<p>I'm studying abroad in a major European tourist city this fall and need to fly out there early September. When is the best time to book my flight?</p>
<p>Last month 
Sorry, I’m not trying to be unhelpful… but we booked D’s flights for the fall in April. Since fares reportedly jumped after the volcano situation, that turned out to be a good choice. We figured we would just take a vacation (I am going over with her) and change her ticket to fly back with me if her program falls through… I did pay a little extra to make her ticket changable.</p>
<p>Can’t tell you the best time to buy, and (at least for the city we are flying to), things like Farecaster does not try to predict whether fares will rise or fall. I can say, try a lot of options. Fly.com and kayak.com are a couple that review many airlines and websites. However, before buying, Google the organization actually selling the ticket, some have bad reputations and should be avoided. Also, look for airlines that don’t put their fares on the consolidating sites (Suncountry, Icelandair, there may be others). You have to go to their websites to search for fares.</p>
<p>Lufthansa has a special Student Discount - check their website. You need proof that the flyer is a student (I think your .edu email address does the trick, but not sure), they promise their lowest fares on the flight and - here’s the big one - they allow one change of flights with no change fee. That’s huge because many kids decide they want to travel a little bit at the end of their semester, but chances are you won’t know where you will be traveling to or for how long when you book your flight before you go. Two one-way flights is generally a lot more expensive than one round-trip ticket, so many people book the round-trip knowing they will probably have to change the return half of the ticket.</p>
<p>I just paid British Airways an extra $476 to change my son’s flight home from his semester in Europe. I was pretty sure I was going to incur a $275 change fee for the flight home when I booked his round-trip ticket before he left, because he was unsure of his end-of-semester travel plans. What I failed to take into account was that the change fee was $275 PLUS any difference in the airfare. </p>
<p>I wish I had known about the Lufthansa deal last fall when I booked his flights. :(</p>
<p>(also - for the Lufthansa deal, the round-trip has to start in the USA).</p>
<p>Do you have the option of going on a group flight? My D did that, and it was well worth the little bit of extra money it cost. Luggage check-through was easier (and less expensive), and one change to the return flight was allowed. Because she returned in the winter, the peace of mind was important to us. As it was, she returned during a huge snowstorm … she got home fine, but others on her flight were delayed. The travel service was really helpful for them.</p>
<p>Wall Street Journal says the cost of flights to Europe will continue to go up, up, up so book wisely.</p>
<p>Check your study abroad requirements - we had to book my d’s airfare several months in advance because she needed the itinerary to get her student visa. Of course, she didn’t tell me that (or even figure it out!) until a week before the visa application was due.</p>