Prices between the US and Europe are pretty expensive now - I flew for free during the last tour with miles - anyone have any ideas on when to buy or other tricks?

The summer months are the most expensive travel time for Europe. I decided not to go to there for the Stones this time mostly due to that fact. I'll be going in March/April instead. You can sign up on sites like Travelocity that will e-mail you when fares drop for your destinations. Also check your airline's site daily for sales. You can also save a bit by traveling mid-week rather than on weekends.

Many European airliners offer summer prices in May. Also they make extra flights. Flights are cheap in the summer in Europe because it is vacation time. I don't buy any flight until 4-8 weeks before I go. Because I live in Europre and know it is plenty of flights available. But of you cross from other continents you should book early of course. Intercontinental flights are always cheap early. If you use budget airliners then book anytime. But remember show dates may get changed.

Bjornulf

For (european) low-cost airlines such as Ryanair,EasyJet,SkyEurope,Whizz,AirBerling,Stirling,Niki,AirLingus,etc. - the cheapest booking time is about 3 months in advance. They have a contingent of very cheap tickets that you can usually only get hold of if you book really early. But they do also have special promotions sometimes...

Edit: just saw that you asked for flights between Europe and the US...my advice was for flights in Europe...


Belgrade-Bucharest-Budapest-Brno



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2006-02-06 14:28 by Lorenz.

With ryanair the earlier you book the cheaper it is. Eg Barcelona: when I booked 108€. Now 180€ or something like that. Same flight. The problem is that you can't always afford to wait until the last moment because you might have no choice anymore.
Same with the eurostar to London.