Need some international flight finder advice

[Jenny]

My mom got selected by the Goethe-Institut Berlin for a 4-week study course in Germany! She's beyond thrilled. They are paying for almost everything, minus 1 meal a day, plus giving her a $400 or so stipend to help cover laundry, the meal, other living expenses.

But, she has to pay for her flight. The cheapest she's been able to find is about $1050 from Oklahoma City to Berlin. Anyone have any tips for finding the BEST deal possible? What days of the week are best to travel on and which are the worst? Better to search online for tickets or a travel agent? etc.

Would love any advice on finding the best flight prices possible!

TIA!

[Butch]

When is she flying?

Berlin is surprisingly inaccessible for international flights. Typically, you need to stop someplace else in Europe to connect there.

$1000 or so from Oklahoma doesn't sound bad, especially if it's during the Summer.

For perspective, I usually pay $4-500 to go RT off-season between Frankfurt and NYC (a route with a lot of capacity) . . . so figure, you're probably adding two legs on top of that . . . Oklahoma to wherever you connect for the international flight, and wherever in Europe you end up connecting to Berlin.

By the way, I took German classes at the Goethe Institute in Frankfurt. They were quite good. I'm sure she'll have a lot of fun . . . plus, Berlin is a great city.

If she has a little time to travel while she's there (either before during or after her classes), get her to go to Prague and/or Vienna. They can be reached quite easily by train from Berlin.

[Jenny]

Oh, sorry! She can fly on May 31, June 1, or June 2. She can return any time from July 1 - 7. She could also fly into and out of Dallas if it would save an appreciable amount of money and could also fly into and out of Frankfurt for the same reason. She was also thinking she could catch a cheap flight (about $225-$250) from OKC to NYC, so any cheaper flight from NYC to Germany too would be good. heh

Her dad was in the army, so she spent several years over in Germany and traveled some. Plus, she and my sister just went to Germany a couple of years ago for my sis's high school graduation present. :)

Thanks for the help! :)

[Butch]

I'd say the $1050 you've found is about as good as it's going to get. Any savings you might find will likely be a pittance compared to the amount of time it would take to find it and/or the extra travel time it would take.

In the past, I've found that pretty much the cheapest flights between Germany and the US are Singapore Air's flights between JFK and Frankfurt (a rather nice oddity for me, since Singapore is a great airline . . . great service/amenities). During the dates you noted, the best RT rate on Singapore b/w JFK and FRA is $780 (at least per their website). It would take an additional 99 Euros (about $130) on Lufthansa to get RT between FRA and Berlin, and as you noted, at least $200-250 to get RT between OKC and JFK. In sum, $1110-1160.

However, it might be worth it to her to take the route I noted above IF she can get the travel times to align nicely . . . Singapore is exceedingly comfortable for the intercontinental portion . . . DEFINITELY worth an additional $60-$110 for the whole journey (think $30-$55 per trip) . . . more leg room, great service, good food, and in-seat entertainment systems with something like 80 movie choices (plus a bunch of TV shows) to help the time pass.

[jstreet]

I've been pricing out flights from DC to Seoul, and had a coworker very emphatically suggest a travel agent. He's from Taiwan and flies back often, and said while occasionally they can only meet the Internet, they never are beaten by the Internet, and he's saved as much as $500 (paid $700 rather than $1200). His two cents, I've never used a travel agent.

[Jenny]

I've been pricing out flights from DC to Seoul, and had a coworker very emphatically suggest a travel agent. He's from Taiwan and flies back often, and said while occasionally they can only meet the Internet, they never are beaten by the Internet, and he's saved as much as $500 (paid $700 rather than $1200). His two cents, I've never used a travel agent.

She's called 4 or 5 travel agents and no one has called her back. She's going to try calling some in Oklahoma City, where they are bigger, etc, and see.

[ShawnLee]

I've been pricing out flights from DC to Seoul, and had a coworker very emphatically suggest a travel agent. He's from Taiwan and flies back often, and said while occasionally they can only meet the Internet, they never are beaten by the Internet, and he's saved as much as $500 (paid $700 rather than $1200). His two cents, I've never used a travel agent.
a) I agree that travel agents are nearly always better for int'l flights.
b) Why would you come out here to Seoul?

[jstreet]

a) I agree that travel agents are nearly always better for int'l flights.
b) Why would you come out here to Seoul?Why indeed! My boyfriend is moving towards taking a year off from the working world and teaching English there. Happily I've discovered there are direct flights from Washington (Orbitz et al were routing me on connecting flights through San Francisco) but the prices were like ~$1500 after tax... so much. It would probably limit me to a maximum of four visits over the whole year.

I'm going to be working full-time and going to law school part-time next year, so the constraint is realistically going to be my schedule and not my bank account, but if I could make it work, I'd rather be able to do six visits.

[kimchicowboy]

i'm with Butch on Singapore Air. I took it twice for trips to Korea from SF and it was by far the best airline I've used for international trips. Much better than any domestic airline flying overseas.

[Jeffbx]

She's called 4 or 5 travel agents and no one has called her back. She's going to try calling some in Oklahoma City, where they are bigger, etc, and see.

Yeah - for sure a travel agent can help, but try to find one that specializes or at least has some experience in international flights.

Your best bet may be a direct flight to a larger city in Europe, like Paris, Amsterdam, etc. and then a short flight to Berlin. From what I've heard from my co-workers in Germany, flights within Europe are ridiculously cheap - like $30 or so from Paris to Frankfurt or Stuttgart. Dunno if it's the same to Berlin, but it's worth a shot.

[TruckStuff]

I've been pricing out flights from DC to Seoul, and had a coworker very emphatically suggest a travel agent. He's from Taiwan and flies back often, and said while occasionally they can only meet the Internet, they never are beaten by the Internet, and he's saved as much as $500 (paid $700 rather than $1200). His two cents, I've never used a travel agent. :stupid:

The wife and I do a fair amount of int'l travel. Travel agents can save you big money, especially if you are going someplace where there are lots of different ways to get there, simply because they are doing this every day and know the cheap places to fly through. If you are going someplace where there aren't a lot of options, the internet is going to be just as good. For example, we are going to Botswana this summer and there is basically only two ways to get there, so we just booked online.

[Jenny]

She ended up booking one this morning through London, total about $1150 after the fees and taxes. heh Thanks for all the advice guys! She didn't let me help but then again, I should have expected that. :P