Want to head back to the States for Easter or some much-needed leave?
Well, for anyone who is looking to fly to the good old US of A — or wants a friend or loved one to come for a visit — there are plenty of deals to be had.
A round-trip ticket from Los Angeles to Paris, for example, costs $684 including taxes on cheaptickets.com . A flight for the same dates from New York to Paris cost $700 on that site.
A flight from Frankfurt, Germany, to any of the airports in the New York area on British Airways from early June to late June was listed at $422 on the airline’s site. And travelocity.com offered a Lufthansa flight with two stops between Naples, Italy, and Chicago for $496.
"Going to the East Coast — Newark or New York — you are looking at $500 round trip," said Crystal Perez, the facility manager for Information, Tickets and Travel at RAF Mildenhall. "To the West Coast, it is a little higher, I would say closer to $700 or $800."
But Perez said she did find a round-trip flight from London to Los Angeles for $550, and last week someone booked a round-trip from London to Dallas for $665. Florida destinations, such as Orlando and Miami, seem to be popular right now and the cheapest days to fly are typically Tuesdays through Thursdays, she said.
"Right now it is so cheap because it is not peak travel season. Anywhere from January to April the prices are pretty low," Perez said, adding that "It is a lot cheaper" than at this time last year.
The lower fares stem from lower demand for seats because the economy is in the dumps, said Frances Tuke, a spokeswoman for ABTA, a United Kingdom travel association.
The British Airport Authority, which operates the major airports in the U.K., reported that passenger numbers were down 12.5 percent in February 2009 compared with February 2008.
British Airways officials said in an e-mail that the airline market is extremely competitive — now more than ever.
"We do find there are periods when we do get cheaper airfare, so this isn’t unprecedented, but it is a very good value (right now)," Tuke said.
