US Flights to Dublin, Ireland $300s-$400s

photo: pixabay

UPDATE: the fare seems to be gone now – but keep checking throughout the day as it was disappearing and reappearing all morning.

I often fly on super cheap flights to …. well…. anywhere when there is flexibility in where and/or when I am willing to travel. Those times, I let the deal choose the destination rather than vice-versa.

However, when I need to go to a specific place on specific dates, the task is much more daunting, and I often cannot find those bargain airfares that I long for. One key is to start tracking and checking the flights early on rather than waiting until the last minute (I know many swear by last minute bookings, but they somehow never work in my favor).

I am attending TBEX (Travel Bloggers Exchange) Conference in Killarney, Ireland in October, so I’ve been methodically checking the price for flights. For months, I’ve had the Flight Deal holding my hand and telling me not to book yet. Its still early, they kept telling me each time my fingers got itchy and I wanted to book flights in the mid $600 range.

Today, there is a sale on flights to Dublin on both Sky Team and One World Alliance airlines. For the dates I’m traveling, I see that Delta/KLM is $338 RT (add a few bucks for main cabin).

Here’s a sample from Google Flights.

I opted for OneWorld/American Airlines flights because I have Platinum AA status, and because I have Thank You Points (and until July 23, 2017, you can redeem 1.6 Thank You points per $1 for AA flights).

The flights on the dates and times I wanted came to $443 (about $200 less than the price last week).

I booked using Thank You points.

It cost only 27,000  Thank You points – the exact amount I had in my account.

The flights costs me NOTHING out of pocket. How’s that for LUCK?

I’ve been to Ireland twice, and I’m looking forward to the third trip!

Now all I need to do is book the short flight from Dublin to County Kerry. I’ll either book directly with Aer Lingus, or use British Airways Avios.

I will keep an eye on the price today in case there is a further price drop, because nearly all tickets, even non-refundable tickets, can be cancelled during the first 24 hours.

SCORE!