I'm planning a language trip to France, and have never really planned my own trip before. I don't want to go with a tour group and would much rather do things on my own, my first thing is to look for a decently cheap flight from here or near here to there, does anyone have any advice? I want to plan my trip to France when the French are actually in the country I've read they and many Europeans take holiday when the tourist season comes around, which would defeat the whole purpose of me going for the purpose of learning the language. So does anyone have advice?

Well, flying overseas will never really be "cheap". If I were you, I'd go some time during late spring (May). Summer time will be more expensive for sure. Most of my mothers side of family are French, and I've been there quite a few times. There will always be French people in France, so you shouldn't have a problem with that. I recommend going to Western France (Bretagne). I go to the Nantes (quite a few flights there a day. I usually take a flight into EGW, then to NTE from there) area when I visit, and end up seeing and visiting my family on the west coast in La Baule. If you want, you can just take a trip up the Loire river, and sight see all the chateau's and castles along the river. There's a bunch of little villages and vineyard's along the route, so it's definitely something to do!

cheap flight from here or near here to there,

And where exactly is "here"?? Don't you think this info would be helpful?

I am in the US and made a trip last year to France and flew on Norwegian's 787 - it was relatively "cheap" (in comparison to other offerings). There was a layover in Oslo.

I usually book months in advance and look at mid-week or whenever is the lowest rates at time of booking. As flights fill up price goes up

And where exactly is "here"?? Don't you think this info would be helpful?

I am in the US and made a trip last year to France and flew on Norwegian's 787 - it was relatively "cheap" (in comparison to other offerings). There was a layover in Oslo.

I realize that flying to Europe won't exactly be cheap, but, as cheap as I can get it, the trip I had a couple of years ago to London was about $2k and I'd be fine spending that, but if it can be done I'd do it for less, here is north eastern South Carolina.  I figured here would be a good place for general advice about getting cheaper fares. Also I don't mind one layover, more than that though I'm not gonna do it. I got stuck in Dulles Int for 19 hours and had to cancel the trip one  time...

I'm going from Dallas to France and Spain this winter. My plan was to spend a few days in Paris from Dec 24th to 28th then go to Barcelona, Spain until the 3rd of Jan and return.

 

Upon a lot of searching I was able to find round trip tickets from Dallas to Dublin, Ireland for $750 on Aerlingus. So I bought them and will buy a cheap flight from Dublin to Paris on one of the low cost carriers I found for around $100. I found that I can get a first class train ticket from Paris to Barcelona for $75 and another flight from Barcelona back to Dublin for my return flight home for around $100.

 

So all in all, I should be able to make it from Dallas to Dublin, Dublin to Paris, Paris to Barcelona, Barcelona to Dublin and back home for no more that $1200 US.

 

Not bad since my trips from Dallas to Rio de Janeiro usually cost me around $1400 round trip.

Google Flights is an excellent resource. You can save a particular itinerary and track the changes in its price over time (look every day as some flights can change dramatically from day to day), and then pull the trigger when a price is less expensive than usual.

 

https://www.google.com/flights/

I'm going from Dallas to France and Spain this winter. My plan was to spend a few days in Paris from Dec 24th to 28th then go to Barcelona, Spain until the 3rd of Jan and return.

 

Upon a lot of searching I was able to find round trip tickets from Dallas to Dublin, Ireland for $750 on Aerlingus. So I bought them and will buy a cheap flight from Dublin to Paris on one of the low cost carriers I found for around $100. I found that I can get a first class train ticket from Paris to Barcelona for $75 and another flight from Barcelona back to Dublin for my return flight home for around $100.

 

So all in all, I should be able to make it from Dallas to Dublin, Dublin to Paris, Paris to Barcelona, Barcelona to Dublin and back home for no more that $1200 US.

 

Not bad since my trips from Dallas to Rio de Janeiro usually cost me around $1400 round trip.

Not bad the big Dublin airport is smallish, so there aren't as many flights out of there but you won't be all that far away in case something happens, so how did you do your research? It might be fun to fly into London, and take the chunnel to France... Or some other form of interesting transportation.

So all in all, I should be able to make it from Dallas to Dublin, Dublin to Paris, Paris to Barcelona, Barcelona to Dublin and back home for no more that $1200 US.

 

 

You will also find that Dublin is the only airport in Europe that has US Customs in Dublin before you get on the plane. That way when you land in Dallas you do not have to go through US Customs because you already did in Dublin. Just grab your bags and go and it saves a lot of time.

 

It is an awesome thing but they did Dublin as a trial for Europe but never expanded it. They do the same in some Canadian airports as well.

Not bad the big Dublin airport is smallish, so there aren't as many flights out of there but you won't be all that far away in case something happens, so how did you do your research? It might be fun to fly into London, and take the chunnel to France... Or some other form of interesting transportation.

I did the research using Google flights. When I bought the round trip tickets is was $750 but it's now $900+. Glad I purchased when I did.

You will also find that Dublin is the only airport in Europe that has US Customs in Dublin before you get on the plane. That way when you land in Dallas you do not have to go through US Customs because you already did in Dublin. Just grab your bags and go and it saves a lot of time.

 

It is an awesome thing but they did Dublin as a trial for Europe but never expanded it. They do the same in some Canadian airports as well.

Yeah that was a good idea. I think I could skip it anyway since I have a Global Entry card.

You will also find that Dublin is the only airport in Europe that has US Customs in Dublin before you get on the plane. That way when you land in Dallas you do not have to go through US Customs because you already did in Dublin. Just grab your bags and go and it saves a lot of time.

 

It is an awesome thing but they did Dublin as a trial for Europe but never expanded it. They do the same in some Canadian airports as well.

 

Actually, Shannon, IR too.

February is the cheapest month to book overseas.  The summertime is when flight loads are the heaviest.