a lot cheaper than the normal one-way ticket price of $1100- $1170 at this time. I got this discounted price through Evaluate It, where I signed up as a mystery shopper and filled in an evaluation form on my flight...and that's all I had to do!

[greekcypriot]

Warning!
I tried entering the above site and I had a damage on my pc!
I had to have it fixed!

I always try to find the cheapest airline too.
One idea is to either book much earlier...like 5 months, or wait until the last moment, cross your fingers and pray that you find a good bargain.

Lufthansa had some great deals to NY from Europe, and another one was IBERIA, from Greece to Boston for just 345 euros including all taxes paid. Pity I had no free time then.
If I ever see this price again, I will grab the opportunity. These prices however were in April.


http://www.travelpod.com/dashboard/trip/3
(122 photos from Venice)