San Francisco SFO has been conspicuously absent from the fare wars this past week between the major alliances. On June 9 American Airlines posted fares in the $400s from SFO to Brussels, Frankfurt, Munich, Vienna and Zurich. Fare War American Airlines SFO to Switzerland, Germany, Belgium $413 to $472 (June 9).
Those fares expired June 10 and there have been few fares under $750 since then.
Today there is some movement on that front that may be an indication prices will drop again this week for SFO to Europe routes. American has had SFO to Warsaw in the mid-$500s for several days. That is a oneworld alliance airline discounting a primary Chicago to Europe route for Star Alliance member LOT Polish. In the past few hours Delta/SkyTeam have put several secondary airports in Germany on sale for under $750 round trip with many available dates for travel Aug-Dec.
Personally, I don’t consider a ticket over $700 from SFO to Europe a big deal, but I do see this move as a sign that Star Alliance is being targeted by American and Delta from San Francisco and there may be a reaction from United/Star Alliance in the next day or two to drop their fares to be more competitive. This could mean we see fares under $700, which is certainly below average fare range for SFO market.
Those sub-$500 airline tickets are great deals when you can score one, but they tend to be on sale for brief periods, sometimes only a couple of hours, and it can be weeks or months between these kinds of discount fares from California. The past few weeks might have some flyers thinking $400 fares to Europe are the new norm, but don’t be fooled. The combination of low fuel prices, recent terrorist attacks, US State Department warnings on travel to Europe and even deeper discounts with WOW, Norwegian, Aer Lingus and Icelandair coalesced to create a buyer’s market for airline tickets.
Here are San Francisco SFO routes to 17 European cities today with fares from $550 to $750 round trip and even lower with WOW and Norwegian Airlines.
San Francisco to Europe (Major Alliance Airlines)
Warsaw, Poland
- $548 Warsaw (Sep-April 2017) see Loyalty Traveler – American SFO to Warsaw $548 round trip (6/19).
Stockholm, Sweden
- $678 – $710 United Aug 22 – Dec 7 (about 60 dates)
- $678 – $731 Delta matches $678 for Aug 23 only (about 40 dates)
Vienna, Austria
- $686 – $693 Vienna United Airlines (Aug 22-Dec 12 most dates);
- $702 Air Berlin (found on CheapOAir.com)
Berlin, Germany
- $694 – $746 United Aug 23 – Dec 10 (over 50% dates).
- $740 – $750 Delta/KLM Aug 29 – Dec 9 (many dates).
- $743 – $760 American Aug 26 – Dec 9 (over 50% dates).
Athens, Greece
- $704 – $725 United Aug 22 – Oct 31 (most dates).
Gothenburg, Sweden
- $688 – $710 United/SAS (Aug 23 – Dec 8 ) (most dates)
- $722 KLM (Aug 23 – Dec 7 ) (about 50% dates)
Oslo, Norway
- $678 – $690 United/SAS Aug 23 – Dec 8 (about 50% dates)
- $725 – $741 Delta Aug 22 – Oct 26; $685 only Aug 22 departure; (about 50% dates)
Bergen, Norway
- $689 – $701 United/SAS Aug 23 – Dec 8 (about 50% dates)
- $729 Delta
Stavanger, Norway
- $690 – $710 United/SAS Aug 23 – Dec 8 (most dates)
- $729 Delta
Helsinki, Finland
- $696 – $701 United/SAS Aug 23 – Dec 8 (about 50% dates)
Amsterdam, Netherlands
- $717 Aer Lingus Sep 8 – Oct 23 (most dates)
Copenhagen, Denmark
- $736 – $750 United/SAS Aug 23 – Dec 14 (most dates)
Sofia, Bulgaria
- $739 – $768 United Aug 24- Nov 30 (most dates from Sep 12). Even lower fares with Turkish Airlines
Dresden, Germany
- $743 KLM/Delta Aug 23 – Dec 7 nearly all dates
- $779 American about 20 dates Oct-Dec
- $1,000+ United lowest fare
Bremen, Germany
- $740 – $750 Air France/Delta (Aug 23 – Dec 11, most dates)
Hanover, Germany
- $742 – $756 Air France/Delta (Aug 23 – Dec 12, most dates)
- $755 – $760 American (Aug 23 – Dec 12, most dates)
- $847 SAS (about 25 dates)
Nuremberg, Germany
- $739 – $749 Air France/Delta (Aug 28 – Dec 8, most dates)
WOW Air fares
(Estimate about $150 – $200 over ticket price for carry-on/checked bags and seat assignment).
- Copenhagen $440 – $540 about 6 dates Oct – Dec
- Paris $440 – $540 about 6 dates Oct – Dec
Norwegian Airfares from Oakland OAK
Estimate about $150 – $200 for carry-on/checked bags and seat assignment or less than $100 extra if you can manage one free carry-on bag).
- Stockholm $368 – $373 about 9 dates Nov – Dec
- Copenhagen $490-$492 about 7 dates Nov – Dec.
- Oslo $463 – $521 about 9 dates Oct – Dec
Add about $125 to $200 total round trip to fly Norwegian Airlines to dozens of other cities in Europe from these airports in Scandinavia. Norwegian has big advantage over WOW with their extensive In Flight Entertainment system free movies and 787 Dreamliner aircraft to Europe.
Loyalty Traveler curated Airfare Deals and Google Flights and Kayak Explore tutorials.
http://loyaltytraveler.boardingarea.com/loyalty-traveler-airfare-deals/
