There are no clear cut answers as to the best time to purchase cheap airplane tickets or cheap vacation packages to Europe. Some will argue that now is the time to buy, even though prices look high, because prices will only go higher as your desired departure date approaches. Others will argue that travelers should wait for future fare sales, though such sales are far from being a certainty.
Transatlantic airfares are up significantly this year. Peak season fares from U.S. to Europe were up an average of 30 to 40 percent over 2009. Although most experts do not expert next summers airline prices to be any lower than this years, no one is expecting another increase in fares similar to what happened in 2010.
Existing prices for next summer are approximately the same as last summer prices.
The big question is whether any major airlines will introduce a peak season sale on fares to Europe. In the past, summer sales have typically been announced between January and May. Given the current low empty seat rate on planes flying to Europe, there is no way of knowing if any sales should be expected.
Experts suggest that travelers who want to wait for sales be ready to pounce the first time they see reasonable price cuts, instead of gambling on further cuts later.
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