I am trying to plan a trip to England and I am shocked by the outrageous prices being asked. I have to be there from June 29th to July 5th, and the minimum price being asked for any trip with those dates +/- 3 days shown on Orbitz, flying DTW to LHR, is about $1700; the maximum is more than $3000! For an economy-class ticket! Similar prices hold from Chicago, New York, and Boston, and there are no other airports in Britain that are at all convenient. I have flown to England and to Europe many times before and never had to pay more than about $1300, frequently less.
What is the cause of this tremendous inflation (is something going on in England that week)? Can I expect things to get better or worse in the near future if I wait to buy a ticket?