Opinions on Airfare Prices for Portuguese Camino in October

[Lizbird58]

I will be doing the last leg of the Portuguese Camino this Oct and my dates are fixed. It turns out that currently British Airlines is having their boxing day "sale" thru Jan 31 and American Airlines copies them. I can currently get a multi-city flight from Abq to Porto in Oct with a return from Lisbon to Abq in Nov for $654 rt - once I bump this up to include a changeable fare (but not refundable) with seats it comes out to $829. I'm thinking this is a reasonable price? General advice is to book international flights 8 to 2 months in advance and its 10 months away. Should go ahead and buy today or should I wait a few more months to see if fares drop? A few days ago the price was $804 and one of the flights I was looking at has now gone up to $929. I realize no one has a "crystal ball" but any of you that do a lot of traveling, I'd appreciate your opinion about the price. Thanks. Liz

 

[Molly Cassidy]

Sounds like a good deal to me.

 

[henrythedog]

I will be doing the last leg of the Portuguese Camino this Oct and my dates are fixed. It turns out that currently British Airlines is having their boxing day "sale" thru Jan 31 and American Airlines copies them. I can currently get a multi-city flight from Abq to Porto in Oct with a return from Lisbon to Abq in Nov for $654 rt - once I bump this up to include a changeable fare (but not refundable) with seats it comes out to $829. I'm thinking this is a reasonable price? General advice is to book international flights 8 to 2 months in advance and it’s 10 months away. Should go ahead and buy today or should I wait a few more months to see if fares drop? A few days ago the price was $804 and one of the flights I was looking at has now gone up to $929. I realize no one has a "crystal ball" but any of you that do a lot of traveling, I'd appreciate your opinion about the price. Thanks. Liz

USD is currently strong and oil (Jet fuel) reasonably low. If the price fits your budget; go for it. Impossible to forecast, but that doesn’t feel like an especially high price.

 

[trecile]

Sounds like a good price to me. Book it, and don't look back.

 

[Grousedoctor]

I’ve been watching fares as well. What you have found is in keeping with what I’m finding. I, too, would book these fares now.

 

[J Willhaus]

I will be doing the last leg of the Portuguese Camino this Oct and my dates are fixed. It turns out that currently British Airlines is having their boxing day "sale" thru Jan 31 and American Airlines copies them. I can currently get a multi-city flight from Abq to Porto in Oct with a return from Lisbon to Abq in Nov for $654 rt - once I bump this up to include a changeable fare (but not refundable) with seats it comes out to $829. I'm thinking this is a reasonable price? General advice is to book international flights 8 to 2 months in advance and its 10 months away. Should go ahead and buy today or should I wait a few more months to see if fares drop? A few days ago the price was $804 and one of the flights I was looking at has now gone up to $929. I realize no one has a "crystal ball" but any of you that do a lot of traveling, I'd appreciate your opinion about the price. Thanks. Liz

Hi @Lizbird58,
We paid far more than that for our tickets for our upcoming tickets this year. Those are more like "last year" prices so I would go for it if you can get the seats you want!
Janet

 

[Marbe2]

What are your dates?

Don’t be concerned too much with the price of a flight a few days ago. The prices change daily accordingto seat availability and seats released and other airlines pricing on that route.

The real question is, are you comfortable with the fare, and the route/stops you will be making? I often find when folks book 10 months out, routes change. You may be satisfied with the price, but later, not the eventual routing. It is, of course, your decision. Normally, I wouldn’t make-reservations that far out…but that is just me.

 

[Lizbird58]

What are your dates?

Don’t be concerned too much with the price of a flight a few days ago. The prices change daily accordingto seat availability and seats released and other airlines pricing on that route.

The real question is, are you comfortable with the fare, and the route/stops you will be making? I often find when folks book 10 months out, routes change. You may be satisfied with the price, but later, not the eventual routing. It is, of course, your decision. Normally, I wouldn’t make-reservations that far out…but that is just me.

dates are departure: Oct 23, 23 Abq to Opo return Nov 10, 23 Lis to Abq

Thank you to all who replied - I think I will go ahead and book, but going to call first to clarify changeability.

 

[Lizbird58]

Turns out the AA flight is actually on Iberia - makes me a bit more hesitant to book this far ahead. I think I will continue to monitor fares and book down the road. Again, thanks to all who replied.

 

[trecile]

I would check what prices are like for flights departing in the next 2-3 months. That will give you a better idea if the flights that you are looking at are a great deal or normal prices for that itinerary.

 

[henrythedog]

Turns out the AA flight is actually on Iberia - makes me a bit more hesitant to book this far ahead. I think I will continue to monitor fares and book down the road. Again, thanks to all who replied.

I’ve flown transatlantic with both, although many years ago. Of the two I’d prefer Iberia.

 

[C clearly]

We all have different tolerances for different risks. Some have more money but less time, some have fixed dates that must be adhered to while others can adjust right up to the last minute. For some, $200 is really important but for others it isn't. Some care about having a date to mark on the calendar now, whereas others are fine just knowing that they'll find a date in the desired season next year.

In any case, those prices seem reasonable to me. But economy flight prices always seem reasonable to me. In equivalent costs (income compared to price), they are SOOO much cheaper than they were in my youth, that I am amazed.

Turns out the AA flight is actually on Iberia - makes me a bit more hesitant to book this far ahead.

I'm not sure why this causes concern. Many flight combinations are done with partner airlines. The flight likely has both an AA flight number and an Iberia flight number. It appears to me that American and Iberia are such partners, so you can buy a single ticket that covers all segments - if your first flight is delayed and you miss your next, the partner airline will give you a seat on the next available flight.

All that said, I don't think you need to rush, unless you get a totally flexible/refundable ticket.

 

[Marbe2]

When others compare pricing, what you may not know is what someone else’s dates are, how many stops their flight is making, their layover time, and how long their overall flight actually is? So comparing fares , others think are reasonable, has limitations unless the only thing you care about is price.
Also given American airlines number of flight changes these past couple of years, I wouldn’t trust their flight schedule 10 months out.

I usually don’t fly Iberia because I can almost never get customer service from the USA on the phone!
If one can’t reach them,what happens if you have an emergency.

 

[Lizbird58]

Nothing against Iberia - I have never flown them. Just thinking that in case of a change, it will be more difficult since AA would be in "charge" of the flight and changes have to go through them. Even trickier if I pay through Chase using some of my CC points.

 

[El Cascayal]

The flight likely has both an AA flight number and an Iberia flight number. It appears to me that American and Iberia are such partners, so you can buy a single ticket that covers all segments - if your first flight is delayed and you miss your next, the partner airline will give you a seat on the next available flight.

I have frequent flyer miles on American. They are One World partners with Iberia. When I book with American I am able to choose a seat without additional payment. If it is an Iberia flight booked through American, one must get the seat assignment through Iberia (with a different flight number than the partner AA flight number) and pay an additional fee. Otherwise you get assigned a seat at the airport, usually a middle seat. Whenever something untoward has happened on my Iberia flights booked through American, you wind up stressed out to the last possible second and in last place. Not worth the price of admission IMO.

 

[Former member 102963]

It’s a good fare Liz so I would jump on it. Longhaul fares don’t go down as much as people think, so I wouldn’t hang around.

This weekend wil be a big booking weekend for travel (especially Sunday), one of the busiest of the year, maybe only second to last weekend, so availability at the lower fares may reduce. Airlines are likely be selling more of their available capacity in USA given value of USD bs EUR so I think that maybe why a good fare offer.

Also a significant part of the fare (over 50%) will be taxes fees and surcharges which are fixed.

Remember that though changeable, you have to pay any difference in fare level and that will likely to higher the closer you get to departure.

Iberia are a very good airline. Of the OneWorld group have a lot of flights to South America whereas BA and AA do more North Atlantic, so are maybe less known in USA. Which is the transatlantic sector? DFW to MAD? ORD to MAD?

 

[Former member 92300]

Sounds in line from all my research for flights this coming summer. I am flying multi-stop from Tucson to London and then returning Geneva to Tucson for $1400 (one ticket). That is with the ability to change flights but non-refundable. No flight changes would have been around $1150.

 

[John Hawke]

Turns out the AA flight is actually on Iberia - makes me a bit more hesitant to book this far ahead. I think I will continue to monitor fares and book down the road. Again, thanks to all who replied.

Iberia has a unique feature in that you can bid on an upgrade and maybe get a real deal!

 

[motero99]

At the beginning of this week I priced tickets for early May with a return in late June from Milwaukee or Chicago to Lisbon and a ticket from the dame Milwaukke/Chicago to Lisbon with return from Madrid. They were in the $1300 to $1500 range. There was a note on Google Flights that said the pricing was very high. Am starting to rethink the Camino for this year, but will continue to watch flights.

 

[Lizbird58]

Ok, I didn't book yesterday - and guess what - Today Delta, United and KLM have all dropped their rates. Travellingman 22 says this will be a big booking weekend - Im going to keep "poking" around to see who offers the best times and rates. Admittedly, I have more time than cents or sense

 

[Kathy F.]

The Alb - Porto - Lisbon - Alb fare sounds like a good deal to me. I'd have no problem flying Iberia - they are all part of the same system and have the same oversights.
Book it, then forget about it - don't make yourself crazy checking to see if you should have waited for a cheaper flight. Your peace of mind is worth it.

 

[Kathy F.]

At the beginning of this week I priced tickets for early May with a return in late June from Milwaukee or Chicago to Lisbon and a ticket from the dame Milwaukke/Chicago to Lisbon with return from Madrid. They were in the $1300 to $1500 range. There was a note on Google Flights that said the pricing was very high. Am starting to rethink the Camino for this year, but will continue to watch flights.

Yes, that sounds/feels like alot of money!
Have you considered flying into a major city in Europe, then flying Ryan Air to Portugal/Spain? Ryan's flights are limited but cheap.

 

[wynrich]

That sounds like an excellent price. A couple of weeks ago we booked AA flight to A Coruna in April and it cost nearly twice that. From ABQ. Do you mean Albuquerque? That's where we are flying from as well!

 

[BennyB]

What app are you using to obtain these prices? The airlines or some other?

 

[motero99]

If you are asking me, I use GoogleFlights as a starting point to get a base. Have not gone beyond that. Did check after posting and flights have gone down a $100 or so,

 

[Gringobruce]

I will be doing the last leg of the Portuguese Camino this Oct and my dates are fixed. It turns out that currently British Airlines is having their boxing day "sale" thru Jan 31 and American Airlines copies them. I can currently get a multi-city flight from Abq to Porto in Oct with a return from Lisbon to Abq in Nov for $654 rt - once I bump this up to include a changeable fare (but not refundable) with seats it comes out to $829. I'm thinking this is a reasonable price? General advice is to book international flights 8 to 2 months in advance and its 10 months away. Should go ahead and buy today or should I wait a few more months to see if fares drop? A few days ago the price was $804 and one of the flights I was looking at has now gone up to $929. I realize no one has a "crystal ball" but any of you that do a lot of traveling, I'd appreciate your opinion about the price. Thanks. Liz

A flight from LAX to Lisbon via Paris in March on Air France is $819 That's as good as it gets Including seats and luggage (not doing checked luggage)

 

[BennyB]

Will TSA allow trek poles as carry on? Something tells me I’ll need to check those. What do you do?

 

[Gringobruce]

Will TSA allow trek poles as carry on? Something tells me I’ll need to check those. What do you do?

Absolutely not Buy a pair on the way or stow your baggage same with a knife
A little research will always answer your questions. Each Airlines has a list of no no's Some people dump Poles on the way home Better to buy upon arrival than have your bag lost in transit

 

[Former member 102963]

That sounds like an excellent price. A couple of weeks ago we booked AA flight to A Coruna in April and it cost nearly twice that. From ABQ. Do you mean Albuquerque? That's where we are flying from as well!

It’s is an excellent price! I did a fare quote on the dates/product and the actual ‘fare’ is $375 and that is subject to change but the rest ($450) is Taxes, Fees and Surcharges which is unlikely to change as significantly governed by third parties.

 

[Former member 102963]

A flight from LAX to Lisbon via Paris in March on Air France is $819 That's as good as it gets Including seats and luggage (not doing checked luggage)

Great price!

 

[Former member 102963]

The Alb - Porto - Lisbon - Alb fare sounds like a good deal to me. I'd have no problem flying Iberia - they are all part of the same system and have the same oversights.
Book it, then forget about it - don't make yourself crazy checking to see if you should have waited for a cheaper flight. Your peace of mind is worth it.

Iberia is a very good airline and Madrid is a very good airport assuming the OP is travelling transatlantic DFW to MAD or ORD to MAD.

 

[Anniesantiago]

Sounds like a good price to me!
Heck, I paid $800 round trip to Lisbon back in the 1990s.

 

[Former member 102963]

Yes, that sounds/feels like alot of money!
Have you considered flying into a major city in Europe, then flying Ryan Air to Portugal/Spain? Ryan's flights are limited but cheap.

Always a good approach. On an app such as skyscanner you can search from your preferred departure airport (s) to ‘everywhere’ and it will brings up the lowest fares by destination country. Say Italy is lowest, click on that and it will show lowest route. Say it’s Milan… then check if an airline such as Ryanair has a flight into your final destination. Just play around with the app. All the usual caveats about travelling on separate tickets.

 

[trecile]

Will TSA allow trek poles as carry on? Something tells me I’ll need to check those. What do you do?

The answer is maybe. It's at the discretion of the TSA agent that day.

In order to keep this from becoming a "poles on planes" thread I refer you to this comprehensive thread:

https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/am-i-allowed-to-carry-hiking-poles-walking-sticks-into-the-airplane-cabin-with-me.73727/

If you want more you can read the threads tagged "poles" here:

https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/tags/poles/

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

A flight from LAX to Lisbon via Paris in March on Air France is $819 That's as good as it gets Including seats and luggage (not doing checked luggage)

The cheapest flight from LAX to Lisbon via Barcelona in March on Level Airlines (flylevel.com) is $309 US. Based on previous flights I've taken that includes tax and carry on luggage only. You may need to bring your own food.

 

[Lizbird58]

That sounds like an excellent price. A couple of weeks ago we booked AA flight to A Coruna in April and it cost nearly twice that. From ABQ. Do you mean Albuquerque? That's where we are flying from as well!

Yes flying in from Albuquerque! Last year I flew to the UK and it cost me $1100 RT in Nov. I think the fare is fair!

 

[Lizbird58]

What app are you using to obtain these prices? The airlines or some other?

Benny - I typically check fares on Orbitz. If there is a fare/airline I find that I really like, I cross check it with the airline itself. Sometimes the fares you get on Orbit/Kayak/etc. wont be available directly with the airline, sometimes its much cheaper. Always best to compare if you have the time and inclination. I tried a new site called Hopper, but ironically it was $500 more - so I deleted the app. I'll have to check out sky scanner.

 

[dbier]

Apropos of very little, but Tap Portugal has good schedules from eastern US to Madrid through Lisbon or Porto, and they allow you up to a 72 hour layover in either city for no additional airfare. Very pleasant economy flight back from Madrid to the US July 2021. And they didn't cancel part of their itinerary like both British Airways and Iberia did to me.

 

[Lizbird58]

Apropos of very little, but Tap Portugal has good schedules from eastern US to Madrid through Lisbon or Porto, and they allow you up to a 72 hour layover in either city for no additional airfare. Very pleasant economy flight back from Madrid to the US July 2021. And they didn't cancel part of their itinerary like both British Airways and Iberia did to me.

I just checked Tap and sadly they dont fly out of ABQ. Previously read they have one of the best safety records - if anyone else is considering them.

 

[trecile]

That sounds like an excellent price. A couple of weeks ago we booked AA flight to A Coruna in April and it cost nearly twice that. From ABQ. Do you mean Albuquerque? That's where we are flying from as well!

It's almost always more expensive yo fly in/out of the smaller airports.

 

[deano5]

I have frequent flyer miles on American. They are One World partners with Iberia. When I book with American I am able to choose a seat without additional payment. If it is an Iberia flight booked through American, one must get the seat assignment through Iberia (with a different flight number than the partner AA flight number) and pay an additional fee. Otherwise you get assigned a seat at the airport, usually a middle seat. Whenever something untoward has happened on my Iberia flights booked through American, you wind up stressed out to the last possible second and in last place. Not worth the price of admission IMO.

Love my iberian flights So far. But it is an individual experience.

 

[Jim]

Nothing against Iberia - I have never flown them. Just thinking that in case of a change, it will be more difficult since AA would be in "charge" of the flight and changes have to go through them. Even trickier if I pay through Chase using some of my CC points.

I use AA and Iberia all the time. If you book through AA and changes occur, I would suggest calling AA to see what they can do. An example that happened about 4 to 5 years when my sister accompanied me during the first 3 weeks of my trip, before I started my camino hike. I booked the flights through AA on an Air Tahiti Nui, LAX to CDG Paris, using freq fly miles. My sister booked separately on AA flights, LAX - DFW, then DFW - CDG. Her flight were changed so that she's have to wait an unacceptable amount of hours for my flight to arrive -- she speaks no French; 1st trip overseas, etc. I called AA in her behalf and on explaining the situation, they decided to put her on the nonstop with their partner, Air Tahiti Nui, my flight, with no extra charge. This is not unusual. I have had 2 dozen flights to Europe over the years with numerous changes. Flight times are prone to being rearranged up to about two months prior to departure. With most of these, one can roll with the punches. And up to the moment of departure, there are any number of reasons for delays, needs to rebook connecting flights etc. due to unforeseen circumstances. With possible exception of this year's Christmas flights, I would say that given the number of passengers taking to the skies, I'm amazed at how often the airlines get it right (especially since so much is beyond their direct control)!

 

[hikentravel1234]

I will be doing the last leg of the Portuguese Camino this Oct and my dates are fixed. It turns out that currently British Airlines is having their boxing day "sale" thru Jan 31 and American Airlines copies them. I can currently get a multi-city flight from Abq to Porto in Oct with a return from Lisbon to Abq in Nov for $654 rt - once I bump this up to include a changeable fare (but not refundable) with seats it comes out to $829. I'm thinking this is a reasonable price? General advice is to book international flights 8 to 2 months in advance and its 10 months away. Should go ahead and buy today or should I wait a few more months to see if fares drop? A few days ago the price was $804 and one of the flights I was looking at has now gone up to $929. I realize no one has a "crystal ball" but any of you that do a lot of traveling, I'd appreciate your opinion about the price. Thanks. Liz

I would jump on that price but realize the flights will change--but if you aren't too worried about some changes then I would go for it, esp as you are traveling from Abq, which ever airline you choose, be sure to join their frequent flier program. This will help prevent you from being bumped off (non loyalty club members get bumped first if a plane is overbooked,etc)

 

[Tamarack]

Lizbird58, those are excellent fares! I paid about that for each way for my 2021 Camino Frances (I flew from Billings, MT, to Paris, and back from Madrid). I've booked a $871 roundtrip from Billings, MT, to London for this spring as a placeholder because I didn't want to miss out on these great fares. I can see family and friends and get to Portugal for a camino with little trouble.

 

[Lizbird58]

Thanks to all who replied. I went ahead and booked the changeable airfare with AA. If down the road the price drops, AA will issue a credit, but I think the $829 on the dates, with times I like -no 4:00 am flights is a fair price, even if they adjust the schedule. Bueno Camino!

 

[Jamieb]

That seems like a great fare. Last week I purchased RT with AA from Dallas to Lisbon for travel in May/June for $1700 - I have been looking for weeks with not much luck with price drops and just needed to get it purchased so I can move forward with planning my itinerary. Hated paying that price but like someone else said - it's purchased and now I am not looking back.

 

[Former member 102963]

Thanks to all who replied. I went ahead and booked the changeable airfare with AA. If down the road the price drops, AA will issue a credit, but I think the $829 on the dates, with times I like -no 4:00 am flights is a fair price, even if they adjust the schedule. Bueno Camino!

Good move! You won’t regret it!

 

[Lizbird58]

UPDATE: I still have 5 months to go b4 my my trip, but I did want to share that the flight I booked almost 10 months in advance has already had 2 schedule changes. I had been cautioned about this, but based on the excellent price, I decided to go ahead and book. While I'm glad I booked to secure the lower price (rates are now $500 more for my dates/main cabin), the most recent schedule change involves a 24 hour layover so I'm working with the travel agent to figure out what they can do. IF you book really early, be aware that you will most likely be rescheduled at least once or multiple times according to the convenience of the airlines. My travel agent, says its very likely I will be rescheduled again. Bueno Camino!

 

[J Willhaus]

UPDATE: I still have 5 months to go b4 my my trip, but I did want to share that the flight I booked almost 10 months in advance has already had 2 schedule changes. I had been cautioned about this, but based on the excellent price, I decided to go ahead and book. While I'm glad I booked to secure the lower price (rates are now $500 more for my dates/main cabin), the most recent schedule change involves a 24 hour layover so I'm working with the travel agent to figure out what they can do. IF you book really early, be aware that you will most likely be rescheduled at least once or multiple times according to the convenience of the airlines. My travel agent, says its very likely I will be rescheduled again. Bueno Camino!

Yes, we routinely book pretty early, but our flight arrangements are often changed by the airlines to include cancellations, etc. We live where there's no option for direct flights and usually have 3 legs...