This is day two of a fare war from Germany to the USA with all three alliances offering fares in the low to mid-$400s from regional German airports to Chicago ORD, New York/Newark JFK/EWR and Miami MIA. This fare war started yesterday after Air Berlin had a flash sale for Germany to Chicago and New York JFK routes down to $165 one way for summer/fall travel. The deal with AirBerlin is the low fare was only one-way to the USA and round trip tickets were about $700. The German airports with most prevalent low fares were secondary airports like Stuttgart STR, Nuremburg NUE, Hamburg HAM, Dresden DRS. Dusseldorf DUS offered fewer low fares during the Air Berlin flash sale, while Munich MUC and Frankfurt FRA sat out.
Loyalty Traveler – Air Berlin Flash Sale today Vienna, Zurich and Germany to New York and Chicago one way $165 to $200 June to Nov (May 29, 2016).
Star Alliance hit back with low round trip fares in the low $400s, primarily to Chicago. Oneworld airlines matched, and a couple hours later Skyteam Airlines had round trip flights from Germany to Chicago and New York in the $400s. Berlin TXL, Dusseldorf DUS and Stuttgart STR seem to be ground zero for alliance competition.
Loyalty Traveler – Fare War Star Alliance/Oneworld Germany to Chicago $400 round trip June-Nov (May 29, 2016).
The main difference I notice today is this fare war is happening for Germany-Miami routes too. Here are sample fares I see today.
$523 round trip Stuttgart to Miami in June to November
$523 –$528 round trip Stuttgart STR – Miami MIA on 28 dates in June-July. Low fare returns late August 22 and remains to Nov 6.
Delta and American have low fares for this route in July.
Delta Air Lines $523 round trip (470 EUR) Stuttgart – Atlanta – Miami
Monday July 4 – Sunday July 17
American Airlines $523 round trip (470 EUR) Stuttgart – Atlanta – Miami
Monday July 4 – Sunday July 17
Dusseldorf and Berlin Low Fares $405 round trip to Miami and Chicago
United Airlines ticket for Brussels Air, Swiss and United operated flights.
Berlin TXL – Brussels BRU – Chicago ORD – Zurich ZRH – Berlin TXL
$405.25 (363.73 EUR) Sat August 20 – Friday Nov 18
This Aug 20-Nov 18 itinerary is an example of one of my primary ticketing strategies as a California resident for lower priced airline tickets to Europe. My wife teaches school so we know here vacation weeks one year in advance and they all fall in peak travel weeks with high USA fares.
For someone in the Chicago area, this ticket gets you from Germany to Chicago in August and takes you back to Germany in November. This $405 round trip ticket allows you to fly to Europe on Friday of the weekend before Thanksgiving. Tickets starting in the USA generally block out Thanksgiving week travel for low fares. Buying a ticket starting in Europe often gets around that issue. Unfortunately, Chicago does not have Norwegian Airlines yet for really low priced one way tickets to and from Europe.
American Airlines
Dusseldorf DUS – Miami MIA – London LHR – Dusseldorf DUS
$496.04 (445.32 EUR) Thursday June 23 – Thursday June 30
KLM (Skyteam Alliance)
Dresden DRS – Amsterdam AMS (overnight) – Chicago ORD _ Detroit DTW – Amsterdam AMS
$409.46 (367.61 EUR) Tue Oct 4 – Tue Oct 11
There are deals in different airports with different alliance airlines offering lowest fares. I saw some Air France ($488 Nuremburg NUE-MIA), Finnair and Austrian low fares.
Loyalty Traveler curated Airfare Deals and Google Flights and Kayak Explore tutorials.
Loyalty Traveler – Hotel Promotions Guide May 2016.
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