Man - New York

[nick b]

Hi all,
I am planning a trip to New York around October time next year. I know it is a long time away but I was just wondering if anyone knows which bucket shops offer the best prices for direct flights from Man to either JFK or EWR, when would be the best time to book and what kind of fare should I expect to pay.

Thanks in advance

[Globaliser]

When exactly in October? If it's during the half term period, that could make a significant difference in the fare you'll have to pay.

And must you do the trip, or can you hang in there and take it or leave it depending on what fares come up? If you're flexible about whether or not you go, you would have the luxury of waiting to see whether a real bargain turns up, and just staying put if nothing does.

When you book, you will never be guaranteed that you will be booking at the "best" time or get the "best" fare, particularly if you must travel then. As you have this much time before you travel, the best advice for getting the best fare is to price-watch regularly. It may be difficult to score a real bargain with a travel agent - airlines' own websites are often the cheapest source these days - especially as there are so few non-stop flights between MAN and NYC.

There are two BA price points that I would take as a guide to what's good and what's not. The current lowest fare for midweek January travel is £270 including tax. I would regard anything lower than that for October travel as a pretty good buy. The current lowest fare for October travel next year is about double that, and if I were in your shoes I would personally be disappointed if I were to find that I ultimately had to book at that fare because nothing else came up in the interim and it looked like fares were going to rise off that base.

But other than that, this is really a commodity market these days and there's no knowing what is going to happen to fares between now and then.