Would you buy these USA flights?

[pinotnow]

Dc and I are planning a USA trip next summer. We are still planning our itinerary but will start in NYC then get the train to Washington and then potentially hire a car for a small roadtrip taking in coast and /or mountains before driving back to Washington to fly home. I know Washington will be very hot and humid but there are few places that will suit both Dc and that's one of them. We can only go in the summer due to my work and both Dc having exams next year.

Obviously I'll be booking it all separately, which I'm fine with. I've just seen flights to NYC which would £800. Doesn't get much cheaper I don't think? But it makes me a bit anxious to have one element booked so long before the rest. Would you go for it?

So long as you have travel insurance in place before you book the flights, yes I would.
I've always booked flights before anything else.

Do you mean the train to Washington or Washington DC?

Virgin are having a sale on usa flights at the minimum if that helps. Not sure if it would work for next summer.

You don't need to book separately unless it is massively cheaper.

We did into Newark train to DC and then home from DC with BA on one return ticket. Also done into Vegas out of San Francisco on BA.

You pay a return and the fare is a combo open jaw one. Often its not any more expensive than a standard return.

Flights are at their cheapest 11 months before. So is your return date 11 months away? If more than that you may not be getting all flight options shown and it could be better to wait. £800 (with luggage?) might be ok but there also may be cheaper options if you hold on.

And no issues with booking separately. You may have to tweak dates/times/destinations but at least you have secured your means of getting to the US.

Think there’s a BA sale on right now?
We’ve found their flight+hotel deals very good value in the past.

Is it the ‘adventure’ of the train between NY and WDC that grabs you?

I had looked at the before ( for two adults ) but found it slow and expensive.

We stayed north of DuPont Circle when in WDC close to the zoo. Nice area and the Circle has lots of places to eat and is on the Metro line.

Don’t book 1 way flights, it’s always more expensive and usually by a lot more because the airlines will make you book a fully flex fare. You can do it open jaw so London->NY / DC->London on one ticket and it’ll be much cheaper.

Washington DC is a fantastic place for DC - so much to see / do (a lot of it free!)
Some v dodgy areas though that you can easily walk into (ie from block to block)

We went in summer with DC (14) and made sure some things we did first thing in the morning- Arlington cemetery for example

Def book a ticket into NYC and out of Washington DC, will be cheaper. We have done the train between the 2 - from DC to NYC was lovely! Just booked via Amtrak direct. V easy as you would expect!

Sorry ignore everything I had said. Completely misread your original post.

Yes, it's DC - sorry, should have specified.

We don't see the train as an adventure as such, bu the two cities are where the dc want to go and I believe train would be the best way of getting between them. I think some people on here recommended it!

Price did include bags - initial price began with a 6 but I realised that didn't include proper luggage.

I'm looking at budget European carriers and don't think BA or Virgin etc will be cheaper, even in their sales. I think for a 6.5 hour flight we can slum it a bit!

The train is good. It took us about 3 or so hours and cost $80 all in for our family of 4. Booked on the Amtrack website. The fast trains are about 3x the price. We were happy for the rest after 5 days in NYC!

I just had a look on Google flights - couldn't see August but July next year was about £550 into JFK out of Dulles on BA.

@pinotnow I think you have two massive cities and you will be rushing to see the best of them. We actually flew to Philadelphia and explored the great museums there and the war of independence history. Then the train to Washington isn’t that far, Stsy around The Mall area. Nothing dodgy there. You can then go inland and explore the Blue Ridge mountains. Absolutely beautiful. We went as far south as Raleigh Durham airport and got a flight back to Philadelphia. It’s a historic area and lovely,, eg Williamsburg.