Purchasing airline tickets

We are planning to take our trip to Europe in mid-June. What we prefer to do is fly into Munich and fly home out of Zurich,however, we realize if this costs considerably more, then we will just fly home from Munich. I have been watching the costs of the tickets and they are running around 1100.00. Can anyone tell me when the deals start coming out for the summer? Is it typically in the spring? Thanks- g8trzz

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I would book tickets as soon as possible. With the World Cup soccer in Germany in June and early July and associated increased air travel, airline tickets might become hard to get if you wait too long. Booking hotels in German host cities may also be harder to do, and certanly much more expensive.

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Hello g8trzz!

As has already been mentioned, the fact that Germany is hosting the FIFA World Cup in June/July means that air travel to any German city is likely to be expensive around this time.

I would strongly advise you to arrive and depart from the same airport (i.e. Munich), as arriving in Munich and leaving from Zürich will lead to you having to pay single ticket fares, which will be considerably more expensive. I have just done a quick search on Expedia.co.uk for flights from Miami (MIA) to Munich (MUC) - return - leaving MIA on 12 June 2006 and returning on 25 June 2006. The cheapest available fare was (GBP)£539.70, which is around (USD)$953, flying via Madrid with Iberia.

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As has been mentioned, prices will be higher and availability tight in Germany from June 9 to July 9. Consider changing your travel dates.

That said, one of the best way to save a few airfare $’s is to travel mid-week. We usually buy “open-jaw” airline tickets, travel to the most distant point and work our way back west. By doing this we are not departing from our hotel before sunrise and an eastern European airport [i.e. Vienna] at “0 dawn 30”. I have not found an open-jaw ticket will not be any more expensive than the normal single destination ticket.

From MIA [Miami], L.T.U. International Airways flies direct to MUC [Münich] and there are a number of connecting flights. Swiss Air or American Airlines fly direct from ZRH [Zürich] to MIA. http://timetables.oag.com/mia/

Out of Orlando there are any numbers of airlines that you could use and from northern Florida you could fly Delta through Atlanta. http://timetables.oag.com/mco/

As far as Iberia is concerned, they fly from Orlando [to Miami], then Miami to Madrid and onward to Münich or Zürich. They would be a good choice. The Iberia website is somewhat complicated so do this: first accept “Cookies” then

start at http://www.iberia.com/OneToOne/v3/home.do

on the far right click on English

again on the far right change to Iberia in USA

on the left click on advanced search

change to Multiple routes

enter cities, dates and times, click on search and proceed selecting the flights

For whatever reason, I was unable to get a fare quote.

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thanks for the replies! Is the World Cup being held in one area of Germany, or is it throughout? I can%26#39;t change my vacation days, but it looks like I may have to change where I go to in Europe :(

g8trzz

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It is held in major cities throughout Germany, but if you can find a hotel for a reasonable price and a flight you can afford, it shouldn%26#39;t obstruct you from coming here. You might have to stay in smaller cities away from the stadiums, but the crowds won%26#39;t be so massive that they will prevent you from enjoying the sights. Cities like Dresden, Bremen, Würzburg, Lübeck just to mention a few will not be hosting matches and Berlin, Munich, Hamburg or Cologne might be big enough for football fans as well as %26quot;normal%26quot; visitors. Otherwise the whole of Europe will be football crazy at that time, even when they are not hosting the event.