AA/Oneworld join fare war $510-$625 LAX to Germany/Switzerland

American Airlines and Oneworld Alliance were quicker than average in dropping their fares from Los Angeles LAX to Germany and Switzerland this morning following the lead of Delta Airlines/SkyTeam response to a major Europe wide fare drop to the $500s and low $600s with United/Star Alliance today for travel from late October to mid-December on most routes. Some routes like Berlin and Dusseldorf have fares in the high $500s for August and September travel too.

Star Alliance started a fare war today by posting low fares in the mid-$500s to low $600s to cities in 10 different countries in Europe, including Germany and Switzerland.

Loyalty Traveler 

• Fare War Brewing? United/Star $495-$622 Los Angeles to 10 European countries
• Fare War Delta/SkyTeam $557-$598 Los Angeles to Germany/Switzerland 9 cities Oct-Dec; $50 more Aug-Oct

Delta/SkyTeam responded with their own low fares to many cities across Germany and Switzerland. SkyTeam fares were not dropped for their own hub countries to match United low fares to France or Italy.

In the past two hours American/Oneworld Alliance dropped fares to Germany and Switzerland, but no movement yet to match $600 fares from United to Barcelona and Madrid. I still think this fare war will spread, but that is truly unpredictable given the way airline fare pricing works to keep the consumer confused and guessing when fares are lowest. We have seen lower fares in the past couple months, but this is a good sale for Germany and Switzerland to lock in low fares for fall travel or even late summer travel. You can fly Los Angeles to Dusseldorf for $596 round trip in August.

Google Flights Fare Map Los Angeles LAX – Germany filtered for Oneworld Alliance Nov 8-15

Germany

$584 – $602 Berlin TXL Oct 25 – Dec 12; $638 – $652 Aug 23 – Oct 24

$572 – $580 Cologne CGN Oct 25 – Dec 7; $617 – $651 Aug 23 – Oct 24 AA/Air berlin

$624 – $657 Dresden DRS Oct 25 – Dec 13; $682 – $692 on couple dates Aug-Sep. AA/Air berlin

$592 – $627 Dusseldorf Aug 24 – Dec 9 AA/Air berlin

$602 – $627 Hanover HAJ Oct 25 – Dec 13 most dates; $652-$677 Aug 22 – Oct 24 AA/British Airways one-stop via London LHR

$642 Munich MUC August 23 – Oct 24

$624 – $669 Nuremburg NUE Nov-Dec only a few dates, but available Thanksgiving week.

Switzerland

$550 – $575 Basel BSL Oct 25 – Dec 12; $650 Aug 23 – Oct 24

$510 – $542 Zurich ZRH Oct 25 – Dec 12; $610 – $635 Aug 22 – Oct 24 (Note: all the $510 fares I saw involved a 6-12 hour layover at JFK).

American Airlines  Los Angeles LAX – Chicago ORD – Dusseldorf DUS (Air berlin) – Chicago ORD (Air Berlin) – Los Angeles LAX

$596.26 round trip Wed August 24 – Thu Sep 1 (summer trip)

American Airlines  Los Angeles LAX – London LHR – Berlin TXL – London LHR – Los Angeles LAX

$601.46 round trip Sun Nov 20 – Mon Nov 28 Thanksgiving Week

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