Summer prices heating up and skyward bound

With ten months left before the new ‘Open Skies’ treaty opens up the airways between London Heathrow and the United States, there are still only four airlines making the rounds. With American, United, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic holding onto their cross-Atlantic monopoly just a little longer, it looks as if prices for flights between America and London are going to soar this summer.

If you book now for a weekend flight between New York’s JFK Airport and London Heathrow, you are looking at paying around £700 for the round trip and the prices just keep going up.

If you cant wait for the great deals to start in the summer of 2008 and you can’t afford the sky-high prices, flights from JFK through hubs in Canada like Toronto and Montreal are around half the price. Even for the summer’s most popular weekend, expedia.com can arrange a flight with Air Canada through Toronto or Montreal for around £475 return.

Alternatively, flying from London Heathrow, flights to Chicago and Los Angeles can be slightly less expensive. And surprisingly, over the summer, the gap between paying for business class and the economy fare is quite slim, making for some great deals of flying first class.  British Airways announced an upcoming sale for almost 50% off business class fares although they haven’t specified when this sale would begin.

www.britishairways.com