Hello,

I'm currently living in Zurich, and planning to travel to San Francisco some time this Summer (flexible dates). Does anyone have experience in buying similar airfare? When is the best time to buy, and how much should I be expecting to spend?

Currently the best fares I can find for this Summer are around $900 round-trip, and I'm wondering how much further they might drop. For example, there are fares of $300 currently for March.

Thanks.

$900 USD sounds about right - where are you seeing $300?

It was through Vayama.com. Though now it is listed as $500, so it changed quickly. Also, it seems there are many transfers for those flights. Shorter flight durations for March look closer to $750.

Thank you for letting me know that $900 is a reasonable price!

Book early - prices soar for school holiday dates! 500 is excellent.

I just booked Zurich - Vegas - Vancouver - Zurich for $900 US which I think is a steal. We've booked summer trips to Canada in the past at 1400 CHF.

If you can get something in high season (other than NYC) for less than $1000 you're laughing.

Try go via Dublin with Aer Lingus - it's sometimes quicker than waiting in immigration at your US destination as their is US State Department customs in Dublin and air fare sales are held often!

JEALOUS, haven't paid less than 1000 CHF to do Zurich-Atlanta-New Orleans-Atlanta-Zurich since 2004.

*investigates websites*

If your travel dates are between 1 April and 1 October, prices aren't likely to go down as time goes on as those are considered peak travel times for vacation. You might get lucky and catch a 'last minute' fare but I wouldn't make any solid plans then.

I found the deal on Kayak and booked through Orbitz.

Thank you all for all your (literally) valuable information. I'm really impressed with this forum!

It looks like I'm going to have to bite the bullet on 3 tickets very soon, if at all!