Perhaps all the bad press over the past month about Hungary closing its borders to refugees and constructing a border-long fence to block the flow of refugees into Hungary has reduced tourism.
Budapest is an inexpensive tourist destination normally for US travelers and $664 to $694 round trip fare on United.com flying United and Lufthansa San Francisco SFO to BUD is an inexpensive fare.
This offer is available from today through March 17, 2016 with nearly all dates falling in the $664-$694 ticket price, except December holiday period from December 6, 2015 to January 6, 2016.
Fares from Los Angeles LAX price at $717.
United Airlines / Lufthansa Airlines
San Francisco SFO – Chicago ORD – Munich MUC – Budapest BUD – Frankfurt FRA – San Francisco SFO
$682.30 economy K class ($529 base fare x 5 miles = 2,645 RDM).
12,953 flight miles SFO-ORD-MUC-BUD-FRA-SFO
Be Aware when booking Star Alliance K class economy fares.
Swiss K Class and Lufthansa K class do not earn United Mileage Plus miles, unless the ticket is purchased through United Airlines and has an 016 ticket number.
If the tickets are purchased through Lufthansa or Swiss or a third party agency like Orbitz of Expedia, then you can earn 25% flight miles through Miles & More. Within Europe, K class earns 125 miles per segment in Miles & More for Lufthansa and Swiss flights. USA-Germany flight segments earn 25% flight distance miles in Miles and More. You will earn 0 miles with Mileage Plus for Lufthansa and Swiss operated flight segments in K class, if tickets are not purchased through United Airlines.
Thoughts on Budapest
I enjoyed Budapest on a trip more than a decade ago as a place with old European history and a communist legacy that existed for most of my lifetime. Times seemed hard in 2002, but may even be harder in 2015 after Hungary suffered from the 2008 financial collapse and its large real estate bubble with many mortgages priced in Swiss Francs for lower interest rate terms that suddenly created a rise in mortgage debt as Hungary’s forint lost value relative to the Swiss Franc.
