Fare War Alert $464 to $575 Oneworld-Star Alliance many Austrian airports to LAX, SFO, ORD, BOS, NYC, MIA June to Dec 2016

The deal is an alliance fare war that started in Germany yesterday has now spread across Austria with low fares available from Vienna, Salzburg, Innsbruck, Graz with Oneworld and Star Alliance airlines. This is a better deal in many ways than the Germany fare war sale today since Austria to Los Angeles or San Francisco round trip airfare is right around $500 and even less. There are low fares to Boston, New York, Chicago and Miami as other airports I noticed with fares in $400s. This is an especially good value fare for California.

Departure dates are widely available for June, late summer and early fall travel.

Let me preface these fares by stating my formal and informal observations of airfare to and from Europe over the past year indicates Austria and Germany are the two places most infrequently on sale. There are few airfare deals from the USA to these countries. Partly due to the fact that Austria and Germany account for more than 20% of all European business and they host lots of conventions due to their central location in Europe.

These are low fares a U.S. resident can use for multiple trips to Europe in 2016, particularly if you are seeking flight miles for status. Fly USA to Austria on miles or low cost airlines and set up two or three trips for 2016 on low fares. These kind of ticket deals make earning elite status with an Alliance international airline based on flight miles inexpensive.

American Airlines Salzburg SZG – Los Angeles LAX $475 round trip

American Airlines Salzburg SZG – London LGW – New York JFK – Los Angeles LAX – London LHR – Dusseldorf DUS – Salzburg SZG

$475 Sun Nov 13 – Sun Nov 27

American Airlines Vienna – Los Angeles LAX $481 round trip

American Airlines Vienna VIE – London LHR – Los Angeles LAX – London LHR – Vienna VIE

$480.76 Sun Sep 11 – Sun Sep 25

British Airways Vienna – San Francisco $524 round trip

Vienna VIE – London LHR – San Francisco SFO – London LHR – Vienna VIE

$524.02  Wed Sep 14 – Sun Sep 25

United Airlines Innsbruck – San Francisco $542 round trip

United Airlines Innsbruck INN – Frankfurt FRA – San Francisco SFO – Munich MUC – Innsbruck INN

$542.26 Sun Nov 13 – Sun Nov 27

My California local’s tip for Europeans: The second half of September and month of October in San Francisco and my home base of Monterey, 110 miles south of SF, are coastal parts of California where the climate hits the perfect balance for our warmest temperatures of the year with far lower probability of fog during the daylight hours. The seasonal winter rains usually have not started yet, the desert has cooled down, Sierra Nevada mountains generally still open before winter snows and coast heats up as fog stays away. This is generally the best time of year to come to San Francisco if you want sun and warm weather. Temperatures rarely climb above 28C along the immediate coast. October is the most likely month temperatures hit 30 C or >85F.

Other Austria Airport Fares to USA Airports

$469 FinnAir (Oneworld) Vienna – New York JFK

$483 Swiss (Star) Vienna – New York JFK

$502 Austrian (Star) Vienna – New York JFK nonstop

$526 Swiss (Star) Vienna – San Francisco (most dates in fall)

$535 Swiss (Star) Vienna – Los Angeles (most dates in fall)

$504 Air Canada (Star) Vienna – San Francisco

$495 Lufthansa (Star) Innsbruck – Chicago

$456 United/Austrian (Star) Vienna – Chicago

$477 Oneworld and Star Alliance Munich to Miami

Fares as of 7am Pacific time Mon May 30. This fare war seems to be expanding based on my observations today.

Loyalty Traveler curated Airfare Deals and Google Flights and Kayak Explore tutorials.

Loyalty Traveler – Hotel Promotions Guide May 2016.