Seems a day doesn't go by that I don't get a call saying that the fares to Europe are too high. When I ask how they are flying invariably I hear that they are trying to book from their small home town direct to Tallinn 5 months in advance.
Two things to do differently that will save you money. Book later this spring since airlines don't yet know how many seats they will have in inventory in early July so there's no incentive for them to discount this far out. Secondly, If possible, book from a major gateway city in the US to a gateway city in Europe and then take a smaller feeder or discount airline to Tallinn. For example a flight from Florence, SC to Tallinn for July 1 returning July 7 is $1830 if booked today. However if you drive to Charlotte NC( a few hours away) and use http://www.parksleepfly.com to park your car free for up to 2 weeks for only a nights stay (at either end of your trip) and use the free shuttle you can save big $$$ as follows: A round trip flight booked today on http://www.Kayak.com for July 1 from Charlotte to Helsinki is $1113. The airport shuttle in Helsinki to the port is under $10. Then take the 2 hour ferry to Tallinn (40 miles away) for about $40 which gets you to the Tallinn port at edge of the old town and your convention hotel. Flying home from Helsinki would mean repeating the last two steps but your net savings is still about $650.
Better yet, on your way back to the US, take the 4 hour motor coach bus to Riga, Latvia that leaves several times a day (Riga market square above). After a few days in Riga fly home from there or to another European gateway city like Amsterdam, Paris, Berlin etc ($102- 170 one way) and then fly home. Kayak allows you to price multiple destinations such as flying into one city and home from another and its usually its about the same cost. Next weeks blog is on when to book and tips on other discount internal European flight aggregater sites.
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