Look at any USA alliance hub airport and there are likely some discount fares to Europe for fall travel today. These are typical discount off-season airfares in $500s and $600s, not extraordinarily low fares, but lower than average for any given day.
My rule of thumb for Europe discount prices is when the round trip fare from California to any place in Europe drops under $700 round trip, then that is a sale fare. Today’s sale is not that big for California yet, but there are good deals from many hub airports around the USA that are not as frequently discounted. Places like Salt Lake City SLC, Minneapolis MSP, Detroit DTW, Atlanta ATL, Charlotte CLT and others.
[Update: 9:50am Pacific] I noticed when researching fares to Dublin that secondary airports like Orange County SNA and Oakland OAK have lower fares than Los Angeles LAX and San Francisco SFO on many dates. That may be due in part to the fact that September and October are peak season for California and flights to LAX and SFO are reserved for higher fare classes.
This is a story that I’ll develop through the day as I analyze deals. This is my first look at the low fares available today from airports across the USA to airports across Europe.
Chicago – Barcelona Oct 19 – Nov 8
- $696 American
- $696 Air Canada
- $697 United
- $712 Delta
Atlanta – Barcelona Sep 5-15
- $634 Delta
- $645 American
- $648 United
Chicago – Lisbon Sep 5-15
- Air Canada $666
- United $667
- Iberia $677
- Swiss $681
- American $696
- Air France $706
Minneapolis – Lisbon Sep 5-15
- Air Canada $666
- United $667
- American $674 (Sep 11-21)
- Air France $706
New York JFK – Rome FCO Oct 19 – Nov 8
- American $625
- Alitalia $627
- United $637 (Oct 16-31 from EWR)
- Delta $655 (Oct 16-31 from EWR)
Salt Lake City – Dublin Aug 24-Sep 1
- Air Canada $613
- United $614
- American $629
- Delta $629
Washington (IAD/DCA/BWI) – Paris CDG Nov 15-21
- Air France $653
- United $668
- American $672
San Francisco – Istanbul Dec 6-14
- Air Canada $555
- Lufthansa $571
- KLM $588
- Air France $593
Houston IAH – Paris CDG October 2-12
- Air France $688
- Delta $692
- Air Canada $693
- United $694
- American $696
These fares are typical of fall travel fares. The difference is this is a widespread sale from most United, Delta and American hubs in the USA with low fares to dozens of cities in Europe for late summer and fall travel.
A similar fare war happened two weeks ago and one happened in April. These discount fares usually last for two or three days. The tough part is knowing when to click the payment button and lock in a fare. Tomorrow could see deeper discounts or tomorrow fares may rise again to $1,000 round trip for the next several weeks.
First thing I did when I saw these low fares is see if I could find a cheap ticket during Thanksgiving week. I did not have much luck finding low fares from California to Europe that holiday week. That is why I prefer sales for tickets starting in Europe since these usually allow travel during Thanksgiving and sometimes even December holidays. I purchased a Salzburg to LAX round trip ticket yesterday for $493 that meets my travel needs.
When I see Barcelona, Madrid, Rome and many other places drop below $700 round trip, then it looks like a good fare sale USA to Europe. It looks to me like a major fare sale to Europe has launched from across the USA to many countries for fall travel. I’ll update as I learn more details and find good deals.
Other Loyalty Traveler articles related to today’s fare sale
British Airways $1,235 Business Class San Francisco to Rome AARP discount fare Aug-Mar 2017
Fare alert–California regional airports low late August Europe fares
Europe fares from Houston reveal extent of fare sale today (May 31).
Dublin on sale $526-$629 from across USA in all alliances Aug to Mar 2017 (May 31).
Fare Alert Chicago to Amsterdam $514 LOT round trip Oct-Jan (May 31).
Fall fare sale USA to Europe launched today (May 31).
Fare war day 3 Germany and Austria to USA round trip fares in $400s (May 31).
Nested tickets to Europe for two trips at lower price (May 31).
Loyalty Traveler curated Airfare Deals and Google Flights and Kayak Explore tutorials.
Loyalty Traveler – Hotel Promotions Guide May 2016.
