Summer airfare bargains are possible in August
Regular readers of this site are certainly aware that we’ve been trying to find any alternative to flying in the heat of summer this year, because fares are insanely high. Doing research on airfares all day can be depressing when I see that June fares to Europe are very high, and then in July they go much higher. There is just a bit of good news though.
Thing about August this year
It’s natural that Americans like to schedule their summer trips as early as possible, which means early June for many people. This has driven up prices for the early part of summer, but Europeans don’t usually start their holidays until July, and this drives up prices for the middle part of summer.
Most Americans are home again by early August at the latest, already thinking about one more Labor Day blowout a few weeks later, but Europeans usually stay gone through the entire month of August, so competition for available trans-Atlantic seats remains high. Starting in the middle of August, however, I’ve noticed that many destinations drop in price by about $200 round-trip, all of a sudden, so those still yet to pick dates for their summer trip should think about that period.
Some examples of the summer price drops
Let’s look at airfares starting in New York City, since it’s the biggest air travel market in the US, and many people who are starting elsewhere will be changing planes in NY anyway, meaning that they’ll only end up adding a bit more to these same fares because they’ll be traveling in the same planes anyway.
New York to London
In July the lowest price available is $869 RT on most days, but starting as early as August 3 there are flights to London at $774, only for a few dates in the month. Starting in early September you can find flights on almost any day for just a bit over $700, which still feels pretty expensive.
New York to Paris
Unless you are willing to fly on July 4 (or Sunday July 3) you’ll be paying over $1,000 RT for a New York to Paris round-trip in July. But starting on August 15 the sub-$1,000 flights start appearing again, with sub-$900 flights starting again on August 28. If you can wait until September 7 then you can go for $712, which is really an ideal time there anyway, so fall really does seem like it’s worth waiting for.
New York to Amsterdam
A flight from New York to Amsterdam will be at least $1,100 through most of July, but starting on August 1 it dips down a bit below $1,000, and below $900 on August 29. Starting on September 5 you can go for only $787, so again, it’ll save you several hundred dollars if you can wait it out a bit.
New York to Frankfurt
The most dramatic example of a dropoff comes between New York and Frankfurt, where a round-trip will cost over $1,100 through all of July, but suddenly on August 16 the fare drops a bit below $900. There must be a Lufthansa fare sale at work here, since they dominate traffic into that airport. Those sub-$900 fares go on straight through September, so anyone who can push their trip back a bit will save at least $250 or so per person on airfare, which will help buy a lot more beers once you arrive.