Flight Prices from the UK?

[ChrisLyne]

Hi everyone

I've been to Florida several times but never been to visit the original in California due to the higher cost coming from the UK. Well with D23 next year my wife and I have decided to rectify that!

But now I feel like I'm back at the beginning with no idea how to plan!

Can anyone advise me what type of flight prices I should be looking at for Manchester or London to LAX next July?

I've just looked at this year's prices and the lowest (indirect, 21 hours+ transit) looks to be around £745pp with direct £800pp upwards. Is that normal or just because I'm looking at this summer's flights so there's no bargain prices anymore? Looking in October I'm seeing flights for £450pp direct, can deals like that be had in July if I book far enough in advance?

Thanks!

 

[Angrose]

My husband is from London so we go back there to visit his family every year. We fly from San Francisco to London. Let me tell you, it's not cheap. The past few summers we've paid $1,600 per person each way. But, DH just booked his flight a few days ago and got a fantastic deal, $1,150 on Virgin for the last two weeks of July. That is REALLY good. The problem right now is the pound sterling is really weak against the dollar so the prices look great for us, but when converting to pounds it's awful!
I would start watching for flights about 4 months out. You don't necessarily need to book too far in advance to get a good deal.

 

[DisneyBelle_x]

The trouble is you're looking at July so prices are going to be higher than most months because the school holidays, I've flown to LA once and Vegas twice and also have another trip booked this year flying into LA and haven't paid over £500 but i've always flown out of school holidays.
You may get cheaper than you're finding now, keep an eye out for flight sales, keep checking Sky scanner but I would probably budget about £750 due to time you want to go and LA is generally more expensive to fly to than Orlando

 

[The_Banking_Scot]

Hi,
I would also consider flying from Dublin as sometimes there are very good deals especially in business. A few months ago there was a Business class sale from Dublin to LAX for around £1000 return ( which is very good especially compared to economy) . You do have to allow the time to get to Dublin and connect but sometimes the savings can be substantial.

 

[finchy3]

We are going this August and payed £540 rtn going from London Gatwick via Calgary to LAX, with WestJet.
A great price for the time of year.

 

[wench]

If I were you, I'd reach out to the Disney Dream Girls for advice. They live in England & are huge Disney fans with their own Disney podcast. Michelle in particular has been to Disneyland a bunch in the past couple of years. You can easily find the website, Facebook & contact info with a quick web search.

And trust me, it'll be so worth the trip to visit the original. Disneyland is Amazing!!!

 

[BadPinkTink]

@ChrisLyne
I go to Disneyland California every year, Im from Ireland but used to live in London. I go in June every year and usually start checking www.skyscanner.com around Christmas time and usually book my flights by the end of January. A lot of airlines have deals on in January. Price wise, I pay around £600 for Economy, £800 for Premium Economy, depending on the airline.

I have gone to California both direct and indirect. The cheapest route is indirect with Air Canada, London Heathrow to Vancouver, Vancouver to LAX.

The more stop overs the cheaper the route. On year I did Edinburgh Amsterdam, Amsterdam to Memphis, Memphis LAX. Now that was a really drawn out way but it was all I could afford at the time.

I have also flown Dublin to Heathrow Aer Lingus Heathrow to LAX with BA. I did this in Economy and it was very doable, alot better than the Air Canada route.

My absolute favourite though is Dublin to Heathrow Aer Lingus, Heathrow to LAX Virgin Atlantic Premium Economy.

There are now two airlines flying direct from Dublin to LAX.
Ethiopian Airlines started their service last year, 2015. I flew with them last year and it was great to have a direct flight with no stop overs. The only thing with this route is that Ethiopian Airlines fly from Terminal 1 in Dublin, so you dont get the USA pre-clearance.

This year 2016, Aer Lingus have brought back their direct service from Dublin to LAX. I am booked on this flight in June. As they fly from Terminal 2, I will get the USA pre-clearance. This mean that before I get on the plane I will go through USA Homelands Security, get the fingerprint and eye scan and get the stamp on my passport. Then when I land in LAX I just go straight to bag claim.

Just a note if you do travel to Dublin and fly with either Air Lingus or Ethiopian Airlines. Be careful with your luggage. Some UK Aer Lingus routes use 40 seater propeller planes, which have a smaller cabin bag weight allowance. If you book Aer Lingus straight through from your UK airport to LAX, you can transfer internally and your bags will go direct to LAX.

If you book Ryanair, again your cabin bag allowance AND your checked bag allowance is lower than transatlantic. If you book Ryanir, you will have to collect your bags and then check separately in for your transatlantic flight.

 

[ChrisLyne]

Thanks everyone, really appreciate it! I'll definitely check out flights via Dublin and ask the Disney Dream Girls for their advice.